The Devil's Playthings (2 page)

She lay
there for several moments, staring at the
opening in
the canopy, afraid of what waited
beyond. But she co
uldn't
resist
the smell of real
food any longer; she couldn't remember the last time she ate.

She reached out her hand and
pushed open the velvet, and found
a beautiful white bedroom. Everythin
g was white with gold trimmings:
plush looking white carpet, pretty white furniture with gold inlay, and white velvet window coverings with gold ropes and tassels, with gold embroidery aro
und the hems
.

She finally noticed her hand on the velvet, and it actually looked clean. She pulled back the blanket too and saw a pretty white silk nightgown.
She was almost as shocked to see she was clean as she was to be in this daydream of a room. She saw a full length dressing mirror in the corner by the window
s
, and
she was almost afraid to look at
herself
. The last time she’d seen herself, she was a dirty, vile creature.

A
pair of furr
y white slippers
lay under the bed,
and she shoved her dainty little feet into them. She thought if the slippers were real, and the soft, thick carpet was real, maybe the rest of it was real too.

She watched
the nightgown slid
e
down her legs and fall
around her feet in a soft white bell
as she stood
.
She tiptoed toward the mirror,
still afraid of her reflection
.
B
ut when she saw herself, her reflection amazed her
.

Her natural blonde hair hung in a shiny veil a
round her shoulders. Her eyes had to be playing tricks on her
when she gazed at
her
own
face. Her cheeks were pink and
smooth.
Her lips were full and red. And her eyes were
wide and
bright blue. She looked like a y
oung lady.
And she would have stared
at her reflection
for hours, but the smell of breakfast lured he
r t
o the door
.

She tentatively
pulled
it open
, which led to a marble hallway. A few paintings decorated the walls, and she walked slowly past them
,
examining
each one
. They looked like they should be hanging in a museum, like they were created by famous artists.

There were two doors on either side of the hallway also, but she wasn't brave enough to explore
inside
. The hallway led to a beautiful spiral staircase, which
went down to a marble landing and opened up to
floor to ceiling
window
s with an awesome view of the city skyline. It seemed like she was eye level with the top of the Empire State Building,
and she felt like she was looking down on the clouds.

She was
even more
astounded
as she looked out the glass doors set into the windows to find an elegant pool and Jacuzzi with a glass roof. There were even palm trees and sand surrounding the pool to make it appear to be an oasis in the desert.
Pretty rattan furniture framed the outer corners of the room, and a beautiful table and chairs sat in the corner opposite the apartment. She imagined one could sit in the tiny oasis and stare at the city below for hours.
And for some reason, she felt
the strongest feeling of
déj
à vu, like she’d been in this same spot
before.

A young woman, dressed in a black and white maid's outfit, appeared out of nowhere and asked h
er in an
accented voice, "A
re you ready for breakfast, miss?"

Emma nodded, and followed
closely
behind
her
to an opulent dining room decorated in deep reds and dark wood. The plates were all black, and the sil
verware looked like real silver;
n
ot that she'd ever seen real silver before.
Three
crystal
chandeliers hung over the table
, a very large one
hung in
the
center
and two smaller ones hung on either side. The room was more formal
than she'd ever seen, even on TV
.

The table sat twenty,
and a place setting with cloth napkins adorned each end of the table.
The maid seated her, and
several young men in black suits
carrie
d in
platters of food. Then the maid waited by the table with her hands behind her back.

Emma didn't know what to do. She was starving, and the food on the table smelled so good. But obviously someone was joining her, because of the other place setting.
She tried to be patient, and just when she thought she couldn't wait any longer, he entered the room.

She couldn't contain her reaction to him. As soon as she saw him, her eyes grew wide and her mouth d
ropped open. He glanced at her;
then nodded to the maid who hurried over to pull out his chair.

Her eyes hurried over his body before he sat down. The dark suit he wore had to be tailored to fit him. His
physique
or what she could guess
at
hidden under
all
the clothing, was perfect.

His dark hair hung in long waves
around his beautiful fac
e. His eyes were nearl
y black, hidden behind almond shaped lids
.
His complexion was a light tan and with the shape of his eyes and his skin color, she could see he was Asian.
His
jaw line was strong but not overpowering
.
His cheekbones were angled perfectly, making cute little round apples
at his cheeks. His lips were full, almost too full for his face, and a pale dusky pink
. His nose formed a straight line, then flared only slightly at his nostrils. Basically, she'd
never seen a man
more
beautiful.
He looked like a soft, snuggly puppy. He looked inviting and at the same time untouched, and untouchable.

He didn't look at her after he sat down, he busied himself w
ith his napkin
then poured a cup of orange juice from a crystal decanter.
He knew she watched him intently. He knew she couldn't take her eyes off him. And he ignored her. He made a motion with his hand, and the maid began to serve him. Scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, toast, potatoes, and fruit and pastries overflowed
from the trays. There was more
food there than 10 people would eat.

When a little
of everything was served to the head of the table, the maid took Emma's plate, and filled it full as well. And when she sat the plate on the table, Emma dug in.

She ate like she hadn't eaten in three weeks, and as far as she could remember, she hadn't
. She concentrated on the food
, forgetting the man several feet away from her. And when her plate was empty, the maid took it and refilled it. Emma feigned protest, until the plate filled with fresh fruit sat in front of her, and she dug into it also.

And when she finally stopped eating, and looked up, she noticed that he watched her as intently as she
had watched him. She took a moment to wipe her mouth with her napkin, and then stared at him again.

His dark black
eyes seeme
d to stare right into her. She wondered if he could read her mind. His expression di
dn't change,
and she couldn't stand it any longer
.

"Do I have something on my face?" she finally asked.

He laughed, a deep low growl in the back of his throat, and she felt chills go down her spine. She didn't know if it was excitement or fear, but emotion poured through her veins.

He shook his head, and pushed the chair away from the table enough to cross his legs in front of him and lean back
. He ta
pped his fingers on the
dark wood
,
a slow thump thump like a heartbeat.

Emma waited quietly as he watched her, waiting for him to take the lead. She didn’t know what he expected, but she had an idea of what he wanted. The same thing every other man wanted. Perhaps he wanted her to seduce him, but he wasn’t sending any
signals. He just stared at her with those penetrating black eyes
.

And, just as silently as he entered the room, he left through the same door.

The maid was at her side quickly. “Miss, would you like me to guide you back to your room?”

“Yes, thanks,” Emma answered.

When they arrived at her
room, she showed Emma her closet, and instructed her to open the drawers to her chest. Inside were the most beautiful clothes she’d ever seen. Clothes from designers she’d never even heard of, but she was sure they were expen
sive. And inside the chest she found
pretty lingerie, underwear, and bikinis.

Then the maid opened the door to the bathroom, and Emma’s mouth fell open. Inside she could see a white claw-footed tub, a separate shower stall, white marble floors covered in shaggy gold rugs. And all the faucets and fixtures were gold.

A small closet
was well stocked with fluffy white towels, a white robe with pretty gold threading, and expensive lotions, shampoos, and perfumes. She thought this was either a dream or a nightmare, but she didn’t care
which
.

After the mai
d left
, Emma squealed and hopped
around in the room like a little girl, looking at every dress, and touching every panty. She even had a real leather jacket, and a fur coat. She fell back into the perfect white b
ed, which had been made while she was at breakfast
, and laughed. She even pinched herself, just in case
she really was dreaming.

She pu
t on one the many bikinis; four
tiny triangles in varying sha
des of pink, that had a
cover up
shirt
and a tiny little skirt to match. She made her way quietly to the pool, seeing only the maid standing near one of the huge oak doors, and stripped quickly.

She dove in awkwardly, because she hadn’t been swimming in years. But the water felt so good, and
the temperature of the little greenhouse like room was perfect
. She swam for an hour, and pulled herself out of the water just so she could dive in again. She felt like a little kid
. T
he only thing missing was someone to play in the water with. She climbed out on the ladder, and ran her hands through her
long blonde
hair to pull the water out. Then she shook herself and planted her derriere on one of the
lounge chairs to dry off.

Someone had placed a cold soda
on the table beside the chair,
the
quiet
maid she assumed. And just before she closed her eyes she saw him, still dressed in the dark suit and crisp white shirt, looking oh so perfect, standing on the other side
of the tall glass doors
.

He watched her attentively
. He didn’t approach her, he didn’t speak to her. He just watched her. She decided not to wave, or smile; she just closed her eyes and leaned her head back. And when she looked back several moments later he was gone.

She shrugged, a
nd grabbed the drink. She sipped it slowly as she
stared out at the city below
.
She wondered why she couldn’t hear the normal sounds of the city, the ca
r horns and the subway, only
soft classical music piped in through speakers placed strategically around the room.

She had all intentions of spending her whole day here, doing nothing. Nothing apparently was what he asked of her. And she didn’t mind. The young maid eventually returned, to ask her if she wanted lunch. She hadn’t even thought about eating after the huge breakfast she’d had, but when the young girl mentioned food, Emma’s stomach growled.