Chapter 15
Five days later, around mid-morning, James headed to his office. He loved silence in his office. The office staff knew this and hence no one dared to enter unless they called first. Only Greg had the liberty of pushing this boundary, but when he walked into his office that morning, he wished to hear the sound of another person’s voice—Anastasia’s voice.
He grinned, to himself, like a fool when he remembered he now had proof that Anastasia and Mariah were the same person.
He had stopped by Mariah’s office with lunch on Wednesday and had confirmed his suspicion with the birthmark. After that, it was like his eyes were opened to the little things Mariah did that reminded him of Anastasia.
Like how she picked out the round cuts of onion because she never liked to see them in her food, and how she chewed with the most concentrated expression on her face and always finished everything on her plate and then smiled.
After he had seen Anastasia’s birthmark on Mariah, he had briefly considered the possibility of Mariah being a long-lost twin that Anastasia had never told him about, but he quickly canceled that idea as it seemed too far-fetched.
He had also briefly considered, the idea of Mariah being Anastasia’s doppelganger. But he felt that it was unlikely that doppelgangers shared birthmarks.
He glanced at his black leather watch and typed faster on his keyboard. It was a few minutes past ten in the morning, and if his schedule went according to plan, Mariah would be arriving in Ore HQ any moment now.
They had work to do together on the orphanage plans and it would give him more opportunity to watch her and decide how to tell her that she was very likely Anastasia.
He had been thinking that he would first tell his father, whom he trusted with his life. Then he would tell Mariah. He only hoped the both of them would take it well.
He heard the door open and then slam shut. Then he heard her paced footsteps and sweet voice greeting Greg who was seated at his station, before she stepped into James’ room. A wide grin spread on his face. He was super excited to see Mariah-Anastasia again. It amazed him how she had been hiding under his nose all along.
“Okay, what’s all this I hear about me suddenly having today off,” Mariah said as she sauntered into his office. James raised his head from his computer and smiled.
I think I’m getting addicted to her presence,he thought and pushed his chair backward.
She had dressed, for the first in a dress. It was a black sleeveless halter dress that hugged her figure, highlighting her curves, and stopped right at her ankles. When she moved again, he noticed the dress had long slits at the sides and he saw that her legs were clad in white tight pants. He smiled approving her look. He shook his head at her opening question and rose to his feet.
“What is going on James?” she shrugged off her satchel and he noticed her slender bare arms. Her hair was raised in a loose bun on top of her head and a thin gold chain hung around her neck. She was an effortless picture of grace and sophistication to him.
“Morning to you too, Mariah,” he said. The document he was working on was almost done. All that was left was something that Greg could finish up, while James took Mariah upstate.
“Exactly,” Mariah shook her head and dropped down on one of the couches that was in his office. “It”s morning! I’m delighted to take a day off, but it was so unusual to hear my boss say I wasn’t supposed to be at work today.”
“You are at work,” James said and straightened his gray cashmere sweater. “Only today’s work requires you to go on a road trip. Now c’mon,” he grabbed his black trench coat off the coat rack behind his chair and slipped it on.
He paused to look at Mariah still gaping at him from her place on the couch. He continued, “I would have thought that you would have worn a coat based on the weather forecast today, but if you are fine as you are then off, we go.”
“But I just got here,” she sighed and reclined onto the couch.
“And we are leaving,” he quipped in return, checking the contents of his pockets. When he found his keys and phone, he looked at her again. Everything about her was so familiar, exactly the kind of person Anastasia would have grown up to be.
He sighed, “Might not be the perfect day to visit the old house, considering the weather and all. But we will be able to make it there and back before it rains. I think I want the orphanage to be designed similarly to the house we are going to see. You can tell me what you think of it when we get there.”
He walked out of the room and she followed with a sigh. He gave Greg a few instructions concerning the work he needed to finish and then he and Mariah were going down the elevator. They made it to the underground garage in no time, and Mariah smiled when she saw his black Ford Explorer.
“Must be the most normal car you own, right?” she laughed and then he opened the door for her. “And what’s that sweet smell?” she asked.
“Two questions in a row,” he laughed. As he closed the door for her and turned around to slip into the driver’s seat. “One, every car I own must have character, this one fits a road trip just fine. Two, what we smell is homemade honey I got from the farmer’s market yesterday. It’s Friday and I’m supposed to go down to the orphanage this evening to help make dinner. I’m making dessert.”
“Wow,” she said, buckling a seatbelt. “You are a woefully busy man. Making dinner for orphans.”
“Honey-glazed apples are pretty easy to make,” he started the engine and said, “I could show you how.” His voice was drowned in the revving of the engine, but Mariah smiled warmly at him so he figured that she had heard him.
The drive upstate was quicker than he thought it would be. Soon they were driving up the long winding forest road towards his old childhood playground—the Sorenson manor. When he was younger, his grandparents lived there in a large house fit for a king. He had spent his hours exploring the woods surrounding the property, picnicking in the yard, and playing in the lake nearby.
Most of his memories of the house were from when he was less than five years old and when his mother was still alive, but he loved the manor as he did the townhouse, even if it was unoccupied.
They made it to the cast iron gates and he had to pause. From this vantage point, the manor looked and felt like it was straight out of a horror novel, with overgrown trees and a gravel path overgrown with grass. He was surprised that the groundskeeper had not maintained it. He got out of the car and banged on the gate calling on Edgar, the groundskeeper, but no reply came.
He checked the gate and it was unlocked so he pulled it open and closed it shut after he had driven into the grounds. He didn’t know where Edgar had gone, but he was going to have a serious talk with the man. If he was this nonchalant towards his job, then he didn’t deserve it.
James drove up the gravel path lined with tall trees to the house and watched Mariah’s eyes widen with glee at the sight of the house. It was a two-story building built in the manner of a mini castle, with tall turrets and stone statues gracing the roof.
It had over a hundred glass windows of different sizes and artfully done metal décor. At the front of the house was a fountain and a statue of a man holding a pickaxe. There was a replica of it at Ore HQ.
James drove and stopped by the fountain, where a flight of short stairs led to the large wooden doors at the entrance, and turned to look at Mariah. She was staring at the house with wonder. He laughed as he opened the door. “If you like the outside so much, you will cry at the wonders of the inside,” he said, stepping out of the car.
He turned to open the passenger seat door for Mariah, but she was out before he could make it. She was gazing at the manor in awe and he let her, popping open the back door to pick up the camera he brought along to take photos of the rooms and features of the manor that they wanted to incorporate into the orphanage.
While he pulled the camera out of the car, his eyes were trained on Mariah. Suddenly he heard a loud crash. He quickly turned to look at the car and found a golden sticky liquid dripping across the back tire and large shards of broken glass on the ground.
There goes one jar of honey,he chuckled and bent down to pick up the broken glass.
All because you couldn’t keep your eyes off Mariah.
Mariah was by his side in an instant, asking if he was hurt. He calmed her worries and handed her the camera, before shutting the car door. “Hold onto this for me.”
Then he put the glass chards into a bag and led the way towards the front door.
Like the main gate, the front door was also unlocked.
So, Edgar did know I was coming.James scoffed and pushed the large metal handle of the door and it slid open smoothly, to reveal a large antechamber.
The house was dimly lit save for the sunlight seeping through an open window somewhere. He stepped onto the marble floors of the house and Mariah followed. Reaching for the light switch, he toggled it but the crystal chandelier hanging on the ceiling refused to turn on.
“Amazing,” he sneered, wondering why Edgar had not fixed the lights if they had stopped working. Then he led the way deeper into the house. The antechamber held a compartment hidden by a sliding door.
It served as a room for changing coats and hats that day. Beside it was a trash bin. He deposited the shards of glass into it and took the camera back from Mariah.
“Now,” he gave her a wide smile, “say cheese,” he said and brought his camera to his face, capturing Mariah’s confused expression in a picture. It was the cutest thing he had ever captured.
“Hey,” she punched him playfully on the arm. “I thought we were here to check out your awesome family house.” She smiled and then asked “What’s the story behind this Beauty and the Beast mansion?” she asked as he led her deeper into the house.
The antechamber ended in two tall doors. One led to the ballroom and the other, to the living room. He didn’t want a ballroom at his orphanage, so he led her to the living room instead.
“Does this mean you are Belle and I am, the Beast?”
“Maybe,” Mariah giggled, her eyes roaming the details of the room. “now what’s the story?”
“The story?” he said as they emerged in a large room that had a spiral staircase at the end. To one side of the room was an ornate fireplace. Around the fireplace were furniture—couches, armchairs, a glass table—hidden underneath white sheets.
“The Sorensons were wealthy merchants that migrated from Sweden to America maybe three centuries ago. They settled in these parts and bought a lot of mines, Wall Street stocks, bonds, buildings—you name it. At first, it had looked like my ancestors were investing haphazardly, but the returns came. Then they just kept expanding and expanding.”
“So, you are from old money?” Mariah questioned, walking to the tall glass windows that lined the other end of the room. At that end, there were a few chairs and a high table covered by white sheets.
James remembered every piece of furniture the way they had been years ago, on display and well used. Most of the furniture had come from different countries and he knew auctioning some of them off would raise millions for the family, but no one wanted to part with them or the house itself.
So instead, everything stayed covered by sheets. Besides, they already had all the money they needed.
“You could say so,” he chuckled, took a picture of the ornate fireplace, and turned to face Mariah. “But I lost my accent centuries ago. All that was left is the looks and charm,” he smiled and Mariah laughed.
He cocked his head to one side and motioned to her, “C’mon there’s much to explore here,” he said and led her to the stairs.
He continued, “Prepare to be amazed,” and grinned. He led her up the stairs. The house was built in such a way that if you started exploring from the living room, you would end up in the ballroom, and vice versa.
The first place he took her to was the family study.
It was a large room with high ceilings filled with books of all kinds, some were old and priceless, while some were relatively modern. He still liked the spiral ladders that led to the top of the bookshelves and the alcoves where he used to curl up to read. Mariah did too, so he took photos of them.
Then he led her to the playroom, a central area that connected all the children’s rooms. Mariah was excited that it would be similar to a common lounge at the orphanage. James agreed and took a photo of it.
He showed her the mini observatory, where his grandmother had studied the stars—the reason he took to stars in the first place. Anastasia had only fanned the hobby to flames as it had been a common interest that she had shared with him.
Mariah was shocked when he showed her the lab that his grandfather had experimented in. It was a mixture of a forge and a science lab. There were still chemicals in bottles and jars on the shelves. It looked like every geek”s dream.
He took her to the large kitchen. He told her it was this large because they had held a lot of big shindigs at the house back in the day. To prove it, he showed her the ballroom with its floor-to-ceiling windows, golden curtains, and gleaming marble floors that would catch the golden light of the chandeliers when they turned them on.
Mariah gasped while leaning on the banisters of the upstairs gallery of the ballroom. “You must have had beautiful adventures here. Like a little prince roaming a castle.”
“No longer the Beast, huh?” he arched his brow at her. “well, I do have beautiful memories of this place,” James answered, running a hand through his brown curls. “I just wish Anastasia experienced it too. She would have made the most beautiful princess,” he looked at her, now, with red curls hidden in a bun on her head, and her hips highlighted by the straight dress she wore, and he knew she had no idea how beautiful she was.
“Well… she’s not here anymore,” Mariah said, “but you can still make more memories here,” she smiled at him, and at that instant thunder boomed outside and they both turned to gaze out the window. The sky was full of gray clouds, and it looked like the wind was picking up. “Uh-uh,” Mariah’s eyes widened. “I think we need to go.”
“I think so too,” James chuckled. He had not realized how fast time had gone by. He had meant to leave before the rain storm had started, but he decided he could still drive back even with the rain. He took her hand and ran down the stairs, leading to the ground floor.
They skidded across the gleaming marble floors and James wished they were dancing on it, instead of running out of it. They made it to the antechamber and he threw the doors open, then came to an abrupt halt, Mariah hitting his back.
“Hey,” she muttered. “I thought we were leaving,”
James took a deep breath and took a step backward, “We were.”
“Were?”
“Let”s… go wait back inside,” he said and took another step back into the house. Mariah protested and he sighed sadly, “Don’t look now, but I think we have guests.”
“Guests?” she echoed his words, trying to look over his broad muscular shoulders, but he unknowingly was blocking her view.
“Yes, guests,” his voice was oddly calm considering the dangerous situation they were in. “Our honey incident has attracted two very large, very hungry black bears,” he felt Mariah stiffen behind him. “So, when I say, we go back inside. We go inside now.”