Finding Alex - 10. Chapter 10

When they’d finished exploring the first floor, including the guest suites, a truly astounding main bathroom with a bath big enough for five people at once, and a huge library, they went downstairs and Lacey led him through more rooms than he could remember. The solar, the lounge, the blue room, the terrace room, the games room the music room, the parlour. A huge dining room that put the other one to shame led into a ballroom that was so big and empty and echoey, Lacey couldn’t coax him over the threshold.

“I think you’ll really like this room,” Lacey said, pausing in front of a set of double doors.

“What is it?”

“Take a look.”

Lacey opened the doors and Sacha stepped into a fantasy. The room, if room it could be called, was long and narrow, made entirely of glass with a concave ceiling running its entire length. On entering Sacha found himself on a broad terrace, like the one he’d explored the night before, paved with terracotta tiles that seemed to be warm under his feet. To his left, a selection of seating, from arm chairs to deck chairs, were clustered around tables in front of a long bar. Palm trees, which seemed to be real, overshadowed the whole area, their broad leaves sheltering the chairs from the sun which would have shone through the glass if there had been any. Today, there was no sun, but the sound of the rain lashing down onto the roof was comforting.

The tiling continued along the sides of the room to the far end where steps led up to a raised area, again shaded by palm trees and sporting a rather impressive fountain with an umbrella-like spray that tinkled into a rock pool. A waterfall tumbled into another pool that foamed and bubbled. The bubbling pool was surrounded by more, broad leaved trees and bushes and was half obscured by a bamboo screen.

All this Sacha saw merely as impressions. His attention was dominated by the enormous, clear, blue swimming pool that ran down the middle.

Lacey snapped on the lights and Sacha gasped out loud. Round lights were set into the floor around the edge of the pool and there seemed to be more under the water. Different coloured lights shone over the bar, with more of the floor lights around the seating. At the far end, however, the lights turned the raised area into fairyland. Tiny white lights twinkled in the trees, and hidden lighting turned the fountain into a rainbow and picked out certain areas where features, either of water or plant variety were highlighted.

“It’s beautiful,” he breathed.

“Can you swim?”

Sacha shook his head. “No. I’ve never been to a place like this. Not that I remember.”

“Have you been to the beach?”

“What’s that? Oh, you mean the sea? I think so. Once or twice. I don’t really remember.”

“Did you go out much at all?”

“No, not really, except sometimes to parties or clubs. Occasionally, someone had to go into town on business and I’d go with them to help carry shopping and such, but I never went out alone. That’s why I had to…do what I did…to get away. I didn’t plan it. I just…. They were laughing, about what had happened and I realised that no one really gave a shit…about any of us. I couldn’t…. I just couldn’t stay anymore.”

“I’m really glad you did what you did,” Lacey said warmly and Sacha smiled at her. He was walking on air.

“Well, that’s another thing I can teach you,” Lacey said walking toward the pool. “We can all swim like fishes. We spend a lot of time in here in the summer. The windows slide back, like the ones in the terrace room, and it’s all open. We tend to just run in and out between doing other things. It’s not used so much in the winter, although it’s nice to sit in the Jacuzzi and watch the rain. It’s even better in the snow.”

“What’s a ja…jakusee?”

“Jacuzzi? It’s a bubbling pool. There are lots of little holes in the side that shoot out jets of water. Like your bath.”

“My bath?”

Lacey laughed. “Haven’t you tried it yet? Remind me to show you later.”

“Okay.”

“Would you like to try it out?”

“Go in the water?” Sacha’s heart fluttered. He’d never seen this much water, let alone submerged himself in it. Why did everything here have to be so big?

“What about just in the Jacuzzi. It’s not deep. There are seats you sit on and the water comes up to your chest, with lots of bubbles. We can get some drinks and chill until lunch. What do you think?”

“Um…okay.” Sacha grinned and headed for the far side of the pool, stripping off his t-shirt.

“Sacha.” Lacey’s call stopped him dead and he turned, fearfully. “I think you might want to change first.”

“Change?”

“Into a bathing suit. Although I’ve done it plenty of times, mostly when I was a kid, I hasten to add, I’m not really up to bathing nude with you today.”

“Oh. Okay. Where do I get a suit from?”

“You have one in your room. I’ll show you.”

Sacha followed Lacey back to him room where she showed him how to work his own Jacuzzi bath and located a pair of bathing shorts.

“Meet me in my room in ten minutes, okay? There’s a robe hanging on the door in the bathroom. Wear that over your shorts.”

“Sure.”

When Sacha entered Lacey’s room she was already wrapped in a pink terry-cloth robe, and was busy packing things into a bag. “Here,” she said, “pop these back up to your room. You can try them out later, when you’re on your own. They’re all new.”

Puzzled, Sacha took the bag and peeped into it. He gasped. All he saw were whisps of silk and lace; mostly black, with hints of red or turquoise.

“For me?”

“All for you. Go on. Hurry. Take them up.”

Grabbing the bag, Sacha fled happily to his room. He couldn’t resist spilling the contents of the bag onto the bed. There were panties, a baby-doll and, best of all, a black lace corset with suspenders to go with the selection of stockings that ranged from seamed to fishnet. Sacha lifted the flimsy item and held it against him. He shivered with delight.

It was no good; he had to try it on. Dropping the robe, he pulled the corset over his head and tugged it into place. It was a bit big, but there were red ribbon laces that could be tightened. The suspenders slapped against his legs when he moved and he danced around the room relishing the sensations. Sitting on the bed, he chose a pair of pure silk stockings and carefully slipped them on. Oh God they felt good.

When he’d snapped the last suspender into place, he daringly slipped on the baby-doll and stood, looking down at himself in disbelief. Closing his eyes he ran his hands over the crackling lace and smooth silk. He swayed his hips and moaned softly as the fabric caressed his body. Remembering he’d found a long mirror in the wardrobe, he opened the door and admired himself, turning one way and another to see all sides. It was totally surreal. He’d never worn clothes as beautiful as these; that made him feel as beautiful as these. If only he had shoes it would be perfect.

The tap on the door startled him. He’d forgotten anyone else existed. Remembering with a start, hed left Lacey waiting downstairs he ran out of the bedroom and opened the door.

“I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to, but they were so beautiful and I just had to…. I….” He stammered to a halt, brought up short by the expression of shock on Lacey’s face. “Are…are you mad at me for keeping you waiting?”

“God, no. I had a pretty good idea what you were up to. I expected it. That’s why I brought these.” She held out a pair of plain black shoes with killer heels. “I don’t know what size you are but your feet don’t look much bigger than mine.”

Taking theshoes reverentially, Sacha sniffed at them. The scent of leather was overpowering. He’d never seen shoes like this before. So soft. So perfect.

“Try them on, then. I can’t wait to see them on you.”

“Can I?”

“That’s why I brought them.”

Steadying himself against the wall with one hand, Sacha slipped on the shoes. They fit perfectly. Unconsciously drawing himself up, Sacha twirled. “What do you think?”

“What do I think? I don’t know what to think. Envious that they look better on you than they do on me. Sacha, you’re beautiful.”

Sacha ducked his head and blushed. “Not as beautiful as you.”

“Let’s just promise never to get into a beauty contest,” Lacey laughed.

“Okay. Dance with me.”

Sacha caught a stunned Lacey by the waist and waltzed her around the room. At first she was stiff, then she joined in enthusiastically.

“Where did you learn to dance so well on heels like that?”

“I had to practice a lot.”

“So did I.” She stopped dancing and stared at Sacha so hard he began to feel uncomfortable. “When I heard Dad was bringing you home I was excited, because I wanted my baby brother back. I never thought in a million years that baby brother would have morphed into someone like you. It seems as if, not only do I get a brother, I get a friend. Someone to take shopping and talk about clothes. Someone who likes killer heels as much as I do. Do you ever wear make-up?”

“Sometimes. I don’t really like it. It feels weird on my face. I don’t mind doing my eyes. I like mascara.”

“Honey, the things I could teach you.” Lacey beamed. “But that’s for later. Right now we have a date with the pool. Take those things off and you can put them on again later.”

Before he could comply, Lacey pulled him into a hug. With the heels on, he was teller than her. “Don’t ever let anyone tell you this is wrong. I’ve never seen you look so…lit up, so happy. That can’t be wrong. You’re beautiful, Sacha, really beautiful and if this makes you feel that, don’t ever stop.”

“I won’t.”

“Just be careful, honey, okay. Not everyone’s okay with this. There are plenty of ignorant bigots out there with nothing better to do than sit in judgement over others. They’ve no right to do it but, like all bullies, they gang together and sometimes they hurt people who think or act differently to the way they do. There are a lot of people like that out there so please be careful who you tell and who you show, okay? I just want you to be safe.”

“I’ll be safe. I won’t tell anyone. I can tell the psychiatrist though, can’t I?”

“Of course you can. And you can wear the underwear under your clothes any time you like. No one’s going to see. If you like, I can take you to a club one day. I know a few where you can wear clothes like this openly.”

“Really? Would you, really?”

“Yes. Not yet. I want you to talk to the psychiatrist first; get things straight in your head. Then, if she says it’s okay, we’ll out together one night. How about we go celebrate your eighteenth? It’s only a couple of months. You should be more settled by then.”

“That would be the best present ever.”

“It’s a date then. Right. Go get changed again. I want to have time to relax in the pool before lunch.”

The Jacuzzi was absolute heaven. Sacha lay back and let the bubbles take the weight from his body. The water was warm and he stared up at the pounding rain which threw itself in vain at the glass roof, unable to reach him or chill him. He had never felt so safe in all his life.

“You okay over there? You’ve gone very quiet.”

Sacha gave Lacey a goofy smile. “I love it.”

“Are you warm enough? Are the jets strong enough? Do you want more bubbles?”

For a moment, the questions confused him, then he shivered with excitement. “Can we have more bubbles? Really?”

“Of course we can. I know what I’m going to do. You won’t get quite the same effect as you would if it was dark but it’s still pretty awesome. First, some bubbles.” Lacey did something with a remote control panel, and the scent of lavender filled the air as bubbles filled the pool. There were big bubbles and little bubbles, frothy bubbles and pearly bubbles. Everywhere. Sacha chased them, laughing out loud.

“What do you think of this?” Lacey said, and suddenly everything turned a beautiful ultra violet. Sacha looked up to find the fountain was raining purple rain and the bubbles were distinctly lilac.

“It’s so beautiful.”

“Are you happy with the colour? It can be green if you want, or red, or pink, or—”

“No. Don’t change it. It’s too beautiful.”

Enchanted, Sacha looked around. Everything was different; magical. He closed his eyes and let the bubbles caress his body. “I love it. I love it. I love it.”

“I’m really glad, honey. It’s good to see you so relaxed and happy.”

Sacha grinned at her, and let his head fall back until he was almost buried under bubbles. “I love bubbles.”

“I don’t suppose you got many bubbles before? I don’t suppose you got much of anything.”

Sacha sat up and thought about it. “I got lots of things. We had books, games, and a television we could watch videos and DVD’s on. There were only kids films to watch but we got all the new ones. There was a nice bathroom, but they had the kind of water that got cold if you used it too much. The kids got to bath first, so I usually got the cold ones, without many bubbles. Unless I was working, of course. Then I got hot water and scented oils. That was nice. Sometimes, if I was staying the night, clients would let me have a bath at their places. That was nice, too. It didn’t happen very often, though. He didn’t like us leaving the house to see clients. I was pretty much the only one who did.”

“Why?”

“Because my clients liked to take me to the special clubs, and to parties.”

“Oh. I see.”

Lacey sounded sad, really sad. “It was okay, Lacey. I didn’t hate it. I know it was wrong, but…when it was happening I didn’t let myself think like that. I didn’t think what I was doing was wrong. It was my life and I lived it the best I could. I wasn’t unhappy most of the time.”

“I’m glad about that, Sacha, really glad. The more I get to know you, the more I hate to think of you being unhappy.”

Sacha didn’t know what to say about that, so he didn’t say anything.

“Did you ever go to school?”

“No, we weren’t allowed, but we had lessons. The older ones taught they young ones to read and the secretary taught us maths, bookkeeping, accounting, that kind of thing. The cook taught us to cook and we had videos about history and geography and stuff. I know a lot of things.”

“I’m sure you do. Would you like to go to school at some point?”

Sacha thought about it; about a school full of people who were absolutely nothing like him. About being alone. About being far away from Lacey and Frank. “No,” he said firmly. “I don’t ever want tot go to school.”

“It might be good for you – to meet other people your own age. You need to socialize, to make friends, maybe find someone and fall in love.”

Sacha considered again. “Okay, I get that. I’d like to have friends too, but I don’t know if I can handle school. Too many new people all at once, and none of them like me.”

“There’s no one in the whole world like you, honey. You’re absolutely unique and I love it.” Lacey surged forward and put bubbles on his nose, making him laugh. She sat down in the seat next to his and pulled him in to her side. “Don’t worry. No one will make you do anything you don’t want to do. If you don’t want to go to school you don’t have to. We’ll figure out ways to get you some friends. We can throw a party or something. I’m absolutely certain that lots of people will fall in love with you there and then.”

“No they won’t. You’re teasing me.”

“Just a little bit. You’re very easy to love, Sacha.”

“Am I?”

“Absolutely, and the more I get to know you, the move lovable you get. I bet there’s a wicked sense of humour in there bursting to get out.” She bubbled his nose again and he laughed. Slipping under the water he surged out, sending water and bubbles everywhere. “Steady on, you’re causing a tidal wave.”

“You’re teasing again.”

“You’re getting used to me. That’s good. Do you trust me now, Sacha?”

Sacha sat down again, his mood more sober. “Yes, I trust you. It’s not easy. It’s not easy to trust anyone but you’ve been so nice to me. I don’t think it’s a trap. I think I’d know by now.”

“It’s not a trap, honey, I promise you that. Anyone who knows me can tell you I don’t play games, and I don’t tell lies. When I say you’re safe with me I absolutely mean it. So does Dad, and Luke, and Adam.”

“Well, I don’t know them, not even…Dad, really. But I do trust you.”

“That’s wonderful. It makes me so happy.”