The Eleventh Floor

by Shani Struthers

  Again, his attitude nonplussed her. “Who else might it be?”

  “There’s many that wander this hotel at night.”

  At his words, her hand reached up to clutch at the neck of the jumper she wore.

  “Something troubling you, Caroline?”

  “No.” If he wasn’t going to give away anything about himself, why should she?

  “I’m not… unsettling you, am I?”

  “Not at all,” she denied, holding his gaze again, this time defiantly.

  “You’re beautiful.”

  “What…?” The compliment – unexpected – disarmed her.

  “I thought that the moment I first met you.”

  Was that really true? In the lobby he’d treated her with nothing less than indifference. At dinner, however, he’d come over and kissed her hand. He hadn’t done that with any other female he’d greeted prior to her.

  He also went to the trouble of finding out your name.

  Yes, he’d done that too.

  “Isn’t Tallula your girlfriend?” she asked, surprised at her own daring.

  “Tallula?” He laughed, a booming sound, but strangely containing very little humour. “I like her. In many ways she’s my kind of girl, but…” – and here he paused, inclining his head a little – “I’m like you, Caroline, I’m not big on commitment.”

  “What?” Tallula had said something similar. Had together they discussed her? “You don’t know that about me,” she protested. “You don’t know me at all.”

  “Caroline, Caroline.” Immediately he was contrite. Placing his empty glass on a low table in front of them, he leant closer still. “Forgive me. Have I offended you?”

  She swallowed, felt confused by his change of character. Had he offended her? She honestly didn’t know.

  “If I did,” he continued, “it wasn’t my intention. It’s just… I can sense a kindred spirit. You’re as intrigued with me as I am with you.”

  It was true – he did intrigue her. He was unlike anyone she’d ever met before, as unique as the hotel. And yet… he was calling her a kindred spirit. Effectively saying she was similar to him. Was she? Again, she didn’t know whether to be flattered or quite the opposite.

  “Is Althea your grandmother?”

  Having asked the question, she couldn’t believe it when he recoiled.

  “Althea is no relation of mine.”

  “Oh, I—”

  “She should admit defeat, move on.”

  Defeat? What was he talking about? She was desperate to know but she was also wary of antagonising him further. “Look, ignore me, I shouldn’t have asked.”

  For a moment or two he seemed to unravel, the grimace he wore destroying his good looks, obliterating them like an ocean tide might destroy a sculpture in the sand. And then before she could blink, his smile was back, if anything more dazzling than before.

  Reaching across he took her glass and placed it on the table too. Before she could react, ask him what he was doing, those lips she’d been admiring brushed against hers.

  Her heart began to hammer furiously in her chest. He was kissing her. Just kissing her? Or was there more on his mind? Did he want to seduce her? She recalled his bed, the enormity of it, the silken sheets, waiting to be ruffled further.

  “Sweet Caroline,” he murmured, making her ache, for him, and for the grief that still raged inside her to be dampened down. Could he do that? Could he help?

  “Edward,” she found herself murmuring his name too. “I—”

  “Don’t say another word, Caroline. I know how deep your grief is.”

  He couldn’t know. And yet how wonderful it would be to believe him.

  She closed her eyes. Let this be. Those were the words spinning around in her head, as if someone other than herself were whispering them. Don’t be afraid.

  Her breath caught in her throat and butterflies danced in her stomach.

  Don’t be afraid.

  She inhaled and as she did, she detected an odour, faint but repugnant. It was a sour smell, cloying, just as Tallula’s perfume had been when she was with her in the elevator. Where was it coming from? Edward? And what was it? Some sort of aftershave? No, it couldn’t be. No one would bottle a smell like that. She’d expected him to smell of whiskey and cigarettes, a masculine smell that would excite her even more – not this… not decay.

  Now she was the one who recoiled. “Edward, please.” She said the words gently, aware that she mustn’t upset him, that he could turn again if upset, no longer be the suave gentleman he was, the cliché, sitting there in his silk dressing gown and his leather slippers – like something out of a film, someone who didn’t exist at all; a figure that dwelt only in nightmares. “Edward!” she said again, urgency in her voice as, with one hand, she had to push hard at his chest before being able to rise from the chair he’d pressed her into.

  She wasn’t brave enough to look at him, to see what emotions were flitting across his face. Don’t be afraid. This time such advice fell short. “I… I have to go.”

  Edward jumped up too, effectively blocking her exit. If she wanted to keep some distance between them, she had no option but to retreat further into the room.

  “Caroline…”

  At least he didn’t preface her name with ‘sweet’ this time. Something she was grateful for. Those were her mother’s words to her, her father’s. From Edward’s mouth they were a mockery, not healing the grief in her at all, but exacerbating it.

  Why did she ever think it was cold in here? It really wasn’t. The heat was unbearable, like being caught in an inferno.

  “Caroline, perhaps I was a little… presumptuous. Come on, sit down, let’s start over.”

  Still she backed away. “No, I really do need to go.”

  “But, darling, that’s the wrong way.”

  That term of endearment did not sit well with her either.

  “Look, Edward, I’m not feeling very well, I feel quite sick, in fact. And the kiss,” – she could hardly bear to think of it – “that was a mistake. Please, let me go.”

  “I’m not stopping you.”

  But he was, he was backing her into a corner. The stench that had assailed her when his lips were on hers had dissipated, but if he closed the gap, it’d be there again, not just on his skin, on his breath, but coming from somewhere deep inside him.

  She touched the windowpane beside her – longing for its coolness. “Look, it’s snowing again,” she muttered, attempting to divert his attention.

  Abruptly she turned – a childish ploy, she knew – if I can’t see you, you can’t see me – and continued to babble about the weather, how awful it was, that hopefully this was the last big snowfall, that soon the thaw would begin and they could return to normal, whatever normal was, she was beginning to forget… when something below caught her attention. Someone who was out there that shouldn’t be, in a dress of all things, a summer dress, kneeling down, her hands raking at the snow, clawing at it.

  “Elspeth.” Her voice was a whisper at first. “That’s Elspeth!”

  Edward reached her side, despite her earlier apprehension it was something that barely registered. Instead she was rapt, continuing to stare. Another figure joined Elspeth – David – a coat in his hands, which he threw over her. Immediately she shrugged it off, her hands clawing at her dress too, exposing more flesh. As David drew closer again, she lashed out, intent on doing damage. Much to Caroline’s amazement, he didn’t leave her, didn’t back away. He simply tried again.

  “It must be the drugs,” Caroline whispered, “messing with her mind.” Her fear of Edward completely on the backburner, she turned to him. “We need to go and help, get Elspeth inside before she freezes to death.”

  “Elspeth?” His full lips curled. “Elspeth’s a liability.”

  Caroline was stunned. “Elspeth’s in turmoil!”

  Concern lending her both strength and bravery, she pushed past him, and fled from the room, Edward doing nothing to stop her this
time.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Deciding against the elevator, Caroline flew down the stairwell, almost stumbling on one occasion, having to hold onto the handrail so that she could steady herself.

  By the time she reached David and Elspeth, just outside the hotel doors, the snowfall getting heavier and heavier, she was gasping for breath. Marilyn and John had joined David, who was still struggling with Elspeth, both of them aghast as she continued to kick out, not laughing or crying but yelping as if she was the one being wounded.

  “Oh my, oh my,” Marilyn kept muttering. She was crying too, tears running down her cheeks to fall like silver droplets into the snow below.

  John had placed a tentative arm around Marilyn’s shoulders in an effort to console her, one hand patting the side of her shoulder in what could only be described as an awkward manner. Nonetheless, Marilyn seemed grateful for his presence, leaning into him, crying some more, fingernails scratching at the irritation on her neck.

  “What’s happening? What’s going on?”

  As she said it, Caroline looked from side to side. She was half expecting Tallula to be waiting in the wings, as the voyeur, delighting once again in this woman’s situation. But she was nowhere to be seen and nor was anyone else, not even Raquel had ventured out from behind the lobby desk. And Althea might be an old, old woman, but she was the manager, wasn’t she? Why was she leaving guests to deal with a situation such as this yet again? As for Edward – her eyes darted upwards, towards where she figured his room might be. Whatever impression he liked to give, he was no gentleman, far from it.

  “David,” she called, “shall I call someone, get an ambulance?”

  David heard her, looked up. “In this?”

  Damn it, he was right, they couldn’t get out and no one could get in, but there must be something they could do. The woman needed professional help. She hated to admit it, but Edward was right – Elspeth was a liability, to herself as well as to others.

  “Just help me get her inside,” David instructed. “She’s frozen.”

  Immediately darting forward, Caroline bent down to help. David’s second instruction – ‘Back up, Caroline, back up, she’s going to lash out again’ – came too late. Elspeth’s fist, as cold as marble, certainly as hard, smashed into Caroline’s jaw, sending her flying.

  “Shit, are you okay?” David lurched towards her.

  She held up a hand. “Stay with Elspeth, I’m fine.” A blatant lie, her jaw was on fire.

  David’s torn expression spoke volumes. He knew Caroline was right in insisting he prioritise Elspeth, but his concern for her was apparent – very apparent. Although now was not the time to think of it, Edward’s kiss rushed to the forefront of her mind and she felt terrible all of a sudden, as though she’d committed a huge betrayal. Don’t be afraid. She’d told herself that many times in his room and still the words were in her head.

  From nowhere a wind whipped up, surprising her; a great gust of it, as if a giant had filled his lungs and was now busy emptying them. The top layer of snow got caught up in the gust and started to whirl.

  “David!” She had to shout to make herself heard.

  Higher the powder rose, higher and higher, like a wall surrounding them. She could barely see further than the five of them – no horizon, nothing. It had all disappeared. Perhaps this final snow dump was going to be the worst. They just had to ride it out.

  Scrabbling to get to her feet, her eyes watering, not just because of the weather, but because of the pain of the blow she’d received, Caroline realised someone was singing.

  “Amazing Grace! How sweet the sound,

  That saved a wretch like me!”

  The voice was sweet and melodic, a purity to it that matched the snow, but who did it belong to? She looked towards Elspeth. It wasn’t her, but she’d calmed, incredibly, reacting almost straightaway to the much-loved hymn. It was Marilyn singing, leaving the sanctity of John’s arms, and walking forward, her hands by her side, her head held high.

  “I once was lost, but now am found,

  Was blind, but now I see.”

  Only briefly did Marilyn glance at Caroline, a look in her eyes that urged her to join in, which she duly did, John too, not stumbling over the words as she was, but reciting them as perfectly as Marilyn. The wildness in Elspeth tamed, David managed at last to drape his coat across her shoulders, covering up her near nakedness, warming her flesh.

  As Caroline helped David pull Elspeth to her feet, she noticed the tears on her cheeks were frozen, as though they hadn’t been freshly shed, as if they’d been there for all time. Despite not knowing what Elspeth’s reaction might be, she reached out a hand to wipe at them, the woman standing perfectly still whilst she did so. It was a pointless task, however, as more tears rushed to replace them.

  With both of them supporting Elspeth, they walked forwards, Marilyn following behind, continuing to sing, the lyrics causing tears to well in Caroline’s eyes too. She could never understand why such a melancholy tune accompanied such joyful lyrics.

  As they trooped towards the hotel doors, John fell into step behind Marilyn. It felt as if they were in a procession; one that was all too familiar to her, and she and David the pallbearers. Once inside, Raquel came hurrying forwards – at last.

  “We need to call an ambulance,” Caroline told her. “Immediately.”

  “They’ll never get through in this weather,” replied Raquel, echoing David.

  Caroline’s temper flared. “I still want you to call them, to do something, anything, rather than just stand there behind that desk of yours, looking so bloody bored.”

  “Hey! I didn’t want to crowd her.”

  “Oh, believe me, Raquel, there was no danger of that.” Caroline looked around her, at the complete lack of staff, the lack of anyone for that matter, people turning a blind eye, not wanting to get involved, dismissing Elspeth as a mad woman probably, fearing her. Even so, leaving her to freeze half-naked in the snow? It wasn’t on. “As a guest of The Egress, Elspeth is your responsibility. Now get on the damned phone and ask for advice if nothing else. The poor woman’s likely to be suffering from hypothermia.”

  For a moment Raquel stood firm, boredom replaced by a touch of defiance and then she slunk away, Caroline staring daggers at her.

  “Nice work.” It was David congratulating her.

  “Let’s hope she hurries,” Caroline responded. They couldn’t just stand there, in the lobby, waiting for advice from Raquel. Elspeth needed to warm up properly.

  “Take her to my room,” Marilyn said, clearly thinking the same thing.

  Again David looked at Caroline. Why not take her there? It was as good a room as any. She was about to nod when the elevator doors opened and Althea came towards them, Jenna keeping apace.

  “What’s happened?” she asked.

  Caroline wanted to berate her too for belatedly getting involved, but her courage failed her. Instead, as dutiful as Jenna, she explained all that had transpired.

  “She needs dry clothes,” Althea said, as soon as Caroline had finished, “warm blankets wrapped around her, and warm drinks too.” Turning to Elspeth, she asked her to cough.

  Caroline frowned. Why was she asking that?

  As obedient as a child, Elspeth did indeed cough, not once but twice.

  Althea appeared satisfied.

  “Raquel is phoning the medics for advice,” Caroline continued. “We’re waiting—”

  “No need to wait,” Althea interrupted. “I’ve already given you the advice you need.”

  “But—”

  David backed Althea up. “She’s right, Caroline, that is the correct advice.”

  Althea turned to David and looked him up and down as though seeing him for the first time. “You can take her to my suite,” she said at last, another command.

  “Oh,” Marilyn piped up, “we’ve already sorted that. She’s coming with me.”

  “You’re on the eleventh floor too.” It was a statem
ent from Althea not a question.

  Marilyn nodded.

  To David, she said, “And you’re on the third.”

  “That’s correct,” David replied. “Room—”

  “310,” Althea finished. “You have a corner suite.”

  “I sure do,” was his wry reply. “Lucky me.”

  Althea’s nostrils flared slightly. “I hope so, David, I truly do. Alright.” She gave Marilyn a brief nod. “Take her to your room, she’s safe with you.”

  Safe? What did she mean by that, this woman who was diminutive but no less enigmatic than Edward, who Edward couldn’t bear the mention of? What was going on between them, with Elspeth too, with Marilyn, and John and Tallula? Out of all of them, David seemed to be the sanest by a country mile; she only hoped he thought the same of her. Then again, having got angry with him at dinner because he happened to mention she was staring at Edward might make him reconsider. That fiery streak in her might impress him when it came to Raquel, but not when turned against him. She’d apologised once, but at dinner tonight, she’d offer to foot the bill for a bottle of wine – God knows they’d earned it – and she’d be ‘Sweet Caroline’, as her mother had always intended.

  Raquel emerged from the office behind her desk waving a piece of paper in her hand, her manner as leisurely as ever, causing Caroline to bite down on her lip.

  “I’ve got the details you wanted,” she drawled.

  “But no hope of them actually coming here?” Caroline checked.

  “None at all.”

  “Damn,” Caroline swore under her breath.

  “Caroline,” David said, “can you help me get Elspeth into the elevator?”

  Marilyn jumped into action. “There’s no need. I’ll help.”

  “It’s okay…” Caroline begun but Marilyn was determined.

  “Elspeth knows me and, as has already been pointed out, she feels safe with me. We mustn’t linger anymore. Look at her, poor darling, she’s shivering so much!”

  Practically pushing Caroline aside, Marilyn took Elspeth’s arm. “Come on, David,” she urged again. “Let’s get going.”

  “Okay,” David replied, “but, Caroline, get some ice on that jaw, will you?”