Draw Me A Picture

by Meredith Greene

  “Hmm...” William said, suddenly feeling a little ‘old’. “You like the newer movies, do you?” Michelle snorted, though softly.

  “Not usually,” she said, surprising her companion. “That one was the first good one in awhile. That and ‘The Rundown’. Before that I liked best 'Henry the Fifth’, 'Persuasion' and ‘The Big Store’.”

  William almost choked.

  “The Big Store?” he asked, grinning. “The Marx brothers? Are you serious?” Michelle laughed a little, biting her lip.

  “Uh oh... perhaps you should have known my affinity for them before you agreed to marry me...” she teased. William wrinkled his nose at her, an action which made her giggle even more.

  “When I was a lad I thought the Marx brothers were the cleverest people on the planet,” William said, smiling. “I rather like Duck Soup the best.”

  “Was that the one where Harpo rode down the football field like Ben- Hur?” Michelle asked.

  “The very one, minx,” William said, fondly. “We should rent it and watch it together.” Michelle returned his smile.

  “I’m glad we saved all the cheesy dating stuff for our married life,” she said, sincerely. “I won’t do horror movies though… those I absolutely loathe.” William smiled at her.

  “I’ll agree with you there, love,” he said. “If you want to be frightened, watch the news.”

  William did not think two people could talk for several hours for fun and not run out of conversation, but he was proved wrong; the bride and groom found ample subjects to discuss and did not need to watch an in-flight movie. They did however enjoy a four-course meal, the quality of which caused no small amount of surprise to the bride. To her, airline food was famous for its anti-appeal, but this meal was very good. It included a poached salmon fillet with a dill-Dijon sauce, crisp bread, a fresh salad with avocados and an citrus dressing of some kind. Michelle had a delicious raspberry sorbet for dessert, though she ended up sharing half of it with William. He did not care for the rather limp-looking crème puff that came with his meal.

  “I recognize that pastry from the French Interpol’s 'most soggy' list,” Michelle whispered to her groom. William choked on his water and sputtered a bit into his table napkin. Alarmed, Michelle began to stand up, in order to hit him on the back, but he held up his hand. Another sip of water and he was fine. “I’m sorry...” Michelle said, biting her lip. “I shall pause in whispering my musings to you ‘til I’m certain you are not consuming any liquids.”

  “You’ll do no such thing,” William countered, with a wide grin. “I like your little intrepid forays into the realm of comedy.” Smiling, Michelle picked up the table linen and dabbed it gently on William’s hand.

  “Water droplets,” she said, shyly. Her soft, low voice sparked several simultaneous thoughts in William’s mind. All of them would have to wait.

  “I see,” he said, his blue eyes a little darker. His bride smiled at her plate until the stewardess came to remove them.

  The entire flight lasted roughly six and a half hours, a little longer than Michelle expected. The time passed pleasantly however. William spent almost no time in his own berth.

  “We could have just shared one, you know,” Michelle teased him. “Saved yourself the expense of two.” William answered her by pulling her onto his lap.

  “Minx,” he said, holding her close. He felt anxious to arrive at the airport; they still had another short flight to catch to their final destination. However, sitting here with his arms around Michelle, smelling her hair and watching her smile kept William in a great mood.

  Once Michelle was compelled to use the airplane bathroom; expecting a tiny closet to pack her and her dress into, Michelle was relieved at finding larger accommodations. The room provided a fresh-smelling liquid soap she liked very much. Exiting the bathroom, their stewardess walked by and saw her.

  “I just have to tell you that is the most gorgeous dress I have ever seen,” the lady said, smiling. Michelle returned her smile.

  “Thank you,” she said. She pointed towards William. “We just got married today.” Again the stewardess smiled.

  “He’s gorgeous, too,” she said, “You’re lucky.”

  “Well, this is the best airline I’ve ever flown on,” Michelle returned, hoping to give some kind of compliment back. “I hope you give business class a real run for its money.” The stewardess giggled at this, and nodded.

  “We are. Thank you,” she said. Michelle walked back to her seat, smiling.

  William let her by, one eyebrow up in an inquiring way.

  “What was that all about?” he inquired, trying not to appear curious. Michelle sat down and genteelly batted her eyes at him.

  “The stewardess wanted to know where I got the handsome android and where she could get one, too,” she said, pretending to read a pamphlet. A low chuckle made her look up.

  “Android, eh?” William said, narrowing his eyes at Michelle. “You’ve been watching old episodes of Dr. Who, haven’t you?” His bride gave him a soft laugh in answer.

  “You’ll never get anyone to confess to that,” she told him.

  The airplane landed at Stansted International Airport in the dark. Michelle saw the lights of London approaching through her window. Once the airplane passengers disembarked, the bridal couple said a pleasant farewell to the stewardess.

  During the first few minutes in the terminal, Michelle thought she was going to be absolutely unable to understand anyone. Surely these people weren’t speaking English… but another language entirely. It sounded like some throaty, slurred speech, filled with slang that only they understood. Michelle clung to William’s arm, much to his amusement. After a few minutes of listening hard, she was able to pick some of the words out from in the conversations of the other people around them in the Customs line. Both airport security and the customs agents worked with amazing speed; it took the bridal pair less than a half an hour to get through the lines. One customs agent looked at Michelle and murmured at William that he was a ‘dodgy blighter’. Ignorant of the phrase, Michelle assumed it was an insult; William did not look complimented.

  The airline released their luggage efficiently; William again had porters carry the bags; he felt a bit preoccupied with Michelle. Arm in arm, they strolled from the entrance doors. Freezing air enveloped them; William was mentally prepared for it, but Michelle shivered a good deal, infinitely glad she’d worn a wool coat. Her thin bridal gown, however, left like nothing at all. They quickly ducked into a shuttle –bus for a ride to a far corner of the airfield. A few charter-flight companies sat out there by large, separate hangars. The frigid air did not dampen Michelle’s spirits; she let William lead her around, speaking to his fellow countrymen in a more familiar manner than she’d seen him exude in New York.

  A small, sleek-looking jet sat on the runway; Michelle gasped a little at it.

  “It looks like the kind drug lords use to transport their coke,” she said, with a straight face. William burst out laughing.

  “Drug lords? What old movie did you see that in?” he inquired, leading her towards the airplane. Michelle smiled sheepishly.

  “TV series. Miami Vice,” she said, shrugging. William chuckled.

  “You need a hobby,” he said, indicating a short flight of steps up to the jet’s entrance.

  “I have several,” Michelle said, over her shoulder. William waited to pursue this line of conversation until the flight had taken off.

  Michelle was surprised how loud the engines were compared to the EOS plane. As the jet took off, she saw the beautiful lights of London spread out all around them again, appearing like so many stars fallen from the sky. The pool of sparkling lights drifted slowly away as their jet raced northward.

  “So... hobbies?” William said over the noise of the engines; he put an arm around his wife’s shoulders. Michelle smiled.

  “Playing the piano perhaps, and let’s see...drawing?” she said, giving William a sideways look.

 
; “... And being a general minx,” her man said, kissing her cheek. “Let’s not forget climbing trees.” He looked at Michelle, his eyes perusing her features; he wanted to memorize every detail of her face. “There is so much we get to learn about each other,” he continued. “I want to know all about you.” Michelle turned her face towards him.

  “I have many mundane details to share,” she said, trying not to laugh. “But I’d rather know about you than relate things about myself.”

  “I know,” William said, leaning his forehead on hers a little. “It’s far easier to ask than to tell, isn’t it? Tell you what, I’ll go out on a limb for you, and you do the same and we’ll both dive into vulnerability, together.” Michelle smiled a little.

  “OK,” said she. “You seem like you’re worth the risk.” William’s answer to that did not require words.

  The flight lasted less than an hour. The sky looked quite dark by the time they couple disembarked from the little jet; no city lights illumined the night sky here. Michelle noticed the air was even more frigid, but wondered if it was merely the wind that made it feel so. William led her towards a waiting car; the warm exhaust from the engine showed up as plumes of white drifting across the car’s headlights. As cold as the air of Scotland felt, overhead was quite a sight to be seen. Stars sparkled everywhere; billions of them… more visible than any Michelle had ever seen. They looked like a tapestry of woven diamonds blanketing the sky. She stood for a moment outside the rumbling car, staring up with an awed smile on her face.

  William saw her posture and looked up himself; he smiled.

  “They are beautiful, are they not?” he asked, putting his arm around Michelle's shoulders. She nodded, speechless. William bent a little and kissed his bride’s ear. “Come on, love. You’re cold.” he said, gently guiding her into the car. Michelle sat down on the springy seat, looking out the window at the stars again.

  “I’ve lived in the city so long I almost forgot what a sky full of stars looks like,” she said, once William climbed in beside her. He chuckled.

  “Yes, well I’ve not looked at stars for some time myself,” he confessed. “Birkhill Castle, please,” he said to the cab driver.

  “Right,” the cabbie said; the car moved away from the airline at a rapid speed.

  Michelle looked over at William with wide eyes. Her fiancé grinned, and shrugged.

  “Castle?” Michelle inquired. She looked at him narrowly. “I sure hope that’s a local colloquialism for cottage or hotel.” Her loving man chuckled.

  “Well, perhaps it is,” William said, with infuriating calm. “Perhaps it means a really big cottage... made out of stone, with towers.” Michelle gasped, then smiled at him; before she thought better of it, she reached forward and jabbed William’s side a little. Her man bent over a little, before he caught himself. Michelle smiled with a great revelation, her eyes alight. William was ticklish. Her husband straightened up and pretended to be unaffected.

  Leaning towards him a little, Michelle smiled sweetly.

  “You’re ticklish?” she inquired, her voice very quiet. William heard each word, however; he cleared his throat.

  “I don’t know what you are talking... gah!” Michelle’s fingers stealthily found another spot on William’s rib cage; twisting around, William captured her hands. He smiled down on his wife. “None of that, minx.” he warned; he could not stop a low chuckle at his wife’s expression. Michelle looked very happy indeed to have found his weak spot.

  “A chink in the armor!” she said, giggling. “I’m so glad you have one...”

  William made a face and released her hands.

  “If you’re going to start a tickling war, my love, you should bear in mind that you are equally sensitive.” Finishing his threat, William bent down and kissed his bride fondly. Michelle reached up and touched his ear, with light, soft fingertips. William pulled quickly away from her.

  “You play unfairly, love,” he said, smirking at her. “Those fingers of yours do strange things to me. No touching until we get to the... er, cottage, with the towers.” Michelle smiled to herself; merriment twinkled in her eyes.

  “I wonder what other quirks he has...” she thought; she was suddenly curious to find out exactly how ticklish William really was. “Patience,” she silently told herself.

  Birkhill Castle turned out to be a real castle, on an estate... a large estate. Michelle stared out the window as they approached the structure; light poured through the darkness from several windows, including one high up above the rest. She looked at William, and sat back against the seat.

  “You rented a castle for us,” she said, quietly. “Wow.” Her husband laughed, mostly at her.

  “I’m glad you like it,” William said. “Very private, lots of space to walk around, like you wanted...”

  “But, a castle?” Michelle said, tempted to tickle the man again. “I certainly didn’t expect... it’s wonderful.” William smiled; affection shone in his eyes and Michelle felt every iota of it.

  “Maybe I wanted you all to myself,” her man murmured “You can’t run from me in a castle, now can you?” Michelle saw William was teasing her but she felt tears start in her eyes.

  “I don’t want to run from you,” she said, softly. “Never.” She slipped her arms around William’s neck and kissed his face several times. Closing his eyes, William was infinitely glad they were finally here; his bride had no idea what he’d suffered all day, and these little kisses from her soft lips were not helping. Not at all.

  “Here we go, love,” he said as the car stopped under a grand breezeway.

  William helped his bride from the car; her awed face was very satisfying to see. Even at night, the place looked spectacular. A thin man in a fine, black wool suit met that at the entrance; the man had a pleasant face but wore a serious expression as if he had much to do and not enough time to do it.

  “Mr. and Mrs. Montgomery... I am very pleased to meet you,” the man said; his accent appeared barely Scottish, but he spoke with precise, excellent diction. William shook hands with the man; Michelle got a smile from the man by giving him a small curtsy

  “My dear you are a lovely bride, if I may say so. I am Aidan Gainnes, the keeper of the Birkhill estate for the Earl and Countess of Dundee.”

  “Earl?” Michelle repeated, softly. Mr. Gainnes smiled.

  “The Earl and Countess live here, my dear,” he explained, gently. “They often rent it out when not present, especially during the colder months.”

  “It’s breathtaking,” Michelle told him. Indeed it was. The foyer they stood in was literally swathed in beige and warm cream colors, tapestries, glinting lamps and light fixtures and long rugs on the highly polished floor.

  “Thank you,” Mr. Gainnes said. “All the arrangements you asked for have been seen to. I know you are anxious to retire soon, so I’ll not take up too much for your time.” William nodded.

  “Thank you, sir,” he said, smiling. “My wife and I are a bit tired from our trip.” Mr. Gainnes seemed to find this amusing and hid a small smile in a cough.

  “Yes, well... I’ll be off then,” he said; Michelle thought she saw a slight twinkle in the man’s eye. She blushed, knowing full well William was not in the least tired. Neither was she. Mr. Gainnes had more to say; he handed William a little, paper book. “Here is a map of Birkhill and a pamphlet on its history. If you need anything, Allan is in the outbuilding, just to the right of the kitchen entrance; he’s steward here in my absence and walks the perimeter with the dogs at night. Keeps to himself, though. Marcie is taking your things to the master bedroom; she leaves at night, as does the cook, Anna. She comes in at 7am, and breakfast is at eight, sharp.”

  “Thank you Mr. Gainnes,” William said, looking at the map for the tower entrance. He didn’t see it right away and looked up again. Mr. Gainnes pointed discreetly to his right, with a smile. William grinned and said goodnight to the man. Once the man left, no sounds could be heard in the large hall, save the popping of a
crackling fire somewhere close.

  Feeling a sudden tide of nervousness come upon her, Michelle bit her lip and looked around.

  “It’s just beautiful in here,” she said, smiling a little. “It feels cozy, even though it is a castle.” William smiled.

  “Yes, they didn’t overdo it on the decor, thank God,” William commented. They walked forward a little, pausing to look at a few things. William felt Michelle’s hesitancy now that they were alone; just beyond a particularly large grandfather clock stood a slender door partially receded into the stone wall. Glancing down at the map William grinned.

  “Almost,” he thought, looking over at his lovely bride.

  “Look, it says they even have a tower,” he said, in an off-handed fashion. Michelle looked up at him, her face alight.

  “No way...” she said, smiling very wide. “I love towers.” William buried his laughter with a great effort.

  “Really? Let’s go up and look at it, shall we? Then we’ll try to locate our room.” His suggestion met with universal approval on Michelle’s part. They ducked into the door and found a set of circular stone steps heading upward. Instead of torches, little electrical, candle-shaped lights lit the stair.

  Taking Michelle’s hand, William led her up the steps; both bride and groom smiled, looking ahead around the never-ending corner.

  “This is so cool,” Michelle said, breathlessly. “Pardon the juvenile word, but my vocabulary is on hiatus.” William laughed, glancing back at her in the dim light.

  “Silly girl,” he said, fondly. “You made up for ‘cool’ with ‘hiatus’...” Laughing softly, Michelle followed her man blithely onward. William stopped at another small, wooden door. He tried the handle; it opened without a sound. He stepped into the room, drawing Michelle in after him.

  Michelle stared at the room, her mouth open a little. She was expecting piles of boxes, or an empty room with a museum-like display... or something. This room was round and small, though larger by far than her hotel room; lit candles in little lantern boxes here and there winked at her from shelves. Their luggage sat on the floor, right by a cozy-looking bed. The bed itself was on the floor, with many colored pillows on it; it reminded the bride very much of the reading nook in Vermont. Michelle put her hand up to her face, smiling beneath it.