Je Suis a Toi (Monsters in the Dark #3.5)(14)

Franco hopped up, grabbing a top card from some moth-eaten time-stained deck on the coffee table. “Great, I’ll start.” He read the script on the chosen paper, his forehead furrowing. “There’s a game called Wink Murder.” Glancing at us, he added, “But I don’t think we can play it with so few numbers.”

“How does it go?” Suzette asked, smoothing her pale blue dress with silver lace in the panels around her chest. I loved seeing her so normal and content. I never asked her to wear a uniform while working at the chateau, yet she did.

I supposed it might seem odd to be fast friends with my housekeeper, but I found it perfect. She knew my secrets just by living under my roof. What better way to keep those secrets hidden than by befriending her and her partner?

Besides, Franco would give his life to keep me safe. And I would do the same for him, even if it wasn’t in my job description. His friendship was what bought me his loyalty, not his paid service.

“One of us is assigned the role as a murderer and can kill others by winking at them. If they’re spotted winking, they lose. But if they don’t, and people keep dying, they can win by killing off everyone before they’re caught.”

I looked at our small group. “I hardly think six will work. Next.”

Slapping the card onto the table, Franco picked up another. He put it straight back down again. “The Minister’s Cat. I don’t get the rules. I’ve had too much to drink.” He laughed. “Brain cells are on holiday.”

Suzette plucked one from the deck, pursing her lips. “This might be fun? Consequences. We each have to name an adjective, a verb, and—”

“Sounds like homework. Next.” Frederick chuckled. It was his turn to grab a card. “No, not this one, either. Way too complicated.”

Seemed like historical games were a lot more tricky than the games of today. Or we were just less intelligent.

Or drunk.

I’d go with the drunk option. And was perfectly fine with that.

Taking another sip, I let them decide our fate.

All I needed was Tess beside me and the expensive whiskey in my glass. My evening was complete.

“Oh, this one sounds good.” Suzette held up her selection. “Charades.”

We all groaned in unison.

“That’s a sure-fire way to make a fool of yourself,” Frederick said.

“Then it should be easy for you,” Angelique quipped.

Frederick rolled his eyes. “Fine, woman. But wouldn't you much rather play that game where you have to guess the name of a movie or song with pictures?” He pointed at the whiteboard. “That’s what that’s for, right?”

Angelique shook her head. “They wouldn't have had that wipeable thing back then. Charades are much more in keeping with the times.”

I swallowed a mouthful of whiskey, joining in the bullying toward my CEO. “Go on, Frederick. You’re up. Make a fool of yourself.”

Franco laughed while Tess snuggled deeper into my side.

Standing, Frederick proceeded to do exactly what I demanded.

He made an absolute utter fool of himself.

For the next few glasses of alcohol, we laughed at each other’s expense.

And I slowly forgot why I was terrified of surprises.

*

Midnight chimed in the large grandfather clock in the foyer, clanging through stone walls and architraves, echoing in our alcohol-mellowed bodies.

For the past few hours, we’d drank, joked, humiliated ourselves, and hung out like any normal group of friends. Half-way through the charade skit, while Tess scratched the top of her head and blew bubbles like a monkey, I pressed pause on this magical evening and let myself enjoy such simple but valuable things.

I’d never once played like this.

Innocently played with others without barking orders, running companies, or fighting unfairness on behalf of those who’d suffered so much. Even with Tess, I was still aggressive and overbearing and never just relaxed enough to laugh and be normal.

But this…

This ‘forced upon me’ holiday where my work colleagues and staff became trusted parlour game enthusiasts, I was struck by how beautiful it was. How rare and f*cking precious.

For the past fifteen minutes, we’d finished teasing and poking fun and sipped contently on our rapidly depleting reserves of whiskey and wine.

I was inching past tipsy to drunk, but I wasn’t pissed at the lack of motor skills and slight blurriness of my vision. It was nice to be intoxicated and have nowhere to be, no worry to feel, and no one to keep appearances for.

Even in our own home, Tess and I could never let down our walls entirely because we always had guests. Women from rapists and slaves from imprisonment. If they saw us laughing and drinking, it would be a slap in the face of their unhappiness.

Frederick stretched, covering his mouth as he yawned. “We’re getting old if we can barely last past midnight.”

Tess giggled. “Speak for yourself. Suzette and I are years younger than you lot.”

Younger by calendars but not by wisdom. If anything, Tess surpassed me in emotional intelligence and wisdom on a daily basis.

“How about one more game and then we retire?” Frederick asked, reaching once again for the deck of cards.

No one complained. We’d all slipped into acceptance. We’d played Tiddly Winks, Snap Dragon, which ensured Franco singed his eyebrows (a stupidly dangerous game of flaming brandy while trying to scoop raisins from the flammable liquid), Twenty Questions, and the mind-taxing memory game called Elephant Foot Umbrella Stand.