"It must be Jake," Siena deduced, her mind catching up first with their reality. "Christopher must have sent him to pick us up. I suppose the Society is just as excited about our first quest as we are."
James nodded. "I'm sure you are right. I'll get the door." He closed his notebook and stood up, pushing the booklet into the back pocket of his jeans as he headed for the door, looking as impatient as she felt.
"I'll get ready then, tell Jake I only need five minutes. Let me get my handbag and the book," Siena called after him, rushing towards her room.
When she exited the garden flat minutes later, her bag on her shoulder, she found James and Jake chatting inside the entry hall, politely waiting for her.
"Miss Siena," Jake, the driver, greeted her with a smile while she closed the door of the flat behind her.
"Hi Jake. Just call me Siena, please." She returned his friendly smile before she turned to James, passing him a blue-grey, zip cardigan. "Here. I found this one on your bed, I thought you meant to carry it with you and forgot. You'll be cold in that t-shirt should we return late at night." She shrugged in half-apology for entering his bedroom without permission, and he fought his urge to embrace her. She was perfect.
"Thanks, Siena," he said simply when he noticed Jake turning away as if they needed privacy. Were they so obvious? He took the cardigan from her along with the house keys, which she dropped into his palm. "Lead the way, Jake," he told the driver, puzzled by how Siena was suddenly keeping her distance from him-- she was very careful not to touch him as she passed him the things. He would give anything to know what was going on in her head.
They followed their driver out of the house, and Siena slipped onto the back seat of the car the moment Jake opened the door for her, while James locked the house and closed garden gate.
He climbed into the back next to her then, acknowledging Jake's all-knowing grin, which he caught in the rearview mirror, with a small smile. Apparently, they were not the first Book Travellers to feel like this about each other... Had the others suppressed their feelings? Had they acted on them? His father was married when he worked for the Society...
He banished all those maddening thoughts and questions when he felt Siena drawing closer to him, her determination to keep her distance gone just as fast as it had appeared, the back of her cold hand brushing against his lying on the seat between them, for him to take it in his or leave it there.
He closed his large, warm hand around her small and cold, pulling her closer and wrapping his arm over her shoulders for good measure. She was getting nervous, he could feel it, but he wanted her to know that he wouldn't let anything bad happen to her, he would protect her wherever their quests would take them.
She laced her fingers through his in an immediate response to his touch, and he could feel how it took all her will not to lean her head into the crook of his shoulder. She would do it, he was sure, if Jake's eyes didn't dart to them so often. She just needed time to wrap her mind around him possibly becoming more than a simple colleague and he would give it to her, he mused. This was only the first of the many quests they would undertake together. Then, once she would be ready to take him into her life, he would be there waiting with open arms. He already couldn't picture his life with any other woman but her.
Siena had no idea how long it took Jake to drive them to the Headquarters, she was too focused on James, the comforting weight of his arm lying on her shoulders, his warmth and his scent, the sound of his heartbeat, his hand never quite still as it enclosed hers within a never-ceasing caress. It was all so pleasant, satisfying, promising...
She scowled at Jake when she caught his bemused smile in the rearview mirror once he pulled up outside the jungle-encased building of the Headquarters.
"Here you are!" Christopher's voice welcomed them the moment they, holding hands, set foot on the garden path after saying goodbye to Jake, who drove off instantly. "I was so very sorry to have missed you yesterday, but Alicia and Albert told me everything, and we're quite ready for you," he said, ushering them inside.
The interior of the house shrouded in perpetual shadows cast by the unkempt garden plants felt much colder than their flat or Jake's car, even on such a warm and sunny day.
Siena shivered, and James wrapped his arm around her waist in an unconscious response. She smiled to herself, to anyone who didn't know them they must look like a couple who had been together for months. She knew she should step away from him and pull up, yet again, the walls he always caused to crumble by one smile, a word, by simply being himself. With her luck, this whatever was going on between them wouldn't work, and the further she allowed it to go, the worse they would suffer later... But his nearness felt too good, too right...
"Your costumes and everything else is ready. Just follow them and..."
"I want Alicia," Siena interrupted Christopher's speech. She wasn't going to let the swarm of people whom Christopher had indicated, all dressed in white lab coats, standing on the outskirts of her field of vision lining the dark corridor like silent shadows, help her to prepare for the first quest. She needed to see the old woman who had known her grandmother.
"And I was hoping to consult a few more ideas with Albert," James said in her support. Even though he didn't care much about it himself, he could understand Siena's need of a familiar face in this situation.
"Of course, of course," Christopher said a little reluctantly. "Just go up with them; they'll show you into your changing rooms, and I'll send Alicia and Albert to you the moment they arrive. They should be here shortly."
"Thank you, Christopher," Siena said, feeling a little guilty at seeing the look he gave them. He might be the head of the Bibliophile Society, but his cold efficiency and possibly greater knowledge of what they were about to experience would never replace Alicia's warm smile and the snippets of information Siena's grandma must have shared with her about her adventures. Grandma Lara was a chatty, loving, open-hearted person, Alicia was bound to be a treasure trove of memories and insight.
"My pleasure," Christopher said now with a genuine smile, collecting himself. "Up you go and start getting dressed, I'll send your friends to you the moment they come."
James squeezed her hand, attracting her attention, and they followed four of the white-clad figures down the corridor and up the ill-lit staircase situated just beyond the parlour they had the tea in yesterday.
"This is your room, Mr James," one of the two men spoke, indicating the first door set in the wall of a corridor opening at the top of the stairs.
"Here's yours," one of the two women addressed Siena, taking a few steps forward, reaching another door.
Siena sighed; it felt almost scary being separated from James here and now, in the semi-darkness of an alien Victorian house that felt so much more like a huge laboratory of a crazy scientist without the two familiar, friendly faces she had been sure she would see upon her arrival.
James surprised her by pulling her in a brief embrace and bestowing a kiss on top of her head before he followed his escort into the dressing room.
"I'll see you in a few minutes, I'll be right next door. And I bet Alicia will arrive before we get changed. I'll make them leave the door open, just call should you need anything, promise?"
"Thanks, James," she muttered, looking up at him thankfully. "I'm sure it will be easier the second time, I just need to get used to it."
He nodded. "And remember, once we understand how this all works, we won't have to do this from here at all unless we want to, we'll be able to transport from the flat," he whispered in her ear, making her nod eagerly before he vanished into his room, leaving the door ajar as he had promised.
Siena took the last few steps separating her from her room and entered. The place was large and bright, too bright after the gloomy corridors, with a tall window, letting in golden green sunlight, situated opposite the door. She walked towards it, curious about the view it offered. Through the lush foliage of the many trees embracing the house she could glimpse the river shimmering in the sunshine as it wallowed lazily in its bed, too far for its sound to carry within the room through the closed window.
She could hear her two assistants, though, and turned around to face them. While she had been admiring the view, one of the women had sat at the computer placed on the desk in the corner by the door. The other one walked along the opposite wall of the room, opening almost invisible doors of several identical, built-in, wall-to-wall, floor-to-ceiling wardrobes as white as the walls, which Siena hadn't noticed when she had walked by.
Siena gasped with surprise. The wardrobes were full of clothing ranging from normal clothes similar to those she wore, changing in colour and style towards and through what she assumed was the fashion of the past few decades, then the easily recognisable Victorian style, and older, finally seeping from the realistic looking medieval gowns to breathtaking creations of pure fantasy. And there were shoes and hats and gloves...
"They are made in such a way that they only need a little adjustment to fit almost all sizes," the woman standing by the wardrobe said when she noticed Siena observing the dresses. "Here," she added, walking towards a carved wooden screen placed in the corner by the window almost hidden by the white, velvet curtain, showing Siena a dress that was already hanging there, ready to wear. "They said you chose to do The Little Prince. You'll be dressed as a princess then, in sync with the boy's style. We believe it will be easier for you to gain his trust and make him listen to you if you look familiar."
Siena nodded. The dress was incredible, composed of a tight, golden bodice and a wide, floor-length skirt looking as if it was stitched together from thousands of crimson roses. And there was a blue coat with a red lining, just like the one the Little Prince wore, too.
"It's wonderful," Siena said, and the woman beckoned her to come closer.
"You get changed behind the screen. Call me if you need help with anything. We'll choose your shoes and do your hair once you are dressed. Oh, and should you need the bathroom, it's in the corridor, the door just opposite of this room. It's easier to use before we get you in that gown," she smiled.
"Thank you..." Siena trailed off, realising she didn't know the woman's name.
"Monica. And she's Anne," she waved towards her friend, who was busily at work behind her computer. "You are welcome, Siena."
Siena vanished behind the screen, feeling as if she was within a dream. The dress was magnificent; she had never worn anything like it, and the thought that she was dressing up to be transported within a plot of a book was incredible. It would definitely take a few tries before it would stop feeling bizarre and impossible and amazing and dangerous...
She removed her clothes quickly, rushing to put the gown on so she could go back to James. Everything about this crazy adventure seemed easier to understand and accept when he was near.