Mount Asteria

Chapter Thirty Six

The Browns lived in a large Chelsea townhouse. It was tall and pretty, pillars forming a porch around the front door. Even in the rain it looked impressive. The chauffeur who had driven Alexandra from the embassy was unloading her bag, leaving her to hurry up the steps to Hestia who was waiting for her.

"Missed you!" Hestia laughed.

Alexandra put a hand over her heart. "Five days without you was pretty tough."

"Come inside," Hestia said, following the chauffeur through the door as he deposited the bag in the hall. Alexandra looked around her and was unsurprised to find the interior of the house as elegant as that of any embassy function room she had been in.

"Hi, Alexandra." Her eyes were brought to the staircase where Hestia's brother was coming down, dressed in black sports shorts and a bottle of water in hand. "Hestia, Mum and Dad are working late tonight, but they said we could go out ourselves for dinner."

"Okay, great," Hestia called, dragging Alexandra up the stairs just as he reached the last step.

His hand went out and stopped his sister before she could go any higher. "I'm going down to the gym for an hour, so how about we leave at..." He paused to consult his watch. "Seven?"

"Yeah, yeah, great." She patted Daniel's hand and continued to haul her friend around the house.

"Now, this is your room," Hestia announced, opening a door - one of many on the first landing. "Daniel!" She turned and yelled down the stairs. "Can you bring Lexie's stuff up? I forgot it."

"Oh no, I can get it." Alexandra began towards the stairs, but was cut off by the arrival of Daniel at the top of the staircase, her suitcase balanced easily in his hands. "That was quick," she said, mentally calculating if it was even humanly possible.

Daniel chuckled and dropped them at the door. "I was already on my way."

"Oh, such a gentleman," Alexandra grinned. "I'll be ordering room service and everything now."

"Be our guest," Daniel said, doing a little bow. "So where do you want to go to eat?" He looked at them expectantly.

"I don't know. Lexa?"

Alexandra shook her head. "I haven't eaten out in London in ages so I can't really remember where would be good. Whatever you guys want."

"Okay, Daniel, how about Gianno's? You like Italian?"

"Yep." Alexandra smiled.

"Alright, then, I'll meet you downstairs at...?"

"Seven," Hestia said confidently. "Oh, wait, no. Half seven? Eight? Daniel, stop!"

Daniel was silently laughing at his sister's mounting confusion. "It was seven. Just checking. Love you."

"Sometimes I question that."

Daniel left them and Hestia proceeded to show Alexandra around her room. It looked out onto the street, where rain was thundering heavily on the grey pavement.

"There's some stuff in the wardrobe," Hestia was saying behind her. "I don't know where it's from – probably some great grandfather's old stuff or something. Ugh!" Alexandra turned around to see her friend holding a long, frilly nightdress out at arm's length.

She laughed. "Or maybe not."

Hestia shoved the nightgown unceremoniously back into a drawer and shut the door of the wardrobe. "So," she said, hands on her hips as she surveyed the room. "Do you think you'll be ok?"

Alexandra nodded. "I think I'll survive."