ME, CINDERELLA?(27)
I flushed even harder and set my mouth in a line. I wasn’t going to reply to any allegations that might lead to rumors. Eliot probably had enough on his plate to deal with without that. Lori simply smiled.
“Good for him,” she said, and disappeared back into the cockpit, closing the door behind her.
The plane landed in Budapest with the sun shining brightly outside. The ground stretched on below for miles, covered with a thick blanket of snow, and the horizon’s mountains glittered with icy peaks. The buildings were sugared with icicles and snow, gridded by darker gray streets. As we glided to a landing, I felt a thrill of fear of the unknown pass through me. A new world, a new place to begin in. I thought it looked like paradise.
When I stepped out of the plane, I nearly froze to death.
“It’s so cold!” I yelped. I jumped back into the cockpit, nearly knocking Louis down on the stairs of the plane. I dug through my bag and found two more long sleeved shirts that I pulled on over me before zipping up my hoodie. Still, compared to the delicious warmth of the luxury jet, the outside air stung all the way through the layers. My nose ran and I wiped it on my sleeve. Ugh.
I waved goodbye to Lori, and Louis escorted me over to airport customs. After being ushered through a private security check, I scurried over to the curb, where a limo waited for me. The driver spoke halting English, but I understood enough to know that he was taking me to the internship apartments. He had a letter for me, which I tucked next to me as I took off my outer layers. I blew on my hands, waiting for them to warm up before ripping the envelope open. Inside were two keys and a note. I held my breath as I read his handwriting.
Brynn—
Right now I am attending a dinner with my brother, but will be back later this evening to check in and make sure you are comfortable in the apartments. The smaller key is for the room inside, 6b. I also have a textbook for you if you’d like to begin your studies early.
All the best,
E. Herceg
I ran my fingers over his signature. I’d never seen it before, and it seemed to tell me something about the kind of man he was. The elegant curls of the E, the way he underlined his name with the tail of the last letter. An easy confidence in those letters. I wished only that it had been his first name, but I no longer had the privilege of calling him that.
“Eliot,” I whispered, as though the word itself were illicit.
The ride to the apartments only took a few minutes, and although I pressed my nose to the window, I could barely see anything of the new city I had landed in. High stone walls loomed over sidewalk snowdrifts, and the few people walking down the street were bundled up so much as to be unrecognizable. We rounded a corner into a neighborhood where the buildings cast shadows down onto the street, and it immediately felt like dusk had fallen. I shivered, looking up at the sky.
The limo stopped in front of a drab stone building three stories tall. All of the windowsills heaped high with snow, and I wrapped myself up again as best as I could before stepping out of the limo cab. It wasn’t enough. The cold pierced through to my skin, and even my best boots couldn’t keep out the iciness of the snow-covered sidewalk. My toes felt instantly numb.
The driver waited patiently by my side until, blushing, I scrambled in my pocket for a tip. I only had American money, not having thought to transfer any at the airport, so I gave him a dollar. He tucked it into his pocket unceremoniously, got into the limo, and drove away, leaving me standing in front of the building.
“This better be the right place,” I said, looking up at the apartments. Almost a week early, I would be staying by myself until the other students arrived. I didn’t mind solitude, and actually looked forward to exploring Budapest on my own, but I couldn’t help feeling a bit scared by the easy manner in which the limo driver had left me alone in an unfamiliar city. The street seemed dead, eerily quiet, and the top window of the building had been broken, the glass cracked in a hard, shattered star.
The wind whipped through my hoodie, and I slung my bag up over my shoulder, marching quickly up the outside stairs. The key turned in the lock, and I pushed it open, stepping inside. The door slammed shut behind me and I felt something scurry under my feet. I dropped my bag, the keys went scattering across the old wood floor, and I screamed.
The small furry creature darted behind the interior stairs, and I gasped as I threw myself backwards against the closed door behind me, knocking the wind out of my lungs. The light inside shone dimly, and I couldn’t see enough to make out what it was. Maybe a rat? I shuddered. Sometimes rats would invade my Nagy’s house to get at the pantry, and I hated the way their beady eyes looked knowingly at me as they scurried away with our food. Adrenaline made my heart pound.