As I wandered down the lavish staircase to begin my guided tour of Mistress' house, I pondered on where the large box of grey parcels had gone. The box was not with my belongings, even though she said all my things were together. I quickly pushed the thought from my mind and resigned myself to the fact that she must have slipped them under the bed or something. I was quite excited about the guided tour, as the only other rooms I had been in were the bedroom and this reception area. There was obviously more to this grandiose house than meets the eye and the thought of that gave me the most pleasurable tingle all over.
Mistress greeted me with a smile and linked her arm through mine. "You ready Ms Leoni?" I nodded and she directed me to the left of the staircase. We descended down two steps, through a large doorway and into a very spacious room. I was totally speechless. The floor space alone must have been a little bigger than half a tennis court. I was simply astounded. The height of the room was about twenty feet and four luxurious light fittings with attaching fans hung from the ceiling. It was a very light room with plenty of windows. Around each window, burgundy swags adorned the curtain poles, matching the lengthy burgundy curtains that hung pristinely to the floor.
From where I stood, the wall to the left of me had tables pushed right up against it that ran the length of the wall. There were also a few tables on the opposite wall. She then guided me through another doorway that led into another quite spacious room, which looked like it had been split in two, but without a wall in between. The right hand side was a nicely decorated dining room. The table had a glass top and could seat about eight people around it. The other side of the room was a bar area and on the back wall was a line of upside down spirits and bottles, just as you'd see in a usual bar in town. There were also two large fridges. One was about six feet high and had a glass door, showing off four shelves completely filled with champagne. The other fridge was nearly the same height but had a white door. I assumed it was filled with wine and soft drinks.
We walked through to the kitchen and the view of the grounds from where I stood literally enchanted me. There were two huge doors that fully opened onto a very large patio area. Acres of greenery greeted me and to the left stood a large barn-like building, with my car parked under the carport beside it. "Did you drive it?" I curiously asked putting a possessive slant on it.
"What did you expect me to do with it, leave it on the driveway?" She questioned.
"Well, no, but..."
"But nothing young lady, I treated it with respect, unlike what you and your daughter do."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"One word... McDonalds!" She said, with obvious flippancy.
"Ok, guilty!"
"You always are Ms Leoni!" She said with a mischievous grin. "Come on, we're not moving very fast and today is a busy day.
She pulled me back and guided me to another door. This door was different to all the others, not so wide or tall. She reached to the back of a large container that sat on a work surface just by the door and retrieved a key that hung on a brass hook. Mistress unlocked the door and directed me through it. We were in complete darkness for a couple of seconds until a dim light shone from behind me.
"Where are we going?" I asked curiously, feeling a light churning develop in the pit of my stomach.
"You'll see." Mistress took my by the hand and led me down the short corridor and then down a spiral staircase. At the bottom was another door. She tilted a picture on the wall that obscured a gap, about half the size of a brick and took another key from the crevice, followed by placing the picture in its rightful place.
The door creaked open and the room suddenly lit up, as did my eyes. They widened and I gasped at the contents in the room. Mistress looked at me. "Do you like my dungeon Ms Leoni?" I was rendered speechless and just nodded foolishly. "Cat got your tongue!" She giggled. My mouth fell open, no sound escaping as my eyes drank in the sights before me. "I'll stay here young lady, and you walk around. Touch anything you want, sit on anything you want. If you want to know anything, all you have to do is ask, ok?"
I was bewildered and mumbled softly. "Yes Mistress."