"It's the first house on the right. Black gates outside. Hard to miss."
That's what the message on Lilly's phone had said. "Hard to miss." Talk about an understatement. As if the eight-foot tall iron gates weren't conspicuous enough, the house itself was huge - maybe a hundred years old but with a sleek, smooth marble facade.
The light emanating from the house stood in stark contrast to the storm-black sky. The enormous master bedroom was visible even through the driving rain pouring down its wall-to-wall window on the second floor, but Lilly could see at least three more rooms along its side. It was no mansion but it was far more than she'd been expecting. And it was to be her home for the weekend.
She leaned out of her car and pressed the buzzer on the gate, looking into its spherical black camera. A friendly voice crackled over the speaker.
"Come on in!" The gates opened, and Lilly parked her battered Ford Fiesta on the gravel driveway. It was only three metres from her car to the front door, but her simple black playsuit was no match for the wind-enforced rain and she was soaked to the skin in seconds.
As she raised her fist to knock on the gigantic wooden door, it swung open. She recognised her host from his profile picture on the PetPals app. Ty was in his mid-30s, with blue eyes and a completely shaven head. But what his pictures hadn't conveyed was his charisma, and just how piercing those eyes were.
"You must be Lilly!"
"Ty?"
"The very same." Ty put out his hand and Lilly shook it gently. She was feeling strangely nervous all of a sudden. "Great to meet you."
Lilly was a youthful 19 years old, with pale white skin and naturally jet black hair. She had a cute septum piercing, and the rain-drenched cotton clung to her, revealing glimpses of the ornate tattoos on her thighs. Ty allowed himself a smile at the irony of such a beautiful young woman being in his house only because he would not be. PTyably for the best, he thought.
"Come in, come in, get dry." As Lilly walked through the door, a tiny puppy - some kind of chihuahua, she'd guessed from the pictures - bounded over and started excitedly jogging on its back legs, licking her hand.
"This is Nova," said Ty. "He likes you. Have you been doing this for long?"
"About a year now. I'll take care of him as if he were mine, but please let me know if you have any particular routines or -"
"He's very low-maintenance," Ty said, waving his hand dismissively. "All the instructions are in the app. Now, let me give you the tour."
Lilly had taken up dog sitting as a way to spend time with animals while she wasn't allowed to keep one in her student home, but it had soon become valuable time for her to escape from her housemates, the washing up, and the mold left untreated by an absentee landlord.
She'd never gotten as lucky as this, though. Ty's house was a luxurious bachelor pad, complete with an indoor hot tub accessible through the living room, which itself had at its centre a fully-stocked cocktail station with every type of liquor imaginable.
Having fired up the tub - "It takes a while to get going," he'd explained - Ty noticed Lilly's eyes her lingering on the bottles of spirits and syrups as the sound of whirring jets drifted through the house.
"You like a drink, I take it?" He asked.
Lilly froze. Some pet owners were extremely precious.
"Every now and then?" She tentatively replied.
"Well, I don't want to be a bad influence but please, do help yourself."
Lilly couldn't believe her luck. Her plans for a quiet night of studying were rapidly being replaced by visions of cocktails in the hot tub.
"I'll be back early on Sunday. Make yourself completely at home. Oh, and one more thing," Ty said kneeled down to pet Nova goodbye.
Lilly waited anxiously. This was usually where she was told not to sleep on the host's bed, or use their shower, or let the dog meet any people. They always waited until the very end to drop the mad shit on you.
"Please - have fun."
The door slammed, and he was gone.
Lilly went straight for the bar and checked the contents. Vodka, gin, tequila, triple sec and rum - everything she needed for a Long Island Iced Tea. As she went to sit on the sofa with her drink, it dawned on her that her wet clothes would soak the sofa. She drew the blinds, blocking the outside world, peeled off the playsuit and hung it on the radiator. Even her underwear was drenched. She took off her bra, turned up the thermostat and sat on Ty's sofa, the cool leather sticking to her skin.
One hour and three cocktails later, Lilly was still half-naked - two years of living in a shared house with her student friends meant she didn't take this sort of opportunity for granted and she was reveling in the sense of liberation. Nova was curled up next to her, asleep, and she felt truly relaxed.
Looking for a snack, she went to investigate Ty's kitchen. As she was rifling through his cupboards - health food and whey proteins, mainly - she noticed a drawer at the back of the room with a "no entry" sign and a child lock. The only drawer in the house equipped with such a device. Her curiosity got the better of her and, drunkenly fumbling with the lock, she popped it apart and slid open the drawer.
"Woah," she said to herself, out loud.
The drawer contained three large tupperware boxes. One was clearly full of weed; another appeared to have boxes of various prescription tablets - xanax, valium - but the third contained three glass vials, each full of what looked like extremely high-quality, finely crushed cocaine.
Lilly had never tried coke properly. She didn't like the effect it had on other people. But here, in a luxurious house, with only a dog to judge her... she picked up one of the vials. The lid was bisected by a slim pivot. She pushed it and a tiny scoop popped up. Classy. She took two small bumps, intending to put the vial back afterwards.
"Oh, shit," she said, out loud. The drug hit her brain almost instantly and she felt a wave of energy and happiness. This was damn good stuff. She grabbed a bottle of rum from the bar and took a swig, then used her phone to start playing her favourite hip-hop playlist through Ty's fancy wi-fi speaker system.
As Biggie Smalls blasted through the house, Lilly took another bump from the vial and danced back to the living room on a cloud of euphoria. She opened the door to the hot tub and found it bubbling away in full effect. Ceiling speakers piped in the music and the room had its own dimmer switch. Of course.
Rum in one hand, cocaine vial in the other, Lilly swaggered over to the hot tub. She placed the party favours on the side - just within reach of the tub - and turned down the lights to match the party spirit she felt in her head.
Swaying in time to the music, she slipped her underwear off as if stripping for an imaginary audience, then sunk into the warmth of the bubbling water. Even if the front door had been closer, she wouldn't have heard it over the music.
*******
"You really have made yourself at home."
Lilly had her eyes closed, savouring the coke she'd just inhaled and its drip down the back of her throat, when she heard Ty's voice.
She opened her eyes to find herself looking straight into his, as he leaned over the tub to pick up the vial. He glanced down at her pert, full breasts sitting halfway above the water, before standing back up and flipping the jar open.
Her stimulant-addled brain went into overdrive.
"I'm sorry I didn't mean to take the piss I was just curious and I can pay you back, I only meant to try a little bit but- "
"But it's really fucking good, isn't it?" Ty smiled.
