Mistletoe’s Kiss

5. Chapter 5

5

Chapter 5

“It’s astonishing in this world how things don’t turn out at all the way you expect them to!”

Endless Night by Agatha Christie

M addy followed the rest of the group into a cosy little room nearby, it probably would have been the gentleman’s smoking room in the past, where the men retired with brandy after dinner to discuss business and politics. It was bathed in a gentle light from lamps draped in fabric and fairy lights that cast a warm glow, creating shadows on the walls.

Michaels appeared with a tray of drinks and handed them around to the guests. Maddy wasn’t sure that was such a good idea, the alcohol was dulling everyone’s inhibitions. She’d experienced Dan’s drunken advances first-hand and didn’t want a repeat. Moira and Priesh were already on edge and Jude was behaving strangely. Sara was a little giggly but still mostly professional. Helen hadn’t had much to drink, staying sober while she filmed and chatted with her followers and Maddy decided to follow her lead.

As Michaels was leaving the room, she quietly asked if he could also serve some non-alcoholic drinks. She wanted to keep her wits about her for the rest of the night, she was pleasantly relaxed from the cocktails but didn’t want to take it so far that she wouldn’t remember exploring the old house tomorrow. Plus she was heading up to her mum’s place in the morning to spend Christmas at home in Dorset, she’d already delayed travelling by a day for the party and didn’t want a hangover to ruin the time with her family.

Once all of the guests had a drink in hand they crowded around a large table in the centre of the room. It was covered in a black velvet cloth and Jude’s little beaded bag was set to the side. Coughing to clear her throat the bookshop owner roughly launched into her character’s spiel. “Right, well, um, my name is Madame Delphine, I am a mistress extraordinaire of the art of the tarot. I am pleased to be here with you this evening, to read for you the cards and impart their wisdom.”

“Well, that was a good start, considering how nervous she must be but what is that accent?” Sara whispered to Maddy. Turning to Jude and raising her voice she said, “Madame Delphine, please may I go first? I’m very excited to hear what the cards have to say to me!”

“Yes, yes, of course,” Jude mumbled as she tried to pry her cards from the little bag. She finally got them free and passed them to Sara, “Okay, please divide the cards into two and then shuffle them back together. Hold them for a moment and think of something you wish to know or any advice you’d like them to give you.” After Sara did this and gave the cards back to ‘Madame Delphine’, they all stood back and watched her lay them out on the table. “As there’s quite a few of us I’m just going to pick a couple of cards each and do a quick reading… be gentle with me please, I’m just going off the teachings of Google here,” she said with a nervous laugh.

Turning the first card over she smiled, “Well, isn’t that a lovely card, The Empress, she symbolises femininity, beauty and abundance. The second card caused her to frown, “Oh my… it’s The Ace of Cups. Hmm, it’s upside down, so that’s reversed. Eh…that usually signifies pain, sadness or repressed emotions,” she muttered looking a little embarrassed. “Does that help with your question Sara?”

Sara turned away, her earlier excitement all but gone. “Thank you, Madame Delphine, that was very interesting,” she said quietly.

“Don’t forget these readings are for your characters, not you, it’s all part of the entertainment,” Dan chuckled, “… it’s all a load of codswallop anyway. Moira why don’t you have a go.”

Moira picked The Lovers reversed, suggesting a relationship on the outs and The Seven of Swords which Jude explained represented, betrayal, trickery and lies. Together they didn’t paint a pretty picture but certainly fit with the tone of the evening and Moira’s widowed character. Maybe she bumped off her husband after an affair or something. Maddy couldn’t help but notice the sorrowful expression on Moira’s face as Jude explained the meaning of the cards and wondered what could have brought her so close to tears.

Priesh’s cards continued along a similarly negative path, starting with The Hanged Man, which turned his skin an unhealthy shade of white and then The Three of Swords. ‘Madame Delphine’ said this reflected pain inflicted by the actions of another and sacrifice because of those actions.

Maddy and Helen looked at each other nervously, this was supposed to be fun, right? Helen bravely stepped forward before Maddy could volunteer.

“Me next, just as long as I can film it. I’ve got a live poll going on which cards ‘Madame Delphine’ has for me!” She stepped closer and turned over The Emperor and The Fool reversed. “Wow! Okay, I’m guessing the first card is a good one and the second is bad?” She turned, looking into her phone and whispered, “@smutslut, you were totally right, the signed copy is yours, dm me with your address.”

“Well, it’s all just interpretation really,” Jude replied quietly. “But I’d say that the first card indicates power and ambition, perhaps your career? And the second being reversed is implying poor judgement about a situation or a sense of naivety.” Helen slowly blinked at this and looked back down at her phone without comment.

“Do Maddy next!” Sara said. “What do the cards say about the new book?” Maddy let out a shaky breath and picked her cards from the deck. She turned over the first, The Fool and the second, The Lovers.

“The Fool usually signifies new beginnings and The Lovers is pretty self-explanatory, either you’re about to embark on a steamy love affair or your new book is going to do really well,” Jude said with a big smile. “But whichever way it goes, I’m rather jealous.”

Considering Maddy didn’t believe in tarot she was relieved when she didn’t get any ominous cards, hers was the kind of reading any old gypsy charlatan could give at a fair, “you shall meet a tall, dark, handsome man, marry him, have hot sex and ten babies.” Thank goodness there were no more dark omens!

Tuning back in she found ‘Madame Delphine’ doing a reading for herself. She just caught the tail end of Helen saying “… it’s only fair, if we’re going to put up with this kind of entertainment then you have to too.”

“No problem,” said Jude, “happy to oblige, there we go, The Devil and The Ten of Pentacles.” She went to shuffle the cards together again without an explanation but was challenged by Moira.

“But what does that mean Jude?”

Seemingly reluctant Jude explained, “The Devil usually represents helplessness or entrapment and The Ten of Pentacles symbolises wealth, maybe my character has money problems… always a good motive in any murder mystery.”

“Hang on, we forgot Dan,” Sara said, taking the focus off a clearly uncomfortable Jude.

“Oops,” Dan said as he wandered over, another drink in hand, “what did I miss? Just popped out for a moment to make a call. I was trying to track down our missing guest. Now that is a mystery in itself.”

“You might have missed some important clues” Jude muttered. “But never mind, it’s your turn now.”

Dan roughly grabbed a couple of cards from the deck and threw them onto the table. “There you go, do your worst Madame Delphine,” he said smirking.

The first card to be revealed was The Seven of Swords. “Well, no surprises there,” Jude said under her breath. “The Seven of Swords represents lies, scheming behaviour and a lack of conscience.” She picked up the second card and turned it over with a gasp, it was a picture of a skeleton holding a cup. “The Death Card!” Jude whispered in a quavering voice.

“Oh, come on guys!” said Priesh, “this is a murder mystery party, there would have to be something wrong if one of the characters didn’t get the Death Card.”

“It doesn’t always mean a physical death anyway, it’s usually just the end of something, a relationship or perhaps a career,” Jude said, glancing sideways at Dan who nonchalantly took another sip of his drink and then placed the glass down on the table… right on top of the card.

He clapped his hands together startling Jude and said “So, that was interesting, am I right? I for one am feeling all clued up from Madame Delphine’s little show and ready to go explore this wonderful old house. Feel free to work in pairs or alone, it’s your choice. There are some notebooks and pens by the door for those of you who like to jot down their thoughts. Michaels has also asked me to let you know that he’s diligently keeping an eye on the snow, if the roads start to look bad we may need to cut the night a little short but he’ll update us as and when.”

“Maddy, a word before you get going?” Dan said. He’d started to slur his words slightly towards the end of his speech and Maddie had hoped she could escape the room before he focused his attention on her.

“Sure… Sara, do you mind waiting for me?” She whispered to her friend.

“Of course, I’ll be right over here. I need to catch up on some emails” Sara replied, keeping her gaze fixed firmly on Dan.

As the other guests left the room Dan rested one of his sweaty hands on Maddy’s waist and leant in close to her face. “I think we make a pretty good team, don’t you think luv? How about we spend the rest of the evening together, exploring upstairs, I spotted some lovely four-poster beds that put me in mind of certain scenes from your little books.”

At the look of panic on Maddy’s face, he smiled and continued, “Did you know that there was a meeting at the office last week to discuss this new direction you’ve taken your writing in? Some of the execs are not very happy, they like the old Maddy who writes boring little mysteries with boring little romances, basically, they like boring old Maddy. She sells well and they don’t want that boat rocking. Me?” He shrugged, “I stood up for you and got them to back off, I said there’s lots of readers looking for something a bit different. I like the new Maddy. I like the kinky new books and I certainly don’t mind the boat rocking” he said with a leer and a squeeze of her hip. “Come on luv, you owe me. All it would take is one word to say I changed my mind, that I agreed wholeheartedly with them and you’d be off to find yourself a new publisher.”

Maddy was shocked, she stood frozen in place feeling her pulse pound as she tried to form a coherent thought, he’d never been quite this aggressive before, even when drunk, he’d made passes at her but never in such a threatening way. She pulled back from him and violently shoved his hand away from her hip, losing her clutch which fell to the floor spilling the contents everywhere. Dan’s suit jacket which he’d had draped over his arm also went flying, scattering whatever was in his pockets.

“What the fuck Dan! Get your hands off me. I’m not interested in a married man who’s drunk and whose behaviour is massively inappropriate.”

Dan didn’t look worried at her outburst in the least, in fact, he laughed condescendingly as he bent to retrieve his belongings from the floor. “For a woman who writes the things you do, you are such a frigid cow. We’ll talk later, I’ll give you some time to think on it” and with that, he leisurely walked out of the room.