An occasion up the mountain

They emerged from Mina's very luxurious quarters a half hour later. The problem, as she suggested to Ivan, turned out to have been Izzy's uniform. “A maid outfit is cute, but not the vibe for tonight,” she said as she unpacked her closet and picked out the choicest items. For herself, that was a shimmering silver halternecked dress, with matching white go-go boots that made her look like she'd stepped out of a schlocky seventies sci fi flick. As ever, Izzy's own getup was more muted; her friend was willing to accommodate that, at least. They were around the same size, so Mina lent her a grey bodysuit and a leather skirt, with stockings to round out the look. Her work heels would be good enough for a few hours. That was Mina's assessment, again. Izzy would almost have preferred going barefoot, if they didn't have to go outside to reach the Engblom.

It was the Engblom that produced most of her anxiety about the night. At Tystalten, there was expensive and then there was expensive. The Engblom was one of those extra exclusive lodges a little higher up the mountain. Shifts there took an extra hour, and much more hustle, but people fought over them anyway. The tips there were typically nothing like the Hayeses’. Izzy knew one girl who made five hundred dollars from a day taking care of Engblom. She'd never been there as anything but staff, and didn't know that she would be able to act as anything but. What if they sniffed her out?

‘They,’ that was producing some anxiety too. The only thing Mina said about the other people at the party tonight was that they were “friends.” She had good taste in people, but Izzy felt like she had no clue what they were getting themselves into.

Mercifully, Mina let her vent about her overlong day for the entire cable car ride up the mountain. It let them out at a shade shy of ten-thirty, with Izzy never reaIzzying just how close they'd gotten. Mina took the first step onto the snow.

She grinned back at her friend. “Too late to back out now, the cable car won't run again until five in the morning,” she said.

Izzy's mouth hung open. “Oh, fuck, I completely forgot!” she groaned.

“I didn't,” laughed Mina. “There are like, five spare bedrooms in Engblom, we'll be fine! Hurry up, neither of us dressed for the cold.”

She was right. Izzy chased after her, toward the soft, warm light flowing from the enormous windows of the lodge. She expected more noise. Bumping music, or at least some lively conversation, but there was nothing to be heard from outside. Mina knocked on the door. The lodges had no doorbell, since they didn't expect visitors; the oldest of them was built as a monastery centuries ago. All the same, the door opened lightning fast. The man in the door way was tall, turtlenecked, and handsome, as so many of the Tylstalten clients were. They had enough money to look good. His beard was short and his hair dark, except for the gray. That was a surprise. When Mina said “party,” Izzy expected reckless twentysomethings on daddy's card. You know, people like her. Not a man in his fifties.

“Mina!” he said, familiar. “And who is this?”

Another man appeared from further in, just back in the entryway. He had a similar look, in a collared shirt and slacks rather than lodge-chic. His hair was shaved almost to the scalp. That and his broad shoulders gave him a rougher look than his friend.

“This is Isabella,” announced Mina. “Izzy, if you're frisky.”

The man in the turtleneck offered his hand. “Good to meet you, Izzy. I'm Paul. This is Ward.”

Izzy extended her own, and Paul wrapped his fingers around hers. She twitched. He was stronger than he looked, and didn't seem to be straining. Then he let go of her hand. “Good to meet you,” she murmured.

“We've got drinks in the den,” said Paul. Ward was gone already.

Mina strode in, leaving her boots on. Izzy felt the urge to debrief. “Is it just those two?” she whispered.

“Mhm,” said Mina.

Now Izzy understood why Mina was so insistent she tag along. Those two seemed nice, but looks could be deceiving. A girl alone with strange men so high up the mountain was a recipe for disaster. That didn’t explain why they were here at all, though. She followed Mina into the living room. There was a recessed sitting area with soft sofa seating all around the outside and a coffee table in the middle. There was a fire burning in the mantle closer to the windows. Up above, people on the second floor, if there were any, could look down from the railing. Ward was bringing bottles of beer back from the bar, arranging them on coasters on the table. Izzy tried not to thank him. That would be too “maid” and not enough “socialite.”

“Do you smoke, Izzy?” asked Paul, lighting a joint as he hovered over the sofas. Not allowed in Engblom or anywhere else inside Tystalten, but as the Hayeses had already proved that night, rules didn't apply equally to everyone.

“Um, yeah, actually,” she said.

“That's my girl,” said Mina. She walked to Paul, waited for him to take a puff, and took the joint for herself. She was a few inches taller than Izzy, which made her a few inches shorter than Paul and Ward, who both had to be around six feet, even accounting for the go-go boots. Mina took the joint with her down into the conversation pit and nodded her head for Izzy to follow. They stood shoulder to shoulder with each other, Mina grinning as always. She passed the joint and Izzy allowed herself a long drag. Every part of her ached, and she needed this.

“I'm going to sit down,” she said.