A New Echo

The New Year's Eve party at the Bernard estate welcomes the families of wealthy in the cities nearby. Hundreds of people come, crowding around the frost-covered turf. Ladies’ colorful dresses sparkle underneath their Swarovski crystal-adorned coats which drag along the lawn. I can’t tell is some are ridiculous or brave for dropping their coats out in the cold to dance under the massive gazebo. The men wear dashing tuxedos with hundred-dollar ties.

The party inside consists of the elderly sipping a glass of wine after wine, listening to classical music from the live orchestra. If I was just a few days older, I could join with the young adults for a fresh taste of Champagne and mingle with suitable men. But alas I find myself twiddling with the stones on the hems of my dark emerald green dress on the counter in the butler’s pantry. Before picking a stone of my dress, leaving my father haywire, I trace the gray veins in the marble countertops.

I hear a mix of music from the lounge where I technically should be and from where the elderly reside. Along with that, obnoxious chattering and spotted laughs add to the medley. What I should have done much earlier in the twenty-four-hour ordeal is taking off my heels. Like my dress, my shoes are emerald green, and the strap is ornate with dozens of small sapphires. I unlatch the buckle and slide them off my swollen feet, tossing them to the floor laced in darkness. I have yet to find the light switch, and I am unsure I want the blinding lights.

“You might want to be careful,” a voice from the left entrance to the butler’s pantry says. The voice has the same power as my father, but this voice I just as loud but softer. I slowly turn around, stalling to find out my fate of a few hits, but it is not my father leaning on the doorway with his tie hanging loose, but still somewhat put together. He walks in a bit closer. “Would you mind moving your legs?” Being taken off guard, I slide off the counter and stand by the doorway where the figure just was.

“Hey, you can stay. I’ll be gone in a second.” He fiddles with something in his pocket and pulls out a bunch of pieces of metal. He bends down and opens up a cabinet where my legs and dress just hid. He finds a safe that reflects light from the kitchen onto the adjacent wall of the pantry. He immediately inserts an arsenal of keys into different keyholes.

“Hey, um, what are you doing?” I tip-toe closer. He seems to ignore my comment as he opens the safe, foggy cool air slides on the floor. He takes out a bottle of wine.

“Some French wine aged longer than my father’s existence.” I stifle a laugh through a small grin. He stands up, closing the safe. “Want some?”

“Oh, sorry, I can’t.”

“Psst, I can’t either, honey.”

“Then why?”

“It is my tradition. Find my father’s most expensive wine and take a sip on New Years'.”

“How long has the tradition gone on?” I query, but add, “And why isn’t it in the wine cellar.” He turns over to me and smiles, showing me his face. It seems familiar with a squarish face shape and spotted freckles. He sets the wine on the marble and reaches for wine glasses in a cabinet. To my surprise, he takes out two.

“Years, I’ll tell you. Ever since I was little. With this party,” he stops and turns to me, a wine glass in his hand and the bottle in the other. He starts to pour a little wine in the glass. “My parents have always been so distracted, so I have full run of the house. My sister used to rummage in my mom’s jewelry while I,” he chokes up in a breathy laugh. “I looked everywhere for anything.”

“My other question?”

“I’m getting there.” He sets the glass down after filling it up with just enough wine to cover the bottom of the glass. He takes the other one and fills it up and placing it on the counter. “The cellar is a decoy filled with knockoff wines so he can flaunt to his friends and appear rich enough to give them away left and right to his guests. This is just one of his stashes.”

“Wait, so you’re a Bernard?”

“Yeah. Who are you? By the style of your dress it is an Ashton and that designer works exclusively for the Blythe family. Blythe?”

“I want to be impressed but that is creepy.”

“But am I correct?”

“Yes. Lilac Blythe.”

“Gabe Bernard. Have you been here this whole time because I had to meet everyone, and I didn’t see you.”

“Just here.”

“Dang, three hours. Why don’t you get out there?”

“I am a year younger than my friends. They all can drink and I can’t yet. They decided to leave me out entirely.”

“You can still drink, but illegally, but who would know?” He winks at me. I try to ignore his remark and push back some hair that has fallen in front of my face. “There is twenty-one more hours before anyone can leave. We have twelve until the new year. What do you want to do? We have two theaters, a pool.”

“Two? What’s the difference?!” I interrupt.

“One is for a hundred people and the other is small for ten or so people. We can stream the ball drop in either if you want.”

“Of course I would want to, but why with me?”

“Does there have to be a reason?” I smirk at his clever response, taking in a deep breath.

“No. There doesn’t have to be one. I don’t care what we do as long as time passes quickly. I can’t wait to get out of this dress.”

“There are clothes that my sister left before she got married and left the estate. You can change there.”

“Eh, I don’t think that is appropriate.”

“It’s an option if you want it.” The clamoring of the party erupts in booming cheers. The music gets louder too, making my head pulse and my vision spotty. I feel my hands clamped on my forehead, though I don’t remember bringing them there. “Let’s get you out of here.” Through my limited vision, he puts the glasses of wine and bottle in the cooled safe and takes out the keys. He grabs my shoes by the strap and leads me through a hidden doorway behind a grand piano as I stumble. The door closes behind, and I feel a waft of cool air and silence. My head starts to steady.

“Follow me.”

“To where?”

“You’ll see.” He takes me down the passageway illuminated by overhead yellow lights. We take a few turns and pass a few other doors before exiting out of another. An enormous and tall ballroom wicks away any words that I could bear. The floor is tiled with a pinkish hue where there is a large gold design taking up the majority of the floor. “Look up.” The ceiling is a dome of glass staring out at the night sky. “It is magnificent when it snows. And when it is actually in use. We don’t use it anymore because to celebrate these days doesn’t mean dancing.”

“My god, this is beautiful.” The ornate details leave a different pain in my head. I am overwhelmed by the decadence of the room.

“We had another ballroom, not as pretty as this one that we changed to the home theater. It is bittersweet.” I go to step into the room, but Gabe stops me. “We can’t go in. No one can. I just wanted to show you. Sorry.”

“Oh. That’s fine.”

“Follow me again. I want to show you something else.” This time, we stray from the first floor and exit out to a guest bedroom on a higher floor. The guest room, bigger than the master suite at my estate, leads out to a balcony on the side of the house viewing the stars piercing the mountainside. “I like it out here. There is no light so we can see the stars. Or at least some of them.” I was surprised I couldn’t hear the party outside, but the thought quickly diminished from the distance and size of this house. 

I stand beside Gabe, hands on the railing. “It’s nice outside tonight.” 

Though I agree, I was burning from the cold. “I’m a little cold,” I add as lightly as I could. He looks over at me and gasps. He puts my shoes on the ground and runs into the bedroom. I put them on so I don’t burn the soles of my feet. Gabe returns with a knitted blanket.

“The only one I could find. My great grandmother made this for me when I was born. She died shortly after.”

“Sorry,” I apologize as he drapes the blanket around my shoulders. Gabe shrugs.

Gabe leaves my side again, taking a bench to the edge of the balcony. He sits and I do too. “What are your resolutions for the new year?” Gabe asks. I immediately scoff. “What?” He asks in an innocent voice.

“I don’t believe in them. I think I should start whatever I want whenever.”

“I feel the same way, but I feel so awkward admitting it. I admire your confidence.” I sense my cheeks puff up, but it easily could be the cold. We stare out to the mountains and the stars. I watch the same star for a while pondering its place in the universe. That is a sun right there to some solar system. It boggles me. That same stay moves past the main peak of a mountain, a sign that an hour has easily passed. “What star have you been looking at?”

I lean onto him, trying to get to his eyesight. I squint and point to the star beside the peak of the mountain. “You?”

“All of them. I like the one next to yours.” We gaze at each other. “We should go in before either one of us gets frostbitten.”

“I agree.”

“I have something else to show you.” We go back to the guest room and I place the blanket on a nearby chair. Instead of going through passageways, we go through actual hallways decorated with flowers and paintings. We go down a grand set of stairs and take a winding hallway to a room. Gabe opens the door to the small theater. 

“Like it?”

“Yeah, but I am the kinda girl who likes big spaces. I’m not claustrophobic, I just like how the sound echoes.”

“M’kay, Echo.” He pushes int my shoulder jokingly and smiles a sly grin. “Let’s go.”

“Did you just call me Echo?”

“Yeeeuup.” All I can do is shake my head and keep walking. Long and behold, he enters the door to the main theater. “Where would you like to sit?”

“The middle.”

“Of course.” He takes me to the middle part of the theater. “The middle is a conjoined seat reserved for my parents, but we may sit together if you want the very middle,” he says in an overly proper tone. We sit down and he reclines the seat making it similar to a bed. I snicker as I squish my dress to not take up the whole double seat. He pushes some buttons in the armrest and home videos start playing of New Years' Eve celebrations.

“Is that you?!” I say, playfully hitting his knee and pointing to the massive screen. 

“Yeah. I was darn cute.” 

“You still are,” I regretfully say. I clasp my hands on my mouth. Though he can’t see my smile, I know that my eyes tell it all.

“Thank you. I don’t recall seeing you as a toddler, but I bet you weren’t as cute as you are now.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment.” 

Hours go by watching videos of years ago on this very night. It is probably eleven at night and I can’t seem to stay awake any longer. I feel myself drifting asleep, but I don’t want to. I really don’t.

***

“Lilac? Echo? The ball is about to drop.”

“What?” I rub my eyes and sit up, the countdown of the ball dropping is being streamed. I’ve never watched it so large before-I'm taken back.

“Already?! But what about your tradition?”

“It’s fine. But Lilac, Echo, whatever name you are okay with me using, I’ve had a great night, even if it was seemingly boring.”

“Me too, Gabe.”

“10..9…8…7” Gabe starts to chant. I join in, staring at him. “6…5…4…3…2” Before I could say one, he presses his lips to mine and backs away just in time to say “1.” He smiles. “Happy New Year, Echo.”

“Happy New Year, Gabe.”