I sighed, took a deep breath, and accepted his help. The moment he helped me out of the limo, I put on a mask. My mask was one of confidence, beauty, and elegance.
My mother may have been hard for some people to deal with, but she knew how to keep people emotionally at bay. That was one of the things that I had admired about her the most when she was alive. Her ability to be so friendly and courteous with someone, without ever giving off the impression that she wanted anything to do with the person.
The moment I was out of the limousine, the door was shut again, and the sound was like that of a cell door closing�Locking me in.
The doors to the manor opened, and revealed a man in a black tuxedo. He smiled broadly, and held out his arms in a welcoming gesture. �Hank! It�s so good to see you!�
I took my father�s arm like a good little girl, and he led me up the steps to where his friend was waiting.
�William, it feels like it�s been forever,� my father said with a grand smile. He held out his hand to shake Williams. I stepped back at this, and removed my hand from my father�s arm.
I was glad that I had done so, when the two, finely dressed men exchanged a hug. I had no idea that my father was capable of being that close to anybody!
After the embrace, my father turned and held out his hand to motion me forward. �William, this is my daughter, Buffy. Buffy,� he smiled at me, �I�d like you to meet Mr. D�Aestas.�
�How do you do,� I smiled brightly at him, and held out my hand like a proper lady would.
He bowed over and kissed my hand gently, lingering for just a moment too long in my opinion. �Please, call me William,� he smiled at me, as if thoroughly entranced by something I�d done.
The way that he was looking at me reminded me of how some rich man would eye up a new car for his collection�Or in this man�s case, a new horse for the stables.
However, I showed no emotion but friendliness. �William, you have a beautiful home,� I complimented him with my brightest smile. �It truly is a masterpiece.�
�Thank you, Miss. Summers. Perhaps one day I can give you a tour,� his smile was charming and full.
I still remained the same as I replied, �that would be wonderful. But please, call me Buffy.�
He grinned, held out his arms in a welcoming gesture, and announced in a loud, rich tone that made me jump back in surprise at the force of it, �Buffy, it is then!�
I was given a brief tour of the main halls by Mr. D�Aestas, and then we were called to dinner. I followed my father and Mr. D�Aestas in to the dining hall, not sure of what I would find when I arrived.
I stood behind my father and Mr. D�Aestas, as my father was re-introduced to everyone, and made cute comments about how much the girls had grown, or how Mrs. D�Aestas was still more beautiful than anything he�d ever seen.
Then, Mr. D�Aestas stepped to the side to reveal me to the rest of the room. �How very rude of me, Buffy,� he said. �I do so apologize.� He smiled, and I stepped forward. �Everyone, this is Buffy. Buffy,� he looked at me and smiled, �this is my wife, and our two daughters, Darla and Harmony.� He motioned to each person with his hand as he spoke their names.
I calmed myself for a few milliseconds, and then I lifted my head and my gaze to the table of people before me.
The two, blonde girls that looked to be about my age that I guessed to be the daughters, froze as they were and just stared. And the older woman with dark, short curls that I took to be Mrs. D�Aestas, stopped lifting her drink to her lips.
Mrs. D�Aestas found herself first, and said with a bright smile, �Buffy, it�s a pleasure to finally meet you. Your father has told us so much about you,� she stood up and offered me her hand.
I shook it tenderly and said with a bright smile that I hoped didn�t appear as forced as it really was, �I�ll bet he has.�
Mrs. D�Aestas sat back down again, and before I could greet the two girls, someone started walking in to the room, mumbling his regrets for being late, from the door opposite me.
�Hello everyone. Sorry I�m late, but you won�t believe that I had car trouble in the mountains, and had to walk down to the nearest gas station, where some guy named Bubba lived in a garbage heap out back. Bubba happens to think that tattoos are an art form.� The person kept his gaze down as he walked in to the room.
He went over to Mrs. D�Aestas, and kissed her on the cheek, �mother, you look wonderful,� he told her.
She smiled at him and then said, �thank you, Angelus, but you�re being quite rude at the moment.�
He was silent a moment, and then asked with confusion on his face, �how?�
She held out her hand towards where I was standing, nervously playing with my fingers, and said with a smile, �we have guests, my dear. Do greet them.�
It seemed to take an eternity for Angelus� eyes to notice me. But when he did, he did a double take. His lips parted slightly, and I wondered why I seemed to have that effect on most people. It made me feel like a portrait to be admired in an art gallery.
But then his eyes met mine. I held his gaze, but soon found myself lost. The deep, brown eyes that stared at me from his perfect features made me want to scream and run away in fear�Or run forward and hug him in excitement.
We were knocked from our moment when my father stepped forward to Angelus and said, �Angel, my friend, so good to see you again. I�ve heard all about your success in Palm Beach. Very good work, I hear. Extremely commendable.�
Angelus looked to my father, and then at his hand as if he suddenly wondered what it was there for. Then he caught on and smiled in greeting. �Nice to see you again, Mr. Summers. I was so sorry to hear about your wife�s accident.�
My eyes widened as I heard what he said. My father�s wife? But that can�t be true! My father and my mother have been divorced for many years now. Unless they�re secretly still married so as not to shame the family name with a divorce. Or unless my horrible excuse for a father and a human being, has been telling everyone that he is still married, and using my mother as a piece to win him friends with her extreme popularity.
I looked at my father, and checked my anger and hate as I heard him repeat what he had said. �Buffy, darling, this is Angelus D�Aestas. This is William�s son.�
I looked in to Angelus� eyes again, and my hand drifted forward to meet his own. �I�m very pleased to meet you,� I said in a voice that I didn�t recognize as my own.
He bent down to kiss my hand, and when he did, I felt him lingering just like his father had. Only this time, I found that I didn�t mind as much�Or perhaps I minded more. I could not decide at the moment. I placed the thoughts on back burner then, when he straightened once more and said, �I hear you�re my date for the Charletaine ball which I believe is hosted by Mr. and Mrs. Chase next Friday.� He looked back to his father for confirmation, and his father nodded. �Yes,� Angelus smiled at me again, �the ball is held in honor of Miss. Cordelia Chase. She�s the only daughter-only child actually, of Mr. and Mrs. Chase.�
I looked to my father, and wondered how I could hate someone as much as I was hating him at the moment�Especially someone apparently in my own gene pool.
~~
The ride home that evening, was filled with conversation. I was upset, and my father was trying desperately to calm me down.
�But why was I never told that you were still married to my mother?� I asked hysterically. �Why was it such a secret to me?�
�I didn�t want her to look harsh and uncaring just because she wouldn�t let me see you,� my father tried to explain.
�Why couldn�t you just tell me the truth about everything. I mean, contrary to what you may think, father, I am not a child. I think I have the right to know when things are going on that may directly effect me.� This led me to another point. �And another thing!� I announced, and turned my head to look at his face.
�Good Lord, what else could I have done?� he sighed.
�You know exactly what you did, Mr. Summers,� I said in a level tone. �You went and told some womanizing maniac that I would be his date for some ball, without even telling me there was a ball!�
�William did it to him, too!� my father tried to make an excuse. �It�s like a blind date sort of thing. You could have a lot of fun with Angelus. I hear he is a splendid dancer.�
I scowled at him, �you have no morals. How in the world am I related to someone who has no morals?�
He laughed slightly then and said, �knock back a few shots in to her, and I�ll let you know that your mother wasn�t exactly the picture of perfection either, my dear.�
�Now you�re going to work on ruining my image of my deceased mother?� I looked at him and showed in my face that I couldn�t believe it. �Do you ever feel these little things we sometimes like to call emotions, father dear?�
He laughed then, much to my surprise, and said, �my dear, the Charletaine ball is a major event, and I thought it would be a great way to introduce you to the society here, if you were accompanied by an extremely popular, and handsome young man such as Angelus.�
I crossed my arms over my chest and said, �if you like him so much, why don�t you go with him to the ball?�
�My dear, you�ll have a blast. I assure you. Now let�s stop arguing. I have no wish to fight with you every time we meet,� he said.
�Not like you have much of a choice in the matter,� I rolled my eyes. I knew I was being stubborn and unreasonable, but I couldn�t be bothered to care all that much.
He didn�t seem to notice or mind my rudeness. Instead, he said, �I�m having Willow take you shopping tomorrow, and hopefully you�ll find just what you�ll need for the ball.�
�Goody.� I sighed.
~~
The next day, Willow did as she was asked, and took me shopping for a dress for the Charletaine ball. The stores in Devil�s Gorge were limited to fancy evening gowns, and sexy lingerie. I wondered where on earth they bought their every day clothing when they were stressed. My mother had always said �when in despair, buy shoes�. But here, there were barely any stores except those for formal wear. What were they to do when they were stressed? Go out and buy a corsage? It made no sense to me.
We went through dress after dress, and it seemed that I couldn�t find one that I liked. Sure, there were many beautiful gowns in every store, but it seemed to me that nothing fit like it did in New York. Everything here hung differently that the dresses in New York.
I noticed right away, just why that was. Most of the women here were lacking in the chest area, so when I tried on a dress, it had to be a size or two larger than I would usually wear, so that I could fit in to the top. But then the rest of the dress would just hang down.
Around noon, Willow made a call as we sat down at a small caf� for a bite of lunch. I didn�t pay too much attention to what she was saying in to the phone, feeling that it would be an intrusion of her privacy in the event that it was a personal matter that she was discussing.
When she set her phone down, our salads had arrived. I didn�t ask her about the call, and after a few moments of silence, she asked me with a curious smile, �aren�t you wondering what all of that was about?� she motioned to the cell phone next to her plate.
I shrugged softly, �it�s your business.�
She laughed outwardly then and said, �it�s never my business. It seems that everything I do is for your father, or the farm. However, this time was different.�
�So, it was good of me not to ask, right?� I raised an eyebrow and smiled softly. I took a sip of my water.
�No, it was about you,� she said simply.
I looked at her sharply. �What about me?� I asked. �What did I do?�
She laughed, �nothing. Let me assure you. You didn�t do anything wrong. I first spoke to your father, and then I called a designer friend of mine that is vacationing in Devil�s Gorge at the moment.�
I frowned and asked, �how are those two people connected with me?� I didn�t see the connection.
She explained then, �they�re connected because�Since nothing so far has fit right, I�ve resorted to calling in a fitting for you to have something made for the ball. I clarified it with your father, and then arranged a meeting with my designer friend for this afternoon.�
I was silent a moment, and then I asked, �what could possess someone like you to work for my father?�
She grinned, �it�s called money�Honey.�
At this, we both laughed outwardly.