Christian Attwater
watched from the stairwell as his mother ordered around the household staff in
anticipation of his 21st birthday party. The offspring of the elite
would be parading around his house in a matter of hours. He wondered if his
mother had invited anyone he actually liked.
Yes, he knew most of the
twenty guests who would be residing there for the weekend but he’d be surprised
to find more than five people out of them or the seventy-five people that had
been invited to the party Saturday night, who he actually liked or was good
friends with.
He half wished to be back
at school at the local bar, hanging out with his college buddies and watching a
game. Not that he really had a choice in the matter. His mother had been
planning for this party for at least two months and she expected him to be
completely up for it. God forbid he should actually have plans on his own birthday.
“This is quite the little
event.”
Christian turned his head
and greeted his best friend Blake. Blake smirked and walked up to stand beside
him. “So my money says your mom loses it on the staff by evening.”
Christian chuckled.
“Evening? How about five minutes.”
They both watched her
silently for a few minutes before Christian turned around and put his back to
the scene. “Let’s get out of here.”
“Only if you stop
sulking.”
Christian turned back and
flipped off his friend. “I’m not sulking, man. But this is crap.”
Blake rolled his eyes.
“Yeah, so this wasn’t exactly the way you wanted to spend your birthday but
it’s done now. This weekend is going to happen, just enjoy it.”
“Enjoy it? I’m not like
you Blake. You feel comfortable with these people. I don’t. I never have.”
Blake shrugged. “Yet you
like me. Why is that you think? Because you let me in. Maybe if you gave the
others a chance you’d see that they’re not all bastards.”
“Yeah whatever, man,”
Christian said brushing off his friend’s advice. He had heard it all before
from family and friends alike -- nothing they could say would change his mind
about the people.
…
“When you said country
home, I was thinking it would be a little more … cottage like,” Elle said
incredulously, late Thursday afternoon, as she saw in the distance a three
story brick house with a perfectly manicured lawn and in front of it tall, iron
gates.
Kalina giggled. “Nothing
but the best for the Attwaters, dahling,” she said in a fake society
voice. “Actually, I think this is more their summer house. They stay here for
half of the year.”
“Am I to gather that they
are extremely pretentious?”
Kalina shook her head. “I
don’t know. I’ve never met them but my advice is to expect the worst.” She
rolled down her window and buzzed the button beside the intercom at the side of
the gate.
“How may I help you?”
Came the clear, brusque voice of an English gentleman.
Kalina threw Elle an
amused glance and stifled a laugh before turning back. “We’re here for the
house party.”
“Names?”
“Isabelle Lyndon and
Kalina Byron.”
There was a pause before
the voice came again. “Very good. Please proceed, Miss. Byron and Miss.
Lyndon.”
The gates opened and they
drove down the long drive way.
Elle was starting to feel
nervous and that bothered here because she didn’t get nervous about anything.
Not really. She tried to shake herself out of the feeling and gave way to idle
chatter as her way to ignore it. “I still can’t believe the change in your
appearance, especially the hair. The auburn looks amazing.”
Kalina smiled. “You’re
pretty unrecognizable yourself. With the dark hair and eyes you really could be
a member of my family.” She reached up and straightened a pair of glasses on
her nose. “I think these are going to annoy me though. I already want to take
them off.”
“At least you don’t have
to wear these silly contacts.”
“I know, sorry.” Kalina
glanced at the house as they drove up the long road. She had to admit that it
was absolutely gorgeous. With it’s grey stones, arched windows and white
balconies it looked like something out of a fairy tale.
But it’s not, she
reminded herself. And the reality was walking up the stairs to the house. The
guests were arriving and she and Elle had gotten there right in time for
it—which hadn’t been the plan at all. They’d wanted to be there late so that
they could hide from the other guests as long as it was physically possible. It
looked like that wasn’t going to happen.
Elle was watching the
guests as well and she said aloud what Kali was thinking. “So, uh, plan B?”
Kalina laughed. “There is
no Plan B.”
“I know,” Elle said with
a wink, feeling less nervous as they approached the house and more excited for
the adventure.
They got out of the car
and a valet approached them ready to park the car. Kalina popped the trunk
before she handed him the keys. She and Elle took out their two bags when
another staff member approached them.
“I’ll take these,” he
said reaching for the bags.
Elle shook her head.
“That’s okay. We can handle them. Thank you though.”
The man looked surprised
at her refusal and turned to Kalina who just smiled and nodded. He blinked
before he headed in another direction.
Kalina giggled. “They
aren’t used to people not accepting their help.”
Elle shrugged. “They
better get used to it from me. I have two perfectly good hands and they’re
capable of carrying one little bag.”
They both walked to the
door and Kalina rang the doorbell. It was opened at once and they were let in
by a distinguished looking gentleman. It seemed that they were in luck. The
guests they had seen earlier had made it to other parts of the house so the
hall was empty.
“Miss Byron?”
There was a slight pause
before Elle said quickly, “Uh, yes. That’s me.”
Kalina hid her grin.
“If you’ll follow Sandy,
she will show you and your guest to your room.”
Sandy, the maid who had
seemingly appeared out of nowhere approached them. “Shall I take your bags?”
Elle and Kalina shook their heads.
“All right, if you’ll
just follow me.” She led the way up the stairs to the second floor. “You’ll be
in the south wing.” She quickly marched to the last door and opened it. “Mrs.
Attwater hopes this will be to your liking.”
They walked into the bedroom and Elle’s eyes danced with delight. It was lovely.
The room was not large but it was airy. The walls were a light green but the
curtains and bedding were all white and the furniture a light wood. There
wasn’t a balcony but a window seat with tall windows covered one side of a
whole wall making the room seem much bigger than it was. Elle felt a tinge of
jealousy at the owners who had this everyday and probably took it all for
granted.
“Not bad huh,” Kalina
whispered to her and walked over to the bed. Throwing her bag on the ground,
she hopped on it. “Thank you this is perfect,” she said to Sandy who was still
standing in the doorframe.
Sandy gave her a
surprised look before nodding. “Dinner is served at seven thirty but Mrs.
Attwater prefers everyone to be downstairs at seven.” With that said she exited
the room and closed the door behind her.
“I think that was
supposed to be my line,” Elle said smiling before she dropped her bag and
followed it to the floor. The carpet was a thick, cream colour and so soft.
“Oh, that’s nice.”
Kalina watched her from her vantage point on the bed and giggled. “You are such
a freak.”
“Thanks.” Elle lifted her
head and smiled at Kalina. “So, what now?”
Kalina kicked off her
sandals and lay on the bed. “Sleep sounds pretty good. We didn’t get much of it
last night because we were preparing and I’m exhausted. They won’t have
anything planned until dinner and that’s,’ she looked at her watch, ‘four hours
from now.”
Elle sat up. “That’s the
best idea I’ve heard all day.” She took off her shoes and socks and got in the
bed with Kalina. They didn’t even bother changing out of their jeans. They slid
under the covers and got comfortable.
“Don’t forget to set your
watch,” Elle said before turning on to her side.
“Oh right,” Kalina set
the alarm on her watch for quarter to seven.
She didn’t want them to
miss their first appearance. It was terrifying but exciting at the same time
and she couldn’t wait to see how this little joke played out.
…