Everything's Not As It Seems

@ FallenHope95

A deep frown moved over Nathaniel's face as Kaia started to speak. It was clear to him that she had the wrong idea of what he was trying to say. Nathaniel was just trying to figure out what was going on, not insinuate that she was some kind of lady of the night. Though as he opened his mouth to explain himself, the woman was ramming through, ending the dance quickly and swifting making her way away from him. This was the first time that Nathaniel had been left on the dance floor alone and he did not like the feeling.

Part of him considered going after Kaia to explain things to her. Though his head turned over to the two men that had managed to drag the lady outside by herself. No, he had already taken too much of a risk just to ask Kaia to dance. Perhaps it was time to leave. He would find another time to explain himself and apologize for the misunderstanding. In the meantime, Nathaniel needed to figure out just how much he wanted to get involved with this girl and her family. It might be much too much trouble than it was worth. He already had others that he needed to protect.

The man moved to the side of the dance floor and waited for the dance to come to the end. At which point, he swiftly grabbed his sister and told her it was time to head home. At that point, they were gone.

---

When morning came around, there was a loud knock on the Whitaker's door. A delivery from the local florist was dropping off an elegant vase of flowers to the household.

Hidden within the flowers was a little white envelope with Kaia written in large letters on the front, indicating that it was for her. Once opened, a small note was found:

My apologies for the misunderstanding that occurred at the ball yesterday. I gift you these flowers as a token of my sincerity and with hope that you will continue to be a good friend to sister and myself.
Marquess Nathaniel Sterling The Second

@ Sweet.Persephone
The soft sound of a piano being played echoed through the lower level of the Whitaker household. The family had just finished breakfast not too long ago and were relaxing in the main greeting room before going on with their day. Kaia practiced her piano while her older half-sisters read quietly in the corner. Her older half-brother was already off doing something and her parents were in her father's study. Talking about who knows what.

When a servant came in, announcing that Kaia had received a delivery. It was like the whole world stopped spinning. "What? Kaia did? There must be a mistake." Clarissa said from her spot and snapped the book she was reading closed. Setting the book down, the oldest girl in the house walked over to where the servant placed the delivery and plucked the card from the flowers.

"Hey," Kaia said as she stood up from her spot at the piano and walked over to Clarissa. "If it's got my name on it, then it's not for you to read." Kaia chastised her sister, knowing that the older girl said the same thing to Kaia last year when someone finally showed a flicker of interest in the snobbish girl. Opening the letter, Kaia slowly read over the contents in the letter. Her lips moving into a small pursed line as she read who it was from. "Well, who's your admirer?" Clarissa asked, setting her hands on her hips and glaring at Kaia.

Folding the letter back to how it was before she opened it, Kaia cleared her throat before moving back towards the piano. "Lord Sterling." Kaia said quietly, then a loud "WHAT?!" Escaped from Clarissa and Mari-Anna at the same time. The twins looking towards Kaia in disbelief and scowls along with their faces. "He send you flowers?" Clarissa asked, and then scuffed. "Uh, huh. He was just thanking me for being friends with his sister. She's a shy girl, so I was able to help her open up." Kaia lied and tried to focus on the piano in front of her once more. Doing her best to ignore the letter that was sitting next to her on the piano seat.

@ FallenHope95

It had taken him an hour that morning to finally come to a decision on whether or not he should head to Kaia's house. Part of him knew that it was foolish to get involved at all. Although London was his home, it was not his ground's territory. And one of the reasons they never came to London was because the man wanted to keep his family's good name here... So doing this was a bit on the stupid side. Though, that being said, Kaia had quickly become Rosalie's friend. It meant that he had a responsibility to find out what they were like, to ensure that his own family was safe from the Whitaker's issues. That, and the fact that Nathaniel was a nosy motherfucker. He figured he could find out what was going on without stepping on the other gang's toes. He just had to avoid getting in the way.

At least that was what Nathaniel was telling himself as he was making his way over to the Whitaker's home. It was late morning, which meant that the family would be taking gentleman callers. He wondered if Kaia would be surrounded or if it would be easy to talk for a moment alone with her. The man lifted a hand up and rubbed the side of his head. Hopefully the other ladies were busy with their own courters as well. He knew that his mere presence in the house would cause intrigue. He would probably be the highest ranking person there, so many eyes would be on him. Maybe this was a bad idea.

Though as he started to think that, his carriage stopped at the Whitaker's door. Well, it was too late now. Others would have seen him pull up. The man let out a sigh before heading to the door and knocking on it. When a servant came, he announced himself.

"Good Morn. I am Marquess Nathaniel Sterling The Second and I am here to call upon Lady Kaia Whitaker." He followed the butler into the entrance and was told to wait there so he could announce his arrival to the family.

@ Sweet.Persephone
A small hum escaped from Kaia as she finished getting dressed. She had planned to go for a walk today. She had completed her hour of piano practice and was pleased with herself to notice her improvement of the song that she had been working on. It was one she had been making herself and it was finally coming together and sounding like an actual well put together song. She couldn't wait to tell Rosalie about it, hopefully, the girl would be excited to hear it because she'd about the only one who would be interested in listening to her play, to be honest.

Walking down the stairs, Kaia paused as she noticed one of the servants coming towards her. A confused look appearing upon her face. "Lady Kaia, you can a caller." The servant said, causing Kaia to blink in complete confusion. "Pardon?" Kaia asked, confusion written all over her face. "I escorted him to the sitting room, is that alright. Miss?" Kaia opened her mouth to speak, but then closed it as she heard Clarissa's noisy voice. "Kaia has a caller, who is he?" She sounded like she was in as much disbelief as Kaia felt.

"Lord Sterling, Miss." Kaia's eyes widened as she heard who it was. She was not expecting him to call upon her. "I shall meet him right away," Kaia said, ignoring anything else that Clarissa was to say to her. As whatever Clarissa had to say was not of any importance at the moment. What was, was finding out what the heck Mr.Sterling was doing in her family's home. He had just sent flowers to her as an apology after all. The man was honestly quite confusing.

Pausing before the door entrance, Kaia couldn't help but smooth down her dress. Then, she ran her fingers through her hair to make sure she didn't look like she rushed down here. Once she was sure that things seemed fine, Kaia folded her hands in front of her like a proper young woman and slowly entered the sitting room. "Mr. Sterling," Kaia said quietly as a greeting. "It's a surprise to see you here." narrowed her eyes at him slightly, indicating she was not quite sure what to make of everything. Moving towards the two couches, Kaia sat across from the man. Her eyes softening slightly after a moment. "Thank you for the flowers, they're quite lovely."

@ FallenHope95

As Kaia entered the room that he was brought to, Nathaniel turned and nodded to her respectfully. As his eyes dropped on her, he smiled gently. Kaia was a very pretty lady, soft on the eyes. He almost felt bad about what he was about to do... almost.

"I am pleased to hear that my flowers arrived before I did." Nathaniel said as he glanced over at the vase for a moment. Of course, he had spent a lot of money to get them delivered today and as the first delivery. While he was unsure if he was going to arrive when they were ordered, Nathaniel knew he needed them to come here immediately in the morning, and show up before himself. "I just wanted to come here in person and say that I am incredibly sorry that I had offended you last night. I had not meant that you... I was not trying to say that you were..."

Nathaniel shut his mouth for a moment. How was he meant to apologize for calling her a lady of the night, a whore if you will, without actually saying such foul language in front of a young lady? "I just meant that it seems that we had a misunderstanding and I am sorry that we did, and that I was unable to explain myself last night before I left. It saddens me deeply knowing that you left the ball last night thinking me rude."

He stood up straighter. "It had upset me to watch you sneak away with them." Nathaniel told her, his voice softening now. "Because I have rather taken a liking to you, Lady Kaia. And, if it pleases you, I would like to start calling on you."

@ Sweet.Persephone
As soon as Nathaniel started to speak about the ball last night and its incident, Kaia's eyebrows shot up. She took his note this morning as his only apology, so hearing the words in person was quite a surprise. She was never apologized to, nor has she ever expected to. She had grown up being the one forced to apologize for all of the time, so she thought once he sent the note. That he expected for the incident to be done and over with. So, she couldn't help but sit there in surprise and slight confusion.

"Mister Sterling..." Kaia said quietly, relaxing her facial expression and then frowning slightly. She had no idea what to say to the man. Then, when he dropped a huge surprise on her and Kaia felt like her head was growing light. A Marquess was interested in her? Her best friend's older brother was interested in her? Kaia, a simple baron's secretly adopted daughter. Secretly fathered by another man. Had a man of such high status after her?

"I-" Kaia opened her mouth, and then closed it. Not quite sure what she should say. Sure, she did find Mr.Sterling quite attractive and he was always kind to her when she went to visit her friend at his estate. Yet, wouldn't this be strange? She was his younger sister's friend, would Rosalie be upset? Opening her mouth, Kaia was about to ask if Nathaniel was sure when her father walked into the room. The Baron seemed quite pleased, most likely pleased with what he had just overheard. "She accepts, My Lord." The man said as he stopped and stood between Kaia and Nathaniel. Being the man in the house, the Baron knew he had the final word on who was to call anyone in his household and the man had come at just the right time as well it seems.

"You are more than welcome to call upon my youngest, but please sir. Come and greet me first next time, as this is my house." The Baron said and offered Nate a forced polite smile as he extended his hand towards the high-ranking noble to shake.

@ FallenHope95

Nathaniel's eyes had been on Kaia, waiting for her to accept his interest. Though what he did not understand was why she was not jumping at the chance? He was significantly higher ranking than her and her family. Even if she was not interested in him, the correct answer was yes. So why was she not saying yes?

It seemed that the man was never going to know what Kaia was going to do as the lord of the house was now walking into the room. Nathaniel turned to the man, giving him a respectful nod. The father had taken over and accepted his courtship for her... Nathaniel supposed it didn't matter who said yes. This wasn't a serious courtship anyways as he just wanted an excuse to come over. This was going to be his opportunity to figure out what was happening in this house.

"My apologies." The man said. "I had simply announced my arrival to your butler and was brought into the sitting room. It had been my understanding that he was going to get you first but Lady Kaia had walked into the room before you. I did not want to be rude and ignore her during my wait for your entrance."

As he offered the man a smile, he reached over and shook his hand.

@ Sweet.Persephone
Raising his hand, Kaia's father offered a small smile to the Marquess. "No apologies needed." The Baron said as he looked down at Kaia and offered a small smile. One of the few that she'd ever received from the man in her whole life, to be honest. "I was doing some work in my office, so I wasn't able to be here when you first arrived." The man said as he looked back towards the Marquess, doing his best to seem sincere and respectful.

"Kaia, dear." The Baron said, gaining the young girl's attention and she looked up at her father. It felt like Kaia's world froze, he was looking at her with pride. An emotion that she wasn't sure she'd ever seen on his face directed towards her before. "Why don't you show Mr, Sterling the garden. I saw the roses were starting to bloom and they're looking quite nice."

Forcing a small smile, Kaia nodded her head as she stood up. "Yes, father," Kaia said quietly and then glanced towards Nathaniel. "That is if you've got the time?" Kaia asked, hoping to the high heavens that Nathaniel would say he needed to leave or something as Kaia really didn't want to be alone anymore with the man.

@ FallenHope95

"I have plenty of time." Nathaniel said as he looked over at Kaia with a warm smile. He could already tell from the look on her face that Kaia wasn't quite into the idea of showing him through the garden. Perhaps she didn't want him to be a potential suitor at all? Though her opinion on this did not matter. Her father had spoken for her in this matter and it was that man's words he was going to take this time. Besides, Kaia would get her wish of not marrying him. This was not about marriage.

He offered his arm for Kaia to take. Once she had done so, he followed her through the house until they were out in the garden. His eyes shifted around, looking at the flowers that were blooming. Of course, this was nothing like his gardens but it was nice. He rather liked how relaxed this area was.

"Are you feeling well, Lady Kaia?" Nathaniel asked, looking up from the flowers and over at her. "You do not seem like yourself."

@ Sweet.Persephone
Without much of a choice, Kaia stood from her spot on the couch and accepted Nathaniel's arm. She led him out towards their back garden. Knowing full well that the servants were most likely all pausing in their work to glance out the windows and watch. She could already tell that her father stepped out onto the back porch to keep an eye on them. After all, it was bad for those who were unmarried to be left alone in a room. Not that Kaia would allow anything to happen. She was in her family's garden on their property. Surely, if she made a scene where someone would actually come to her rescue and not tell a terrible false lie to anyone who dared to hear.

"Hm?" Kaia mumbled as she glanced up towards Nathaniel as she snapped out of her thoughts. "I am well, Mr.Sterling," Kaia said quietly as she looked forward and did her best to not nervously bite her bottom lip. This is the longest that the two of them had spent alone, when she was at his residence she'd be surrounded by Rosalie as well as their servants. It was strange how hard her heart was beating when it was just the two of them alone.

"Don't you-" Kaia paused in her words as she lightly tugged on Nathaniel's arm to get him to slowly start walking with her. "Don't you think it odd, I am your younger sister's friend. Does she approve of your interest in me?" Kaia spoke quietly. "My apologies, Sir. I just, don't have many acquaintances and value Rosalie's opinion." That probably made her sounds like a hermit and that thought alone cause Kaia to mentally slap herself. Although, with that out in the open, maybe it'd allow for Nathaniel to see that she wasn't a good match and that he should quit while he's ahead.

@ FallenHope95

The man nodded to her as she mentioned that she was well. Nathaniel supposed that confirmed his suspicions that she was acting like this because of his interest in her. That was too bad... or was it good? Or perhaps the man should not feel any particular way towards this at all? After all, he wasn't actually interested in her. It would be much more heartless of him if she was interested, Nathaniel played this little game and he suddenly backed out. Though Nathaniel was heartless, he would do it. He didn't know why he cared how she felt about this, it wasn't even real anyways.

Hearing her voice, the man looked down to look at her. And then at her gentle tugging, the man started to follow. He wasn't quite sure where they were going but the man supposed that it did not really matter. "I do not think that it is odd at all." Nathaniel told her. "Also, I have talked to my sister about this as it could affect your relationship with her. Though Rosalie has given me her approval." The man let out a little chuckle. Silly to think that he got his sister's approval to court Kaia. But he had, not wanting to upset her, and although he had no interest in telling Kaia this but Rosalie was over the moon. She was excited at the prospect of Kaia being her sister in law.

Nathaniel was quiet for a moment, feeling himself already about to make a mistake. Though, for some reason, he just had to say it. He had to know. "What are your opinions on me asking to call on you?" The man asked. "I know your father answered before you were able to but I would like to hear your thoughts."

@ Sweet.Persephone
Hearing that Nathaniel did not think it odd that she was his younger sister's friend and the fact that Rosalie was alright with everything caused Kaia to feel a sense of relief. Her shoulders relaxed slightly and the breath that Kaia had seemed to be holding seemed to release itself. So, no one was going to be upset about this arrangement? She was free to accept this advantageous pairing? The question is though, did she really want to? Was she ready?

"Hm." Kaia shifted her gaze to the side. It seemed that Sir Sterling was on the same track of thoughts as her. Sorta. "I'd be a fool to not be honored to be called upon by you, Mr.Sterling," Kaia said quietly, her eyes shifting up to meet the man beside her's gaze for a moment before looking forward towards the path that she was leading him to. The little path moved around the garden, allowing the girls to walk around outside with ease if they were to be wearing heels.

"I just don't think we'd work out, though," Kaia said quietly, a small frown slowly appearing upon her soft lips once more. "If you didn't notice inside, my father's a bit of a money and power chaser. I feel like it would be wise for you to cut things short, sir. I'm sorry you came out here only for me to tell you that." Kaia closed her eyes, wishing she didn't have to tell him no. She just didn't trust her family, they weren't good company. "You're a good man, Mr.Sterling. You're kind and reliable. Funny as well, I'm sure someone with a better status them my family will catch your eye soon enough and make you happier than I ever could."

@ FallenHope95

The man was quiet for a long moment after he had heard Kaia's words. They were rather blunt as well as harsh on her own family. He could not help but wonder why that was. Perhaps they gave her a harder time than they should? Or maybe Kaia knew what was going on, why they were associated with gang members. Either way, she was trying to warn him about her family. Though, unbeknownst to her, the man knew he could handle them no matter her concerns.

"I appreciate the fact that you are looking out for me, Lady Kaia. Though I think that I will be able to handle my own affairs and protect myself from anyone who is looking for my money or power." The man said as he glanced down at her, offering a little smile. "And I am glad to hear that you think so highly of me. So I must ask that you give me a chance. What if you gave me until the end of the season? If either of us think that we will not be a good match, then I will be on my way. How does that sound to you?"

He glanced down at her, waiting for Kaia's response. The man was rather hoping that she would be okay with his compromise. If she said no... Well Nathaniel was afraid that she would see him as a jerk when he continued to come around. The mystery here just stroke his curiosity much too well. "Though I do wonder what makes you speak so harshly on your own family?"

@ Sweet.Persephone
A small sigh escaped from Kaia as she looked off to the side as she listened to Mr.Sterling. It seemed that it would not be that easy to get rid of the man. He was as stubborn as a mule, and Kaia wasn't quite sure what to make of that fact. Then again, it was also kinda nice to have someone so intuned to you, that they'd fight to be able to spend more time with you. "Alright," Kaia said quietly as she moved to look back towards the man's dazzling hazel eyes. "Until the end of the season, and then we'll have no hard feelings if things don't work out."

By now, the two of them had finished walking the small path of the garden. Bringing the duo back to the beginning. Kaia's two older sisters could be seen from the window of the library watching the two of them. Although, when Kaia looked towards them she could see them quickly ducking in and hiding from her. They're most likely going to ambush her with questions later.

"Forgive me Mr.Sterling, but that is something that you'll have to keep wondering on. It's not my place to speak." Kaia said as she let go of Nathaniel's arm. Turning towards him, Kaia offered the high-ranking nobleman a curtsy out of respect. "I think we should call it a day, Mr.Sterling. I'll be looking forward to seeing you." Kaia said as she stood up once more and glanced at the window again. Her sisters were watching again, and a not so please look was on Clarissa's face. Of the two, Clarissa was always the one that Kaia was a little bit more scared of.

@ FallenHope95

"Yes, no hard feelings. Even if you reject me at the end of it." Nathaniel told her with a charming smile and a wink. In truth, the man was rather hoping that Kaia would continue to stay not interested in him as time passes. He could keep coming over, per their agreement. And then, at the end, the young woman could deny him and they both would go on their separate paths without any hard feelings. That way, his curiosity would be quenched and Kaia's heart would not be broken. It was not his goal to hurt the young woman, but he also wasn't going to try so hard to avoid it either in his path to learning the truth. Especially if this woman was going to keep spending time with his sister and come to his house.

Once they reached the end of their path, Nathaniel was surprised that she pulled away and said that the two of them should call it a day. That was fine, the man supposed. He did not expect to find out anything today but to merely establish a reason to drop by. Though, he could not help her words whirling around in his head, and his question to her. But it seemed that she was not going to answer it... Too bad but how could the man get mad at her for keeping her family issues to herself? Very well, Nathaniel would dig to the truth.

Though his eyes to follow hers, seeing the two girls at the window before they managed to duck. A bit of a smirk came over his face before his eyes settled on Kaia once again. "It seems that you have your sisters to attend to." He told her, wanting the young woman to know that he had seen them. The man then nodded to her respectfully before making his way into the house and heading on his way home. The man would be back soon enough.