Highmore Manor

I heard footsteps coming up the stairs behind me; footsteps that stopped once they'd reached the landing. I turned slowly and found Callie standing at the top of the stairs staring at the door with a look of pure disbelief written across her face and in her eyes. Her eyes moved to mine; she looked liked she was about to cry. A second pair of feet thumping up the stairs followed a few short seconds later.

Chase froze on the second to last step just a little behind Callie and stared at the door for a millisecond.

"What are you doing here?" he said with the poison almost dripping from his mouth, his glare cutting through Jesse and Camilla.

"We were invited, now let us in," Camilla snapped, obviously tired of standing in the doorway she pushed her way past Jesse and into the house completely uninvited. Chase followed her as she stalked though into the living room, the rest of us following behind a bit slower.

"What do you mean invited? I'm pretty sure you're not," he said indignantly. Camilla whipped around to face him.

"Talk to him if you want to know the story, I have nothing to do with this," she snapped pointing at Jesse who had just come in behind me, she turned around again and flopped down on one of the sofas. Chase spun around to face Jesse.

"Well?"

"My father told me I was to fly here to stay with you for the dinner and that's it, I had no idea that she was coming," Jesse said in a casual but almost offended tone. Chase glared at him with a stone cold look in his eyes.

"Your father?" he inquired angrily.

"Yes, my father!" Jesse repeated.

"Why would he do that?"

"How am I supposed to know?" Jesse's voice rose sharply at the end of the question.

"Oh well that's just great then, isn't it?" Chase snapped sarcastically.

"Not really, it's not like I wanted to be here anyway, especially with them!" Camilla said from the couch waving a hand in Callie and my direction.

"Oh shut up you're not part of this," Chase whipped around and barked at her. She shook off his yell with a casually taken aback look. Chase turned back to face us, lifting a finger to point at Jesse.

"You will sort this out, you can't stay here," he said stiffly. He was getting really angry, it was obvious in the way his fists were clenched beside him and the muscle in his jaw was twitching. I stepped in front of him and put my hands on his upper arms.

"Chase, it's alright, we'll sort it all out," I said gently. He looked away from Jesse and down at me. He met my gaze for a few seconds, the icy glint slowly subsiding. I couldn't believe how angry he had gotten but I was glad that he seemed to be calming down. His eyes flicked back up to Jesse, glaring.

"You sure know how to ruin a perfect holiday," he let out in a whoosh of air then turned and walked from the room. I stayed where I was, dropping my hands slowly to my sides.

Everyone was silent for what seemed like an age.

"He's right you know," Callie snapped icily and then walked out after Chase. I watched her go and then looked over towards Jesse.

"Did you father really send you here Jesse?" I asked softly.

"Yes," he replied crossing his arms over his chest defiantly, it seemed like he was daring me to prove him wrong. I raised my eyes to meet his hard gaze for a few seconds and then nodded slowly.

"Oh all this drama, gives me a headache," Camilla said getting up suddenly from the couch and traipsing into the kitchen. She opened up the fridge and pulled out some chilled water in an expensive looking bottle. "I'm going to my room, don't disturb me or you will face the consequences!" she declared and then floated out of the room.

Jesse glanced over at me, a small smile spreading slowly across his face, my own face mirrored his.

Then just as quickly as it started the moment ended, his smile faded. He flipped out his phone, dialed a number and put it to his ear. With one last glance at me he walked out into the hallway.

I stood in the same place and sighed.

This was going to be a great holiday, if only.

♥♥♥♥♥

I knocked softly on the study door and waited for a reply.

“Come in,” Chase said from inside. I turned the door handle slowly and let myself in. Chase was sitting on the couch in the corner of the room big room with his legs tucked up underneath him and a laptop on his lap. I shut the door and walked over, sitting down on the couch beside him.

“Hey,” I said softly. He looked up at me and smiled warmly.

“Hi.”

“So, now there’s Jesse and Camilla huh?” I said with a sigh.

“Yeah, three more then I bargained for. That’s for sure,” he said with a small sardonic smile shutting the laptop and sliding it off his lap onto the floor.

“How did it happen?” I asked.

“I just got off the phone with my dad and he says they’re invited to the Gala Dinner and had nowhere to stay, so they’re staying here,” he said irritably.

“The Gala Dinner? What’s that?” I inquired.

“Its part of this holiday that I didn’t tell you about,” he responded looking at me carefully. “And you can’t tell Callie about it. It’s just for you and me, and well Jesse and Camilla as well it seems too. And a whole lot of rich aristocrats that my father knows.”

“Wait, I’m confused, explain,” I said raising my eyebrow at him.

“Well there’s a Gala Dinner that my father attends every year, it’s for rich business people and their partners and this year my father requested that I go with him because he’s hoping I’ll pick up the family business when he retires. It’s held at the Prince’s Palace, and the Grimaldi family themselves attends every year. It’s taking place two days from now, a day before my party. But there’s one thing, in the invite it states you must bring a partner.”

“Wow, that’s so amazing. So who are you taking?” I asked.

“Well I was hoping, maybe, you’d go with me this year,” he said looking up at my slightly shocked face expectantly.

“Oh!” I gasped to say. “Um, wait how formal is this Gala Dinner?” I asked.

“Uh, quite formal, ball gowns and tuxedos and all that,” he replied.

“B…b…ball gowns?” I stuttered. “I don’t have one of those lying around, what am I going to wear?” I exclaimed. Chase laughed at my tone of voice.

“Mum left a few here for when she’d go to it and you’re about the same size as her, you can borrow one of hers,” he said with a shrug like he gave out his mothers’ dresses everyday.

“I don’t know what to say!” I exclaimed.

“Please say yes, or I’ll have to take Callie,” he said pleadingly, pouting his bottom lip slightly.

“Alright, I guess I’ll just have to!” I sighed dramatically, like I got asked to balls at palaces all the time. He got up suddenly and grabbed my hand.

“Come, you can choose one now, before my dad gets here,” he said pulling me up from the couch and over to the door. He stopped at the door and checked that no one was in the hallway and then pulled me out and down to the closed door at the end of the hallway. He pulled out a key from his pocket and unlocked the door and let me in.

This room was the only one he hadn’t shown us inside when he’d given us the tour and it was by far the biggest. It was very intimate too, with a huge king sized bed and only one wall separating the room from the bathroom so I could see the shower and the bath on the other side.

“It’s nice, huh? If Dad finds out we’ve been in here he’ll kill us, so don’t touch too much. He’ll probably find the fingerprints or something,” he laughed. I returned the laugh and then followed him into a huge walk in wardrobe. He was opening up a sliding door against the back wall as I walked in, the door slide back to reveal a hanger full of dresses and down one end the ball gowns.

To say I was in awe is a major understatement.

I was bowled over and more.

I’d only ever dreamed of this kind of wardrobe.

“Go on pick one and try it on, I’ll wait out in the bedroom,” he said giving me a quick smile and then disappeared again. I stood gaping at the dresses and then shock myself out of it. I ran my hand over the materials and found one in my favourite colour; purple. I reached up and pulled the coat hanger off the rail.

It was a floor length deep purple dressed that poofed out at the waist with intricate silver designs on the bodice and on sectioned parts of the skirt.

I got underdressed quickly and put it on. It took a while because I wasn’t used to big dresses but I finally got it done up and smoothed the fabric down over my body. Then I found some simple silver shoes and slipped them on too.

I looked like a princess in the mirror, I smiled at my reflection.

I loved it.

I took a deep breath and then stepped out into the bedroom. Chase had his back to me, looking down at some photos on a dresser. He looked round when he heard the swish of the dress and a huge smile spread over his face.

“Wow,” he breathed. “You look amazing.” I walked over to where he was standing and moved the folds of the dress around my legs.

“I love it, it’s beautiful,” I said, not able to keep the awe out of my voice.

“You’re beautiful,” Chase said smiling warmly at me. I blushed suddenly looking down at my hands and biting my lip.

“What’re you looking at?” I asked suddenly, looking over at the photos. Chase turned back and picked up one of the photo frames and handed it to me, watching me as I went over to the bed and looked at it.

It was a picture of a man and women on a couch with their arms wrapped around each other. The woman was beautiful with high cheekbones and reddish brown hair. The man was compellingly handsome with sandy blonde hair and green eyes just like Chase. They were both smiling slightly.

“You’re parents?” I asked. He nodded, sitting down beside me on the bed. “Is your mother coming here too?” Chase’s eyes turned sad and looked away briefly.

“My mother’s dead,” he said simply.

“Oh, Chase I’m sorry,” I breathed softly, putting my hand on his arm. “How…?” I asked unsure of how to carry on. I was used to being the one telling the story not asking about it.

“Car crash, two years ago. Her driver had been drinking and lost control, he crashed into a wall at 105 kilometres per hour. They say she died straight away and there wouldn’t have been any pain,” he said looking down at his hands.

“I know what it’s like losing a parent,” I said gently. He looked up.

“You’re mum?” he asked.

“No my dad,” I said shaking my head. “He was in the army over in Iraq and got his leg blown off by a bomb. He came home for a bit but he was in a bad way. He got an infection and died a few days later.” Chase nodded and looked away. We sat in silence for a while.

“How do you cope?” he asked, his voice kind of choking up slightly.

“For a while I didn’t, I couldn’t sleep and I wouldn’t eat. But I was young and I had to move on I guess. I was only 5. I still think about it all the time and it still hurts,” I said sympathetically.

When Chase looked up he looked like he was fighting tears. I put my arms around his shoulder and pulled him against me. We sat like that for a while until he pulled away gently and got up to put the photo frame back where it went then turned to me. He turned pulled my off the bed.

“Are you ok?” I asked. He nodded and smiled.

“I’m fine. It gets easier every day. But I want to focus on you, you want that dress?” he asked still smiling. I nodded and smiled back at him.

“Good because I like that one,” he grinned. “I hope you can dance in it though,” he laughed and spun me around. I struggled in the heels but managed to stay up right. I laughed as he pulled me back to him, pulling my hands up and around his neck; he puts his hands on my waist and pulled me against him, swaying me slightly.

I looked up at him smiled. Even in the heels he was a good head taller.

Something inside me suddenly said ‘kiss him’. I bit my lip slightly and then agreed with my head. I stood up on my tip toes and pressed my lips against his.

He kissed back almost immediately, pressing harder against my lips. My stomach fluttered as he pulled me in closer, my head pounding as the blood rushed to my face. I could feel his body pressed against the front of mine, his hot breath on my cheek, his tongue grazing my lips, all of it was almost enough to drive me crazy. I sighed and he grinned against my lips. I tangled my hands in his hair; it was my turn to smile when he made a funny noise. It felt like I could just like stay like that forever, and I definitely wanted to.

But a cough at the door interrupted us.

Chase pulled away abruptly and pushed me back slightly, I stumbled away trying to stay up in the heels. He wiped his mouth and looked over at the door. I covered my mouth with my hands, pretty much in shock.

The man in the photograph was standing in the doorway with an unreadable face. I couldn't tell if he was shocked, angry, disgusted, it was like he was wearing a mask.

“Dad…we were just…” Chase started quickly.

“What are you doing in that dress?” his fathers’ question was directed at me, so was his intense gaze. I gulped.

“Uh, Chase invited me to the Gala Dinner and said I could wear it…” I tapered off under his glare. He glared a while longer and then nodded.

“Good, you look nice in purple,” he said. “Get changed then leave, take the dress with you and don’t come in here ever again.”

I nodded and breathed out the breath I realized I was holding in. Chase looked over at me with relief written all over his face. I ran into the wardrobe and got dressed as quickly as I could. I emerged with the dress folded over my arm and went over to the door. I glanced back and saw Chase’s father standing where we had been a few minutes ago, looking down at the photographs on the dresser.

Chase grabbed my arm and pulled me out the door, shutting it behind me.

We walked down the hallway so fast we were almost running, and went back into the study slamming the door behind us a little.

I leaned against the door breathing hard.

Chase went over to the desk and leaned over it, his head in his hands.

His back started heaving up and down slightly and he was making a funny noise. At first I thought he was crying but then I realized he was laughing.

I stared at him in shock and then started laughing myself.

Soon we were both laughing so hard I was crying and had slide down the door or I’d fall over, Chase was leaning over his desk holding his stomach.

He recovered first and came over and helped me up, pulling me up and dragged me over to the couch.

He sat down and pulled me down on top of him.

“Now where were we?” he asked with a huge grin, I laughed again as he pressed his lips against mine again.

I had never felt so happy.