Inheritance

I gritted my teeth and stepped out of the car. James followed close behind me. I was thankful for his comforting presence. I felt like nothing could touch me with this friendly giant at my back.
I spotted Jacob Soto immediately. I recognized him from the countless times I’d seen his picture in magazines. Of course my magazines were probably the only magazines that would show his picture. I read things like Scientific America and things similar to that, but that’s beside the point. I examined him carefully before he caught sight of me. I tried to avoid studying his height. He stood like a confident businessman, back straight, face forward and a great poker face, but something in his eyes gave him away as something else. He looked to me like a nerd that was obsessed with perfecting and had some OCD tendencies while also over thinking everything. Despite it all though he still was very passionate about what he cared about and that sometimes blinded him. I smiled to myself. If I was right about him we would get along fine.
“You ready Ankita?” asked James.
I took a deep breath “Yeah”
“Hey! Dad!” yelled James. Mr. Soto’s eyes lifted from his phone almost reluctantly but once he caught sight of his son a smile broke across his faintly wrinkled face.
“James!” he said enthusiastically coming over and giving him a hug. It was comical their height difference. Jacob Soto was a midget, a real midget. I don’t know the socially acceptable term but Mr. Soto stood at about 3ft 5. Next to James it was a bit ridiculous “Is this err… On-kit-uh?” he asked.
“I don’t know an On-kit-uh but my name is Ankita [Ann-kee-tah]. It’s good to meet you Mr. Soto” I said extending my hand. He took it and shook my hand excitedly. “It’s great to meet you too. Please don’t call me Mr. Soto though, we’re family now.”
“Can I call you Jack?”
“Sure, let’s go inside, half the guests have arrived and most are just mingling in the lobby. We’ll be seated in a half hour or so, until then I want you to meet some people” He said leading me inside, into a lush lobby. The next half hour passed in a blur of names, titles, handshakes, dresses, tailored suits, and plastic faces. I’d always loved meeting new people so I thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience. I talked to just about everyone. It was amazing how people would open up to you if you’re just polite.
“The Soto party is now being seated in the Blue Ballroom.” said a man in a waiter’s attire. A murmur ran through the crowd. I turned to the person next to me. “What exactly is the Underwater Ballroom?” I asked. The person looked familiar. I looked closer. “Sarah? Is that you?”
“Yeah it’s me.” She said smirking.
I looked her over. She barely resembled the girl I had seen on the beach. Her previously bare face was caked in makeup and the dress she wore camouflaged her athletic figure in layers of pink frills and lace. Her platinum blonde locks had been greatly elevated, curled, styled, and sprayed into something that you could vaguely identify as hair.
“What happened to you?” I said with wide eyes
“Gloria happened to me,” she said cynical grin. “Don’t worry, there’s been worse than this. All of my dad’s wives feel it’s their responsibility to make me acceptable for society to see me. Unfortunately they all happen to have skewed views of what looks good. I’ve learned to live with it.” she shrugged it off casually.
“You are coming with me, and we’re taking that mask off of you as well as the first few layers of lace off that dress.” I insisted, pulling her with me to the bathroom. I could not let her go around like this if I could do something about it. Once we got there, true to my word I washed off her face and ripped off a few layers of the lace on the dress. It made a huge difference. I also was able to untease her hair into a reasonable height.
“Regardez! Que pensez-vous?” I said as I spun her around with a flourish to view her new and improved self.
“Oh my gosh! I love it! You’re a genius Ankita” she raved.
“Come on we have to be getting to the ummm… Blue Ballroom?”
“Yeah, let’s go. They’ll be wondering where we are.” she said pulling me through the endless maze of hallways and down some stair cases. I had no idea where we were going or what the big deal with the Blue Ballroom was.