The banquet hall was magnificent, the writer had done no justice to it's elegance.
From the beautifully chaotic chandelier to the royal red drapes with gold embroidery and the golden tiles, the lights, the royal red rug, the bar on the other extremity, the dance floor directly below the chandelier, the stairs adjacent to her.
"Wow." Alice whispered, unconsciously tightening her hold on her father's arm.
She didn't belong here, she was too shabby.
Consciously, she began to smoothen her cloth with her other hand.
"Maybe I should have worn a dress." She thought.
Suddenly, her father stopped walking and looked at her, they were at the main entrance. If they took three more steps, they would be in the midst of the guests.
"You should behave the way you want them to perceive you. You are no more than who you think you are. Do not embarrass me Alice." Immediately he said that, he turned back and left her alone standing there, her demons coming at her without mercy.
David white walked majestically to greet his guests and though he looked like he could take on the world and nothing ever bothered him, he was worried about his eldest daughter. He didn't know how to comfort her, he had felt her slight trembling and her tight hold on his arm. He needed her to be strong, to be able to stand on her own, to deal with whoever and get out of any situation she ever found herself in. That was why he had admonished her that way, he just hope she understood his push to be from the heart of a caring father not that of an egoistic indifferent man as people perceive him to be
"I would definitely embarrass myself and the entire White's family "
"Who was I kidding? I have never attended any of these before."
"How am I supposed to impress the movers and shakers of the society?" So many thoughts were raging in her mind and her fear was beginning to suffocate her.
'I need air' was the last thing she thought before her legs turned back and hurriedly, she left the room, hoping wherever she was heading to, had a lot of oxygen supply.
After many turns and doors, Alice found herself outside the mansion, the view was beautiful and calming.
The night sky was decorated with so many stars guarding the moon which shone brightly though it was merely a crescent. The night breeze hit Alice and she found herself shivering a bit, however she didn't stop walking, the farther she walked, the more enchanted and simultaneously she regained her calm.
By the time she finally stopped, she was behind a large tree, it was almost like an umbrella for it totally shielded her from the outside world, protecting her from her torments. She wrapped her arms around herself and took in a deep breath.
"I need to think." she whispered.
"I need to remember the exact plot and prepare myself."
"I can do this, if I put my mind to it, I can."
"Those people in there, are only there because my family exists, they are there to gain my attention, my favour, my Time, I am no longer just Alice. I am Alice White, the daughter of David White."she chanted, her voice growing louder and her resolve growing stronger. By the time she had chanted it enough for her to calm down, she was smiling, she felt light and ready to take on everyone.
"Now let's review the things Alice did wrong." She told herself and rather loudly, she began to reminisce "Falling in love with you."
"Dad, I'll be back in a jiffy." Adam whispered to his father and before he could stop him, he hurried out.
These parties were worse than a thorn in his pants. He disliked everything about them, be it the people, the show offs, the boring music, the sucking up and last but not the least, the so-called high society girls.
Everything was a bother, if only they could leave him alone in his library, where he enjoyed the blissful silence. After all, he only got invited because he is Josh and Miranda Evans only son.
Josh and Miranda Evans are the power couple in the fashion world. They co-own JoDa fashion house, arguably the No 1 fashion house in the United States. Also, Josh Evans and David white are close friends,which was why though Josh and his wife Miranda had to go inspect the JoDa branch in Paris, he sent his wife first, hoping to go after he attended the birthday party of his very good friend's daughter and also dragged Adam with him to promote friendship between their families.
Adam grew up knowing he would become the heir to his parent's business, so he fashioned his life in that manner. He is kind but reserved, serious but considerate, gentle yet picky, focused determined and has very intelligent business tactics. The only thing he disliked about business was having to attend "unnecessary parties" as he likes to call it. He saw it as a waste of time mixed with hypocrisy, showoffs and sucking up.
The host invites those of importance to them and Alliance, showing off and sucking up took place all in the name of having a good time. If you want to discuss business,beg for a favour or propose an Alliance, why not do it officially? Why resort to a camouflage
Adam hurried to the exit, excitement coursing through him as he hurried to the white's garden. He had only been here twice including today, but that garden was difficult to miss. That was his only consolation as his father forced him to tag along.
As he approached the garden, he heaved a sigh of relief.
"Thank God." He whispered.
Now his steps were less hurried as he strolled calmly enjoying the serenity the night presented. Suddenly, he heard a voice,his first instinct was to return to the hall but he ignored it, his curiosity was more than his apprehension.
"What if it was a thief or somebody harmful?" He thought.
As far as he knew, nobody preferred the dark garden to the luxuriously illuminated banquet hall except him. Definitely, something was fishy.Making up his mind, he approached where he heard the voice from, careful not to alert his prey.
As he moved closer, he could identify the exact location of his prey and he could almost make out what the person was saying, he went a bit closer and hid behind a tree, he needed to hear what the person was saying so he wouldn't miss anything.
"The tactic I should use, is impressing the powerful ones so they would take care of the rest for me.The most important dignitaries as mentioned in the book are 4, Mr Antoine Pierre, one of the most sought-after designers in the world,he cherished his language a lot which made him opt to speak french to a completely ignorant Alice and her lack of understanding irritated him.Thank God for those language classes I paid for." Alice squealed in happiness, her love for being multilingual made her pay for expensive classes in french, Spanish and Arabic and now she was getting an opportunity to communicate with a native of French, she would surely impress him after all the sleepless nights she had spent practicing.
"One down next one." She said happily
Quietly she racked her brain for a while before she suddenly stood still, her eyes widening.
"The remaining three are the witches of north, west and east."Alice squealed out.
She had given them that nickname when she was reading the book, they had made fun of Alice's undisguised ignorance not only in fashion but also in the ways of the world.
One of them had said the worst thing one could say to an individual.
"You know Alice, you are so cute, you remind me of the dumb, ugly character in Scooby Doo, you know, the owner of the dog, scoob." The other women laughed evilly, and Alice, Naive Alice just smiled politely, Thanked the woman and excused herself.
"No"Alice yelled, the memory causing her to shudder.
"I won't let them embarrass me. Before they do so, I will put them in their place.I just need to be confident, I have what the other Alice doesn't, I am knowledgeable and I know a staggering lot about fashion, I don't think they know half as much as I do, I am multilingual, I am wearing a killer jumpsuit not a pathetic peach disaster, I will make them respect me. And lest I forget, I ain't going anywhere near the cake or Bethany, I'll save knowing her for another day."
As Adam listened to her, he grew more confused, she knew all the people in there as if she had studied them and she mentioned a book and other things he had missed due to the sudden change of music into a louder Happy Birthday one signaling the arrival of Bethany, the celebrant.
Immediately she mentioned three witches he knew who they were, Mrs Smith, Mrs Alexandria and the meanest of them all, Mrs Hughes, they were the true depiction of Birds of the same feather flock together. They had terrible attitude and attended this kind of events to gossip and show off. Their husbands who were always busy taking care of their individual businesses always had them represent them at such event. Just like she had rightly said, Mr Antoine Pierre belittles anybody who can't speak French, he is a picky old man and difficult to please. But the most disturbing fact was how did she get such information and why was she talking as if it had happened before?
He squinted his eyes to catch a glimpse of her face but she was below the umbrella tree which was hiding her quite effectively.
"I'll see her when I go to her." he told himself.