Phoenix

Chapter 7

    Tim helped me out of the black limousine that he had rented for the night.  I had put my hair up into a quick messy bun after my shower. I knew it wasn't really swanky, but I also put a jewel encrusted barrette in that Peyton had talked me into buying.  I was thankful she had because everyone was dressed to the nines and I was under accessorized.  There were lots of families.  The daughters dressed in extravagant and beautiful gowns.  Mine was so classic that I worried I would blend in.  We walked up the front stairs of the grand entrance. Tim had taken my arm into his. The house we were walking into resembled a palace.  It was huge and grand.  With large pillars bordering the huge front door.  As we approached it was opened by a door man, dressed in traditional royal servants wear like something from Cinderella.  We walked into the extravagant foyer.  Two large curving staircases stretched on either side of the room up to the next floor.  There was a table located directly between the two with a huge and beautiful flower bouquet.  Tim led me along under the crystal chandelier that was illuminating the table.  Behind the table was a door way that we proceeded through along with everyone else.  We came out into a ballroom. There were tables set up all through the huge and tall room.  Tim checked the seating plan and then led me over to a table where a bunch of rich looking people sat I scanned the faces, stopping when I recognized one of them.  Anna from school. Oh great, this should be just swell. I found myself very uncomfortable and out of place here. But obviously he did not want to come alone.  I could support him in this venture.    

    He pulled my chair out for me.  I sat, I would have to try and be very lady like tonight.  The daughter of a rich and important man.  I sat with my best manners.  He introduced me to everyone around the table.  Mostly investors and their wives.  But Anna’s father worked at the same firm as my dad.  I shook his hand and then said hello to Anna.  I did not have to like her to be polite to her.  The wife of the investor on my left was very young and she struck up a conversation with me.  I didn’t remember her name but I learned quickly that I was completely uninterested in her insistent, whiney jabbering.  

“My husband is currently investing into a company called Petos. He told me if he can double his money he will buy me a new car.  I’m really quite excited because my Audi is two years old.” I nodded politely.  What in the hell was with this woman.  There were people who couldn’t afford to eat and she was worried about the fact that her car was two years old? Must be nice to have so much money.  How was I supposed to talk to someone like that? I tried to drown her out.  But she continued on. 

“We went to Paris for our honeymoon.  It was so beautiful, my husband let me shop all day! I came home with so much stuff!” More materials.  

“Paris! Wow, did you go to the Louvre?” I asked, smiling, trying desperately to get her to talk about experiences instead. 

“Ummm, that’s the museum right?” I nodded.  This woman was not my kind of conversation.  Be nice, this is your dad’s biggest investor.  

“How about the Palace of Versailles?” She has to have been there.  

She thought for a minute, 

“Well we went up the eiffel tower for dinner.” She smiled like this was an important cultural event. God never let me be like this person I thought to myself.  I would like to think that I was far more intellectual.  I was saved by the waiters who were currently bringing out food.  It was at this point that I looked at the place setting ahead of me.  Oh my god, I don’t know what is what!? The waiter placed a small plate in front of me.  It contained two stuffed mushrooms and they smelled delectable. Then he filled my three wine glasses.  The one on the right was filled with white wine.  The middle one with red and the left glass with water.  

I assumed that it would be rude to pick the mushrooms up and pop them in my mouth so I reached for the white wine.  While I sipped at it I looked around to see what everyone was doing.  The general consensus was to place the napkin in your lap.   I set my wine back and picked my napkin up. Then I unfolded it and gently placed it into my lap.  Someone a few tables away tapped a knife on a glass. Everyone looked up to the front.  An elderly man was standing up at the front.  He was wearing a black tux just like everyone else.  But he had the bluest eyes I had ever seen. I was entranced by him.  He waited until the room was silenced.  Then he spoke.  A loud booming voice came from his chest.  He had a powerful presence. 

“Good evening, ladies and gentleman.  I will make this short.  Thank you so much for attending tonight.  I want you to socialize, laugh, eat, and drink the night away. Tonight is a night of fun and charity combined with some good old fashioned business. Now let’s enjoy these wonderful appetizers.”  By now everyone was picking up the fork on the far left.  I proceeded to follow what the people around me were doing.  They all grabbed the knife beside them and cut a small piece of the mushroom and placed it in their mouth.  I followed suit.  Chatter about business surrounded me.  The woman to my left got up and went to visit someone.  Placing her napkin on the chair when she left.  I also noticed that all of the men at the table stood when she left.  When I was finished my mushrooms my waiter whisked them away.  I sipped some more white wine.  Tim leaned towards me. 

“How is it going Olivia? Are you having fun?” He asked smiling at me. 

“Yea dad it’s cool.  I don’t know any of the proper manner’s for a dinner like this though!”  I said scared.   He chuckled. 

“Don’t let it phase you.  That is what makes you stand out Olivia.  That’s what I love about you.”  He said.  

“No one is judging you Olivia, and besides you’re doing great!” I leaned my head towards him and whispered. “The lady I’ve been talking to is very materialistic.”  

He nodded knowingly, 

“You are going to find a lot of that here.”  He said, then looked up at the waiters coming towards us.   

“Ah, here comes the salad course.  Use the same fork kiddo.” He winked at me, I smiled thankful for the little tip.  My waiter set a beautiful salad in front of me.  It looked like a piece of art rather than food. Anna’s father turned to me at this point. He was beautiful like she was.  With blonde hair and brown eyes.  Dark tanned skin.  He probably golfed a lot.  There were some grey hairs in his eye brows.  The only sign of his age on his perfectly smooth face.  Botox, I thought to myself.  

“So Olivia, where do you plan to attend post secondary school?” He asked smiling.  

“Well I was looking here at the Arizona State University but I haven’t actually decided for sure what school.” He nodded eyeing me like he was reading me.  

“What are you planning on going to school for?” He asked still smiling. 

“I want to become a veterinarian, once I finish my general veterinarian I would like to specialize in equestrian sciences.” I replied, He was kind enough to ask about me.  Maybe he was a good guy.  He nodded again and then looked at dad.

“I hope you have a big pocket book Tim! Your daughter is very bright, you need to make sure she focuses on her studies!” He said, embarrassing me. I could pay for my own school.  I had always intended too.  Tim chuckled, 

“Oh don’t worry Alan, I’ve got it covered.  Anywhere or anything that Olivia want’s to do she has my full support.” My father said, beaming proudly at me.  The lady to my left piped up. 

“Veterinarian’s make really good money Olivia that is such a great plan.” That was it, My gosh this woman was insane.  Ignore her, I told myself quietly. She launched into a speech about how much she wanted to buy a vacation home on some tropical Island somewhere. I blocked her out. Ignoring the insatiable ignorance she presented. Just when I thought she was done, she began telling everyone about the new diamonds that her husband had bought her in the Bahamas,

"Chocolate, of course. 3 carats to be exact. Very rare, very expensive diamonds. Just think Olivia, if you are a vet and marry well, you could have all of those things and more!" She finished excitedly. 

I turned to her, 

“Well I actually want to be a veterinarian because of my love of animals to me it’s about far more than what kind of money I will make. I've never been much for materials and consider myself more of a minimalist” I said it smiling but I had an alterior motive for saying it to her.  Her husband surprised me when he said, 

“You have an extremely refreshing attitude towards life Olivia! It’s nice to hear someone who wants to do for others.” He said it like he meant it.  I knew what he was meaning.  He was meaning he wished his wife would think like I do.  But I didn’t feel much sympathy he was the one that married her.  We were all finished our salad’s when the man who had spoke before stood up.  

“Well now that we have gotten a bit of food into our bellies while we wait on the next course shall we have a bit of entertainment for the next course? If you look on your tables you will see sheets of paper.  You can write a song that you request on it.  The minimum donation for a song is a hundred dollars.  Slip the song request and the hundred dollars into the envelope and hand it to a waiter to have it played. Enjoy the rest of your meal!” 

A classy looking band entered the stage.  Envelopes began to flow to the front.  My waiter placed a delicious smelling bowl of butternut squash gnocchi in front of me.  Tim leaned back towards me, 

“Here darling.” He handed me a hundred dollars, I wrote in my tiny neat writing. EVERY BREATH YOU TAKE. Tucked it and the hundred dollars into the envelope and set it beside my plate.  Then I sipped on a bit more wine.  When the waiter returned to fill my wine for the third time I handed him my envelope.  After I had finished my mouth watering pasta I excused myself for the ladies room.  I closed the stall door behind me and fished my cell phone out of my purse.  Liam had sent me a text. 

Loved spending the day with you.  Cannot wait to see you tomorrow.  I hope you’re having fun at the banquet I bet you look gorgeous wish I could see you. 

I smiled at the text.  Wish I could see you hey? Hmmm.  I flushed the toilet and went to wash my hands.  There was no one in the washroom so I snapped a selfie.  I looked at it quickly.  Wow, ok maybe I did look good.  Maybe I should try a little bit of a sexier pose.  I pushed my breast up a bit turned my head tried to look as sultry as possible and snapped again.  Damn… Olivia girl you clean up well.  Ok perfect.  I sent it to him.  

I loved spending time with you today too.  Hopefully this gets you through.  It’s ok, better if you were here.

Then I tossed my phone into my purse and headed back out to the table.  If I was to sit here all night in the washroom people would talk.  I felt my phone buzz as I got to the table. The suspense was going to kill me.  The men at the table all stood when I returned.  Tim helping me to sit again.  The entree’s were just being served.  As I sat down the waiter’s began placing them in front of us.  Our host stood again.  

“Please enjoy the special entree that my daughter designed.  Smoked cheddar stuffed chicken with avacado sauce.  Paired with green apple slaw.  Please dig in! And keep the song requests coming! The auction is up next!” 

My phone buzzed again.  Oh the suspense! I started in on my entree using the fork that everyone else was using again.  Picking up the fork in the middle.  This was never something that I had needed to worry about at home.  More business talk was happening I wasn’t very interested and the lady on my left had quit talking to me thank god! We finished our next two courses and then the auction was starting. Our host stood up again. 

“Alright ladies and gents let’s let’s dig deep into our pocket books tonight.  Remember that this money is going to the University of Arizona’s Medical centre to help with cancer research.  We have 5 items up for bid tonight.  Number one on the list.  A trip for two to Hawaii for a week.”  He named some fancy hotel and a bunch of excursions to go with it. 

“Bidding will start at five thousand dollars, does anyone wish to bid five thousand dollars?” From the back of the room I heard, 

“Five thousand.” Then someone closer to the front said, 

“Fifteen thousand.”  The bidding continued until the trip was at fourty thousand.  

“Fourty thousand going once, going twice, sold to bidder 332, Enjoy your trip!” four more trips to exotic locations went for anywhere from thirty to one hundred thousand dollars.  Jesus Christ there is far too much money in this room.  I thought looking around the stuffy rich people.  I desired my jeans and fake cheap jewelry. Then when the auction was over the band began playing ballroom dancing songs.  Tim stood up, offered me his hand and then asked me to dance. 

“Olivia, would you give me the pleasure of this dance?” I stood, and went with him.  My arm linked through his.  “Ummm dad, I don’t know how to dance.” He smiled.  

"It’s ok hunny follow me."  He led me in a dance like the ones you see in movies.  He held one arm and my other was on his shoulder, held high.  We moved in a flowing movement around the floor.  My skirt swirling around behind us.  The more we moved the better I felt about it.  The movements came more and more easily and a smile spread across my face.  It was wonderful here having this much fun with my dad.  When the song ended he walked me back to my chair and then kissed my cheek. 

“Hunny, I am going to do a bit of networking and then we can go home.” He said, winking knowing that I didn’t like these people much.  I sat and sipped my wine.  Anna was looking at me.  Ok Olivia time to be friendly.  We were sitting alone at the table. I smiled at her.  She did not return. 

“Anna, it’s quite something that our fathers work together.” I said trying to be kind.  She just looked at me.  I sighed, this was not going anywhere.  Once more, then I would move on and just be decent. I looked at my palms. 

“Ok look, I don’t expect us to be friends.  But for the sake of our fathers I would like to try and be decent to each other to make their lives easier.” I said, this time with a bit of pleading in my voice.  She sighed. 

“Ok, decent I can do, but not friends ok. Just decent.  We aren’t exactly each other’s cup of tea” I nodded in agreement.  

“decent.” I excused myself one more time to the washroom.  The wine was running through me.  But more than that my cell phone was eating away at my soul.  I checked it first.  Please oh please, let him like the picture.  I opened his text. 

Olivia, you are the most beautiful woman that I have ever seen. XOXO

Oh my heart! Such a sweet heart.  It’s a lie of course.  There are far more beautiful women out there than myself.  I smiled to myself.  It felt great to be called beautiful.  I texted him back. 

I wish that you were here

When I got back out to the table the room had cleared out a lot.  It was past midnight.  Damn it takes a long time to eat a four course meal.  I was tipsy from the glass after glass of wine. I was hoping Tim would be ready to go soon.  He had his coat on when I got back to the table and when he saw me he took my arm. 

“Well dear are you ready to get home?” He asked? I nodded and he led me out back to the limo.  Saying goodbye to people as we went. I watched the lights go by as we drove home.  Finding myself oddly wide awake.  When the limo pulled up in front of the house I looked over to Liam’s there was a light on in the livingroom.  Dad helped me out and then he turned me towards Liam’s and said, 

“Go”.  Giving me a gentle shove. I smiled and walked across the road.  The heels of my shoes clicking on the pavement as I walked.  I tapped on the door with the bravery of a woman who has had too much to drink.  It opened a few seconds later.  There he stood.  In just his boxers.  Holy s**t.  My heart pounded rapidly against my rib cage.  Here in front of me was a huge mountain of perfect, tanned, shirtless man.  The liquid courage pushed me and I took a step towards him, pushing him backwards into the foyer.  I reached up, pulled his head down to me and melded my mouth to his in a moment of passion driven by the few texts we had exchanged throughout the night.  Shoving my soft body against his hard muscular one.  My brain didn’t worry about how he felt about this and it was a good thing because suddenly he slid his hands down to my hips and pulled me closer to him.  He parted my lips with his and I wrapped my arms around his neck.  Then I pulled my face back smiled at him.  I pecked him gently on the cheek.  Unwrapped myself from his arms.  Turned and walked home.  When I got to my front door I turned and looked back at him.  He looked stunned.  I giggled and walked through the door.  Then headed up to my room. Hollering down the hallway as I entered it, 

"Good night Dad," I heard a mulled response smiled and closed the bedroom door. Giggling while I changed into my pajamas and let my hair down.  Then climbed into bad.  I grabbed my phone, Liam had texted me twice.  

I wish I was there too. 

The next one had been sent since I had gotten back into the house. 

Well played Olivia, well played.  Sleep tight see you tomorrow.