Redemption (Complete)

12. Reality Bites

Violet couldn't help but feel a little sad that Carl hadn't come for Christmas dinner. She had expected him to since rumor had it that the only other family that he visited lived in New York and that city was due to be snowed in for the week.

She shouldn't have felt bad about his not coming. After all, it was easier if he didn't.

Bad enough that he would most likely be coming to her mother's yearly New Year's bash with another dimwitted date.

No. She didn't know if all his dates to her parent's parties were idiots- it was only what she had heard her father mention several times over the years. Granted his last date didn't seem undereducated. Though she had to admit the woman looked familiar somehow.

Shaking the hollow feeling she had felt on Christmas, she tried to make time for Liam, the son of her father's business associates in the Emerald Isles. The McCormicks were grooming him to take over some of her father's companies in Europe seeing as Harry was getting older and wanting to retire sometime in the next decade or so. Not from Kintech though. Just from his European businesses. Her father was stretched thin.

Hence, her father sending his son Nathaniel to England to learn the ins and outs of his businesses there. It was a duel effort. Some of the business Nate would run and the other's- well, that was what his closest Irish friends the McCormick's would lend their hands to. Liam was learning the trades in Ireland and Nate would tend to Scotland and the U.K.

Harrison Charles had his fingers in all sorts of financial pies, from factory work to several more tech-driven businesses. He had inherited some of the businesses from his late parents and opened a few more after they passed. The businesses he bought out were tanking from a downturn in the economy. Her father was great at making a buck when other companies floundered.

How the McCormick's were to take over the business without her father's hand? Violet still didn't know, though her father had told her she learn about it in time.

Liam was a nice man, though a bit dull for her tastes. He was a gentleman and there was absolutely nothing wrong with that.

So why did he seem like such a dim bulb in comparison to the darker, more arrogant and lively man she found herself thinking about more and more.

Sighing, she tried to steer her thoughts away from Carl and back to the subject at hand.

It was a few days after Christmas and her father had been speaking to her. She hadn't caught but a few words of the conversation.

"Violet," her father called. "What in bloody Hell are you thinking about? You seem miles away."

"Just a bit tired," she told him. It wasn't an absolute lie. She was tired of thinking, of doubting, of debating. What should she do?

Violet had to admit that her father had sort of forced her and Liam to go to the Christmas party together as a date, though she felt no need to come with one at all. She was just fine going stag, thank you very much.

Her first semester at Berkeley had been informative and fruitful, and she aced all the classes she took. She had filled out her curriculum with the registrar for the next year a few days before the party and was looking forward to some of her classes next semester.

If only one of those classes taught how to read a man who was obviously after you. What they wanted. What was a man's 'tell' when he was only in it for the s*x? How could you tell if he wanted to commit? If only Psychology was as easy to understand as one of those horrid quizzes you take in those teen magazines she used to read a few years back.

"Well, you need to listen to me, Dear," her father told her. "This is involving your future. And your children's future, most assuredly."

Huh?

"As you know, I am working with the McCormicks to take over some of my business in Ireland and Nate will be manning the wheel in London."

Violet nodded, her mind again going back to Carl when she should be listening to her father. When he spoke of her future- and her children's future- he had lost her. What did his business have to do with her future children? She was years away from thinking about having any. Maybe eons or millennia.

"We are thinking of merging some of their companies with ours," her father told her. "We could become a giant in Dublin and Galway. Practically hold a Monopoly on some of the businesses there."

"That's great," Harry's daughter supplied, being the supportive child she had always been.

"Of course, there are some things that may make this transaction much simpler than just signing a few documents and then waiting to see if the lawyers will f**k it up or the McCormicks back out of the deal. Something hinky could still happen." Harry sat back in his office chair and watched his daughter's guileless face before asking her the million dollar question.

"How would you like to move to Dublin after graduation?"

******

Mathilde had once again outdone herself. Violet was certain that each year her mother tried to outdo her previous New Year's party.

She had spoken briefly with Constance, Aiden, Ramon, and Mariana before making herself scarce. She was in no mood to party.

Her father had brought up something that she thought had been near impossible this day and age. And Violet and responded that she would think about it, though she was in a bit of a state of shock when he had told her his plans for her.

Ever since then, she had thought nothing but about her father's proposition. And every time she thought about it, her mind wandered to Carl. She hadn't seen him so far tonight, but then again, the man was notorious for being late. He would probably arrive late to his own funeral.

Throughout the last few days since her father had spoken with her, she had come to one conclusion at the very least. She did want to be with Carl. She didn't know if it was because her future was being handed to her and she was not one to be forced into anything, or if it was because she had finally stopped trying to fool herself.

It may have been a combination of the two. Whatever it was, the realization couldn't have come at a worse time.

Reality set in heavy on her shoulders as she walked out onto the balcony. The late December rain had stopped long enough for her to enjoy a little bit of starlight and she felt like weeping thinking that she would be seeing these stars under a different sky for the rest of her life in a few short years.

It was unfair. Unfair of a father to ask this of her daughter. Just because it had worked out for him, didn't mean that lightning could strike twice in the same family.

No- she didn't want this any more than she wanted to fly to the moon on the wings of a butterfly.

Her face felt heated and ice cold at the same time. Putting her hand up to feel a cheek, she felt that the skin was hot and moist.

When had she started crying?

A silly thought followed that and she wondered if her mascara was waterproof.

Ugh! It was all too artificial! Everything her parents did- it was all for looks. And it bled into her own mind and actions.

Here Violet was trying to be her own person, and her father was trying to sculpt her future just as he had his own. With money and titles.

Frustrated tears dropped onto the banister of the balcony and she wished she could fly away from this party. She had told Liam she would go to the party as his date, but she had lost him in the crowd early at the beginning. She wasn't in the mood to play delightful hostess' daughter tonight. Not when her mind was racing a mile a minute.

A noise stopped her. It was a loud sob, and she was startled to realize that it had come from her.

Thankfully, no one would have heard her over the noise from the music at the party. This was no Happy New Year for her. She would have to make a decision she would either regret or rejoice in very soon.

The only difference was- which one was the right choice?

Violet placed her head in her hands and wept until her throat was sore and eyes puffy and red.

******

Without Violet on his arm, Liam looked a bit out of place.

Carl saw the man speaking with a few of the other guests and looking around. Had he lost his date already? It was only an hour into the party and Carl was fashionably late once again.

And- he had listened to Diana. He had come sans date- much to Aiden and Ramon's surprise. Harry looked nonplussed, but then again the old bugger always exuded calm confidence. The bastard would have made an excellent poker player.

Carl was subtle and cased the entire ballroom from fore to aft looking for Violet. When he didn't find her he decided to wander the halls. Perhaps she was using the lady's room or taking time away from the sweltering heat of dancing bodies and alcohol-fueled commentary.

He was half-convinced that she hadn't come at all when he heard a few noises coming from the balcony near the rear of the ballroom. The balcony opened up to both the ballroom and the hallway outside of it and Carl decided to investigate the sound.

As soon as he stepped into the doorway to the balcony, he saw her. Her black hair shone like a raven's wing under the starlight and waning crescent moon. She wore a knee-length black and white dress with a fitted bodice and flowing skirt.

And- her head was in her hands.

He walked quietly toward her until he was twenty paces away.

"Violet?" he called, quietly enough so that no one inside the party could hear.

Carl watched her body stiffen as she turned away from him.

"Go away, Carl," she told him in a watery voice. "I'm not... fit to be seen right now."

"Are you- have you been crying?" he asked. The Violet he knew never cried. She was too stalwart and strong-willed to cry.

"No- uh, yes it's... I'm fine Carl," she told him. "Go back to your date. I'm sure she's looking for you."

"I- I didn't come with a date," he told her honestly.

She allowed her smirk to seep into her words.

"Finally screwed the entire Bay Area?" she asked. "Congratulations are in order then. You'll have to-"

"I didn't want to come with a date," he interrupted and if he was pissed, his voice didn't show it.

His statement gave her pause.

"Why not?" she asked after thirty seconds of silence.

"There wasn't anyone I wanted to bring." His voice was a bit closer to her, but she stood still in her spot. "That is- there was only one person I did want to bring, but I'm sure she's already here with a date."

Violet didn't know what to say, but she was tired of lying. She heard Carl take a few faltering steps towards her before speaking again.

"I didn't want to come with Liam as my date," she said plainly. "My father sort of pushed us to come together. And at the Christmas party. He thought since Liam doesn't know anyone here, it would be nice if I accompanied him."

"I- I can understand that," Carl said. Violet thought he sounded strange- almost reasonable. There was no playful banter, no charming back and forth between them.

And there was no husky, seducing words. He sounded oddly... sincere. Less the manwhore and more the man.

Violet finally turned around to find Carl only a few feet away from her, looking at her like with a look of hurt on his face. Like her tears wounded him somehow.

"Why are you upset?" he asked her. He looked like he was itching to come closer, but kept his distance.

"I- I feel like I'm not living my own life anymore. Like I'm being told what to do and where to go and how to act," she told him, her face downward and away from his searching eyes. "It's- it's unfair."

Violet laughed to hear herself.

"I sound like a child," she stated on a bitter laugh. "Whining about how life's not fair. Maybe that's what I am to him- a child. A spoiled, rich, little brat who needs to be told what to do and how to act and who to..."

Violet looked up again at Carl and found him closer to her. So close she could smell his aftershave and the hint of scotch on his breath.

"Who sees you that way?" Carl's hand came out to caress her cheek. He wiped away a stray tear before it could trace its way down her face. "You are no child. You are a woman- a beautiful woman. Someone I- I wish I could see more of. Not just your body. I want to see you- all of you. The good and the bad, the beastly and beautiful."

Carl pulled Violet into his body gently this time, with none of his usual dominance.

"I just want you," he told her before bringing his lips down to hers in a soft, warm kiss. Her arms looped around his shoulders as he placed one of his hands at the nape of her neck and the other at the small of her back, pulling her further into his warmth.

The two stayed locked in an embrace for several moments before breaking apart.

Carl's hazel eyes searched hers for a moment before repeating his question.

"Now who sees you as a child? Who is this man?"

"My father," Violet stated and gulped down a sob that was threatening to bubble up from her throat.

"He wants me to marry Liam."