Arabelle

Chapter 4 - Party Time

Bella's POV

My eyelids fluttered open and I was back home in my bed, I sat up in the bed, it looked like it was already dark outside, I didn’t feel as tired and exhausted as I had gone to sleep, I felt better and my heart wasn’t racing like it usually did, I remembered the details of this dream even clearer than all the rest, I remembered his hazel eyes and his face, the man in the dream finally had a face but he wasn’t someone I knew, he felt familiar but I had never seen him anywhere before, I was sure I would remember him if I had, his face wasn’t one someone easily forgot, I still couldn’t make sense of the dream but somehow it didn’t bother me like it usually did, perhaps something about his smile was comforting.

I felt my stomach rumble, I realized I hadn’t had anything to eat all day, I had only had a cup of coffee with mum and right now I want totally starving, I leapt off the bed of pasta and good wine, I inhaled deeply as I stepped into the kitchen where Sofia was serving the food,

“Looks like I came down just in time, what’s the occasion Sofia?” I asked as I sat down on one of the kitchen stools,

The older woman turned to me with me a smile on her pretty face “the madam got back early from work and asked if you had eaten anything and when I said no, she decided I make something special, so here you are, pasta and meatballs served with delicious red wine” she said with glee in her voice,

I smiled, Sofia was a kitchen Goddess no doubt, she had taught me how to cook when I was little, she was a little older than my mum, she had to work for us because she had to support her lazy son, he constantly took money from her and promised to pay back but of course, he never played back and Sofia always said that since she gave birth to him she had to take care of him.

“Your mum will be joining you soon, she said she needed to freshen up a bit” Sofia informed me

“Thank you Sofia” I answered with a smile

A few minutes later, Sofia was done setting up the food, mum and I loved to eat in the kitchen, we only used the dining room when it was absolutely unavoidable or we had guests.

The aroma of the food was almost too much bear, I had to try my best to wait for mum, just when I was loosing my resolve and was about to succumb to the hunger and dive into the food, mum walked into the kitchen, a brilliant smile on her face

“Bella darling, how are you feeling now? You look a lot better than you did in the morning I must say” mum said, looking very pleased

“I am sure I will feel a lot better with some food inside my stomach” I said giving her one of my best smiles and looking longingly at my plate filled with delicious, steaming Pasta hoping mum will understand and let me eat my food already but unfortunately, it was days like this that mum chose to be clueless

“Before we eat Bella, I have wonderful news” Mum said clapping her hands with a child like excitement

I glanced at the food before me and my mother’s happy face, I groaned inwardly and looked away from the food to my mother who was already talking.

“………… signed the deal and a party will be held to celebrate, so we have a party to attend tomorrow, you will come with me right?” Mum was saying

My eyes fluttered back to the food and back to my mother, who was still looking me expectantly, honestly speaking, I had forgotten everything mum just said to me but it looked like she was expecting an answer so I nodded my head agreeing with whatever it was she had said

“Yay!!!” Mum said clapping her hands excitedly,

“Can we eat now?” I asked her expectantly,

“Sure by all means, dig in” Mum said, picking up her fork with her long elegant fingers,

I grabbed my spoon off the table and scooped a gigantic amount of steaming pasta into my mouth, as soon as the food came in contact with my tongue, I sighed in heavenly bliss, the food was purely heavenly, at this particular moment in my life, the only thought  going through my mind was “God bless you Sofia”

After consuming 3 giant spoons of pasta, I felt my brain begin to function properly again,

“Of course, we need to go to the spa, you for one could really do with a massage and your hair, I think you should get it trimmed at the tips, it is almost touching your waist, I think you can cut it to your shoulders, it will look better that way” Mum was saying

“Huh?” I said, I had no idea what she was talking about

“Goodness Bella, haven’t you been paying attention to what I have been saying? “ Mum said, looking at me like I was crazy

I nodded my head to tell her I wasn’t

Mum shook her head and said “I was talking about the party tomorrow at king’s enterprise, we finalized a deal with them and a party will be held to celebrate, a lot of people will be there and I wanted you to go with me and you said you will” she said

“I did?” I asked

A malicious grin spread across mum’s pretty face “you did, so tomorrow, as early as possible, we are going to the spa, then the hairdresser and we are going shopping for the perfect outfit, oh it’s going to be so much fun” Mum said with a happy glow in her eyes,

 She looked very happy and all I could think about now was “I am in trouble, the deep kind”

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Derrick’s POV

It was late when I got home, it was somewhere around 10:00pm, I had stayed back to some stuffs but honestly, working was taking my mind off things, I might have stayed longer but Alfred had pleaded with me to go home so I had no choice but to leave.

The house was brightly lit when I arrived, giving you the impression that was someone was up and waiting for your arrival, I smiled bitterly, I knew better, my mum was probably asleep long ago, the lights were on only because the maids couldn’t switch off the lights without my arrival, I was sure they pitied me, i must look like a very pitiful person to them, well if they thought so then they were right, no one could fault them, my life had always been crappy, it was never a bed of roses, I always had a lot of people looking up to me from a very young age and failing was never an option, at least as Richard, I had a certain freedom back then, I wasn’t as harassed as I was now, with a sigh, I stepped out of the car which Alfred was once again holding open for me,

“Good night Alfred” I said as I walked past him

“Good night sir and have a nice rest” he replied in his usual professional voice

I simply nodded and walked inside the house, it was quiet and cold, I meant to head straight to my room and go to bed but I was stopped by one of the maids

“Good evening sir, your mother wishes to see you, she is waiting for you in the study” the young lady said, she was smallish in stature and her hair was pulled back so I tightly, I wondered if it wasn’t painful at all, her face was devoid of any emotion just like it was expected to be, they saw and heard everything that happened in the house but they were the voiceless spirits  that never said a word, I imagined that if I ever stumbled in upon one their private gatherings, it will be an event I will always remember.

“It’s okay, I will go to her once I freshen up a bit” I said and made to walk away again

“She said you should see her immediately you arrive” the maid said again

Mother was supposed to be asleep by now so what the hell was so important that she had to ruin my night, the last thing I needed was a battle of wits with mother

I exhaled and said “You can go to bed now, I will speak to her before going to my room”

“Thank you sir and have a good night” the maid said and walked away

With a feeling that I was going to end up arguing with mother, I headed toward the study,

When I got to the door and without waiting for a reply, I pushed it open and walked in,

“What is mother?” I am quite tired and would very much like to get some sleep, so please make it fast” I said

Mother looked away from the book the book she had been reading and looked up at me, her reading glasses perched at the bridge of her elegant nose, her brown hair was tied up in a loose bun on top of her head, she had a blue sleeping gown on, her sharp eyes surveyed me quickly

“Good evening to you too Derrick” she said, I didn’t miss the scorn in her voice which I promptly ignored

“I don’t have time for this mother, what do you want?” I said, my voice was void of any warmth

“Okay since you are in such a hurry, I will get straight to the point, tomorrow evening there will be a celebratory dinner with some of our partner and you will be attending it with me” she said casually

“Thanks but I am not interested” I said and turned to leave

“You will be attending Derrick, you don’t have a choice, your absence over the past few days has not gone unnoticed by the board members, and tongues might start to wag if you are absent from tomorrow’s event as well” her cool voice said

I stopped in my tracks, one thing I could not afford to handle was a power struggle with a bunch of old hags who hated my guts and couldn’t get rid of me because they knew how much the company needed me but that didn’t mean they wouldn’t give me a hard time.

I exhaled heavily, she had won again “What do want me to do?” I said, my voice was artic cold, slowly I turned around to look at her,

She shrugged her slender shoulder casually and said “Just the usual, maintain good PR, mingle with the right people and stay away from anything that might cause a scandal and most importantly Derrick, smile, you can’t carry that sour expression all the time”

“I understand” I answered and immediately turned away, I got to the door and stopped, I had something to say to my mother and it was better I said it now and be done with it, slowly I turned around again,

“You know I have no memory of you ever been a warm person, I don’t remember you smiling at me genuinely, all I remember is the mask you put on all the time and this cold exterior, I wonder if I ever really knew you, I don’t think I did, that’s a real shame if you ask me” I said

I saw her features stiffen, she turned to look at me, emotions crashed against each other in her eyes, her lips parted like she wanted to say something,

I didn’t bother waiting to hear the words, they were not important right now “Good night mother” I said and walked out, leaving her alone with her unspoken words.

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Bella’s POV

This morning I woke up feeling refreshed, I hadn’t had any dream at all, I had slept peacefully and woke up peacefully with a smile on my face, it had been a long time since I felt this way, maybe Danny was right, I just needed some rest.

Mum had commented on how much better I looked, I had enjoyed my breakfast very much, I was in high spirits until mum reminded me of the party tonight and all the preparations we had to do.

Right now, my body was being twisted at odd angles and all sort of pings and pops were going about, I was close to screaming right now,

Mum was lying beside me going through this torture with a calmness and serenity I could not understand, she was quiet while the woman massaging her body twisted her body at an angle a hand was never to be twisted, right at that moment, an elbow stabbed into my spine and a loud ping went up in the air, I groaned loudly,

“This my dear, is precisely why I suggested we go for a massage, a lady’s body is not expected to be as stiff as a board, a lady’s body should flexible and smooth like well-oiled hinges”  Mum said

I had a lot of things I wanted to say about what I thought a lady’s body should be like but the torture I was going through silenced me.

20 minutes later, I stepped out of the spa feeling as light as a feather, obviously the torture was worth it but I will die before I admitted it to mum, she was not above dragging me here again.

“Our next stop is the saloon, I am sure Marcy will be glad to see you, it has been quite a while since you last visited her” Mum said with a smile

I nodded my head “You are right, the last was almost a year ago, when we had that dinner at school, you remember right?” I said

Mum smiled deviously “Of course I remember, you went with Danny, you guys looked so cute that night, I still have a picture I took of you guys that night” she said happily,

I laughed “Mum I just don’t know how you are getting this weird idea about Danny and I, it is totally illogical” I said,

“Blah, blah, blah, I am not ready to listen to you right now, we still have a lot to do today, perhaps another time, I might listen to whatever you have to say” Mum said,

“You are really a character mum” I said with a small laugh,

“Whatever, come on we have to get to Marcy’s place quickly, we have a lot to do” Mum said and got into the car.

Marcy’s hair has been where me and mum frequented to get our hair done for as long as I could remember, the owner, Marcy was a smallish woman with cute roundish features with frizzy red hair, she had enough excitement and energy to power a small car battery, she was lively and bubbly, it was always a pleasure to visit Marcy.

When we arrived, the shop was filled up with women chattering as they got their hair and nails done, I smiled, there was something about this place I liked a lot, it felt alive and real, no one hear was pretentious and fake but of course, you could never cancel out gossip in a gathering of women and Marcy’s was no exception.

“Hello Marcy” Mum called out to Marcy

The small woman looked up from what she had been doing, her cute face broke into a smile when she saw mum and I walking up to her,

“Melissa! Bella!” Marcy said and hugged us warmly

I gladly returned the hug as well.

Marcy pulled back and looked at us happily “Melissa, Bella keeps getting more and more beautiful anytime I see her, don’t you think so?” she said as she looked me

Mum smiled brightly and said “I know, she takes after me completely”

We all laughed.

“So what can I do for you today?” Marcy asked

“Well we just need to get our hail done, we have a party to attend later today, as for me, I just need to get my hair straightened out a little at the tips and I am not sure what Bella wants to do with her hair, I was thinking we could trim it a little, what do you want to with your hair Bella?” Mum said,

I shrugged my shoulders “I don’t have anything in mind, what do you think will great on me Marcy? I said,

Marcy looked me up and down and a smile lit up her face “With the length of your hair and perfect heart shaped face, I think some elegant coils will be totally perfect for you, it will look like a pouring waterfall, and you look gorgeous Bella” she said clapping her hands excitedly,

It sounded nice, so I smiled and said “Let’s do it”

“Yay!!!” Mum said with a bright smile

I was suddenly excited, a girl loved to look good and dress up once in a while, with that thought in mind, I relaxed and enjoyed the whole process as Marcy handed me over to one of her many assistants.