The Blood Heiress

What's Up with Verity

Adella

"This is a surprise, Ver" She looked up with wide eyes and cast her face down almost immediately. "That isn't to say I am not happy to see you. I have been worried about you." The parlor was abnormally dark for the middle of the day. I could just make her out. I nodded to the attending maid to open up the draps.

Her body tensed and she clutched at her bags as the light revealed more of the parlor. Bags? I looked around her and counted two suitcases in addition to her purse and duffle she was holding. She moved to stand up and then paused and sat right back down with a loud sigh.

"I'm sorry." Her voice was unsteady. "I know I am acting shitty. I know you have been worried. Your twenty-nine messages said as much." She paused and took a deep breath, eyes still downcast. "But that is why I am here." Her voice gave out at the end with a strangled sob. Without a thought I sat next to her and put my arm around her.

"What is going on Verity?" I asked using what I hoped was my least pressuring tone. She leaned into me and wiped her eyes.

"I need a place to stay. It won't be for long, just until I can get myself situated elsewhere." Her body shuddered under a new torrent of tears. "My parents kicked me out." Alarm bells went off in my mind at this admission. Her parents adored her. What could she have possibly done to get them to kick her out? I gave her a squeeze and took the box of tissues the observant maid offered up to me. I motioned to the maid, Lana, to go wait outside in case Verity wanted more privacy to talk. I set the box of tissues down on the coffee table in front of Verity and gave her some space to collect herself.

"Are you hungry? Can I get you anything to eat?" I asked.

"You mean get your staff to get me something to eat..." I sighed at her words. She winced. "Sorry, gah I am so sorry. I have no idea why I am taking this out on you." She looked at me full in the face for the first time since we began our conversation. I saw the sincerity there and let it go. If she kept it up, it would become a problem to address but for now I chalked it up to stress.

"So, would you like my amazing staff to get you something to eat?" I smiled to let her know I was teasing.

"God yes, I am starving! I don't think I have had anything good to eat since I got kicked out." She finally sounded like her old self. I nodded and turned to leave. "Wait! Why are you leaving? Can't you ask for it on your phone?"

"If I had my phone. I left it in my room." She stood up and grabbed her suitcase handles.

"What about the maid? Could you tell her and she could go get something for us?" She looked a little panicked so I turned and shut the door.

"Well, I wasn't sure what you wanted and my phone has today's menu on it. I thought since you hadn't had a good meal you might want to choose your food?"

"Yeah, you are right. I kind of do want to choose my own. Can I come with you though? I really don't want to be alone right now." I couldn't help but to agree and so I nodded.

"Of course, my room is a better place to catch up anyway. Lana," I poked my head out and caught Lana's eye. "Would you have Ben get these bags up to my room for Miss Verity?" Lana quickly departed. I turned back to Verity, watching her struggle with her bags. I gently took the straps off her shoulders and placed the duffle down. "You can leave these here. Ben will bring them up for you."

"Thank God! I took everything I could before I had to leave. Everything I could is a lot heavier than I thought it would be." She gratefully let go of the suitcases and made her way to the parlor door. I followed her happily listening to her upbeat voice. She was waiting right outside the room and linked her arm with mine. She seemed to be drawing on my strength as we walked in a comfortable silence.

My room had already been tidied during the time I spent in parlor. Verity walked over to my windows and stood thoughtfully looking over the back gardens. I retrieved my phone and first sent Cass a quick message explaining why I would need a raincheck on catching up. He short but understanding reply belied his disappointment. We would have to try again later.

"Who you writing? A certain handsome bartender?" A smug smile played about her lips. I wasn't sure where she was planning to go with this so I tried to be nonchalant.

"Yep, all done now. Here." I pulled up the ordering function on the estate's app and handed off my phone. "Order tea service too please." I shouted from my closet. I needed to change into something cozier if I was going to be home the rest of the day. She was still going through the options when I reemerged.

"Did you see anything you like?"

"I think I want some pasta. But I have to be sure." She finished and handed over the phone. "That is on menu for today only?"

"The kitchen doesn't make it until you order so I think some of it is on until we run out of supplies and then the menu changes." I shrugged. The kitchen had it down to an art and it worked so I wasn't about to bother with it.

"You and Cassian...?" She left her unfinished question hanging. Again I didn't know if I should bite so I held her gaze for a second longer.

"Yes, we talk." I offered very little.

"Look I am sorry for the way I acted during our girl's night at the bar. I was in a bad place and I took it out on anyone I could, including myself. I am really really sorry that it happened to include you."

"It is all done with Ver. No worries I am not upset about it anymore. But thanks for apologizing." The silence came in then and was interrupted by the food order and tea service arriving. For the second time, Ben was the one delivering it. Followed by some staff with Verity's luggage. I caught Ben's eye as he delivered the food and he motioned to the hall.

"I will be back in a second, Verity go ahead and dig in without me."

"Don't mind if I do!" Her eyes were large as she took in her pasta and all the goodies that came with the tea.

Ben cleared his throat softly and pulled the bedroom door shut behind me. "I see that Miss Verity has brought luggage."

"She asked if she could stay for a little while while she gets herself sorted."

"Have you made a decision?"

"Not yet but I can't turn her away."

"If I may make a suggestion regarding her request before you make a decision."

"Yes..." I raised an eyebrow at his beating around the bush. He wasn't usually blunt but he definitely got to point.

"Consider the fact that she will be often left on her own in this house. And that you will often be occupied elsewhere. It may be best to find another place to be housed for now."

"Uh, thanks Ben." He looked relieved having gotten that out. I was only confused by his suggestion. He seemed to like Verity and to make a suggestion that she needed to be 'housed' elsewhere when we had so many empty rooms seemed harsh. "I am going to go catch up and figure out what is going on with her. Just in case can you have the staff make up a room nearby for her? She will at least be here tonight."

"As you wish" Ben bowed slightly and left. I was once again left feeling like he knew more than he let on, certainly more than I did.

With the way she was digging in when I left the room, I thought for sure she would have been finished when I returned or at least have a large portion put away. That was not the case, she had hardly made a dent and she was just playing with her pasta.

"You feeling alright Verity?" I grabbed the tea pot and poured myself a cup and then one for her as well. I sat down finally and grabbed some finger foods. "I thought you were hungry."

"Keyword, were" Her mouth grimaced and her eyes narrowed. She put down her fork and stuck out her tongue at the food.

"Something wrong with it?" I had yet to come across anything from the kitchen here that wasn't delicious.

"No, not really it's just me. I can't seem to keep anything down. Everything tastes funny too." She sipped on her tea and put some more sugar in it. "So, Cass hasn't tried anything with you has he?"

"Why are we talking about Cassian again?" She shot me a frown. "And no he has been a perfect gentleman."

"Who would have thought? The freaking Adonis bartender and my sweet sheltered Adella?" Her face was open and sincere in its disbelief. I detected no mocking tone.

"I may be sheltered but I am not naive. I wouldn't let just any guy into my life. I am not going to fall for the first guy that I come across." I hated that I sounded so defensive. But after her meltdown I didn't know what she was up to.

"So you are falling for him?" She looked up with a dreamy expression.

"No, yes" I threw my hands up. "I don't know. Maybe." Her lifted her eyebrows up, waiting for more. Pressuring me for more. "What does that even mean?" I didn't know what more I had to give her at the moment. "I like being around him. We have fun together. He is kind, sweet, thoughtful and he doesn't seem to mind how inept I am dealing with people." It felt good to get that out and give it some breathing room. Verity looked pleased too, like a cat that ate a canary. "But why are we talking about Cass and I again?"

"I was curious. It has been a while and I guess it makes me happy to see you finally trying out your wings." Her eyes shone with gathering tears.

"Hey," I reached out and put a hand on her arm. "Are you going to tell me some of what is going on?"

"I don't know where to start it is all so messed up." She wiped away the tears that began to fall.

"I hear people like to start at the beginning but start whereever you feel like it and I can catch up" I sat back in the chair and finished my tea.

"Look at you Miss Russo, taking care of me. I am the one that is supposed to be taking care of you." She smiled and allowed herself to relax a little.

"You have always been there for me. Now I can repay the favor. Why did you get kicked out of your parents' house?"

"The short of it is that I am pregnant." The gasp left my lips before I could catch it. Her words hung between us as she watched my reaction.

"How far along?"

"As far as I can figure eight weeks."

"Wow, have you been to a doctor yet?"

"No, I know I need to but I haven't had a chance."

"You parents kicked you out for getting pregnant then?"

"Well, getting pregnant, choosing to be a single mom and dropping out of college. A little of this, a little of that." She shrunk into herself.

"Do I know the father?" I grimaced it sounded stupid to me ears the minute it left my mouth. I knew very little people in her life, the chances of me knowing the father were slim.

"I don't even know the father. Not really. I couldn't tell him he is going to be a dad if I wanted to. Do you remember when I told you to ask Cassian about the weirdo who broke in? That he might know something? Well, one of the guys that started the conversation about the sketchy stuff ended up taking me home. As near as I can figure he is the lucky one. I hadn't been with anyone else around that time. And he has disappeared. I don't even have his number or address. I don't remember anything really after we met at the bar. I think I left right after we did the deed and was too tipsy that night to be able to remember much about where he took me to. I don't even know how I got home."

"That sounds like a lot Ver. I am sorry your parents didn't want to support you." I poured another cup of tea to stall for time. What do I even say to that? How do I contribute productively, helpfully?

"Thanks, it is alot. Alot alot. They wanted me to get rid of it. Get rid of it and move on and be more careful. How could they say that? So when I wouldn't they pulled their tuition support and I can't afford it on my own so I had to drop out. You are currently looking at a single, homeless, undereducated soon to be mother." The dam broke lose then and grabbed a blanket from my bed and wrapped her up in it. She snuggled in it and let the tears run their course. Taking a page from Maria's book, I went into the bathroom and started a bath for her.

"Hey, Verity?" I approached cautiously. "There is a bubble bath waiting for you why don't you come with me." She nodded and got up. I put an arm around her and led her to the bathroom. I made sure she knew where the towels were and anything else she might need to have a bath. I then brought in her duffle so she could have a change of clothing.

Back in my room I tried to calm my agitated thoughts. I pulled out my journal and began to furiously brainstorm. Underprepared for something like this I desperately wished that I had someone I could turn to for advice. I needed to be there for Verity that much I knew. Without a second thought I was all in for letting her stay here as long as she needed. Another thought occured to me as I wrote, maybe I could fund her schooling. It could be a loan at no interest that she could pay back when she was on her feet. What were her parents thinking? Crippling her chances at providing a better life for their grandchild. The grandchild they would prefer didn't exist? And for some reason they got to keep their lives while my parents didn't get to keep theirs. I cringed. Where had that come from?

Fred and Nancy were warm, gentle people so far as I knew. With a soft spot for their daughter, just not soft enough. They were just disappointed in her. I wondered briefly if my parents would have been disappointed with me. How little I have managed in my ninteens years. I would never know. That was a bittersweet thing to know. I shrugged it off and continued writing. Life wasn't fair no use in wallowing.

I turned back to the pages with all the questions I had written down not that long ago. Looking them over I realized I still didn't have many of the answers I had wanted. Another thing to add to my growing list of things I needed to get done. I relived, briefly that night of the madman magician breaking into my room and coming at me. How had I managed to push that so far back in my mind? It had been such a jarring thing and yet as soon as I could I pushed it back and away. The mind was strange thing. I underlined the questions I had written that dealt with that incident and made a vow to get to the bottom of it the best I could. The bath drain started making noise, signaling that Verity was finished.

"Feel any better?" I asked when she entered the bedroom.

"Much better. I know I haven't had a bath in a while. Thanks." She continued to dry her hair with her towel while the back garden caught her eye again.

"You want to go check out the gardens?" Her interest in them was plainly evident.

"Nah, thanks not today anyway. I don't feel like being exposed to fresh air and sunshine just yet. I want to camp out and snuggle inside."

"Movie marathon then?" the media room would be the perfect place to camp out and forget about the outside world.

"Yes, absolutely."

We spent the rest of the day in the media room, holed up and rotting our brains on whichever movie caught our attention. Verity didn't bring up anything concerning her situation and instead we spent our time making fun of characters, plots and reminiscing about our time as children. Tomorrow would be another day and maybe after some sleep we could brainstorm solutions together. By the end of our time in the front of the television, it just Verity enjoyed what it had to offer. I had fallen fast asleep and remained in a dreamless blissful sleep until she woke me several hours later around nine pm. Trying to hold onto the sleepy feeling and hoping that if I could, that it would mean I would continue my dreamless sleep I stumbled after her back to my room. We both crawled up into my bed and I was out again as soon as my head hit the pillow. My wish was granted and I finally got my dreamless, restful night's sleep.