WINDOWS: A BROKEN FAIRY TALE (5 page)

           
“Why’s
that?”

           
“I’m
sure you’ve heard about memberships to Lafitte’s.
 
We only have around a hundred members at any
one time.
 
Raven and her family are five
of those.
 
Being a member is something of
a status symbol and half of our customers are people like you; people who are
guest of a member who is trying to impress someone.”

           
Sarah
nodded slowly while chewing on a piece of bread.
 
“I can see how some people would be
impressed.”

           
Stan
smiled and continued.
 
“The odd thing is
you are the first person she has ever extended a guest pass to, at least as far
as I know.”

           
She
started to ask another question but a soft ringing from the kitchen interrupted
her.
 
Stan excused himself with a slight
bow and disappeared, for a moment, returning with the salad.
 
He sat the bowl down, with a small cup of
dressing on the side.
 
Asking if she
needed anything else at the moment, he returned to the kitchen, leaving Sarah
alone in her thoughts.
 

Just as she was
finishing the last bite of lunch, Veronica came back saying that the dress was
ready, if Sarah was.
 
She followed the
saleswoman back down the stairs and into a dressing room where a dark blue
dress was hanging on the back of the door.

           
Sarah
sighed dreamily as the material slid over her skin.
 
It breathed easily and wasn’t heavy in the
slightest, something she had wondered about given the sheer volume of material
being stuck on someone used to jeans and shirts.

           
After
pirouetting so Veronica could make adjustments, Sarah wistfully took off the
garment and allowed herself to be lead down to the salon where her hair and
makeup were fixed.

           
Finally
everything was ready.
 
Sarah had been
dressed for half an hour or so and was wasting time looking over the jewelry in
the cases when a familiar voice in her ear made her jump.

           
“You
look stunning.”
 
Raven whistled
appreciatively.
 
“Are you about ready?”

           
“No,
but I guess we have to go anyway.”
 
Sarah
was now having second thoughts about going to the party but a deal was a deal
so she reluctantly got in the car.

A short trip
through the city later they stopped in front of a huge building even fancier--
if that was possible-- than Lafitte’s Boutique.
 
Sarah looked for a place to hide but found herself stuck as the door was
opened and a man offered his hand.
 
Only
a reassuring smile from Raven made her get out of the car despite desperately
wanting to stay right where she was, but get out she did and instantly
regretted that decision.

           
Throngs
of people milled behind partition ropes on either side of a long red carpet
that ran from the street up to the doors of the Collinson Hotel.
 
People dressed in incredibly expensive
looking clothes were walking up the carpet in pairs, men in their finely
tailored suits and women in dresses meant to show off the amount of wealth the
wearer possessed.
 
Sarah felt drab, out
of place and a strange buzzing noise filled her ears.
 
Mechanically she shuffled forward when Raven
tugged on her arm.

           
“You’ll
get used to it in a little bit.”
 
Raven
whispered as flash bulbs popped around them.
 
Sarah didn’t want to get used to it and really just wanted to leave
right then but that option vanished as soon as they were inside.

           
“Okay,
here’s how this works.”
 
Raven took the
blonde’s hand in her own to stop Sarah from fidgeting.
 
“They will announce me, and then say,
‘Escorted tonight by Ms. Sarah Petty’.
 
We walk in, your arm on top of mine, our fingers slightly entwined.
 
We pause for a moment at the end of the
carpet, nod slightly once and then mingle.
 
Easy as pie.”

           
Sarah
look flustered and not at all pleased to be where she currently was.
 
“Should I smile?” she asked nervously.
 
Going to a party was one thing but a gala
held in the fanciest hotel in the country was not what she had bargained
for.
 
Plus she was someone’s escort, to
be announced in front of the most powerful and influential people in
Vestavia.
   
If not for Raven’s hand on
hers, she still had every intention of running away, fairy tale dreams about
poor princesses be damned.

           
Raven
cocked her head to one side.
 
“Don’t you
like hanging out with me?”

“Of course I
do.”
 
Sarah was to busy gawking at the
ritzy hotel to really pay attention.

“So why wouldn’t
you smile?”

           
So
Sarah put on a huge smile, showing off all of her teeth and straining the
corners of her lips.

Raven’s eyes
widened in surprise, and then narrowed. “Uhmmm… that looks really
uncomfortable.”

           
“Well
it fits my mood”, Sarah muttered darkly before asking how she should smile,
since Raven was the danged expert.

           
“Like
you’re having a pleasant thought.”
 
Raven
suggested.
 
“Let’s both think about the
fact we’re opening a brand new shop.”
  

 
          
A
true smile etched itself on Sarah’s face and Raven mirrored it.
 
The two stood silent for a moment in the
foyer, staring at each other while the muffled sounds of the ball drifted out
to them.
 
Raven started to say something
but was interrupted.

           
“Raven,
Sarah.
 
They’re ready to announce
you.”
 
A man’s voice called from
somewhere above.
 

Raven held her
right arm straight at the elbow and Sarah placed her left on top.
 
Their fingers intertwined and the redhead
felt her heart skip a beat, which was weird because she’d never been nervous at
these things before.
 
“Just remember to
keep smiling.” she whispered to Sarah.

The large doors
swung open and the noise of the ball fell silent.
 
Sarah could feel five hundred pairs of eyes
scrutinizing her as she shifted her feet uncomfortably.
 
It took every bit of self control she
possessed to not run screaming back outside.
 
Then the music died down and an expectant hush filled the room.
 
From everywhere a loud voice announced;
“Presenting the Lady Branwyen Chandlish of Valentria, escorted tonight by Ms.
Sarah Petty of Vestavia.”

CHAPTER
4: FLAMINGOS AT A BALL

           
The girl was restless and slid into
the chair in front of the fire.
 
She
crossed and uncrossed her legs repeatedly before getting up and picking out a
book from the shelf.

           
With a sigh of great annoyance she
finally lay down on a couch that had somehow appeared in place of the
chair.
 
Nothing very interesting was
going to happen tonight so she might as well get comfortable.

           
The shadow rolled in darkness, a terrible
beast aching to be free of its chains.
 
Soon the girl would have to release it.
 
Soon it could kill.

Raven bit her
tongue to keep from crying out as Sarah’s fingers locked tighter on her
own.
 
She glanced to her escort, who was
smiling calmly as if she wasn’t in the process of crushing a fellow human’s bones
in a vice-like grip.
 
I’m gonna get
fussed at for this one, the redhead figured gloomily.

For her part,
Sarah managed to keep from yelling at her new business partner.
 
Yes she was ticked at Raven for not telling
her who she was, but also at herself for not figuring it out.
 
Felicity, Rebekah, Branwyen, and Amanda; the four
daughters of the noble house of Chandlish, the richest and most powerful family
in all of Florence.
 
Rumors held that they could trace their lineage
back to the Fall of Azaroth, if one believed such things.
 
Of course, Sarah decided she couldn’t be
blamed too much for not catching on at first.
 
She never paid attention to the comings and goings of the upper class,
having long ago realized that they had as much effect on her life as the stars
did.

Still, she
should’ve been warned.

Two women, the one
in lavender wishing someone had made her gloves out of iron instead of silk and
the one in dark blue doing her best to pop off the other’s fingers at the
knuckle, strolled down the red carpet, smiling.
 
After the assembled party goers had clapped politely, Sarah started to
drag Raven to the nearest unoccupied corner when a young woman dressed in a forest
green gown rushed up and wrapped her arms around Raven.
 
“Bless the five”, Raven nearly shouted,
shaking her hand free from Sarah’s grasp and hugging the other girl back.

“Raven, how’ve you
been?”
 
The black haired girl squealed in
delight.

“Been good Kelly,
how about you?”
 
Raven stepped back and
introduced the two girls.
 
“Sarah, this
is Kelly Masterson.
 
We went to finishing
school together.”

Sarah smiled
warmly and accepted Kelly’s outstretched hand with a friendly shake.
 
“So she doesn’t know your real name
either?”
 
The words that dropped from
Sarah’s lips and the withering glance she gave Raven belied her genial demeanor.

Kelly just
laughed.
 
“Nobody does at first.
 
She introduced herself to me as Raven the
first day of school and she’s been Raven ever since.”

‘Why is that’,
Sarah wondered to herself.
 

As if reading her
mind, Raven shrugged, “Sis gave me that nickname when we were younger.
 
It stuck.”

“So how do you and
Raven know each other, Sarah?”
 
Kelly sensed
that Sarah was still a little put off and tried to lighten the mood.

“Lady Chandlish
has asked me to be her business partner.”
 
Sarah responded, making sure she used Raven’s title because she was
still fuming over the fact she hadn’t been told from the beginning that her
future partner was nobility.
 
Going by a
nickname was well and good with friends, but business partners!
 
Was this the kind of treatment she could
expect once they actually opened the shop?

“Kelly,” Sarah’s
voice dripped with honey, “do you mind showing me to the buffet table?”
 
Raven was hungry too and started to follow but
Sarah turned a chilling eye towards her.
 
“I’m sure nobility has servants to bring their dinners.”

As Kelly and Sarah
walked towards the tables set up in the back of the hall, Kelly glanced over
her shoulder at Raven who mouthed the words, “fix this”.
 

Kelly nodded once
before she and Sarah were lost among a sea of rustling petticoats and penguin
suits as the band struck up a quick waltz.

When they reached
the table Sarah nearly blanched at the sight of so much food.
 
At one end, there were steamed crab legs and
boiled lobster.
 
At the other, various
fruits, vegetables and cheeses spread over silver platters with what she
guessed were dipping sauces in bowls with ladles sticking out.
 
In front of her were thinly sliced pieces of
meat, simmering in a brownish sauce with chunks of mushrooms floating on
top.
 
Different types of bread were
placed strategically between the three different types of food.

“What looks good
tonight?”
 
Kelly’s voice broke through
Sarah’s astonishment.

“Everything?”
 
She answered, still staring.
 
An unladylike rumble in her stomach reminded
Sarah that she hadn’t eaten since lunch at Lafitte’s hours ago.

“I believe we will
try the lamb.
 
Thank you.”
 
Kelly nodded to a young man dressed in a
stiff white jacket and black pants.
 
The
server, barely sixteen, produced a crystal plate and small fork for both of the
ladies and placed two pieces of meat on each.
 
Sarah smiled her thanks and followed Kelly to the far end of the tables,
where another server was filling flumes with champagne.
 

After they had
their food and drinks, the girls sat down on one of the many chairs sat up
around the main dance floor.
 
Sarah
looked confused for a moment and asked how she was supposed to eat while
holding her drink.
 
Kelly said that the
great thing about the dresses they were wearing is that they made wonderful
tables.
 
She demonstrated by putting her
plate in her lap, where the ruffles held the plate in place while she used her
fork to delicately slice a piece of lamb.
 
The glass of champagne stayed in her left hand the entire time and Sarah
was suitably impressed enough to try it herself.
 
To her surprise, it worked a lot better than
she had hoped.
 
The edge of the fork slid
into the lamb smoothly.
 
This style of eating
wouldn’t have been possible with the steaks she was used to but with meat this
tender it worked like a charm.

They ate in
silence for a moment before yet another server in white jacket and black pants
bowed his head to them and asked if they would like another glass of wine.
 
Sarah, having already finished her glass,
said yes.
 
She and the young man stared
at each other for a moment before Sarah sheepishly realized he was waiting for
her empty.
 
She handed him the flume and
he left.

“Thanks for the
heads up.”
 
Sarah teased.

“I just wanted to
see how long it took you to notice he was staring down your dress.”
 
Kelly giggled back.

Sarah glanced down
at her cleavage, which was rather impressive in the bodice she wore.
 
“No wonder you and Lady Branwyen get along so
well,” she said, giving the brunette a playful wink, “you both love keeping
secrets.”

Kelly pointed out
there was no way of keeping those things secret since everybody could see them.

“That reminds
me.”
 
Kelly said as the young server
returned with Sarah’s drink.
 
“Where did
you get that dress?
 
It’s beautiful.”
 

Sarah feigned
exasperation with a dismissive wave of her hand.
 
“What, this old thing?
 
I was just looking in the closet for
something to show the twins off with.”

Kelly let out a
loud snort of laughter.
 
Sarah snickered
while the brunette covered her mouth with a gloved hand trying not to look
embarrassed.

“I got it today at
Lafitte’s.”
 
Sarah told her.
 
“Lady Branwyen got me an appointment since I
was tricked into coming here.”

Kelly’s eyes grew
in size as she turned to look at Sarah, as if seeing her for the first
time.
 
“Raven took you to Lafitte’s?
 
She never does that for anyone, even me!
 
And you really should call her Raven.”
 
She added, almost as an after thought.

“I don’t know her
well enough for that.”
 
Sarah train of
thought was instantly derailed as the most devastatingly handsome man she had
ever seen walked up and bowed deeply before them.

“Greetings, Ms.
Masterson.”
 
The man, with hair so dark
it could have been spun from midnight, eyes that seemed to be broken off pieces
of a summer sky, and a dimple in his chin that Sarah guessed might be just deep
enough to snuggle in, took Kelly’s offered outstretched hand and kissed it
gently.

“And warmer
greetings still to her companion, Ms. Petty.”
 
Sarah threw her hand up in an instant, wanting it to be kissed.
 
The man with the devilish grin didn’t
disappoint.
 
Sarah fought the urge to
faint but Kelly giggled.

“Always charming
aren’t you Mr. Blackstone?’

“Not always, or so
I’m told.”
 
Mr. Blackstone smiled and
released Sarah’s hand.
 
“I’m afraid I
have come on a matter of utmost importance.”
 
He sounded slightly distressed.

Kelly rolled her
eyes and asked what urgent business he was about while Sarah tried to figure out
how to put her arm down.

“It’s seems that
the most beautiful woman in the room will fail to dance with me before the end
of the night.”
 
He simply oozed charm as
he stared into Sarah’s eyes.
 
“I most
humbly request that she allow me one spin across the floor before I take my
leave.”

Kelly said he knew
very well that Sarah was Raven’s escort, not hers.
 
Sarah, promptly forgetting who Raven was, who
the brunette was, and quite frankly who she was, accepted the hand of the
Adonis before her.
 
Her knees felt a
little weak as she stood and followed him to the dance floor.

The two stopped at
the edge while the band finished the current song.
 
When the music stopped, they strode out to
the center as the band director announced that this would be a waltz.
 
When the music began, the man wrapped his
strong arms around Sarah’s waist with a smile and the two danced as softly as
leaves on an autumn wind.

Please never let
this song end, Sarah pleaded with whoever was in charge of such things.
 
She smiled back, Mr. Blackstone’s impish grin
proving to be quite contagious.
 
Mr.
Blackstone himself was quite taken with the charming partner he was currently
cavorting with.
 
The light from the
chandeliers haloed in her golden hair and the deep blue of her dress made her
eyes shine all the richer.
 
He took great
pride in his flirtatious ways but even greater pride in never lying.
 
This Ms. Petty was without a doubt the most
beautiful woman attending the gala.

Alas, the song
ended as they all must and the dazzling couple strolled off the floor, towards
the champagne table.
 
When they stopped
Mr. Blackstone bowed, kissing Sarah’s hand.
 
“A true honor, Ms. Petty.
 
You
dance divinely.”

Sarah coyly
insisted that he call her Sarah from now on.
 

“Only if you call
me Daniel and promise me another dance.” He replied.
 
“I must be going now but I do hope to see you
again in the future.”

“I hope so as
well.”
 
Sarah made a mental note that she
would be doing everything possible to meet him again.
 
As she watched Daniel disappear through the
throng of people, a voice from behind spoke up.

“It seems Daniel
has his eye on you.”
 

Sarah turned and
saw three women standing beside the table, having obviously taken full
advantage of the free alcohol.
 
The two
on the left and right were rather drab and non-descript.
 
Tall and thin, almost gaunt, they leered at
Sarah with undisguised disdain.
 
The
woman in the middle was way more interesting to look at.
 
Shorter and heavy set, she wore too much
makeup, her eye liner and lipstick a shocking shade of pink that would’ve been
better on a flamingo, a pink dress with pink feathers in her hair.
 
Sarah managed not to laugh when she thought,
“She is a damned flamingo.”

Still, she had
been raised to be polite to the upper crust so she managed to plaster on a fake
smile. “I don’t know about his eyes being on me.
 
He was just being friendly.”