Dark flight - Lore of the angelic book 1

The billionaires daughter

I walk along the same route over the sun deck in my father's mansion for the seventh time, my heels clicking along the perfectly waxed wood planks. I hate it here. it's been two weeks since I was forced to quit school because of the marriage, my father finally found the guy he wants me with, but that was the deal we had, I get to study until he finds the man he wants me to get married to so I can start popping out babies soon as possible. I met him twice now, he's going to propose tonight, during the garden party my dad organized, and I find him incredibly boring. all he talks about is his car and the urrent football scores or something, not that I know anything about it. sure, he looks decent, but honestly I find even his looks dull... he's the type who wears shorts with a polo shirt... he doesn't even play polo! if he played polo maybe he would have a bit of personality or dare I say work ethic?

"Alice will you not sit down?"
my aunt looks up from her gossip magazine. I don't understand what she likes about those anyway, half the people in them she knows personally so why does she insist on giving money to those frauds who make up fake stories about real people and then call it journalism. 
"I'm just nervous..."
she opens her mouth to retort something but I don't let her answer, I walk back into the kitchen instead, to grab a glass of lemonade that sits on the counter in a large jug. I have four hours before I have to get dressed and put on my makeup... I wish I could skip out on this dumb party and this dumb engagement and this dumb marriage to a dumb man... I empty my glass and turn to head to my room.

my mom died in a plane crash when I was a baby. she was a famous pianist and I inherited her musical abilities. she continued to hold concerts and attended galas after she had me and, in my dad's mind, that's what killed her. he always said to me, had your mother stayed home like I asked her she would still be alive, promise me you will be better than her. as a kid I believed it, I always said I want ten kids and will take care of all of them and never do anything else, but the older I got the more I wanted to do something with my life, other than having ten kids, of course, which it looks like I will be doing after all, maybe I can shave it down to three. 

I open the door to my room and flop down on my bed, kicking the peep toe heels off my sore feet. The room is mostly in blue and a soft peach colour, my favourites, my bed is littered with old plush animals, dogs, cats, rabbits, horses... the usual. I keep them out of nostalgia, as a little girl I liked playing with stuffed animals most. they were some of the last things I got from my grandparents. I loved my grandparents to bits and I still miss my grandma. she would always tell me that the universe held great things for me. so far no great things have manifested but hey, maybe my feance will be struck by lightning before we can get married and I can go back to school and become a journalist or radio show host until my father finds someone else to sell me to.

I open my secret drawer of treats and pull out a bag of chocolate truffels, which I start to snack on as I read the book I have been chewing through for the past week. I never get to read much these days. I haven't quite finished the page when my phone starts to vibrate on my side table, I pick up, barely seeing the number on the display but not thinking much of it.
"hello?"
I wait. the other end of the line is silent apart from a slight static hum.
"hello?"
I repeat, thinking it might be my dad's elderly mother or some other family member who doesn't quite understand how a smartphone works. again, no answer, but before I can check the number on the screen the other end hangs up. I scroll through my call history for a few minutes to see if I maybe recognize it, I'm terrible with saving people in my contacts so it's totally possible it's someone I know... but I find nothing. I shrug, whatever, maybe someone dialled the wrong number or something, maybe someone changed their phone? I put the device down on it's spot and return to my book.

I read in peace for a half hour when it happens again. it's the same number, I know because there's a double three in it. I pick up again.
"Hello? this is Alice..."
again that static noise... now I'm kind of annoyed.
"who's there?"
the other person hangs up again. great, just what I need on this miserable day, some creepy caller. still, I don't block them, not only do I want to know what this is about, in the back of my mind it could still just be some elderly person who doesn't know what they are doing. I do save the contact though, I call it 'mystery man', not very creative but my curiosity is getting the better of me now. I peek out of my window and find the first cars are arriving in the long driveway that leads from the manor down to the road. my aunt's friends. they are always early and love gossip as much as she does. I sigh, shove my beat up bookmark into the page and walk to my wardrobe to pick out one of the thousand dresses I own only half of which I have ever even worn. it's hot outside so maybe a sun dress...

I grab a gauzy dress with pink and orange flowers on it, that will do fine, it's just a garden party after all, no need to arrive in a ballgown. maybe I can convince someone to sneak me some of the alcoholic punch later... certainly being tipsy will make this all go down a bit smoother, pun fully intended. I fix my chestnut coloured hair into a bun and head to the mirror to have a look at myself. the flowy dress is quite flattering, maybe I should have worn it sooner... I'm a pretty girl, well, pretty enoug, certainly, to be a trophy wife to the dumbass my father picked for me, I was lucky to inheret my mother's grey eyes. I'm a little pale in my opinion though... I can tan for hours I still look like I just stepped out of a cave, so I figure I'll stave off skin cancer for another day and grab a bottle of sunscreen from the dresser, a wide hat from the wardrobe, yes, I look presentable, maybe even decent.

before I can head out to greet the guests like the good girl I was raised to be my phone starts buzzing...