Royally Kissed | ✓

08; the sneaky huxley

—eight—

the sneaky huxley

THE STEAK ON Paige's plate had been practically savaged when she could only sit prim and proper at the presence of Isolde, along with her parents who were sitting across them. They'd just come back from Hongkong after having been there for three months to watch over the completion of another branch of Manor Hotels.

She was ecstatic the moment her mother called, telling her they'd just arrived at the airport while she was at school this morning. Having a special dinner with her parents was one thing, but being there while her grandmother was around was another matter altogether. It was one of those moments where she'd rather choose to stay in her room than rubbing elbows with people whom she wasn't really accustomed to.

Isolde was exacting, dispassionate, and imposing.

Three things that Paige completely wasn't. Considering that she was her grandmother, it appeared that they were like two worlds apart. The only time that she showed affection towards her was during her ninth birthday, to which she could merely recall as, say, constrained, probably because her grandfather had told her to pass off a present−and even that was already slipping away from the recesses of her mind.

Almost all of the memories she had of her was the occasional hidings behind her parents when she visited them, and there were several eating-in-the-rooms, too.

Suddenly, her phone lit up from where it was sitting for several minutes now and she discreetly lifted it up from her lap to check Arthur's message. They'd actually been constantly texting, even more now when they both decided to pursue a relationship together.

It was their first day being boyfriend-girlfriend and she couldn't help the smile threatening to bloom across her face.

Hello, you.
Meet me outside? :)

Isolde and her parents paused chatting when her grandmother caught her staring down at her phone absentmindedly.

"Didn't I tell you phones are off-limits in the dining area?"

Drawing up in surprise, Paige's smile quickly withered, before she braved herself in facing Isolde as she slipped her mobile at the brim of her skirt. "I'm sorry, grandma."

The room was filled with stale air at this, so did the butler and the maids perking up as though a precautionary measure. Everyone was silent and Isolde's tone was falling like shards, piercing through them all.

Isolde's eyebrow shot up, scornfully twisting her lips. "If you can't conform to even at the simplest rules, how can you justify that you can handle even bigger responsibilities as an heir, Paige? You're turning twenty next month so you better remind yourself to act how a lady should."

Nodding, she fought the urge to sigh and her eyes slipped into her parents, who then shot their sorry smiles at her. She returned it with a meaningful look, before turning her attention back to her grandmother. "I'll be sure to be more careful with my actions next time, grandma."

Casual and unsympathetic, Isolde occupied herself with wiping her napkin around her mouth gingerly, her movements so victorian that Paige still couldn't get over the fact about how fascinating it was.

"There's no such thing as next time, Paige," she paused, lying her napkin next to her plate before turning to the poor young lady. "It's always here and now. We don't wait, we get things done while the other people are sleeping on their flimsy beds, dreaming about being wealthy. That's the difference between the poor and the successful ones. That's what your grandfather did and we ought to put his legacy in high regard. We aspire, we commit, we thrive. I assume you understand."