The Aristocrat

They call it a raised glass and a cynical smile

Friday 2nd.  

I wasn't surprised when Thomas and his friends arrived at The Outset. He knew I'd be here and recently it was becoming his mission to get some time with me. Walking up behind the sofa that Victoria and Hugo were sitting on, his eyes had fixed on me and his lips were picked up at the ends in a satisfied grin. Briefly tearing his eyes of me, Thomas acknowledged Hugo, the only friend of mine who could tolerate him.

"Andra," Thomas feigned confusion through his smug expression "funny seeing you here."

Ivy and Caspian both scoffed simultaneously, averting their eyes from the sight of him. I choose to ignore them, gazing at Thomas, irritation setting into my features. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes at the confident ease his stance held.

"Not really. We come here every week," Ivy pointed out before I cold even speak, agitated. She shot him a vicious glare which he returned with a charming smile.

"Ivy, nice to see you too," His voice was appealing and thick. His hand brushed imaginary dust of the white dress shirt he was wearing. A pair of dark blue jeans rested on his hips, his shirt tucked into them.

Behind him paused three people. His friends Lawrence and Giselle, and his sister Tiffany. Tiffany looked less than impressed to see who her brother was talking to, her face set in stone as she spared me one quick glance.

"Tom we're going to get a table," Lawrence patted Thomas's shoulder before walking the opposite way, the two girls instantly following him.

Thomas watched them walk away over his shoulder, then turning back to gaze at me, "Mind if I sit for a minute?"

I raised my brows and shrugged my shoulders, not caring what he did. Ivy however looked rather annoyed, huffing out agitated breaths and hastily leaving for the bar. Thomas sat close to me in the empty spot on the sofa, smirking at me. My friends continued to ignore his presence, acting as if he wasn't there.

"Your friends still don't like me," Thomas lent closer to me, his back relaxing casually and his arm sat on the back of the sofa. His hand snaked forward slowly, brushing a strand of my hair over my shoulder.

"I think the term's distaste," I noted, ignoring his weak display of affection.

"It's actually prejudice," His eyes flickered between my eyes and my lips. I assumed he was attempting to build tension, I rejected it instantly "They don't even know me."

"They know enough," I said. I kept my gaze downwards to the floor, not prepared to look at Thomas and engage in his effort to reel me back in.

He chuckled a low sound, "Last summer didn't end the way I wanted it to, I was an arse to you. But even before that your friends never liked me."

"I guess you've always had a bit of a reputation," I uttered back to him, angling my head away from his direction. I looked past his shoulder, staring out at the cities pitch black silhouette decorated with the sparkling flashes of lights from each building.

"Isn't that what drew you to me?" I could hear the arrogance in his voice. It made me want to push him off the chair.

"Actually, it was that dinner you promised me at Vigneto. I only came for the food."

"But it was good night in the end," Thomas's voice had partially lost its smugness and he continued to chuckle to himself.

"Good food," I agreed allowing myself to remember our first date.

He chose to correct me, "Good company."

I chose to not deny it. Finally looking up at Thomas he smiled sweetly at me, the corners of his mouth tipped up. He searched my eyes for a shared feeling.

"I think your sister wants you back," I warned him, his gaze following my finger which pointed to a table on the opposite side of the rooftop. Tiffany watched us, a sour expression resting on her face. An expression that seemingly matched Caspian's. He watched us with the same exact distaste, a protective instinct causing him to tighten his jaw and stare down Thomas.

"I'll call you," Thomas insisted, his tone firm and believing. He left for the table his friends had chosen, me discreetly watching him go. As soon as he left Ivy found her way back from the bar, a half-drunk glass in hand.

"Thank God he's gone," She grumbled, taking the seat next to me in case Thomas was to come back.

"He's not that bad Ivy," I remarked picking up my drink and taking a gulp of it. I tried to act casual not wanting to seem like I cared too much.

"Thomas Montgomery is the definition of bad."

My other friends joining in the conversation all nodded.

Caspian still possessed the same displeased expression he had when Thomas had been here, "Ivy's right, you're too good for him. He's only cares about impressing his dad for that big trust fund he's got waiting for him."

"And we aren't all the same?" I questioned cynically. We weren't, or at least we didn't want to believe we were the same. Thomas might have just been everything they labelled him as, but he owned up to that. That was more than anyone else was willing to do around here.

"We care about a lot more than just our trust funds," Caspian assured me, his short temper flaring slightly.

"We care about each other," Fleur added thoughtfully.

Her statement had seemed to calm Caspian's anticipated rage. His temper had always been bad, he managed to get riled up the simplest of things but Fleur's small comment was true enough to ease all us. We did care about each other, sometimes they were the only thing I cared about.

Everybody nodded in agreement with Fleur, including me. I chose to move on from the touchy subject of Thomas.

"So, did you hear about Anne C?" I asked Victoria over the rim of my glass, pushing back another sip of the cold drink.

Her brows knitted together, "No, what about her?"

"She was asked to leave Crawford," I re-laid the news I'd been told from an old friend of ours from boarding school "a teacher found her and a boy from Upperton in her dorm room."

Victoria gasped and giggled, "you're joking?"

"No lie," I laughed "Emily told me the other day. She also told me to tell you that we totally missed out on another one of Izzy's messy break up meltdowns."

"We really need to head back there soon," Victoria told me "I haven't seen them in forever."

"You're talking about friends from boarding school, right?" Hugo cut in, his hand stroking Victoria's forearm slowly. She gazed up at him, smiling and nodding.

"I really do miss boarding school," I told Victoria reminiscing over the years we'd spent hidden away in the countryside away from the dramas of the city.

"Same," She agreed "we had the best time there."

"I still don't get why you both left if it was so great," Ivy commented sipping away at the drink she had just bought. I sensed some bitterness underneath her question. She'd always been a bit bugged knowing that Vic and I had grown up together all of our lives. Not only that but we'd spent years together at boarding school. Years she'd missed out on because her mum refused to let her leave her private school in the city. 

"I totally didn't want to," Victoria moaned oblivious to Ivy's underlying sourness "Dad made me come back for my sister."

"And my mother made me leave because she couldn't control what I said when I was hundreds of miles from her," I said low, remembering what my mother had told me to get me in the car back to the city. Ivy laughed bitterly and passed me her drink. I pushed it down my throat and gave her back the glass.

"Well I'm glad she brought you back, otherwise we wouldn't be here," Ivy smiled playfully at me and stuck her tongue out.

"So, cheers to Mrs. Royale for this great moment," Hugo raised his empty glass into the air.