Limelight

Encounters

" Yeah, he's been talking about you for awhile now. I see you at church and you seem to be everything he said you were... I'm really looking forward to our date." Levi said with a smile now that Mr.Smith was in the living room with his parents. He was referring to the suggestions of them getting to know each other that Mr.Smith made.

Yet in exchange, Delilah flashed him a bland expression, causing Levi's playful smile to fall sheepish at an instant.

He cleared his throat as his eyes wandered around in an awkward manner. "I was expecting you to laugh. My apologies, it was a joke." He clarified and almost immediately
Delilah's demeanor softened before they shared an ice breaking laugh. Although the situation was still a bit awkward.

" My bad if I offended you or anything, but don't worry I actually have my eye on some one back at home."

Delilah nodded." Good, I was kinda worried that my dad was playing Cupid." She glanced towards her father in slight amusement.

" I understand. Mine are always trying." He then too glared at his parents.

" Really? They wanna force you to marry someone just like them?"

" Exactly. A snobby rich white woman. Just like my mother." He stated. His comment making Delilah hide her snickers behind her hand.

" So I'm guessing you don't live around here, Huh?" She mentioned, grabbing his attention again. It didn't take rocket science to figure that Levi wasn't from around there. From the way he talked to the way he dressed.

" Well sorta, I mainly live in California...but my parents own a house here that we settle in during the summertime...Have you ever  heard of the Gated Pines?"

She nodded.

Of course. Delilah thought to herself–in remembrance of the discussion her father had with them a few weeks ago.

Apparently the Jones family were filthy rich– straight out of Beverly Hills. They were basically a donation jackpot and Mr.Smith, as Delilah recalled, was elated to present the news that the family church was picked from the box.

The box in which groups of rich families gathered up to pick where they'd put their money.

The mother Olivia Harris-Jones inherited the money from her late father– who was the brains behind the wall that separated the Pines from the Valley. Which resulted in an abundance of mixed feelings against the Jones family, especially since the husband Rowan Jones grew up in the Valley. Then suddenly the charity 'Box Of Fortune' began as a way to make up for the wall instead of removing it.

The Harris family had a history of being bluntly racist. Yet, Olivia claimed to the public that she never felt the way her parents did and to prove that, she married Rowan and had a biracial son.

Delilah personally thought they were full of shit, but she knew how much this would mean to her father, and since she felt that children aren't responsible for the wrongs of their parents– she decided to give Levi a fair chance...

As the two remained conversing in the hall, Levi told her about how things were living in Beverly Hills. Intriguing her completely like a child in thought of a wonderful fantasy. He lived in a place where celebrities called home, a place where one of her favorites– Donna Summer called home.