PART ONE
Virginity. It was a pretty big deal. Or so, according to the eyes of society it was.
For the twenty-year-old, sex was not something she had been well educated on. The 'talk' or, in layman's terms, the birds and the bees were not a topic of conversation that her foster home wanted the kids to learn. Of course, the idea of innocence was pretty quickly tainted. Being hormonal teenagers stuck in one tiny house together, it wasn't long before they figured out that pleasure could be found in more ways than believed.
Rika Sato-Johnson had her first sexual experience at the age of sixteen. Contrary to popular belief, she was not a virgin. Her moments of sexual desire most definitely were not filled with pure bliss.
Like the rest of her life, losing her virginity was an experience in itself, one that she pushed far away in the depths of her mind.
He had asked her the simple question, 'are you a virgin?', if she was being honest, she found it refreshing for him to ask her. It went to show his experience, something she didn't have much of.
The elegant black gown stared back at her through the floor-length mirror placed in the very corner of her room, she pursued her lips in heavy thinking.
If she'd known his question would throw her into a pit of self-doubt, then she would've preferred him to keep his mouth shut altogether.
However, she couldn't blame him for asking.
After all, how could he have known the turmoil it would bring?
Her first and only sexual acts came in the form of a young boy named Eric Townsey. Sex. It was as straightforward and to the point as that, she had sex with her bully on her sixteenth birthday. One of the many foster kids that had taunted and ridiculed her for years.
The bullying started with her looks, she roamed her eyes over her curves, cringing at the way the material of the gown clung to every ripple and imperfections. He had always told her her body wasn't one that any guy would want to touch willingly.
It was all they would talk about at the time. Sex, sex, sex. She remembered being sick to death of being the only one who hadn't had her first kiss, let alone touched.
Her stupidity of believing he could change his view of her led to the mistake of letting him be her first kiss. And first everything for that matter.
She could see the light makeup dotted around her face, it took a lot of persuading from Vera, but she had reluctantly agreed to put on more than she was comfortable with. It was New Year's Eve, she figured if there was one time she would be able to wear a full face of makeup, it would be now.
Her eyes looked more feline this way, coated in dark makeup and her pouty lips were topped off with a natural gloss. She had never liked to draw more attention to her ambiguous features, the name-calling came rushing back.
The morning after her sixteenth birthday, she had walked into the kitchen to find everyone laughing at a video on Eric's phone. It wasn't hard to guess what they were busy watching. The moment they saw her standing there, they made sure to let her know—they knew what had happened between the two.
'Congrats on losing it, fatass!"
'She really thinks someone would actually wants her, no one wants a loser!'
'Townsey had sex with the ch*nk!'
Racial slurs and derogatory terms about her facial features were not a surprise to her. They told her on a daily just how ugly they found her and that the real reason behind her being not chosen by every foster parent was due to her indifference.
Rika struggled with her identity, she was well-aware that she half-Japanese, half-American, but she had no idea which one of her parents were which.
She never felt like she belonged anywhere.
"I must say, Manhattan looks rather different this year, don't you think?" Marco's teasing entered the room before he did, opening the door widely, she stole a glance of the suited man walking inside.
Rolling her eyes, she did a once over of his three-piece suit, smiling at the clean-shaven beard she saw.
She slipped on the pair of clear heels by her feet, curtesy of her hostess, and fixed her hair one last time. Her long hair had been left down in waves, dangly gold earrings and her 'Lovey' chain accessorised her fancy illusion.
"Don't you start." She muttered briskly, turning to give him a full show of her getup. "I'm not happy about this, just so you know."
He nodded in approval, a shit-eating grin setting on his face.
"Besides, I know you secretly wanted to stay here for New Year's anyway, so you're welcome."
He chuckled. "So our change of plan has nothing to do with the man across from this very room?"
Knowing where he was edging the conversation towards, she shook her head promptly. "It has nothing to do with that, I decided you were right after all. We have never celebrated New Year's properly and where better to start than at a party filled with famous faces."
"Yeah, of course, I'm sure you would love that." He retorted, winking eyes staring into her soul. "You'll fit right in, you appear to be quite popular around here as it is."
His sarcasm made her grunt, smacking his arm. "It's not funny, wipe that stupid smile off your face."
"I didn't know it was such a crime to smile, sweetheart."
Giving him another warning glare, she felt him nudge the tip of her nose with his finger.
"You look beautiful." He commended, his words soaked in satire. "Now let's go down already. I'm afraid I'm going to be fending off every single person that dares to look your way tonight."
A warm blushed crept up her neck, the self-doubt perished away in one soft sigh. "You really are something, Mr. Finchley."
Taking her hand in his, he brought her hand up to his lips like a true gentleman. A delicate kiss tickled her sensitive skin.
"Dont you forget it."
• • •
Janessa was finding it difficult to overcome her irritation, rendering the two men to smirk at her reaction.
"I don't like your friend, Daddy." She tried to whisper into his ear, her attempts were unsuccessful as a deeper chuckle vibrated his ears.
The producer snorted, knowing his usually shy child wasn't finished with her diatribe. "He's stupid, and not funny."
Slater could see stone-grey eyes shining as the muffled high pitched voice drawled on.
"Now that's no way to speak to your uncle." He tried to mend the situation, although she chose to shove her face into the crook of his neck to hide her face. "Even though I agree with you, you can't call people names."
"He's not my real uncle!"
His old-time friend interjected, an amused laugh rolling out of him. Reaching over, one finger prodded into the youngster's side. "Come on, squirt. It was a joke. I know you're smart, your father makes sure to tell me just how much every single day."
Poking her head out, her eyes narrowed into slits down onto the man across from him. "'Do you agree that you're stupid and I'm not?"
Devin grinned, nodding his head. "You really are your father's twin." Holding out his arms, he gave her a peace offering. "Hi, I'm stupid, what's your name?"
Knowing she had a harmless crush on him, he pretended to go along with it for her sake.
Immediately, she let go off her fathers neck, letting out a giggle and accepting his apology hug without a second thought.
When she was lifted out and taken into the bachelor's strong arms, Slater drew out a staggered breath. He didn't bother to say anything, dragging his eyes over her baby blue frilly dress and her bulky circle lenses.
The Englishman released her to the ground after a tight hug, finally setting her down, he told her to go find her sister so that he could talk to her father alone. She agreed, but only on one condition—a pinky promise to dance with her when he was finished.
Once the men were detached from the smart-mouthed child, and left in the presence of each other, they retrieved drinks from a passing server nearby.
Slater grudgingly took a sip. He looked ahead, spotting the girls on the sofa whispering to each other, looking tiny compared to all the adults. "You know I'm beginning to think she likes you better than me, Dev. She wanted to wear her 'special' princess dress for you tonight, she usually wears that shit for me."
Devin, who could be best described as tall, dark and handsome, gave him an amused shrug. "What can I say, I have that effect on women."
His brow furrowed and he swallowed another mouthful. "She's eight." He stated dryly.
"And clearly got her head screwed on straight, I hear she's looking for a mature fella."
"Fuck off, " Slater rasped, knocking his friend backwards slightly with a firm shove, resulting in loud laughter.
He was a few years younger than him, thirty-one to be exact, and still in his partying days. They had been friends for a long time, both in the industry and running in the same circles. Devin had been there for it all, he had watched the girls grow up and happened to be one of the few people he could count on.
"They won't be dating until at least thirty-five," he announced, the thought alone making him queasy. "Better yet, until I'm on my deathbed."
He received a nod in response. "Good idea."
The silence didn't last long. In fact, all of the buzz from the alcohol and chatter blurred into one as the sight of fancy ball gowns and expensive suits filled his vision.
Every year the Ivanov's held the same NYE's party, and it was a truly one of the biggest nights in Hollywood. You would think being in Russia would hinder a lot of people from showing up, but Slater and Dasha had grown a close bond with a lot of the faces he could see dotted around the place.
Faces he had yet to welcome.
That particular train of thought was interrupted as Vera appeared in front of him with a huge smile on her face.
Slater's eyes dragged over his sisters silver sequinned dress, he opened his mouth to mutter a greeting of sorts. "You look like a disco ball."
A frown plastered across her made up face, she gave him a glare before turning to face the man next to him. "Devin! It's nice to see you again, how are you?" she asked chirpily over the loud commotion.
She was pulled into a tight hug as he continued to sip on his whiskey.
"I'm better now that I've seen you," The smooth reply came from the brown-haired womanizer. "And don't listen to that dickhead, I think you look very beautiful tonight."
Vera flushed at the well-mannered compliment, muttering a haste 'thank you.' "So did you bring a date?" She asked curiously, unable to disguise her interest. She had seen over her feed that he had started dating a model—something that wasn't unusual for him, however; what was unusual was how long their relationship had lasted.
He had never brought a plus-one with him before.
"Yeah I did, why? You wanna meet her?" He nodded behind her, directing her attention towards the familiar leggy redhead by the bar.
"Although now that I'm looking at who's here, the chick by the bar is hot. I might have to ditch my date to get to know her a bit better."
When they both exchanged looks, her face quickly contorted into pure disbelief. Shooting her older brother a stare that could only be described as 'I can't believe you!', she leaned forward to shove Devin's chest back.
He tapped his chest and laughed. "I'm guessing you already know her..."
"I hate the both of you." she sulked, shaking her head. Before she could even say anything more, the sight of curves and a black dress entered the room. "-Oh, what would you look at that! Rika's finally down, what kind of host would I be if I didn't greet my own guest. What a shame, it looks like I can't stay here and chat boys. Bye!"
The fleeting body took off, pushing past the many bodies. For the first time during the entire night, the producer flicked his attention onto something other than his beverage.
It was clear to anyone that she looked out of place—the snug material of her dress clung to her curves and her unique features stood out against the crowd.
"Wait, that's the nanny?" Wide eyes took in the sight of the nanny, in one slow pullover, Devin's head turned in time to catch the side of his hardened face. "Well shit... I didn't realise she looked like that."
Slater watched silently as those sultry almond eyes scanned the room nervously, she seemed to miss his gaze as she found the bar and started to head over to it.
Pulling a face at her appearance, he tipped the rest of the contents of his drink back in one big gulp.
It was going to be one hell of a long night.