Bonding timeee! ;)
Oh, and it gets a bit... heated towards the end. Not in that way! (Yet).
Chapter 15 - A... Charming Prince?
For a week or so I adjusted to my new home and did the things expected of me - including showing up for my meals, and even making small talk with the man-whore. I mean, Adrian.
I would never have ever thought I could get used to it, but one thing was still missing: my family.
The maids and servants were all very pleasant, but it just wasn't the same. I hadn't even talked to Stacey for a few days and I was feeling as lonely as ever. I felt like I was going to go mad, in fact.
Well and truly "cray."
The only person who was around my age was Adrian and no way in hell was I actually going to tolerate his presence any longer than I had to. I'm sorry, but no.
That was, until something happened that wonderful Saturday morning which was completely unexpected.
It was a couple of weeks until my eighteenth birthday.
Thankfully, I was going to celebrate it in the comfort of my own home, so I wouldn't have to spend much time with Adrian or Carlos at all.
Anyway, the morning began the same way it always did. I got up (reluctantly), and got washed and dressed and ate breakfast downstairs with just Adrian seeing as there was never any sign of his father, and then I went back to my room until lunch.
Well that's what I thought I'd be doing.
At around 11, there was a knock on my bedroom door and when I opened it, Adrian was stood there looking as pleased as ever.
Of course I was instantly on my guard. Adrian looking pleased was something that I wasn't used to when he was in my presence.
'What do you want?' I asked him, none too politely. Of course.
He gave a small bow. 'I was hoping that today I would be able to take you out, my lady.'
I raised an eyebrow. 'Where?'
He held out his hand for me to take. 'It's a surprise.'
And that's how we ended up spending our afternoon in one of the most beautiful parks I'd ever visited, followed by an evening spent in a classy restaurant with fabulous food and tasty red wine.
Crazy, I know.
After the meal, he'd agreed to take me back but only after we'd reached our final destination.
On our way back to his estate he parked his car on a side lane out in the country, and walked us onto a hill where we sat gazing at the starry sky whilst sitting on a comfy blanket.
He'd brought a picnic-style basket with him and in it was another bottle of champagne (which mostly I drank) and some kit Kat's.
Not very sophisticated I know, but somehow he'd managed to find out from someone that Kit Kat's were my ultimate favourite chocolate in existence.
I'd happily give my right arm for a Kit Kat.
I distinctly remember how my eyes had widened to the size of small moons when I saw them being pulled out of the basket with my heightened vision, and I almost leapt onto him screaming for joy.
Half a bottle and three Kit Kat's later we were discussing the importance of Shakespeare whilst staring at the constellations.
Don't even ask.
'Shakespeare's a god.' I sort of slurred. What? I was a lightweight. The additional consumption of champagne on top of my earlier wine consumption had made me tipsy.
Adrian grinned at me after taking a sip from the bottle which he pulled from my hand. 'How did you work that one out?'
I frowned at him like he was the biggest idiot alive. 'He made up words, [duh].'
He let out a chuckle before facing me. He was lying down; propped up on one elbow staring at me and I was sitting up staring into the night.
'So? I can make up words. Spilosh. See.'
I pulled a face. 'What?'
'Spilosh. It's a made up word. Am I a god now?'
I playfully smacked him on the arm. 'That's not the same.'
He took another sip before munching on a spare Kit Kat. 'Why not?'
I sighed. 'Shakespeare wrote things... Important things. It was like he wrote about things - concepts - in a way that was ahead of his time, and he was considered a literary genius for it. Still is.' I smirked. 'Jealous?'
He ignored my question and looked at me in amusement with a touch of seriousness. 'A lot of authors are literary geniuses.' He continued. 'What makes him so different or even that much more important than the rest?'
I shrugged. 'Probably the way his plays and epilogues turned out.' I told him. 'All of his plays were deep; filled with hidden meanings and with important morals of the story. Some of his works were tragedies - take Romeo and Juliet. Two star-crossed lovers fated to love each other at first sight, which led to their deaths.
From that you can gather the importance of certain things such as love, and really understand that when things mean too much to us they can become dangerous and perhaps instead you should just let go of them before they come to bite you in the ass.'
Adrian was staring at me intensely. 'So what's the moral of that story?' He persisted. 'Don't fall in love?'
I picked at the grass by my feet with my fingers. 'Maybe... Maybe we shouldn't fall in love. Or perhaps at least, we shouldn't fall in love with people who are wrong for us. Romeo and Juliet were enemies belonging to two separate families with a feud that had lasted for several generations before them. Although their love was fated, it was clear that things would never work out between them. Not even their love was strong enough to change the situation that they were in. They should've just given up.'
I didn't dare look up at him as I continued to pick at the grass until I'd made a small bald patch in the earth. When I did look up, it was to see him eyeing me with a expression that I couldn't quite place.
'What?' I asked him.
He shook his head slightly as if to clear his thoughts and just smiled. 'Nothing. It sounded like you were talking with experience.'
I looked away. 'Yeah well...'
I suddenly froze when he grabbed my hand and squeezed it slightly. As pitiful as it seems the sweet gesture made my eyes water. 'Thank you.' I told him seriously.
He shook his head again, a soft smile touching lips. 'There's no need to thank me.'
When we got back it was nearing midnight.
'I hadn't realised we'd been gone for so long.' I told him as we were stood outside my bedroom door.
'Neither had I. I hope you won't be too tired tomorrow.'
I waved him off. 'I've had later nights.' Many spent tossing and turning; thinking about Carlos. But I didn't say that bit out loud.
He must've read something in my eyes as I said it though because the look he gave me was one of sympathy.
'Goodnight, Indigo.'
I did something that surprised us both and leaned up to kiss his cheek. 'Goodnight.' Shyly, I smiled at him before going into my room, shutting the door behind me.
When I climbed into bed I reflected on the day I'd spent with Adrian and immediately thought about arranging something for Stacey for the next day.
Being out and about that day had been good for me, and once I'd gotten a taste of it, I was definitely not going to give it up for sitting in solitude in my room with nothing but books for company.
As good as books sometimes were.
What surprised me the most was the fact that images of Adrian were swirling through my head as I drifted off; not images of Carlos ravishing the beautiful Eva, which almost constantly haunted me every night.
When I eventually slept my dreams were peaceful which was a small mercy, and awoke in a good mood.
'Tell me you're not busy today!' I exclaimed down the phone to Stacey who sounded like she was having her hair cut.
She giggled. 'Nope of course not my wonderful best friend. I'm all yours. What do you have planned?'
I squealed, thinking about all that we could get up to. 'We could go shopping!'
There was another "snip" in the background. I paused. 'Are you having your hair cut?'
She giggled again. 'It's a surprise. By the way, could you ask Adrian to send someone to pick me up? I don't exactly know where his fortress, I mean home, is so I can't exactly drive there myself.'
I laughed. 'Sure. I'll ask him now.'
At one o'clock Stacey was at our doorstep looking as fabulous as ever in a short, skimpy pale blue dress and was sporting it with beautiful burgundy hair which fell in thick waves across her shoulders.
I screamed. 'Oh my... Wow!'
She jumped and squealed back when she realised I was complimenting her and gave me a tight hug. 'It looks good right?' Did I say my friend was modest? Of course I did. Very modest.
I nodded enthusiastically. 'Of course! Wow, Stace you look... gorgeous!' It was true. I'd always been accustomed to her natural blonde highlights and fair-haired beauty, but now she was just something else.
She waved a hand. 'I know I'm great. Now shush ya mush. We don't want me getting too big-headed now do we?' That we didn't.
'So where are we going?' She asked me.
I shrugged. 'There's a town that's about half an hour away and there are tons of shops. We could go there.'
She nodded, seeming excited. 'Ooh, a chance to explore! I'm in.'
We both hopped into the back of Adrian's black limo and drove into town which took no more than thirty-five minutes.
Once we were dropped off all hell broke lose (figuratively speaking of course) as we unleashed our shopping demons and bought anything and everything we could get our hands on.
'Ooh! Ind, these look good! You should try them on.' We were in a high-end shoe store and the leather boots that Stacey was pointing to were sleek and stylish and indeed nice to look at. I reckoned they would suit me.
When I realised that they were indeed my size, I clapped my hands together and brought them to the till, not even batting an eye when I saw the £100 label.
After I'd bought them we left and went into a small cafe and bought two small ham salad baguettes which were absolutely delicious if I do say so myself.
We sat and ate them quietly on a bench in the town square facing a large fountain, and watched as the sun reflected pretty off the water, causing it to glisten.
'So how's life at home? Have you done any more about this Todd dude?' I asked her.
Recently Stacey had been into a boy who attended a college a mile or so from ours. They'd met through mutual friends and ever since Stacey had been plucking up the courage to ask him on a date.
My friend shrugged, licking off a bit of mayonnaise on her finger. 'We've been texting a bit. He's going to see a film with a few of his mates next week and wanted to know if I would come along.'
I could recognise the excited glint in her eyes as she said this. 'And? Are you "free"?' We both knew she would be, but Stacey liked to play games.
She shrugged, the excited glint becoming easier to notice. 'Depends if I have anything on at that time.'
I laughed delicately. 'I see.'
She grinned and flipped her hair back over her shoulders. 'How's lover boy, Adrian been? Have you two done the dirty yet?'
I pulled a face at her expression and slapped her arm playfully when she wiggled her eyebrows. 'Ew! What do you think I am?' I couldn't miss the exasperation on her face.
She rolled her eyes. 'You'll be married to him soon enough. You should be prepared.' That was true. Her eyes glistened over as she looked off into the distance. 'Wow, Indigo you'll actually be married! You're life is so different from mine, dude.'
I finished my baguette and brushed the crumbs from my lap. 'Yeah well. I'm a vampire princess, what do expect?'
She didn't reply and instead watched curiously as several girls leisurely made their way over to us.
'Erm, Ind, are they friends of yours?' She asked me.
I looked over at the trio and squinted at the blonde in the middle who seemed to be the ringleader.
Her toned legs were covered by nothing but a small scrap of material, and her flat stomach was shown off by her crop top.
She was a stunner.
They all were, but she was by far the best looking.
I frowned at them. 'No, I've never seen them before. I have no idea who they are.'
We both shut up when the blonde walked right up to us and towered above me, grinning from ear to ear.
'Can we help you?' The girl ignored Stacey and instead kept her eyes focused on me.
Suddenly, I had a bad feeling about this.
'Um, hi?' My voice was squeaky and I almost cringed in embarrassment. I had no reason to be fearful - these girls were definitely human so they couldn't hurt me. I needed to get a grip. My brother would be sniggering.
The blonde's smile grew into something more vicious and my fingers itched to just slap it from her face. I didn't though. Luckily.
'Well, look what we have here, girls.' The two behind her snickered nastily. What was this? Mean girls?
My frown deepened.
Stacey looked positively outraged and obviously had no idea what they wanted, much like I didn't. 'Excuse me?'
The blonde's smile deepened even further. She looked slightly scary. And mad. Definitely mad. To borrow a human phrase, the bish looked positively "cray."
'It seems like this is Adrian's new whore girls. She's not even that pretty.' Cue the giggles.
I was simply confused. Who were these girls and how did they know even Adrian? I was aware he was a player, but surely even he didn't stoop so low as to pick up humans.
I was thinking this while Stacey looked simply mad, so mad that I'm sure she was about to start yelling her head off if I didn't stop her.
Placing a warning hand on her arm, I asked the girl, 'Do I know you?'
She shook her head. 'Adrian's whores don't get the honour of knowing his friends so of course you don't.'
Ouch. 'Look, I don't know who you are or what this is, but--'
'I don't want to know what you have to say, whore. I'm simply telling you to stay the hell away from Adrian or else you won't just have me to deal with.'
What the hell?
Stacey tried to stand up but I pulled her back down. I tried again. 'How do you know Adrian?'
She smirked. Maybe I didn't want to know the answer. 'I know him very well but there's one person who knows him even better than I, and she won't be too happy to find she's got a rival.'
Understanding immediately dawned on me. 'Look--'
'Stay away from Adrian! He's not yours and never will be so do us a favour and get the hell out of his house.'
Who were these girls? How did they know I was living with him?
Without warning, the blonde's phone began to ring, and without missing a beat she took it out of her purse and answered it.
Stacey and I sat awkwardly as she spoke through the phone once before swiftly hanging up. Then, as if nothing had ever happened, the blonde gave us a mega-watt smile before turning to leave. 'I'll see you around.'
It was obviously a threat.
'What,' Stacey turned to face me after they'd left. 'The hell was that?'
I shrugged, trying to keep my features blank. Underneath my mind was racing. 'I don't know.'
As the girl had answered her phone I'd had enough time to see the caller display. Ashley.
I'd assumed that this was who that display had been for, and knew that if this Ashley had enough power to make the blonde drop everything in a moment's notice then, I was sure that she was a name I'd want to remember.
How important she was, I was about to find out.
Well! I would be lying if I said I didn't have fun writing that showdown. The next chapter is just... No words. But I'll let you find that out for yourself.
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Xoxo
Gossip girl