Bold and Simful

“Monica! You look fantastic!” Robert exclaimed when his long lost daughter entered his humble Cafe, serving the people of Rigel Heights great, home cooked food at reasonable prices since 2008.

“Thanks, Rob-, Da-, Robert,” Monica blushed and stumbled for a moniker, she didn’t think of Robert as her father.  The last semester of college was a little late in life have a father thrust onto the scene, even if it was one as nice as Robert Bettencourt.

The lull in the conversation stretched to almost uncomfortable, neither Robert nor Monica knowing quite what to say.

“I hear congratulations are in order for you and Mr. Winfield,” Robert finally offered, referring to his daughter’s fiance.

“Thank you,” Monica answered, “Randal and I were just doing some shopping on High Street and I thought we’d stop in for some lunch.” she looked around to see her fiance coming through the door.

“You must be starving then,” Robert was back in his element as host and ushered the couple to a table by the window.

He returned to take their order a few minutes later.

“Mr. Bettencourt,” Randal started, “I would like to invite you and your wife to a party we are hosting.”

Monica whipped her head around, “Party?” she questioned under her breath, “What party?”

Randal shook her off and re-invited Robert and his wife, “A kind of informal afternoon engagement party, mostly our friends but we would love if  you and Mrs. Bettencourt would attend.”

Robert accepted for both himself and his wife, he’d always wanted to see inside High Lawn but it had been vacant since the Winfield’s had died in a plane crash while Randal was away at school.

“An engagement party is expected,” Randal answered Monica’s questioning look after Robert had left, “don’t worry, the first one will be our friends.”

‘First one?’ Monica worried, ‘there will be more?’ The idea of playing hostess to Orion Bay society made her nervous.

Monica, Jodie Gunderson and Xavier Mendenhall were standing in the kitchen at High Lawn just moments before the other guests arrived.  Xavier and Kitty’s switcharoo was the talk of Orion Bay and Monica was looking for assurance that the inevitable fall out would not occur at her very first party. “It would have been a slight for us not to invite Elizabeth and I don’t want to get involved in your family affairs, but are you sure everything will be ok?”

Xavier duly promised to keep Kitty and Elizabeth as far from each other as he could.

The guests chatted easily together, consciously avoiding the topic that had phones ringing all over the Bay just a few hours earlier.   Instead they discussed the possible whereabouts of fellow Hunter grad Turner Ignatowski, theories ran from the ridiculous (abducted by aliens) to the predictable (Veronica proposed that her refusal had driven him to the life of a hermit).

Robert and Maxine had a chance to meet and approve of Maleena’s fiance Jodie.  It was difficult not to approve once they saw how obviously in love he was with their daughter.

Monica was beginning to relax.  Kitty remained out of sight, except for occasional appearances, Xavier studiously avoided his sister like he had promised and Elizabeth sat talking comfortably. Everything was going smoothly.

Until Elizabeth volunteered to help her clear the dishes.

“I didn’t steal anything from you,” Kitty’s voice rose in protest.  Monica’s heart sank, her first party, her first disaster.

“I offered to help you and your parents, and what did I get in return?” Elizabeth’s tone almost dared Kitty to answer.

“What do you want? Your money back? You can talk to Xavier about that, this whole thing was his idea to begin with,” Elizabeth’s calm, business-like manner had finally gotten to Kitty.  Kitty’s yelling was beginning to attract attention from the other guests, the door pushed open and Randal peeked into the kitchen to see what was going on.

“I don’t want my money back, you were written off as a charitable donation.  What I want is for you to know that it is the last penny of Mendenhall money you or Xavier will ever see,” Elizabeth turned and left Kitty standing shocked.

“What the hell is going on in there?” Maleena asked.  She had been so busy with Jodie and with studying final semester, she had missed the whole thing.  Veronica quickly filled her in, enhancing her own role in the subterfuge.

“Wow! What happened to her? She used to be so nice and quiet,” Maleena observed when her sister had finished the story. “She’s getting like her dad. Hmm…So did I tell you I got a job?” the subject returned to themselves and their new lives, “I start tomorrow as a music teacher at a summer camp. How cool is that?”

“But you don’t even like kids,” Veronica started to protest but was distracted by the front door slamming.  The house grew quiet and as the other guests began to filter out, the girls got the hint, collected their stuff and thanked their hosts as they made their own exit.

Kitty remained behind after the other guests left, sitting with Monica rehashing the entire event.  “I knew she would be angry, but I thought that once she realized that Xavier wouldn’t have done this if he didn’t really love me, she would soften.”

“She still might,” Monica comforted but neither of them believed the lie.

“She’s changed, she’s really changed,” Kitty mused.

Randal stood by watching, congratulating himself that he had chosen the right girl to be the next Mrs. Winfield.  “I made the right choice too,” Xavier said as if reading Randal’s mind.

He interrupted Monica as she cleaned up the buffet table and swept her into his arms, “You handled the drama beautifully.”

Monica laughed with doubt, but he continued, “It could have been a lot worse.  There could have been a food fight, you know.” This time Monica laughed for real.

“I’ll be easier next time,” Randal drew her closer.

“Next time?” Monica slumped, “I’m going to need help if you want me to be the Belle of the Bay.”

 

Posted on July 26th, 2008 under Orion Bay. Tags: jodie, kitty, maleena, monica, randal, veronica, winfield, xavier. RSS 2.0 feed. Leave a response, or trackback.