chapter seven: the dinner party part two

Chapter seven: the dinner party part two

It took Esther a while to digest all that Casey had said.

She once again stared at Casey. This time she spoke softly, " Um... I don't think you should really depend on what Stella said. I mean she's been saying something like that for like... a long time." She started, after a slight pause, she continued. " Who knows? After all Xavier and Jerry seem to be her friends. Um... they go way back, like college. So it's possible she was just kidding around just now."

As she spoke, her gaze rested on Casey. She was trying to explain so as to prevent misunderstandings or fights between the couple.

She knew her sister's words might not actually be the truth.

Casey seemed to be in a daze. Seeing this Esther continued, " although, your marriage didn't happen normally, it doesn't change the fact that you are married. I'm sure that Xavier isn't the kind of person to be so deceitful."

She didn't even realize that at some point, Casey and Hannah were solely focused on her. Without realizing this, she continued talking.

" You've both been married for a while now. I'm pretty sure you know what kind of person he is, right?" She asked, finally looking at Casey.

' Not a deceitful person? Oh, please. Know what kind of person he is? No. No I don't know what kind of person he is.' Casey thought within herself, while maintaining a smile on her face.

" Yes. You're right. Xavier isn't that kind of person." She replied truthfully. Although she had been angry at first, but after some thoughts, she just didn't find it to be his style.

Though, seeing as he married her for revenge, it's not entirely impossible for him to ignore other facts.

Anyway she didn't want to think about it at the moment. She shook her head to rid herself of such thoughts.

Hannah who had been sitting quietly stared at Casey wondering to herself, 'Wow! Wow Casey! Seriously? Xavier isn't that kind of person? Wow, serious. Aren't you the same person who kept complaining about him all afternoon?' She sighed.

Casey who heard her,turned to the side, looking to her left, she asked "what's wrong?" Esther also sat straight, paying attention.

With a smile, Hannah spoke, " nothing, nothing at all. I was just thinking about a certain book I got this afternoon. It talks about, let's say..... It talks about, hmm.. fifty flaws and insults for my husband. Wow, perhaps the author of this book could, you know, learn a thing or two from you." A teasing smile, plastered across her face.

With a blush, Casey head hung low, she embarrassingly tucked loose strands of hair behind her ear.

Obviously, Esther had read between the lines and could tell that there was certainly more to the story than meets the eye.

With a jealous tone of voice, Esther joined in, " it seems you've both been having fun together, alone, leaving everyone out." She said " everyone", implying, all that were part of their group.

" Now you're here, we'll make up for all the time apart." Casey smiled.

Hannah picked up her cutlery, cutting into a steak, and stuffed it in her mouth. Making a " hmmm" sound. " If our food cools down, it won't be as enjoyable." She said stuffing more steak into her mouth.

Soon enough, the girls dug into their food, with delightful expressions and happy moans.

....

The car parked right outside the Ryan mansion. The tall black gate, had silver lines running from all sides, meeting at the middle, forming the open jaws of a lion, baring its teeth.

Stella climbed down from the car, took her box that had already been brought down by the driver, she waved her hand, watching the car fade from sight. She sighed and walked in.

.....

With their dinner cleared out, they ordered desert.

With three plates of different types of cake placed in front of them, the girls once again discussed with each other.

Taking a sip of water, Esther began the conversation.

" Have you heard, in two days, there'll be a dinner party."

" Yeah. It's a party for only the elites of society, so it crosses out a lot of families, leaving only very few people left." Hannah chimed in.

" Stella and I were planning to go shopping together tomorrow. Do you want to come along?"

Hannah thought for a while before replying.

" Okay. Shopping is more fun with someone rather than alone. Like they say, the more, the merrier."

Casey sat silently, listening to them go on and on about the clothes to wear. The ones that fits and complimented their eyes. Funny right?

" Casey you should come too." Hannah proposed.

" Yeah, you should."

" No, I don't think so. And I don't really want to talk about shopping for now."

Shopping didn't really hold any good memory for her. First, it was while shopping with Hannah that she got into trouble and met Xavier and all that followed.

Second, with the "VIP" experience Xavier had given her, she was particularly sure that clothing wasn't a problem for her at the moment.

" Aren't you coming for the party?" Hannah asked.

Before Casey could reply her, " I can bring a friend along, so you don't have to worry."

" It will be just like old times. Please?" She pleaded.

" Hey, Hannah, have you forgotten that she's married now, and to you know who." Esther spoke up.

" That's different. And from what I remember, Xavier Blackwell isn't one to appear at such parties."

" Well, that's true." Esther nodded in agreement.

Sigh... " Can you please stop it?"

"Oops." Both girls kept shut, staring at Casey with apologetic expressions.

With the silence enveloping the room, Casey put forward a suggestion.

" Now, remember how you needed to make your brand shine during the internship period? Well, now's your chance."

With a flummoxed look on her face, Hannah sent a questioning gaze Casey's way.

" Why don't you all pick out your outfits for the dinner party from Hannah's store. With the heiress of the Ryan industries and her celebrity sister as models for your brand, it will only be a matter of time before everyone knows your work."

" Also, you of course as the bonus, the creaming on the cake. The brand that Xavier's wife uses must surely be of great quality. It's definitely something top-notch." Esther added with a smile.

" Why am I included? Also, don't forget, no one knows I'm Xavier's wife. Forget about a wife, no one even thinks he's married." Explained Casey, trying to keep herself away from being part of the equation.

" What if Xavier decides to go, will you be his companion?" Esther asked.

" I don't know. Like you've said, he's not interested in such things."

" We'll figure that out later. Tommorow, we all are going to my store for shopping." Not wanting to force her, Hannah changed the topic.

" You can't sit this one out. You have to come, okay?" Hannah concluded.

After hesitating, Casey agreed.

" Hmmm...."

....

" I can't believe you'll actually make up such a lie, just so you don't get caught. " Esther stood in front of Stella who was sitting on her bed, with her back to the frame.

" Well, if there's anyone to blame, that will be you."

Without an expression of disbelief, Esther started at her sister.

Not willing to delve deeper into the subject, and not wanting to cause any misunderstandings, Stella conceded.

" Fine. I'll explain to her tomorrow, okay?"

Seeing as her sister had given in, Esther heaved a sigh of relief.

" Okay. Thank you sis. Good night ." Esther waved before leaving the room.

.....

Xavier and Casey sat across from each other, eating silently.

His gaze traveled to the seat across from his, coincidentally, she also looked up, meeting his gaze.

He cleared his throat before asking, " do you have anything you want to ask me?" He awkwardly played with his fork, waiting for her answer.

Tilting her head slightly to the side, she studied him, " do you have anything you want to tell me?" Not answering his question, she replied with a question of her own.

Placing his cutlery down, he replied with a stern voice, " no, I don't."

Nodding her head slowly, she stood up and walked over to him, standing a few steps away, " you got your answer."

With a teasing smile, she closed the distance between them, bent over and whispered, " and playing with your cutlery isn't something befitting your status." He turned sharply at her words, but she pulled back and adjusted her clothes.

" You're lucky I'm not a reporter, if not the world would be seeing a new side of you by tomorrow, but don't worry, you looked cute." She chuckled softly to herself.

" Good night." She greeted, her head tilted to the side a little, her black hair also fell to the side.

She walked away with a content heart. This time was her win, this was what she told herself.

Xavier stared at her retreating figure with a complicated gaze. One couldn't tell what he was thinking.

....

Once again, the calls and assignment of tasks to take care of echoed in the office.

Casey's hands moved fast on her keyboard, typing away when someone knocked on her desk.

" You're still working? It's lunch break now. Aren't you going to rest and have lunch?"

She looked up to find her team leader, a young lady who seemed to be in her late twenties. Her curled brown hair fell over her shoulders.

" Oh, I'm almost done, I'll have lunch soon." Casey smiled.

" Okay, don't skip lunch. You're one of our best interns, and I know you work hard, but you shouldn't ignore your health." the team leader, Aurora warned before leaving.

Casey smiled and nodded, she whispered a thank you before she continued her work.

....

Just as Casey exited the company building, she saw Stella waiting outside. She leaned on her red sports car wearing shades and a black face cap. Her white crop top stopped on her waist, coupled with a knee length jeans skirt and a white canvas.

She waved at Casey the moment she saw her walk out of the building. Casey, who was going to avoid her, had no other choice but to wave back with an embarrassed smile.

The other employees who were leaving saw this scene and couldn't help whispering amongst each other.

" Wow! Look at that car."

" Forget about the car, the one driving isn't bad. I wish I had such nice skin." A female employee stared at her own skin with regrets.

" She seems to be waving at that girl over there."

" Why does she look familiar."

" She's coming out from the building, she probably works here, so of course she's familiar."

" There's actually some rich kid working in the company."

" Maybe she might be related to our boss." Someone chipped in.

" Yeah, but I thought the boss is abroad."

" What do you know? She's probably her to supervise us."

" Wow! Let's take a picture. My life in the company will be better now."

As people brought out their phones to take pictures, Casey quickly ran and got in the car while covering her face.

Stella, obviously accustomed to such situations, leisurely got into the car, not forgetting to to wave at the crowd.

Casey only heaved a sigh of relief when the car drove off.

Stella's laughter resounded in the car, her hands skillfully controlled the steering wheel, her eyes focused on the road.

Annoyed by her laughters, " why are you laughing? What's so funny?" Casey questioned with a grumpy expression.

" Nothing. Seeing as you're married to Xavier, you might as well try to get used to the crowd and excess and unwanted attention. You'll be getting a lot of that in the future." She advised, giggles in-between her words.

" Aren't you bothered about me being married to your dear fiance?" Her sarcastic gaze bore into Stella.

With a smile, " no. Technically, I think the one who should have a problem is you, whose husband suddenly has a fiancee." She glanced at Casey. " I'm sorry about the other day. I was just annoyed by Esther and said whatever came to mind. Don't worry, Xavier and I are just friends." She explained, her shoulder fell like she's just got rid of a heavy burden.

Shaking her head, with a' you don't have to explain ' expression, Casey smiled, " it's okay. I kinda guessed that after thinking about it."

' and there's no need to explain too much.' Casey thought to herself.

" That's good to know."

Although she had a lot of questions, like how did you meet Xavier? How are you even married? She kept it to herself. Now wasn't the time for questions.

" Where are we going?" Casey stared out the window.

" Hannah's store." She replied and stepped on the gas.

...

Mick had just finished reading out Xavier's itinerary for the day and was about to leave, when he stopped and turned back. He hesitated for a while before speaking, " sir?"

Xavier glanced at him from behind his glasses, " if you're done hesitating, just say what you have to say."

He gulped down nervously and went on to explain.

Placing his pen down gently, Xavier listened quietly.

After he was done, before Xavier could reply, he spoke again.

" Don't worry sir, I'll reject the invitation." He hastily walked away.

Just before leaving, Xavier stopped him.

" Don't reject the invitation. I'll go." His voice rang out within the office. Picking up a document, scanning through, " and in the future, you should seek my permission before rejecting any invitations."

Mick stared blankly for a while, " how about a companion to the party?"

" Never mind."

Standing just outside of the office, Mick thought to himself with a dazed look on his face, it was only after taking a whole minute, did he nod in understanding.

He joined his hands together, silently seeking forgiveness from the madam, Xavier's wife, Casey.

He laughed softly and walked away.

...

Casey lay in her bed, wondering how she was to explain to Xavier or whether she should just not bother, after all, he won't care what she does. He wouldn't right?

Her thoughts came to a halt when she saw his figure walk into her room, from the corner of her eyes.

She sat up, with a wary expression, she asked, " why are you here?"

With a light chuckle, he takes a few steps closer, stopping just before her bed.

" I want you to come with me tomorrow to a dinner party. I'll have the makeup artists and designers get you ready tomorrow, so you don't have to worry about anything."

She stared blankly at him.

' Dinner party? The one that she had been wondering whether or not to inform him about? Or was it some other party?' Casey thought within her.

Just to be sure," is it some party at the Evergreen hotel?" She asked, not giving too much information. So he doesn't suspect, she adds, " I just heard about it from the girls."

" Yes. It's the one at the Evergreen hotel." He replied, ignoring her strange attitude.

Well, whether he was ignoring it, or he just didn't care.

Just as he turned to leave, he stopped, took out a transparent little bottle half-filled with pills and handed it to her.

She took the bottle, staring for a while before looking at him with a puzzled gaze. Although she didn't utter a word, the expression on her face did all the asking.

" Whenever the poison acts up, just take a pill." He replied calmly, his hands in his pocket.

Surprise flashed across her face. Doubt painted her face as she asked, " what are you up to now?"

Was she going to tell herself that the days of piercing cold were over? No. Was she just going to believe that he suddenly had a change of heart? Of course not. Was she to believe that suddenly he felt pity and decided to let her go? Dream on. This was Xavier Blackwell in question, there's no way she'd believe such things.

Well, since she didn't have a choice, she would love to have more days without the cold, but that didn't mean she should foolishly accept things from him.

Since things were the way they were, she might as well know what's at stake while going through the motions.

" Don't think so much. And don't worry, there's no strings attached. Promise." He explained when he noticed her expression.

" If it makes you feel any better, you can take the pills to your own detriment. Our little game has only just begun, there's no need to rush to the finish line. No fun in that."

It's not like she hadn't expected it anyway. Was she going to avoid the pills? Definitely not. Since she's to die either way, might as well live well, instead of having poison filled days.

As for the problem with the pills, well, she'd cross that bridge when she gets there.

With a smile, she thanked him.

" It's too early to do that." He was about to leave when she called him.

" And Xavier, talking too much isn't really your thing." She teased with a joyful heart.

He turned to see a happy smile on her face. Truthfully, this was the very first time he saw her smile so happily and brightly.

" You should smile more often, if not, people are going to suspect our relationship."

" Since when did you care about people's thoughts?"

He opened his mouth to speak, but staring into her hazel eyes that were brimming with life, for some reason, he held his words in.

Not waiting for any more talks from her, he left the room in a haste.

.....

Xavier, even if there's a motive behind, thank you. Even if it's just this moment, thanks for your warmth.