3 - Arrival

Rose's POV

I almost choke on the water in my mouth as soon as the words left Papa's mouth. "You've got to be kidding me, right?"

Papa sighs and shakes his head. "Rose, I assure you, I'm not. I invited my good business friend over for a dinner party at Célèbre restaurant d'Or. I'm making an announcement at the dinner party, and it involves you."

I look at Papa for a few seconds and sigh in defeat. Gosh. I hate when he gives me no choice but to do as he says.

"Alright, I'll go."

Papa smiles, happy with my answer. "Thank you, dear. You are my pride, and you mean the world to me. This dinner party is of utmost importance for my business career, and I know you are probably thinking, 'What has the business got to do with me', but I assure you it involves you a lot and..."

I'm not even listening to Papa right now drifting off about how important I am in his business because I've heard it countless times before. A dinner party at Célèbre restaurant d'Or. Our private restaurant. Papa only takes important people there for dinner parties every now and then. We go there almost every once a month to dine out a little, but going there tomorrow night for a party involving me, it's just a little sketchy. Maybe...no, it couldn't be. I'm getting ahead of myself right now.

Meanwhile, in my train of thoughts, Papa continues drifting on and on about the previous topic. "Then there's also the business I have to attend with Mr Wright for a few weeks, so the Wrights' will be staying here with us for the time being until Mr Wright's and my business is completed."

Wait, WHAT!

"Papa, can you repeat that?"

He looks at me, confused why I interrupted him. "Repeat what?"

"Repeat what you just said about the Wright family."

"Oh, you mean the part where they're going to be living with us for a few weeks?"

BINGO!

"Are you being serious?"

"Why would I not be?" He says with a serious tone. 

"Isn't that a little too extreme? I mean them living with us for a few weeks?"

"Why would that be? I want to catch up with my dear friend, and he has a beautiful daughter whom I think you'll get along with just well. You'll see, it won't be that bad."

I give my Papa a shocked stare. All of this is just too much to process. Not only will it be a dinner party with a family I barely know anything about, but they'll also be living with us for the next few weeks. Great, just what I needed. A whole family invading my private space at home.

Papa takes a sip of his wine and clears his throat. "The guestrooms will be prepared tomorrow morning because we'll be receiving the Wrights' around three tomorrow afternoon. You're going shopping tomorrow morning to get you some new clothes in your closet, and you'll be back before three to receive the Wrights' with us."

"What am I going to wear to the dinner party then if I'm only going shopping for new clothes?"

I look at my Papa, who looks like he's out of ideas before I hear Mama start to speak.

"Rose, I've designed you a dress for the occasion. I'll arrange a make-up artist as well as a hairstylist from my company to work with you to get ready for the party."

I know I can always count on Mama. She knows what she's doing. I mean, not only did she become the most famous fashion designer at a young age, but she was also a world-famous model before she met Papa, and became pregnant with me after their marriage. I know I can trust her with this.

I look at Mama and nod my head in understanding. She smiles at me, and we resume our dinner. Tomorrow's going to be a long day.

~

After an uncomfortable sleep, thinking about everything that happened at dinner, I had to get up at 8 o'clock to get ready and go shopping for clothes. I nearly made it back in time to the mansion with all the shopping bags I had, which my fashion agent chose me to wear because she knows all the latest fashion and knows what I will wear. I am grateful for her being the one choosing my clothing because I may be a famous model, but when it comes to fashion sense, I'm not very good at it.

The maids take all my shopping bags to my room and unpack everything into my closets like they usually do. Meanwhile, I'm standing in the living room waiting for Mama and Papa to come back home to receive the Wrights' as I was told. I look at the grandfather clock in the front left corner to see what time it is. It's a quarter to three. Mama and Papa will be arriving soon as well as the Wrights'.

I take this opportunity whilst I'm waiting for everyone to arrive and quickly go to the bathroom to freshen up and be back in the foyer before everyone is here. I dampen my face a little and pat it dry with a towel. I put on a little more make-up this morning than I usually do to hide the dark circles under my eyes. I didn't sleep well last night. I look at myself in the mirror and hear the front door open. OK, Mama and Papa are back, which means the Wrights' will be arriving at any moment. I take a few deep breathes and join Mama and Papa in the foyer and wait for the Wrights' to show up, which didn't take longer than 5 minutes before I heard the limo pull up in front of the house. Well, here goes nothing.

The maids open the door to reveal a family of three standing in front of the house. Papa is the first to greet a well defined middle-aged man who I assume is Alistair Wright, Papa's good friend. Mama follows his lead, and I follow her's.

I take the hand of the man who I now know to be Alistair Wright and greet him sophisticatedly.

"Bonne journée Monsieur. I'm Rose Crimson. Nice to make your acquaintance."

He takes my hand and places a kiss on top of it. "Hello, dear. It's so nice to finally meet the beautiful daughter of my dear friend. You look as stunning as your mother."

I smile, and I could feel myself blush at his flattery. "Well, Je vous remercie. The pleasure is all mine."

I give him a bright smile before I move on to greet who I assume must be Alistair's wife.

"Bonne journée madame. I'm Rose Crimson. Nice to make your acquantance."

The woman drags me in and hugs me tenderly. I was shocked at first but returned her heartwarming gesture. "Hello, dear. You have such nice manners, and your clothing style is remarkable. It certainly helps to have a mother like yours who is a famous fashion designer. Oh, where are my manners? The names Coraline Wright."

"Je vous remercie. The pleasure is all mine. I hope you enjoy your stay here with us."  

I give her a pleasant smile and move on to the last person I could see.

"Bonne journée mademoiselle. I'm Rose Crimson. Nice to make your acquantance."

"The pleasure is all mine. I'm Melissa Wright. Oh..."

Melissa gestures me to get closer to her so she can whisper in my ear.

"Between you and me, I think we're going to become great friends."

I take my head back, and we both start to giggle a little. Melissa was so much like me in a way, and I could instantly tell we were going to get along just fine.

As I move on towards Mama and Papa after I've greeted everyone, Alistair clears his throat. He looks around his family, and I could instantly tell something wasn't right. He gestures for one of the maids to go outside, and she went out in a hurry before returning shortly after. My thoughts started to trail off. What did Alistair ask her to do? Why did she leave in such a hurry?

Constantly struggling to find out what was going on on my own, someone else walked into the foyer. I could only see the person's feet because I was staring at the floor, lost in thought. I slowly lifted my head, and I stopped breathing for a few seconds. My eyes locked into a strange eye contact I've never felt before when I looked into the persons' eyes. It was icy blue, and it felt like my soul got frozen by just the slightest glance of his eyes. Finally, coming to my senses, I hear Alistair speak up.

"Everyone, this is my son, Eugene Wright."