It was yet another boring Sunday afternoon. It was the worst time of the week as far as she was concerned. Almost everyone was off spending the day with their families, but as usual, she was stuck in the dorms left to her own devices. She was the only one of her class who was from America. There was no Sunday afternoon tea with mummy and daddy for her. No. She only got to go home three times a year….for Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter Break.
She hated London if truth be told. It was always rainy and bleak. Her suite mates were always inviting her home to their houses for the weekend, much to their parents' dismay, but she never went. She preferred to stay in the lonely, desolate dorms at Ms. Cherie's Finishing School for Girls, rather than subject herself to pity from wealthy English families. She would call her mother like she did every Sunday, and then sneak out and explore some remote corner of the city. This had become her Sunday ritual. Nobody seemed to notice or care that she was gone. Unlike the rest of the week, nobody was keeping tabs on her on Sundays. During the weekdays, the residents were watched like hawks and scrutinized for their every move.
Tracy always seemed to get herself into some kind of trouble. She didn't go explicitly looking for it, but trouble seemed to always just find her. One time it had been a broken down train that had caused her to miss curfew. Another time it was her heel that broke and hitching a ride from a man who turned out to be a friend of the head mistress. Her luck was not exactly stellar, but today she felt like taking a risk.
She was bored. So bored and tired of the same old routine. She had just spoken with her mother, who put her daddy on the phone. Tracy had broached him about coming to work for him that summer when she graduated, but he would hear nothing of it. He wouldn't even let her finish her sentence. All he cared about was marrying her off properly and having her become a proper wife. Little did he know that she was far more capable of learning his business than her older brother Alan would ever be. But Alan had spited her father and was pre-med at Princeton. He would be starting medical school next fall. Tracy thought her father would have appreciated her interest in his business, but he shut her down yet again.
She was livid. Her blood was boiling and there was no way she was sitting around this mausoleum of a dorm all day. She had to get away and escape from this prison. She knew this route all too well. She arranged the pillows just so to emulate a sleeping body. She carefully tiptoed down the hallway, leaving the lamp on in her room like she was studying. She cracked open the laundry room window, and slowly climbed out onto the fire escape. She had become an expert at this in recent months. She easily floated down the steps until she jumped off the ladder to the ground and disappeared in the alley. She was still so angry that she just let her legs take her where they wanted to go as her brain was far too tied in knots.
Somehow she ended up in front of an art museum. She was about to enter, when she saw a very English looking young man and his mother walking out. She didn't know why…but for some reason, she stopped to observe them. "Now Larry…you have a responsibility to our family to find a suitable wife so that we can have an heir to the Ashton fortune and a legacy to carry on our name." The young man rolled his eyes at his mother and said, "Yes I am well aware of that mother, but I am 22 years old and have plenty of time." His mother gave him a once over look and said, "Not that much time Larry…don't let a good one pass you by."
With that, he kissed her goodbye and told her he was to meet some friends at a local pub and then would show up later at her charity function to scope out the potential debutantes. As soon as he was out of her sight, he pulled off his tie, took off his coat and messed up his hair. Tracy was fascinated. He was not exactly gorgeous, but handsome in his own way and super self-confident—a product of good breeding. He had that aristocratic look about him. She didn't know why…but somehow she found herself following him to his destination. "What the hell am I doing," she asked herself. "I don't know this guy from Adam, yet I am following him to a local pub where he can get drunk enough to handle some fundraiser with his mother to scope out women?" She watched him sit down with his friends at a table and heard them start carrying on. She slipped into the bar and prayed with all her might, that she looked older than her 18 years. She took off her jacket and ordered a glass of beer as she was trying to be inconspicuous. She hated beer, but when in Rome….
She kept watching him. What was it that was drawing her into this drama? Was it that this Larry Ashton was as much a victim of his pre-determined fate as she was? His mother had it all planned out for him, just as he father had for her. She wanted to rebel, and now she had a cause. She was determined to save this Larry from his fate being sealed tonight by his mother and her match-making plans.
She decided to be bold and had the bartender send a drink over to his table. What was she doing??? She was really taking a risk as she was underage to start with. Thank god she had her mother's credit card with her to make her seem more legitimate. She watched the drink being delivered, and watched his expression when he whipped his head around to see who had bought him this drink. He caught her eye, and she just waved ever so slightly with her right hand. He held his glass up to her as if to say, "cheers" while his friends all checked her out up and down. Finally, he got up and invited her to join them. "No…you and your friends enjoy your time." She was teasing him. Buying him a drink, yet refusing to join them.
He gave her a good once over. She was beautiful in that classic sort of way. She had dark, thick hair and was very thin. You could tell she had a strong sense of self. Not one to go for teasing for any length of time, he insisted that she join him. Although she was young and not the most experienced, Tracy had a sixth sense about her…instinctively knowing going with him at this point would be a mistake. She wanted him to be intrigued with her…to chase after her. To forget about the party he was to attend later, so he could escape his fate. So she politely refused and said she must be on her way as she had someplace she had to be.
She gave him one last glance and left the bar. He sat back down with his friends, but his curiosity got the best of him and he popped right back up and ran out of the pub after her. He caught up with her at the end of the block and shouted, "Hey you…Miss America (her accent gave her away), stop!" But she kept on walking, trying to keep her strides at a steady pace. Finally he caught up to her. "Why would you send me a drink and then refuse to come join me and my friends" he asked? "Is that some strange American custom?" She hesitated a minute, then replied, "I just felt sorry for you o.k." Larry was in disbelief. "You felt sorry for me? Don't waste your pity dear girl. I could have any woman I wanted. I am Larry Ashton. I am heir to the whole Ashton fortune and the future Lord Ashton." "Oh get over your self," said Tracy. "I could care less what rock you crawled out from under or what Lords a Leapin' you will become one day." She squinted a bit and looked at him. "In fact, you can just get out of my way right now. I should have never sent you that drink. I was just trying to be nice to you because you looked sort of depressed."
"Oh, so you are a psychiatrist now are you little miss teen USA?" Larry spitted out. "Do you have a name?" Tracy sneered at him. "Yeah…Dr. Freud and I do believe you have a serious Oedipus complex". She continued, "I heard you and your mother outside the museum today. You sure are content to let her run your life now aren't you." It was Larry's turn to get angry now. He grabbed her wrist and said, "How dare you listen to our conversation." She yanked it away and started to run, but immediately tripped on an uneven patch of sidewalk and fell. She broke the fall with her hands and felt the immediate stinging of her palms. He stopped to help her up, but she refused. She had her eyes shut tightly and was willing the tears not to fall. Her hands were stinging and her knee was all scraped up, but she would be damned if she let this pompous ass help her. She got up herself and said, "Well nice to have met you Larry Ashton…good luck with your wife scoping tonight."
Larry watched her get up and start walking away and noticed her limping slightly and favoring her left leg. She had twisted her ankle. "Wait…can I give you a ride somewhere. You don't look like walking is a good option for you right now," said Larry. He didn't know why, but this tough as nails American girl was piquing his interest more than any other high society girl his mother forced upon him. Tracy knew she couldn't walk too far, and realized it was getting close to the time everyone would be returning to school for the evening. She couldn't risk being late for curfew yet again. "O.K. fine. You can give me a ride, but then I don't ever want to see your face again, you got it?" He smiled at her and said, "Yeah I got it."
They drove in silence back to her school. She knew he now knew she was a student and was probably trying to calculate her age. "I'm 18 so you can stop worrying about me being jail bait or whatever you call it in England". "Funny, that thought never crossed my mind," said Larry. I was really just wondering if you had a name as you seem to know more about me than I know about you." "Yeah and its going to stay that way," said Tracy. He pulled up outside of the school gate and stopped. "So Miss Red, White and Blue…do you have a name?" "Sure I have one…but you see…there is really no need for you to know it as I won't ever be seeing you again. So thanks for the ride," said Tracy. She hopped out of the car and limped her way to the back of the building. She climbed back up the fire ladder and through the window and was back in her room just as her roommates were bounding in the door. Her ankle was getting swollen by the minute, so one of them offered to get her an ice pack. "What happened to you today, Tracy?" Sarah asked. "Oh nothing…I just stepped off the sidewalk the wrong way and twisted my ankle."
That night, when the other girls were discussing their family-filled days, Tracy's mind kept wandering back to Larry Ashton. She didn't know what it was about him that intrigued her, but she did know in her heart that somehow, somewhere, some day, she would meet up with him again.
Larry drove back into the city and went on to the charity event to meet his mother as promised. But as girl after girl came up to him to initiate small talk, his mind kept drifting back to the brazen American girl who had been haunting him all evening. He must find out who she was. Yes…he would be making that his top priority tomorrow. And the future Lord Ashton always gets what he wants.