The Right Time
Monday
Merceceds Jones had turned 19 years old and had finally been given the keys to the kingdom so to speak. She was a Gharnaian Princess, kept heavily under guard because her Family's lifestyle meant there was always the possibility of her getting kidnapped. They were a prestigious family, not royal by bloodline but by wealth, the fact that her Father's name was King didn't help either, she'd been home schooled by women from the local nunnary and guarded from life, and everything living outside their grand 140 acre home, known to the villagers as the palace
Her Dad was very well known in the record industry, as a song writer, producer, manager and his label was well utilised by some of the biggest names in the industry, she didn't really know that growing up as a child, but found out when she was around 17 years old. He'd got a head for business, that was all she knew and she'd followed in his footsteps getting her head around the workings of business, she'd schooled well and was hoping to venture out into the world of college depending on her offers over the holidays. Her dream was to go somewhere in America, she'd always dreamt of living there, but only the angels knew how she was going to manage that with her Dad being so security mad about her and her Mother
There had only ever been one man she was hopelessly in love with, he brought her absolutely anything and everything she wanted, spoilt her to the point of sickness, and for her he could do not wrong, she fondly called him Daddy, unless she was being extra spoilt about something he dared to say no about, and then it was Father or even your husband, if she was speaking to her Mother in vexation
Her Dad had recently caught her watching MTV and dancing around her room rather provocatively dressed to some hip hop song she'd been in love with on that day, and banned her from listening to certain channels, for which she aired her disapproval to her Mother in various forms. She just couldn't understand how one of the biggest producers in the industry was so against that life for his own child, couldn't he see she only wanted to be like him. He knew that music was a dream she needed to come true, he'd made fun of her singing when she was young but now she was 19 he wasn't laughing anymore so she assumed she did alright, all she knew for certain was that she was destined to find a way to get to America and be one of those Diva's singing some raunchy song that got all the girls feeling sexy and the men thinking sex. No she didn't know what all that was really about, but her favourite subject became biology when she got to about 14 and she made sure she researched the topic thoroughly, since those days she'd had regular healthy dreams about how some of that biology might feel. Put together with the music video's, movies and documentary's she exposed herself to, she felt she was adequately armed for an adult encounter
She couldn't believe her luck, 6 months after her 19th birthday, when her Mother suggested to her Father that he might educate her by taking her to California USA with him for the pending presentation in honour to his contribution to the music industry, he was going to be given an award in line with work he'd done across various genres and countries, she'd finally reached heaven
She'd fancied herself as some sort of writer and had several songs written with music that she was eagerly waiting to descend on the world with, she was maybe waiting for the day when her parents let her go which she figured was going to be around 20 when she got into college. Her plan was to record one of her songs and let it off on purpose, because once she was exposed to the world it would be pretty hard for Daddy to contain it and hopefully he'd be forced to let her express herself through her music.
It was the day before her trip started and she still hadn't made her mind up about what she wanted to take, there was so much, she'd packed her case of clothes that Roz had secretly brought her in, she'd used them so far for dress up when she turned her TV on and got into costume to do the dancing like the music video girls, or pretend she was in a studio full of rappers singing her heart out while they all looked on as she smiled before picking one of them out for hot sex. her favourite song came through her earphones so she grabbed her brush, tapped her calf length black dress down and started her diva session
"The hours, they turn into seconds whenever I'm with you, and it feels like the minutes are running away from me, too
I could just live here in your arms, I don't wanna move, cause the way that you love me, it makes me feel like I'm brand new
You tell me that we can stay here forever, and me, I foolishly believed, cause nothing can last as long as we want, baby
But I just can't hide it, I want you to stay here with me... "
she sang the lyrics from 'Enough' by Fantasia her diva outfit was, luckily, much like her own style, as she sung waiting for the amazing bridge, as she walked around her room singing, trying to make a choice of clothing for her case
"Mercedes" Clara; her Mother, shouted as she walked into her room stopping her from quickly walking around her rather large bedroom throwing everything from her cupboards onto the bed like she was leaving never to come back "You know your Father told you about this music" her voice warning as Mercedes sprung across the bed to grab the control to pause the song and turn the TV over "And what's all this?" she looked around her daughter's room at every piece of clothes the girl owned littering the floor and bed "It's for a week sweetheart, you don't need all this"
"What if I get there and I've forgotten something?"
"You'll probably buy it" she laughed "Your Father is prepared to spend his money"
"But what if they don't have the specific thing I need?"
"If this is too much for you we can cancel"
"No it's not too much I'm just excited" she giggled "I'll get Roz to pack my bags, she'll know what I need"
"She will" Clara laughed at knowing just how to clip her wings "So did you research like I told you?"
"Yes I did, Los Angeles is ranked the fourth largest economy in the United States, One out of every eight United States resident lives in California and More turkeys are raised in California than in any other state in the United States, three facts" she smiled
"You didn't have to look very far to find that out" Clara laughed
"You know I learn better with the visual" Mercedes laughed
"You learn better from books and hey" Clara called to get her attention "No messing about when you get out there, first sign of trouble and you know your Father will send you back, he hasn't got time for it"
"I know, I don't know anyone to play up with, I'll be fine"
"You better leave it that was lady" she took the kiss Mercedes was giving her "Now get some sleep, you leave early tomorrow" she smiled "I think the bit you missed on that was 'I can't get enough cause I need you, baby, baby, by my side, you can give me your time, and I'll always ask for more, cause forever just ain't long enough" she sung laughing at her daughter
"Get you" Mercedes laughed at her Mom even knowing the song
"What you mean, your Daddy's in the music business, why wouldn't I know it?" Clara asked her daughter
"I didn't mean it like that" Mercedes frowned, she was talking about the bit her Mom had chosen to sing
"I know baby" she chuckled
"Goodnight" she smiled, moving the quilt with all her clothes on top of it to get into bed
"Goodnight" Clara laughed, shaking her head at the girl not even bothering to clear her mess up before getting into bed "You can help Roz with that in the morning" she pointed to the mess on her bed
"Will do" Mercedes smiled covering her head for sleep, but as soon as the door clicked shut she was up, her TV was on again and she was humming along to the TV playing loudly in her earphones "It's so hard to let you go, baby, that's how I know it's real love, I fight, but my feelings show, they came rushing in just like a flood..." she hummed along eventually she tired and lay trying to find some lyrics to her new music she'd got in her head, this one was strange, it came to her music first and she was trying like crazy to fit words in, it felt like this one was going to take her somewhere, she hummed writing and crossing out until she finally fell asleep with her notepad on her chest and nothing on the page
Tuesday
She didn't get much sleep once daylight started peeping through, she had her room to put right and Roz was in almost a second past 4am to help her pack, she sat on her bed folding clothes wondering whey she hadn't taken the opportunity to do this last night when she wasn't at all tired "You can leave me to it if you want Mercedes" Roz told her
"No it's fine I made the mess" she picked up another garment telling her only friend who just happened to be her personal maid "But I'll be sure to bring you something back for all your help"
"You're parents pay me well"
"I know but, I want to buy you something"
"Thank you" she smiled "How's the song coming on?"
"I have the music set in stone now, I don't know the words yet, and of course I need a bridge"
"Listen to you" Roz laughed "All musical"
"I'm not really, I don't even know if I'm using the terms in the right context, it all sounds so technical when Dad says it" she frowned "I'm a want to be" she laughed "You know I've always wanted to go to America"
"I know but I think you should leave the romance to your Prince, your parents have that set out already"
"I know but..." she looked at Roz wondering if she should carry on the conversation "What if he's some placid, bald headed guy called... Carl or something, or a really African name like Lizwe" she frowned at Roz's smiling face
"Lizwe is a fine name" Roz straightened her face to tell the girl "Plus you know anything even resembling a boyfriend over there and you'll be straight back home"
"Maybe not a boyfriend, what about just a fling, most girls my age are..."
"...Are what?" Roz put her hand on her hip asking the girl
"Not virgins" she smiled
"How do you know that?"
"Were you a virgin at my age?" she asked the grown woman in her 30s
"No but I'm different"
"Why don't you think I have the same needs? you told me I'd know when it was time for me, and I think it's time"
"You have to wait for your husband"
"I want to be ready to understand what my husband needs when I finally marry" she laughed
"It's your life, and your body, but just be careful" she told her taking the last piece of clothing off her and putting it in the draw "And just think how angry Mr Jones would be to find you'd done that behind his back" she told her, as they heard her Mother's voice
"Mercedes" Clara called "It's time to go"
"I'm coming" she flicked the TV in her room off, said bye to Roz, promising to think seriously before doing anything and made her way down the stairs, smiling at seeing her waiting bags at the door, excited that this was really happening
"Now remember..."
"I know Mother behave or Daddy will send me back early, I know" she rolled her eyes smiling "We'll be fine"
"I miss you already" Clara hugged her daughter "Bring the bags across and load them" she ordered the porter, Mercedes stood watching her bags getting loaded while her parents said their usual goodbyes, twenty minutes later she was watching the helicopter lift off to take them to the private plane in Accra. Mercy had probably travelled outside her home three in her entire life, she remembered when her Grandma died they went to a graveyard, it was late in the night and they literally got out the car threw some dirt and left. The second time her Mom had been taken to hospital, for a reason she'd never been told, and they went with about five cars and an ambulance to bring her home, and the last she's spent a day or so in hospital before the bed and everything was transported home. She'd often seen her Dad fly off this way but, this helicopter trip was alien to her, she was smiling for the adventure. It was scary to say the least, there were times the machine swayed that she could gladly have screamed, but the thought of not going the America stopped her reaction
There was no time to think once they got off the helicopter, they were rushed across the airport and shuffled into a waiting train like transport which took them and their bags to a secluded area, guards holding and pushing back the crowd as they moved through it, Mercy was scared but her Dad had his eye on her so she couldn't show it, that old carrot called America dangling in front of her
They passed through a quiet corridor and seconds later she was standing in a cream and green cabin "Sit here" her Dad pointed at a cream leather recliner chair before siting on the one beside her "Strap your self in" he told her showing her what to do, by doing his own "You can take it off once we lift off and the chief pilot tells us we can" he smiled "You've been very brave" he leaned in to tell her "Once we're in the air I have business with these men" he pointed at the four men sitting in the chairs behind them "You should find everything you need through that door, and Emma will bring you anything you want, and call you for lunch" he pointed at the woman standing close by in a blue skirt suit and white blouse "Unless you're asleep of course"
"Okay" she smiled snuggling into the chair, it was like getting into one of their cars, the quiet of the machine made her know she was in a different place, They sat for a while listening to the conversations while people busied around them and then there was only Emma left and the door shut, the plane hummed as it moved off like a glider there was no rattle as she'd expected or jolts, just straight ahead, Mercedes sat wondering for a while how the thing was ever going to take off going so slow. Suddenly the machine rounded on itself and straightened up, there was a roar as the engine fired up, her head pressing into the head rest with the force of speed it quickly picked up, she was scared, she grabbed onto the arms of the chair as she felt the plane lift, she knew they were off the ground. The plane had taken off and risen in the air, it was going higher and higher as she watched through the window, the buzzing sound much different to the noise of the helicopter and when she looked down, everything seemed so much smaller than in did on the other flight "We're going really high?" she looked at her Dad asking
"We have a long way to go" he smiled "Chew this" he gave her a toffee to chew, she didn't argue she opened it and popped it in her mouth before she felt her Dad grab hold of her hand, a while later the pilot's voice told them it was safe to release their seatbelts "It's just been done I hope you like it, it's especially for you" he nodded at the white door down the isle telling her, she sat for a while watching the plane rush through the air at the speed of light no bumps, jolts or banging just the silent hum of a well oiled machine
"I'm going to my bedroom" she turned to tell her Dad "See you for Lunch" she leaned over and kissed his cheek before getting up to explore, she opened the door and smiled at the teal and cream room, her favourite colours, a bed with pure cream silk linin and a teal fur throw across it, a couch, a recliner chair with a seat belt on it, a door at the side of the fitted wardrobe leading to a lush bathroom with gold taps and teal and cream towels. She turned back into the bedroom she gasped at the size of the TV on the wall before grabbing the remote to turn it on, smiling when she realised she had even more channels than she had at home, her Dad must have forgotten the restrictions he'd put on, she had unlimited internet access and time. She dived on the bed with the remote in hand, she had plenty of time for gaming but first she needed to catch up on her favourite MTV, because she was going to be a part of all that in a few hours
During the adverts she took great pleasure in looking at the scenery as they passed over cloud after cloud, a hour or so after lift off she heard the pilot telling her she was passing over some place she was supposed to know something about, she looked out the window for a second but at that point she really wasn't interested, she was in costume and the only thing of interest was MTV, Trey Songz was on and he had some girls falling all over him, of course she was in the video, in her mind, actually she was the lead dancer that he allowed to sing with him sometimes, she'd been doing that for a while now, she smiled as she danced along with the other girls knowing that at the end of the song he was going to throw caution to the wind and ask her to be his girl "It's going to happen" she told herself, she really needed to get into this California vibe
Lunch was formal and quiet, Mercedes had never felt uncomfortable in the company of her Dad but today was different, there were four men and her and everyone was looking around the table like they had something to say but weren't allowed to speak because she was in the room "Sweet" her Dad finally broke the silence smiling as he spoke "This is Mr Hummel" he pointed at a half bold headed man "he's a dear friend and the business solicitor" he watched as Kurt smiled at his daughter "Mr Schuester" he pointed at the guy she thought smiled a lot "He's also a friend and my Executive Producer, does a lot of the video's and stuff" he smiled at Will "Mr Hudson looks over the Pop artists, we have quite a few on the books, maybe over 100" he looked the youngest of them all, at around 30ish "And Mr Puckerman, he looks after the R&B artists we have about 150 of those, it's a pretty big family" Mercedes smiled but more at him than with him, someone needed to tell the man mohawks had gone out of fashion back in the stone ages, somewhere around the 80s if she remembered her history right
"Pleased to meet you all" she smiled looking at each one, before the silence fell again, she saw her get out card, she picked the desert bowl up and looked at her Dad "Can I take my dessert to my room?" she asked unwilling to pass up this perfect opportunity to leave the table
"Of course" he smiled, watching as she got up, and filled her plate before leaving them to it
She smiled as she went back to her room to get into being an American, she was so looking forward to meeting all the stars, falling in love with a rapper maybe or just to have sex with one for a hot minute, she fell asleep with her dreams and woke up to her door being knocked "Yes?" she called "Just a minute" she quickly changed the channel on the TV and sat up "Come in" she set a smile on her face
"You're late for dinner Miss" Emma told her wheeling her food in "Everyone else has eaten already, your Father said I should bring this in for you"
"Thank you Emma" she smiled at the frail looking ginger haired woman before looking out the window at pitch black except for speckles of white clouds in the distance below them
"You missed dinner with the pilot and the rest of the crew" she smiled
"Oh, I didn't know, I'm sorry I missed that"
We've been in the air for nearly 12 hours we land in JFK in a while, just to fuel up and get a mini break, and then it's another maybe 10 hours before you actually get to Monterey Airport" she smiled "Is there anything else you need?"
"No thank you Emma, thanks for this" she looked at the trolley full of food
"We'll let you know when you need to put your seatbelt on" Emma told her before she turned and left her alone
They landed an hour later, got off the plane and ending up in another departure lounge alone, food and drinks were in abundance but she wasn't hungry she sat back getting more excited about getting to her destination. Nobody had ever mentioned how boring airport lounges were, actually she never knew they existed until this flight and now she knew it she vowed to herself, if she ever got the chance again she'd prefer to mix with the majority, a long awaited 4 hours later they were making the last leg of their journey by air
Mercedes was very comfortable in her own company she'd grown used to living that way, and anyway her favourite things were reading, writing her songs and sleeping and she couldn't get much of that done with people nattering in her ear. She'd snacked out while trying to write more lyrics for her song, gave up after an hour and watched a weepy movie, it was just making background noise she wasn't even listening to it the melody wouldn't leave her alone, eventually she was yawning again and inevitably she fell asleep.
She was woken by a change in the engine noise she was startled for a second before she remembered her Dad was on the plane and nothing bad could possibly happen. She stood in the window watching the lights go off below as the plane seemed to rush towards daylight, it was a funny thing to watch like they were racing to catch time
"Mercedes" her Father walked into her room "Could you get dressed sweetheart, we're going to land in just over an hour"
"Okay" she smiled moving towards the bathroom to do as she'd been told, humming her music as the water hit her skin, she'd spent so long in the shower she had to rush to get ready, she was anxious to get a glimpse of this new place that for some reason held a part of her life, she didn't know exactly which part, but she knew once she got there she'd know. she sat next to her Dad excited for the touchdown, listening to the pilot talking them down looking out the window at everything he talked about, conscious that her Father was squeezing her hand "Alright?" she asked as the wheels touched down
"Fine" he smiled
It seemed like minutes latter when the plane finally came to a standstill at Monterey Airport, from there they drove a few miles to Big Sur where they were presented with the very secluded Post Ranch Inn, in total they'd been travelling for well over 22 hours excluding the stop. They'd stopped at the airport for a 30 minute stretch before the last leg of their journey and now they were being asked to get into yet another car having reached their destination, because apparently, they didn't let just any car use their roads because of the cliffs and dangerous tracks. The views on the way up to the Inn were spectacular, her Dad was noticeably edgy for having to leave some of the guards at the gate for the ten minutes it was going to take for the hotel to get up to them, but when they finally stopped they were looking out over the calmest ocean you'd ever want to see, the place was so quiet, the staff so accommodating, one minute there was a rush of staff running around inside the apartment, everyone getting everything prepared for them for their stay, the next they were all gone and Mercedes was sat on the balcony looking out at the view with total silence all around her. It wasn't what she'd expected she'd dreamt of cars bouncing along the streets as people sang dirty songs, women walking around half dressed showing off their beautiful bodies, music blasting from every orifice of the city, instead she got peace, total peace.
Wednesday - Day 1
Big Sur
11:00
"Mercedes" her Dad called from somewhere inside the apartment, disturbing the silence
"Daddy" she got up to go see what he wanted, finding him with two champagne glasses in his hand in the main room
"I guess a 19 year old can try some of this under adult supervision" he smiled handing her one of the glasses of champagne "It's complementary" he smiled letting go of the glass "Cheers and happy belated birthday" he smiled kissing her cheek. He'd been away on business for her actual birthday and he'd promised he'd be back for the evening when they'd planned a lavish family dinner for her, with her parents and the Nun's in attendance, but he hadn't made it, she was bothered but not as much as he'd thought, she was used to him being at work. She'd secretly wanted one of those parties that were full of young people, even if he'd had to buy them in to pretend to be her friends, she'd pictured the aftermath being empty bottles of alcohol all over the place, evidence of people having sex in the pool, damage to property, urine in the fine china, but if his guilt had got her on this trip to California, she was happy he'd felt it "We need to talk" he looked over at the couch before stepping off towards it, she followed "What do you intend on doing now you're here?" he asked
"I don't know" she smiled not daring to tell him about her wild dreams
"So you're just going to sit around here for a whole week?" he looked around the white and wood surroundings smiling
"Of course not" she giggled "I thought we could go see some of the beaches, see redwood forest, visit Los Angeles to see some famous people, the golden gate and maybe even Alcatraz" she smiled excitedly
"Sweetheart I'm here for work, I'm not going to get to do any of that stuff" he frowned "And those places are so far apart you'll need a plane to get around them, you need to look more local"
"Well so far I've seen water, trees and guards" she laughed
"That's where I come in, I've got this bodyguard Mary, she'll be around later today, hopefully she'll be able to take you to some of those local places I'm talking about and keep you safe at the same time, she comes highly recommended"
"A bodyguard?" she asked "What do I need to be protected against here?"
"You need to be protected everywhere you go sweet, hip hop's a messy place" he warned "Plus Mary needs cheering up, her parents have passed recently in a tragic accident"
She wanted to protest in the biggest way, a bodyguard wasn't going to bring her into the depths of hip hop, she was never going to meet her prince charming with a bodyguard hanging around her, and worse still, how was she even going to fall in love, but all she came back at him with was "Oh that's so sad" and she meant it, anyway she had no intentions of being sent back home at this stage, she sat listening to him talking about this Mary woman for a while before she made her excuses and went back to her room, she was mad about it all, she was 19 not 9 years old, she was going to college later on in the year and he was still treating her with kitten gloves, she loved him to death but sometimes, especially times like this she wished he'd back off and let her get on with her damn life "Whops" she held her mouth at thinking that swear
There was more wood in her bedroom than she'd ever seen in any room in her life, and her house had many rooms, the outside wall, stretching across the front of the room were made of glass, the only brick visible was the breast wall her bed rested on, the other two walls were clad with glossed logs. The middle glass window was a sliding door leading out onto a patio with wooden furniture on it melting in with the scenery, about twelve steps across and two steps down from her patio sat a round jacuzzi with four seats and about ten steps across and five steps down from that a pool, she was going to enjoy her room, at home she had to walk through the house to get to the jacuzzi and this pool was private enough for her to be naked if she wanted
She sat outside calming down, when she got to her happy place again she went out to join her Dad for a couple of hours, just looking round the beautiful surroundings, they headed to the Sierra Mar, a restaurant on the complex, for lunch, the fresh fish was exceptional, Mercedes was stuffed, the only place she needed after all that food was her room, she left her Dad and his friends, talking shop and went back to the apartment, daring to grab another spot of champagne before sitting out on her patio, to work on some words for her song, humming more of her melody to the sea, she smiled at the fact that all she'd come up with so far was "Da da da" but feeling totally relaxed having overdosed on good food, champagne, mixed in with the thought of the perfect man and fresh air, she was ready for it, she smiled as she closed her eyes
It was in those, what felt like hours she went off to her warm, wet place, her mind wondered off into that place where her ideal man lived, her thighs rubbing together as she reeled in the pleasure that damp spot had in store for her. If she had to put into pictures this ideal man of hers there'd be a fair few men standing in that line, sometimes there was one very handsome Kendrick other times there where a few of them all paying her body some personal attention, in different exotic places.
Although it felt like there had always been some slow burning passion before her arousal, in reality it took seconds for her mind to get to that perfect place in her sleep, once it was there it was like these unstoppable body grabbing waves of joy happening, nearing the end of it she was having to force her eyes to stay closed to prolong the pleasure, that familiar feeling of wanting to pee came, she lay watching her own face smile as she burst through it and surrendered to that familiar wet pleasure pumping through her body
"Mercedes" she heard jumping out her sleep as she body jumped with her orgasm, hearing doors shut and people talking, she got up wiped her face, checked her clothes and went to go see what her Dad wanted "Mercedes" he smiled as she opened the door and stepped into the room "This is Mary, we spoke about her earlier, she's here to make sure you go where you want safely" he smiled at the woman before looking back at his daughter
"Mary" Mercedes walked towards her smiling "Sorry for your loss" the woman didn't look as bad as she thought she was going to, she was in her maybe early 40s with blond neat hair tied back, a kind face and dressed really casual in jeans and a white top with a jumper tied around her waist "Nice to meet you"
"Nice to meet you too Miss Jones, and thank you" she smiled
"Mercedes please" she giggled "I keep looking for my Mom when I hear someone call me by my surname"
"Sorry Mercedes" Mary smiled "I've had a briefing from your Father, but should we just jump to it and find out some of the things you might want to do, get a plan together?"
"Sure" Mercedes smiled
"I have some suggestions" she smiled following Mercedes over to the couch, her Dad stood watching them together for a while, smiling at knowing he'd made the right choice. "You should try horse riding" Mary told her
"Joke right?" Mercedes asked laughing "That's not been something I've been keen to do for a while now, I was thinking more visiting other cities and landmarks and things" Mercedes sat spouting her wish list to Mary, talking about the golden gate, Alcatraz, dropping hints about Hollywood and Downtown like she was familiar, while Mary smiled at her naivety, letting her go on for a while before she told her which parts of her expectations she might actually get out of her holiday and how far away some of those places were. Her Dad jumping in at one point to let her know there would be no overnight stays outside of the hotel unless he or Mary was with her, of course Mercedes missed out the hip hop, falling in love and losing her virginity bits, she guessed she'd have to take care of those bits herself "So how soon do you think we could start this adventure?" she asked now they'd mapped out places she might find interesting that were much closer than she'd originally suggested, it didn't look like she was actually going to get out of the village called Big Sur for the foreseeable, she sat thinking if that was the case surely Mary's suggestions were better than looking at greenery for a week
"We could start tomorrow after breakfast, we could stretch this over say 5 days, give you some you time in between"
"I sleep a lot" Mercedes laughed
"4 days then" Mary laughed
"Okay, so here's the thing" she laughed not believing what she was about to say "You've managed to twist my arm, we're starting with the horseback tour in the morning" her eyes wide at the prospect of doing something totally out of her comfort zone, Mary definitely had the gift of the gab "This better be good" she laughed at Mary trying to get her over her fear of horses
"It will be fantastic" Mary laughed getting up to leave Mercedes to it "Enjoy your evening" she told her before turning to Mr Jones "And you Sir" she smiled walking towards the door
"And you yours" Mercedes grabbed the nearby cushion, watching Mary leave, she was feeling like she was going to make a real friend of this older woman before her holidays were up, there was something to very much like about her "I'm off to my room" she told her Dad when the door shut, she needed to freshen up
She sat on her bed humming her tune, there were still no lyrics yet and she needed to work out a plan B, Mary needed to get her to where she wanted to be without knowing that was what she wanted, she couldn't believe Hollywood was 300 miles away
The afternoon went fast, pretty soon Mercedes was in the shower thinking about what she was going to wear for dinner, she looked up noticing another door for the first time, the only reason she knew it was there was because she'd seen some sort of frame in the ceramic tiles. she wrapped the towel around her as she stepped out of the streaming shower and headed towards it, smiling when her touch made the door spring open to reveal a mini gym. Of course she went in and looked around smiling at the TV on the wall in there, now she could turn the shower on and sing to her hearts content "After dinner" she told herself rushing back to get dressed.
Her Dad always insisted on dressing for dinner, lunch he was never that bothered about, but for dinner every day, if he was around, the family went all out, it was his time to hear about what his family were up to, she didn't think just because they weren't home they shouldn't follow tradition. She smiled at her choice of a short sleeved, cream jump suit with red buttons running down the front with matching Lubertons, when she saw the nicely dressed table for six with linen placemats and napkins, gold cutlery and crystal wine glasses along with jugs of water, because she'd made the right choice
She looked at the settings knowing that her Dad would be sitting at it's head and decided to float around the living room until he made an appearance to tell her where he needed her to be "Not hungry sweet?" he walked into the room asking, she turned at his voice
"I was just waiting to see where you need me to sit" she smiled
"Anywhere you want" he looked at the table telling her "Take this end, I'll talk the other"
"I agreed to try horse riding again with Mary tomorrow I need some stuff, can I go shopping later?" she asked
"I don't want to stop you from doing anything you want to do, but I already told Mary we didn't need her today so, if you could shop on line and I'll get Artie to collect it I'd feel better"
"On line?" she asked wondering where she was going to get money from for that
"Sorry sweetheart, I don't have a choice on that, here's the card" he handed her a gold card
"Card?" she looked at it in his hand before taking it from him
"You were supposed to get this for college, so don't tell your Mom I gave it to you today"
"What I got my own money?" she grinned at the unforeseen freedom that had just been afforded her
"Don't be silly about it, we're trusting... I'm trusting you" he frowned
"I won't" she smiled genuinely, there was truly nothing she needed except for her clothes for riding tomorrow
They sat in their allocated chairs waiting for everyone else to turn up and some 7 minutes later dinner was being served, Kurt was trying to liven the evening up with his corny jokes and semi-enchanting stories, that might have been interesting had she been 10 years old but she was 19 and not into adults except her parents. She sat eating pieces of her succulent stake stealing glances at her Dad as he shared smiles and giggles with her, she was sure he was laughing at Mr Hummel rather than with him, that made it fun for her, she'd never seen her Dad in that light, he was generally so straight laced always talking business and making hard decisions.
It was dessert time by the time her Dad actually contributed to the conversation and then it was only to add her to it "Are you alright Sweet, these Gentlemen aren't boring you with their stories are they?"
"Not at all" she giggled "I'm actually enjoying myself"
"Leave her alone, she's the only one actually laughing at my jokes, this is a hard audience" Kurt told him
"She's laughing at you" Finn, laughed telling them
"We're all laughing at you" Noah told him, everyone sat watching Mercedes giggle until it became infectious
"Okay that wasn't that funny guys" Kurt looked around the table telling everyone
"I beg to differ" Finn told him still laughing
"It's your girl's laugh, it's infectious" Noah told everyone "Make her stop" he laughed
"Okay I'll stop" she covered her mouth to muffle the laugh for a while before she forced herself to stop "Sorry" she told Mr Hummel
"It's alright... really" he smiled at her "There's nothing much else to have a laugh about is there?"
"I guess not" she smiled at the man she was warming to him, to all of them really
"We're talking business later on so I won't see you before bedtime" her Dad smiled at her, the smile was mixed in with a hint of proud for the way she'd handled the situation "And I'll be out before you wake up in the morning, it's going to be like that for a few days now" he frowned "But" his eyes widened "I've arranged for us to have a late lunch tomorrow as a treat"
"That sounds exciting" she smiled at her grinning Dad "Is it alright if I take my dessert to my room, I'm meeting Mary early in the morning so I need to get this shopping done and get my rest?" she asked
"Of course" he smiled watching her take chocolate brownies, macaroons and a mixture of fruit from the selection "Goodnight sweetheart"
"Goodnight gentlemen" she smiled as she walked the length of the table to get to her Dad
"Goodnight young lady" Mr Schuster smiled at her, echoed by the others
"Goodnight Dad" she kissed his cheek before leaving the men together
She quickly completed her shopping all at one shop and sent the details to her Dad before she lay on her bed with MTV playing in her ear, trying to think of words for her music before drifting into dreaming about life in down town California, and ending up in a raunchy sexual strings free relationship with yet another rap artist, of course she woke up too early, bursting with sexual energy again, and nowhere to throw it, and as usual she threw it into another stab at some lyrics for her music, I need a bridge, never mind words" she threw the book down and grabbed some fruit, how the hell was she planning on walking into a damn studio and pretending she had something special, if she didn't even have her damn song, she did as she'd promised herself and spent nearing 45 minutes in her new found gym before jumping into her bubble bath, jetlag soon caught up with her and she was sleeping within ten minutes of jumping out of the hot bubbles