Author's notes: well here is a new fic I was not planning on writing. I was hoping to finish one of the other two I have out right now before I put another one out but hey when life gives you inspiration you just got to take it. I was watching Vh1 two days ago at night and the new Sarah McLachlan video was out for the song called stupid. It is one of the best videos I have seen that actually touched me. I don't want to give much away but I highly suggest watching that video before reading this fic. You can find it at mtv.com or VH1.com; just look up Sarah Mclahlan and click on the video entitled Stupid.
Anyways, that video was the whole inspiration for this fic except I changed it up to fit the LJ Smith profile of course. So if you watch that video you'll get a better understanding of how I picture the vampire in this story to look like.
Title: Fumbling Towards Ecstasy
Disclaimer: I do not own anything in here except for my own characters. I do not own anything by Sarah Mclachlan or LJ Smith.
Premise: This story is set in the early 1900s where a divorce or a wife having an affair was looked down upon and considered a disgrace. Most young women of that time were brought up to believe that either your father or your husband's word was law. The wife was in charge of family and certain matters of the house only. They were breed to never to be dishonest to your husband or cheat on them even thought it was okay for them to do it. Some of this may not be true but hey this is my story and this is what I gathered from the all the movies I have seen from that time. So enjoy and please r&r.
Chapter 1
Lonely Hearts
Ace, ten and a nine; that was what she was holding in her hands, but they were all useless. Emma looked down at her cards once more before looking at her three closest friends; their faces told the same story that hers did.
"Well then ladies, I think I'll call it a game," said the petite blonde as she laid her red king, queen and jack down for the whole table to see.
"My my, Scarlet looks like you've just won another game," smirked a tall redhead as she tossed her cards into the center of the table.
Emma sighed as she laid her cards down too, "Well then ladies, that's about all the poker that I can play for now; anybody for tea?"
The brunette in the corner laid her cards down too and stood up, "I would love a cup of tea, These card games always gave me such a headache," as she laid her hand on her forehead and patted it lightly.
"Why, Bernice you don't need to lay down, do you? We could call a doctor if you're filling faint," said the redhead as she stood up and laid a gentle hand on her.
"No no, don't be silly Madeline I'll be fine. I just need some rest," as she waved off her friend.
"Well ladies, tea will be served in the sun room," said Emma as she stood up from the table. A servant soon appeared and started cleaning it off immediately.
"It must be so wonderful to have such servants at your beck and call," said Scarlet as she walked over to Emma and laced her arm through hers. "Martin said we could only have ten this year but promised we would be getting more next year."
"Why Scarlet, I hardly ever notice but I pray to god every night for my blessing and my husband," Emma said back as she put on her best smile.
"Always the modest one," said Madeline as she walked around the table to join the group. "But enough of this small talk Emma, tell us about the real story."
"Well what do you want to know?" Emma asked back coyly as her friend all smiled back at her.
"Oh come on Emma, you're married to one of the richest men in the United States! There has to be something you can tell us." Exclaimed Bernice as she threw her arms above her.
"But I do not know what ya'll want to know," said Emma with her southern accent peaking through a little.
"Well," said Madeline as she paused, "what's it like to live in one of the largest mansions in the state?"
Emma let out a small laugh, "not as good as one might have thought. Its big and you get lost easily and it becomes a dark maze at night, one you're sure never to find your way out of unless you have an experienced maid by your side."
The three girls exchanged glances with each other before they looked excitedly back at Emma. "Any other questions," she said back teasingly as they passed halls after halls.
"What-," said Bernice before she was cut off by an excited Scarlet.
"I forgot to tell you about where Martin and I are going next month," Scarlet started telling excitedly. Emma pretended to listen as she walked wither three best friends but her mind kept on wondering like it had been doing so much these days.
The wedding had been last month and all of Philadelphia's society had been there. She had been so terrified when her mother told her she would be marrying Fernando Delacruz. He was a man in his mid 50, descendents of Europeans aristocrats. She and him had absolutely nothing in common, all he wanted was trophy wife that would bare him plenty of strong sons to carry the line. She was only 17 but already considered the right age to become a mother. Fernando had already been asking her if she had become pregnant since their wedding night but he didn't know that she had been taking herbs to stop it for now; she just wasn't ready for children yet.
"Emma, darling," said Madeline as she took her out of her thoughts, "which way to the sun room?"
Emma snapped back to reality as she smiled at her friends, "Sorry, it's past the entrance hall and two halls over. I told you it was easy to get lost in here."
The girls started talking once more, as Emma walked with them in silence. She could hear two male voices ahead where the entrance hall was at. We must have guest, Emma thought as she quickened her pace.
The girls followed Emma through the richly decorated halls; you wouldn't pass one patch of wall that wasn't covered by a painting or a window that wasn't properly dressed.
The giant windows in the entrance hall light up almost all the hallways leading to it. Emma could see her husband talking to a young gentleman that she vaguely recognized from the wedding.
He was tall, with black hair that went perfectly with his tanned skin. His dark green eyes could hold you there for endless hours, as if drawing you into a spell. His Cheekbones were clearly visible as they showed off his chiseled face. He had been her husband's best man at the wedding; he had been the one that Emma had first made eye contact with while walking down the aisle.
As she got closer, Emma realized that her husband and he were in some deep conversation.
"What do you mean they left?" she heard her husband growl.
"They joined circle daybreak," the man said back.
Emma made sure that her heels made a louder clicking noise on the marble floors as she got closer. The two men looked up at the approaching woman, her husband anger quickly faded as he saw them.
"Ladies," he said as he held out a hand to Emma. She placed her gloved hand in his as he drew her closer to him. "You remember, Edmond Knightly from the wedding, don't you? He was my best man."
"How could I forget," Emma replied back as she held out her hand to him. Edmond took her gloved hand and kissed it lightly, all the while looking her in the eyes.
Emma felt a small shiver pass through her and Edmond smirked, as if he had seen it. "Oh pardon me ladies, where are the rest of my manors? Edmond," Fernando said as he turned to three women beside Emma. "These are my wife dearest friends. This is Madeline Winston, Bernice Johansson, and Scarlet Jones."
Edmond turned to each of them and kissed all of their hands too like the proper gentleman he was, but all the while he kept glancing over at Emma making her eyes drop to the floor then back at him.
Emma could feel the heat crawling up her spine. There was no doubt this man was more than handsome but the way he kept looking at her and right in front of her husband was just outrageous. Even now when she looked up at him she could see him smirking, as if he knew what she was thinking.
"Well excuse us darling, but the ladies and I was just on our way to the sun room to have some afternoon tea," Emma said hastily.
"Well then enjoy your day," said Fernando as he kissed her on the cheek. Emma did her best not to cringe but she couldn't help but feel appalled towards this man, he was just too old for her.
The four girls walked off together pretending to talk about the weather until they were safely around the corner.
"That man is truly a god," said Bernice as she glanced back towards the direction of the entrance hall.
"He was about the dreamiest thing I have ever seen," said Scarlet as she held her hand over her hart.
"Scarlet!" exclaimed Madeline as she looked at her friend in shock. "You are a married woman! You should not be talking like that."
"Oh calm down Madeline, I was just looking," she said innocently as she walked down the hall.
"Well I'll admit there is much to look at," Madeline said as she bumped Bernice's hip.
"and what about you Emma?" asked Scarlet as she looked at her friend, "You sure have been quiet, and correct me if I'm wrong but I think Mr. knightly was giving you the eye back there."
"Scarlet, he is my husband's good friend and I will have no talk like that in this house!" she said nearly stomping her foot.
"Fine, but you must admit he was a well breed man indeed," Scarlet said back saucily.
Emma just smiled and shook her head at the same time. She would always love Scarlet no matter how scandalous she talked.
The sun room was up ahead and Emma could already see light filtering out into the hallway; its yellow beams match the yellow of her dress.
"So tell me Emma, when are you going to hold a dinner for your favorite friends? Bernice is going to need a husband soon and wouldn't it just be darling if she found him at one of The Delacruz's famous parties!" exclaimed Madeline as she looped her arm through the now embarrassed Bernice.
"Oh Bernice, you shouldn't be ashamed, think of yourself as independent," sighed Scarlet as she looped her arm through the other arm of Bernice.
"Easy for you to say Scarlet, you're already married and have a secured future," said Emma as she walked with them and into the sun room.
All four girls sat down at the lounge chairs. Its ceilings reached an amazing 20 ft, with glass paintings decorating the long windows. Dark wood aligned itself with these, creating an atmosphere of an old church. Giant plants swarmed the room, making it into a garden. When the girls first went in they had to walk through a path to get to their seats. The whole atmosphere of the room was just so beautiful and peaceful that the girls stopped their conversation for that brief moment and admired the beauty around them.
"Truly magnificent…" whispered Madeline.
Emma snapped out of the trance first because she heard one of the many maids roll in a tea cart. "Excuse me," she muttered as she walked through the path again. When she walked out of the jungle she saw a maid struggling to get the cart through the path. "I'll take that," she said to the maid who gratefully smiled back.
As she readied the tea Emma could hear the faint sound of the three girls chatting. The plants were so thick though, she couldn't understand what they were saying. Humming to herself, Emma neglected to hear the sound of lonely boots walking down one of the main halls. It wasn't until a hand lightly placed itself on her shoulder that she was alerted to their prescience.
Emma nearly jumped a foot as she turned around to see who her intruder was. She was surprised though to see a very familiar face. "Mr. Knightly, you nearly scared the breath out of me," she said as she laid a hand over her heart.
"Please, call me Edmond," he said as he gazed down at Emma.
Emma was unable to hold eye contact and dropped her eyes immediately. "Do I make you nervous?" he asked in a husky voice as he took one step closer to her.
Emma self consciously took a step back, "no, not all Mr. Knight-I mean Edmond. You just scared me, that's all."
Edmond looked down at her, a small smirk playing at the sides of his face. His Gloved hand softly caressed Emma's cheek but she was too scared to move her face like a proper lady would do.
"You are so beautiful," he said almost to himself as he drew his thumb down her bottom lip.
Emma exhaled deeply as she tried to contain the emotions threatening to expose themselves. "Please, Mr. Knightly, I must ask you to stop," she was barely able to get out.
"He doesn't deserve you," he said before he removed his hand but still continued to look her in the eyes.
Emma was surprised at the emotion she saw in his face. "Mr. knightly I…" she tried to say but was interrupted by footsteps coming down the hallway.
"Edmond, where are you?" said her husbands all too familiar voice.
"In here, old friend," Edmond said back as he gazed at Emma.
"What are you doing in there? We have much business to discuss," he said as he walked into the entrance of the sun room. "Come now," as he waved for Edmond to follow him, not even giving a second thought to why his wife looked extremely flustered around his best friend.
Edmond watched Fernando go and then turned back to Emma, "I hope we see each other again," as he reach down for her own gloved hand and kissed it.
Emma was speechless; she had never been treated this way by a man before, not even by her own husband.
"I...I," she tried to get out but was not able to; Edmond looked back at her and gave her a smile that would surly melt any girls young heart.
Emma watched him go and this time held his eyes as he looked back at her. She didn't understand what he had meant when he said, he didn't deserve her. She could only assume he was talking about Fernando, but that was his best friend. How could he say something like that about his best friend?
Turning back to the tea, Emma took a napkin and patted it gently on her face. She was so flustered now because of Edmond and his very rash actions. Smoothing down her dress Emma did everything she could to make it seem like none of that had happened. If anybody had seen that little scene a scandal would surly insure.
Picking up the Tea tray, Emma took a deep breath and started to walk where her friends were at.
"Wait, Madame," said a young maid as she ran over to help her.
"No no, I got it," said Emma politely.
"Yes ma'am," the maid said. "Mr. Delacruz wanted me to inform you that you will be having a dinner party soon for all your closest friends and his." The maid reached into her pocket and pulled out a slightly long piece of paper. "He wanted me to give you this. These are the people on his side that you must invite."
Emma glanced down at the paper; there must have been twenty names on it. "I thought he said it was just for close friends?"
"It is," was all the nurse said.
"Well then, place the list on my desk in my room please," she said as she turned and started walking down the path but turned around quickly.
"Ms," she said.
The young nurse turned around and looked at her, "yes, Madame?"
"Is Mr. knightly on that list?" she asked back in an uncaring tone.
The young maid glanced down at the paper and Emma could tell she was reading it by the way her eyes moved. "Yes ma'am he is," she said.
"Oh," Emma muttered as she turned back around, "that's all," she said back to the maid to dismiss her.
The maid walked down the long hallways leaving Emma to her thoughts. What am I going to do, she thought. She couldn't possibly face Mr. knightly again, not after what had happened but deep in her heart she knew she must. He was her husband's best friend and no matter what his intentions were she had to respect him for her husband sake. So when the party came she would just pretend like nothing had happened at all but as the saying goes, easier said then done.