TITLE: The Mission Key… A mission to unlock her heart.
CHAPTER 2: The Beginning of it All
AUTHOR: Laila Lucine
Damiya got off the small plane and headed down the steps carrying her purse in one hand and a book of poetry in the other. She scanned the crowd for Trevor's face. The MacDougals had assured the 'Vaunns' that he'd be the one to pick her up rain or shine. Sure enough there he was, his red hair, pale skin and freckles amusing her as they had when she saw his picture.
He was the kind of guy you passed on the street and only remembered later because he sort of resembled a clown that you saw as a child at your first circus. The only thing truly striking about him she saw, zooming in on his face, was his deep green eyes with flecks of black imbedded in them. At the moment however he had spotted her and was heading her way to 'help her' with her things.
"Claudia?" He asked in a strong voice that she hadn't expected to come from him. He was more broad shouldered and taller than she'd been led to believe however, he dwarfed her own five feet and six inches by at least four inches.
"Yes. Trevor I presume?" She smiled mischievously.
"In the flesh." He winked. "Sorry that my parents are sort of forcing us together, they're rather tactless and they're hoping we 'hit it off' as my mother put it."
"In other words they're thinking wedding bells and you're thinking running shoes." She teased, she had always been a people person and he had already warmed up to her.
"Well yeah." He admitted. "Lets get your stuff and head 'home'. You look really great by the way. I was afraid you'd be one of those girls with a 'great personality', but you seem to have both looks and brains."
She laughed a tinkling sound that reminded her of bells ringing far off in the distance. She had taken lots of care with her appearance for this trip. She really wanted to get into the role of Claudia. She imagined that an aristocratic girl who had grown up being pampered would think of herself as a minor princess of sorts. So she had dressed in a pink dress in princess style. It was more like a shift really and it was such a pale pink that it looked like it was white posing as pink. It had long sleeves, perfect for the mid-beginning of fall and it wasn't so dressy that she'd call undue attention while still drawing some attention.
He took her arm and led her to the baggage claim where they found her luggage with no real problems. She only had two cases and a hanger bag. She took the smaller case and he balanced the hanger bag and the larger case and though she offered many times to help he refused out of kindness. She did end up opening and closing doors for him though no matter how much he protested.
They got into a dark green Mercedes and off they went. Half an hour and five radio stations later they arrived in front of a small mansion. Damiya had never seen something as lovely as this house. It had a fountain out front with a cherub pouring water into a small 'creek' that ran down into the fountain base and the house itself was exquisite. Large arches and points, the word turret came to mind and she wondered if maybe it had been done in the style of a castle. She played it cool though and didn't gaped when the gates swung open as Trevor pushed a button on the dashboard. They drove up and parked out front where a man dressed in a tux, who Damiya took to be the butler, came out to open the car door for them both. She got out and Trevor led her up the steps to the front door.
The inside was more beautiful than the outside with a staircase that wound up what she could see was at least four floors above them. He led her down a smaller hall and into a room that looked like a tiny study. There were two older people, a man and woman. These were his parents Richard and Kimberly MacDougal. Kimberly stood up and smiled crossing the room to hug Damiya quickly before letting me go and Richard actually crossed to her and kissed her hand.
"Now what was that for Mr. MacDougal?" She asked in an amused tone, she knew for a fact that he normally just greeted people of both sexes with a handshake and quick smile from the pictures she had seen of him. He winked at her, a twinkle in his own deep green eyes.
"You looked like a princess and isn't that the proper way to greet a princess?" He smiled and she noticed that his teeth were perfectly straight and white.
"Well I suppose," She said playing along. "That it depends on the princess." She winked back.
"That's out little Claudia Maria. You were always the cutest little girl. And no more of this Mr. MacDougal. Call us Aunt Kim and Uncle Rich. You used to, or had you forgotten?" Kimberly teased.
"Could I ever forget?" Damiya bantered.
"Nope, you were our little elephant. You never forgot, you could hold grudges for weeks until they finally were resolved. We still think you should be a lawyer, you never forget the details." Rich butted in.
"Mom, Dad, don't scare Claudia on her first day with us. If you scare her away I can't take her out on the town tonight and I though maybe we could hit Jace's, Maj is playing tonight." Trevor came in smiling, she could tell they were a close family.
"And who pray tell is this Maj fellow?" Kim asked.
"They're a band Aunt Kim, a girl band who play rock music. They're great!" Damiya gushed. She had heard them on a previous mission and had fallen in love with their sound immediately. She had memorized every single note of each one of their songs and stored them away in her mind so that she could play them to herself on the long nights stuck in Manticore's barracks.
"Well alright, but you have to promise that you'll have dinner with us before you go, you're not allowed to drink or do drugs or anything when you go and you have to be home by two am, no excuses." Kim told them sternly.
"Fine by me Aunt Kim." Damiya played her part as the good little girl to the hilt.
"Alright Mom." Trevor agreed too smiling over at Damiya and winking. "You never said we couldn't go out and have wild monkey sex." The look on Kim's face was priceless, but you could tell that Richard and Kim were truly used to comments like that as she threw back.
"Well, you're right, but since you mention it. None of that after twelve, after all it'll take you an hour to go through it all and an hour to recover and by that time you'll be late." She winked at Damiya. "Don't worry. He'll be a PERFECT gentleman. Won't you Trev?" He just smiled a secretive smile.
"We'll see." He replied.
CHAPTER 2: The Beginning of it All
AUTHOR: Laila Lucine
Damiya got off the small plane and headed down the steps carrying her purse in one hand and a book of poetry in the other. She scanned the crowd for Trevor's face. The MacDougals had assured the 'Vaunns' that he'd be the one to pick her up rain or shine. Sure enough there he was, his red hair, pale skin and freckles amusing her as they had when she saw his picture.
He was the kind of guy you passed on the street and only remembered later because he sort of resembled a clown that you saw as a child at your first circus. The only thing truly striking about him she saw, zooming in on his face, was his deep green eyes with flecks of black imbedded in them. At the moment however he had spotted her and was heading her way to 'help her' with her things.
"Claudia?" He asked in a strong voice that she hadn't expected to come from him. He was more broad shouldered and taller than she'd been led to believe however, he dwarfed her own five feet and six inches by at least four inches.
"Yes. Trevor I presume?" She smiled mischievously.
"In the flesh." He winked. "Sorry that my parents are sort of forcing us together, they're rather tactless and they're hoping we 'hit it off' as my mother put it."
"In other words they're thinking wedding bells and you're thinking running shoes." She teased, she had always been a people person and he had already warmed up to her.
"Well yeah." He admitted. "Lets get your stuff and head 'home'. You look really great by the way. I was afraid you'd be one of those girls with a 'great personality', but you seem to have both looks and brains."
She laughed a tinkling sound that reminded her of bells ringing far off in the distance. She had taken lots of care with her appearance for this trip. She really wanted to get into the role of Claudia. She imagined that an aristocratic girl who had grown up being pampered would think of herself as a minor princess of sorts. So she had dressed in a pink dress in princess style. It was more like a shift really and it was such a pale pink that it looked like it was white posing as pink. It had long sleeves, perfect for the mid-beginning of fall and it wasn't so dressy that she'd call undue attention while still drawing some attention.
He took her arm and led her to the baggage claim where they found her luggage with no real problems. She only had two cases and a hanger bag. She took the smaller case and he balanced the hanger bag and the larger case and though she offered many times to help he refused out of kindness. She did end up opening and closing doors for him though no matter how much he protested.
They got into a dark green Mercedes and off they went. Half an hour and five radio stations later they arrived in front of a small mansion. Damiya had never seen something as lovely as this house. It had a fountain out front with a cherub pouring water into a small 'creek' that ran down into the fountain base and the house itself was exquisite. Large arches and points, the word turret came to mind and she wondered if maybe it had been done in the style of a castle. She played it cool though and didn't gaped when the gates swung open as Trevor pushed a button on the dashboard. They drove up and parked out front where a man dressed in a tux, who Damiya took to be the butler, came out to open the car door for them both. She got out and Trevor led her up the steps to the front door.
The inside was more beautiful than the outside with a staircase that wound up what she could see was at least four floors above them. He led her down a smaller hall and into a room that looked like a tiny study. There were two older people, a man and woman. These were his parents Richard and Kimberly MacDougal. Kimberly stood up and smiled crossing the room to hug Damiya quickly before letting me go and Richard actually crossed to her and kissed her hand.
"Now what was that for Mr. MacDougal?" She asked in an amused tone, she knew for a fact that he normally just greeted people of both sexes with a handshake and quick smile from the pictures she had seen of him. He winked at her, a twinkle in his own deep green eyes.
"You looked like a princess and isn't that the proper way to greet a princess?" He smiled and she noticed that his teeth were perfectly straight and white.
"Well I suppose," She said playing along. "That it depends on the princess." She winked back.
"That's out little Claudia Maria. You were always the cutest little girl. And no more of this Mr. MacDougal. Call us Aunt Kim and Uncle Rich. You used to, or had you forgotten?" Kimberly teased.
"Could I ever forget?" Damiya bantered.
"Nope, you were our little elephant. You never forgot, you could hold grudges for weeks until they finally were resolved. We still think you should be a lawyer, you never forget the details." Rich butted in.
"Mom, Dad, don't scare Claudia on her first day with us. If you scare her away I can't take her out on the town tonight and I though maybe we could hit Jace's, Maj is playing tonight." Trevor came in smiling, she could tell they were a close family.
"And who pray tell is this Maj fellow?" Kim asked.
"They're a band Aunt Kim, a girl band who play rock music. They're great!" Damiya gushed. She had heard them on a previous mission and had fallen in love with their sound immediately. She had memorized every single note of each one of their songs and stored them away in her mind so that she could play them to herself on the long nights stuck in Manticore's barracks.
"Well alright, but you have to promise that you'll have dinner with us before you go, you're not allowed to drink or do drugs or anything when you go and you have to be home by two am, no excuses." Kim told them sternly.
"Fine by me Aunt Kim." Damiya played her part as the good little girl to the hilt.
"Alright Mom." Trevor agreed too smiling over at Damiya and winking. "You never said we couldn't go out and have wild monkey sex." The look on Kim's face was priceless, but you could tell that Richard and Kim were truly used to comments like that as she threw back.
"Well, you're right, but since you mention it. None of that after twelve, after all it'll take you an hour to go through it all and an hour to recover and by that time you'll be late." She winked at Damiya. "Don't worry. He'll be a PERFECT gentleman. Won't you Trev?" He just smiled a secretive smile.
"We'll see." He replied.