Hello my lovely readers! Thank you so much for the reviews! Awesome! And Pebbles33, your review helped me post this chapter tonight. I finished uni exams yesterday, spent all night out last night (as you do when you have finished studying) and then when I read I had received another review I was mega happy! :D
*In this chapter, the masks I refer to are not full face masks in the respect that they completely cover the face. Think of masked balls, and how the women tend to wear masks that accentuate their eyes, so they are small and delicate and reach no further than their cheeks.
Enjoy! Oh and I decided to split this chapter into 2 because I felt it was too long for one. The next one will be shortly, I won't say based on reviews because reviewing is your choice. But it's still awesome.
Two hours after leaving the Lightwood's 'house' Clary and Maia found themselves once again back there. Both girls had been ecstatic that they did not need to buy new dresses to fit with the theme of the party.
Clary was pleased to notice that every person was walking around with a mask either on their face or clutched in their hands. Magnus had pulled through and supplied Clary with every single one of his stores masks. Clary and Maia walked through the door and approached the table which held an assortment of bright masks. Some were small, made to just cover the eyes, while others were more extravagant and included extras like feathers and sticks to hold. One thing that was common on all of them was the glitter. Magnus loved glitter and clearly channelled this inspiration into his designs.
Both girls scrutinised the remaining masks. "Damn, Magnus is amazing!" Maia noted.
Clary smiled. "Yep, he sure is." She paused as she traced her fingers along some of the closer masks. "Which one do you like?" She asked.
Maia pursed her lips. "I'm going to go with this one." She picked up a mask covered in black velvet with gold glitter tracing elaborate patterns around the edges. It was a hand held mask with a stick attached to it.
Clary smiled. It looked amazing with Maia's simple black strapless dress.
Clary chose one of the smaller masks designed to cover eyes. It was a pale metallic green colour, but unlike Maia's mask, was to be tied with a ribbon.
Maia gestured to Clary to turn around so that she could tie the ribbon at the back of her head.
Both girls grinned at each other as they took in their costumes. The masks added a touch of elegance and mystery to their dresses, Clary's green mask standing out against her dark red hair and her pale silver dress.
The masks were a stroke of genius.
"Damn girl, we look fine!" Maia drawled to Clary as they made their way through the huge 'house' looking for Maryse stopping only to pass by a spare bedroom and dump their bags in it.
Clary noted that the girls she passed were all dressed in elegant formal wear with their masks to their faces and the men were in tuxedos wearing black or silver masks. There was even one male guest who was wearing a black top hat tipped low.
"Oh look, Maryse is over there. And I think that's Isabelle." Maia distracted Clary's wandering eyes as she grabbed Clary's elbow and led her to Maryse.
"Maia! Clary! Oh you girls look beautiful!" Judging by the pitch of Maryse's voice, she had clearly had a couple to drink.
Maia and Clary both smiled up at their boss. "This is an amazing party Maryse. Isabelle are you enjoying yourself?" Maia asked.
The girl, Isabelle was stunning. She had chosen a hand held mask like Maia, except hers had black feathers on one side with lines of black beads falling down and was made of a silver material. Clary's heartbeat began to pick up. She still was not sure if coming tonight was a good idea.
Isabelle smiled warmly at both girls. "This party is amazing! Mum didn't tell me about it, but she text me this morning saying we were having a family dinner to celebrate our engagement. And that it was formal themed." Isabelle rolled her eyes at her mother.
"Oh, wow really this morning? You must have been rushed finding a dress and everything." Maia responded.
"Oh, I've never worn this dress before, but I've had it for ages. Made things so much easier, but I still had to get shoes and jewellery and stuff."
Clary laughed. "Well, you look gorgeous all the same."
Isabelle smiled at Clary.
"Anyway, girls do you mind just helping me out with some of the catering things outside? Jace said that one of the waiters couldn't make it tonight, so we're one down."
The two girls agreed to help Maryse out, and followed her outside where the long table was being filled with food from a number of trolleys. The first thing Clary noticed was that her heels dug into the soft earth too quickly as she walked. Cursing her thin stilettos, Clary nudged Maia as she spotted the drinks table.
"You want a drink?"
Maia looked at the table and quickly nodded.
Clary made her way over to the table without getting stuck in the grass but hesitated as she got close. She wasn't sure if it was self-serve or if a waiter was supposed to assist her. The plan had been to have a waiter to pour or mix drinks for guests, but she didn't see anyone around. Deciding to just make the drinks herself, Clary walked around the table and took two champagne glasses off the trolley holding them.
"You know, I think that is my job."
Clary jumped as someone behind her spoke. She turned to face the person feeling a bit guilty. It was the guy in the black top hat she had noticed when they had first walked in.
Clary smiled. "Sorry, I didn't see anyone around, and so I assumed we could just get our own drinks."
The guy smiled. "Clary, seriously, it's ok. We're a man short tonight, so if you want to pour your own drink, you know, just go for it."
Clary was startled to know he knew her name.
"Well, you know, I'm helping Maryse with the food table, but I could keep an eye on the drinks table as well when I'm around here." Clary picked out a bottle of champagne and poured it into the two glasses.
The man in the top hat watched her pour the drinks in silence, and rejected her offer for a glass. "I made the pasta for you by the way."
Oh, it's Jace, Clary thought mentally whacking herself over the head for not recognising his voice. He looked so different though with his blonde hair covered by the hat, and the black mask on his face.
"Oh seriously Jace"- best to add his name in there for good measure in case he thinks I don't recognise him, she thought- "that's great! That pasta was to die for!"
Clary was beaming at Jace and he smiled back at her. Lifting a hand to rub the back of his neck, he nodded his head in the direction of the table. "Shall we go help them out?"
Clary nodded and picked up the two champagne glasses.
The two walked side by side towards the food table. "Mum really appreciates this you know. And Isabelle is over the moon. She always thought mum wasn't supportive of her marrying Simon so a surprise party is just what she needed."
Clary looked up at him. He was really tall she noted, and she was wearing heels to make her taller! "Maryse doesn't talk about her family life very much at work and Robert doesn't talk to us juniors, so Maia and I have kind of known about you guys for four days. And I knew nothing about Isabelle in setting this party up. So I'm glad she likes it."
Jace's eyes met hers and he smiled. "Yea, believe me, Izzy really likes this! Have you met Simon yet?"
Clary stiffened. "Um, I don't think so. I mean, I know a lot of guys called Simon, but I've never really met Isabelle before so I can't say I know her fiancé."
There, that was a satisfactory save right?
Jace grinned. "Oh, I have no doubt you know lots of Simons, and this Simon is pretty easy to forget."
Had Clary had a hand free, she would have whacked him. "That's not very nice to say about your future brother in law. He can't be that bad. What does he do anyway?"
"He's actually into games. He works at a games place somewhere and helps design and produce them. For something so geeky, it earns him a hell of a lot of money."
Yep. It was definitely Isabelle's Simon that she had met that night.
Clary made a vague non-committal sound and left his side to join Maia who was transferring food from one of the trolleys to the table.
"Oooh, who's Mr. Mysterious?" Maia said nodding towards Jace as she accepted her glass of champagne.
Clary turned around so she was looking at Jace. She scrutinised him and realised that he did look pretty decent. She realised that she preferred him in a chef outfit though.
"That's Jace. We met him at the restaurant. Maryse's son. He was just talking to me about them being short handed tonight, so I offered to keep an eye on the drinks table." Clary picked up a tray of food and approached the food table, almost stumbling as her heel sunk too far into the ground.
Maia laughed really loud at Clary's comment. The thought of Clary manning a drinks table was hilarious.
"Hey girls. What's up?"
Clary and Maia turned around to see Isabelle and Simon looking at them. Clary forcefully refused to look at Simon as she walked back over to the food trolley.
"Oh Clary's just offered to look after the drinks table over there. Bad. Idea. The last time Clary mixed a drink… Let's just say we got drunk really, really fast."
Setting the tray down, Clary lightly whacked Maia's arm. "It wasn't my fault. I didn't have a measuring thing so I just guessed. Jeez."
Maia started laughing again. "Our throats burnt when we drunk that stuff she made."
Simon and Isabelle joined in Maia's laughing while Clary stood getting annoyed.
"What's so funny?"
Everyone turned to look at Jace. He was cocking his head at Clary seeing as it was she that everyone was laughing at. "These idiots are giving me a hard time because apparently I can't pour drinks."
Jace lifted an eyebrow at her. "Really? Didn't you just offer to look after the drinks table?"
Clary rolled her eyes. "Yea, but I didn't say that I'm any good at it."
"Oh don't worry. Isabelle can't cook to save her life. I became a chef because I almost died after eating something she made. Worst experience ever."
Out of the corner of her eye, Clary saw Simon grinning at Isabelle and leaning in to give her a kiss on the cheek.
Guilt flared through her. She knew she'd done nothing wrong. It was what she normally did with men when their girlfriends contacted her, but something about Simon and Isabelle made her feel guilty about almost ripping them up.
"Isabelle, the Penhallow's are here!" Maryse's voice floated to them from across the yard.
Isabelle sighed. Simon grabbed her hand and squeezed it before letting her walk away from them.
"So Clary, how was the rest of your night out last week?"
Clary froze. Oh god no. She felt her heel slip into the soft earth below her as she picked up another tray from the trolley. It was her pasta dish.
Clary slowly turned to look towards Simon trying to dislodge her heel. She had to literally force a smile to stay on her face and she wondered if she looked like she was in pain. "Oh, it was alright I guess."
Maia looked between her and Simon. "You guys know each other?"
Simon smiled hugely. "Yea, we used to go to school together, and she knows my sister through college. We accidentally bumped into each other last week after Clary tripped and spilt her drink on Isabelle's brother."
Jace chuckled. "Alec was so pissed off about that shirt. Was that you?"
Clary's heart beat was progressively getting faster. She could handle Jace and Simon without Isabelle being there, but she hadn't counted on Maia being there.
"What can I say? I'm a klutz."
"HA! You guys have no idea how clumsy she can be. But it tends to be from crashing into things while tumbling around with guys, not tripping over her feet. Damn girl, how much did you drink that night?"
Clary tried to ignore the information Maia had just released about her antics with men, and forced an even bigger smile. "Maia, since when do I get really drunk?"
"She didn't seem to drunk that night actually." Simon grinned at her. "Although we did go through two jugs of beer before we decided to go back to her…"
Oh crap no!
Please no Simon!
Ideas or thoughts on what Simon might say?
More info on Clary's 'job' soon, and I have a number of ideas on what could happen with it: One being Jace having a girl friend and a similar situation to those in the prologue and ch1 happening. Or should Jace be a single gorgeous bachelor with epic cooking skills?
Thoughts on that?
Until next time!
= D