The rest of the drive was spent in silence as the tires rolled along the pavement. We pulled into the Harbor Club at Prime, which is usually an hour and a half drive from East Hampton, but with the lack of traffic and our accelerated speed, we made it with a half hour to spare. We arrived at 7:30 and the sun is still setting creating an array of reds, blues, pinks and purples across the sky. The valet comes up to open my door so I pass him my crutches and he helps me out of the car.
"Thank you," I say politely and he nods while I pass him the key as another valet opens the door for Alison. We wait for the others to exit their car before walking inside the venue.
"Hello, may we show you to your table?" a man asks politely as he approaches us.
"Yes please," I respond and I hobble behind him. He opens the door to a large space filled with tables topped with white begonia flowers in the center and candles surrounding them. Each table has 8 to 10 plates with name cards. I suppose the man already knew who we were, that must've been his job to memorize seating charts and wealthy families. He leads us to a table almost in the center of the room and we all sit down to take our seats.
"May I get you anything to drink?" he asks and we all nod.
"Sprite for us," Caleb says a motioning for him and Hanna.
"Water with Lemon," Toby answers for him and Spencer.
"I'll take a Sprite, and my lady will have Sparkling water," he says confidently.
"Ginger ale," Alison answers.
"We'll both have Benziger 2008 Merlot," my grandfather orders for us.
"Right away," he says and stalks off.
"Emily this event is really important, I need you at your best," my grandfather says.
"As good as Marissa Bisset?" I ask.
"Better, much better. That was child's play, this is serious business," he says and his lips form in a line.
"Grandfather calm down, just tell me who to talk to and I will work my magic," I say.
"You'll need a lot more than bunny rabbits popping out of hats," he says.
"Grandfather relax, we won't get anywhere with you stressing. I'm learning the ropes, but you need to trust me enough to let me experience and work my way through things," I reason and he nods.
"You're right, I just really need these deals or this new project won't work," he replies.
"Whom do I talk to?" I ask again.
"Chandler Matthews. He's really young, 22, the song of
"Robert Matthews, he's into the entertainment industry," I finish. "What do we need from him?" I ask.
"He's on the move to looking into stocks and business ventures. We need to convince him to let us manage his money. He's the easiest out of the bunch," he says.
"Who else?" I ask.
"Katherine Porter, she just came across a lump some of money after her husband died last year and has no clue what to do with it. She's a socialite and has been blowing her money fast," he says and I nod thinking of ways to approach her. "Next is Sebastian Kane," he says and I gasp, catching the attention of the rest of the table.
"You expect me to sweet talk Sebastian Kane? The Sebastian Kane?" I ask in shock.
"Not sweet talk, he hates bullshitting, just be honest and straightforward," he says.
"But he has his own team of financial assets," I reason.
"Remember the numbers you ran for me a few weeks ago where you noticed a large sum taken away?" he asked and I nodded.
"Yeah, like 2 million went missing," I recall.
"Well that was his financials," he says.
"How did we manage to get our hands on those?" I ask.
"We may have a spy or two in their company," my grandfather says and we both smile.
"Okay so should I approach him with my findings?" I ask.
"Only if he doesn't respond to everything else, that's your last resort," I say.
"Okay," I say and think about my ways to attack their weaknesses.
"Okay?" he asks again.
"Yes I can handle this, I just need time to think," I say and Alison squeezes my hand so I look at her on my left. "Hey sorry this isn't really fun," I say with a pout.
"It's okay, I knew this was a business function," she says and I hear a hint of sadness so I decide to take her away to at least enjoy part of the evening.
"We'll be right back grandfather, I'm taking her to the docks," I say and he nods happily as the drinks are being set on the table. We pass a few tables and see serves carrying glasses filled with champagne so we take I tell Alison to grab two. After leading her back towards the door I hold the crutch under my arm as I open the door that leads to the terrace and we come across the docks a little further away.
"Where are you taking me?" she asks.
"To the docks," I answer and it takes us five minutes before we're sitting on the cool wood, surrounded by boats and we can hear the chatter of the party as it begins. After I rest my crutches beside me I take the champagne glass from her. We sit in silence as I try to think of what to say.
"I'm sorry this couldn't be more fun," I say.
"Don't worry about it," she says but I know that she's taking it to heart.
"How about we go somewhere for Spring Break," I suggest.
"What?" she asks taken aback and her eyes widen.
"Anywhere in the world, where do you want to go?" I ask.
"Uh, I don't know what to say," she says in shock.
"I figured we could use a vacation without me having to worry about business," I say.
"Wow," she says breathless. "What about working with your grandfather?" she asks nervously
"Don't worry about him, he'll be fine," I say nonchalantly.
"I'm serious Em, I don't want him to hate me for taking up your time," she says seriously.
"He won't he loves you. Besides if he thinks what I know he will, he'll be totally fine with it," I say.
"Are you sure?" she asks again.
"So where would you like to go?" I ask answering her question.
"France," she says after a few moments and I smile.
"Vous souhaitez que je vous commande," (Your wish is my command) I say and she smiles brighter. The way the edges of her lips crinkles make a smile appear on my face.
"Est-ce que je reçois trois souhaits?" she asks. (Do I get three wishes?)
"Oui mademoiselle DiLaurentis," I say.
"Je souhaite que vous pourriez prendre cette robe sur moi," (I wish you could take this dress off me), she says and my cheeks flush and my body temperature rises.
"Ce soir, vous allez vouloir vous l'avez conservé sur," (Tonight you're going to wish you left it on), I wink and now it's her time to blush furiously. I decide to take it easy on her and lean to kiss her on the cheek. I pull away and down the rest of my drink. I wish we could stay here all day, partially because my leg is throbbing and mostly because I love the view and Alison's company.
"It's really beautiful here," she's observing the sky meeting the water.
"No more beautiful than the sight beside me," I say never taking my eyes off of her.
"You're so sappy," she laughs and pushes me.
"What can I say Ms. DiLaurentis, you make this way," I reason and at that point we hear a collection of laughs. "We should probably head back inside". We both stand and make our way back inside. I see that majority of the place is filled and everyone is sitting down wrapped in their own conversations as we make our way to the table.
"What's been going on?" I hear Alison ask the rest of the group.
"Just talking while you two make out like teenagers," Caleb says and we both blush while the others laugh.
"Even though it isn't your business, we actually weren't making out. We can have conversations uninterrupted by hormones," I retort.
"Well actually that conversation was about the not so innocent things we're going to be doing tonight," Alison says in a trance not knowing she said it out loud.
"Alison!" I scold her while the others burst out in a hearty laugh.
"That's my Emmy," my grandfather pats me on the back and most would think it would be a good gesture but I only feel my cheeks redden at the thought of everyone knowing my business.
"I bet they did it in the car!" Hanna exclaimed and we both turned a deep shade of red.
"Oh my God! You guys totally did it!" Toby said a little loudly.
"Guys keep your voices down! My-our sex life is not up for discussion," I say adamantly.
"Em's always like this, she may come off as cocky and confident but she's a total prude when it comes to talking about sex," Ezra finally speaks up.
"Shut it Ez," I try to pull off a serious tone and a silence follows before we all start chuckling even my grandfather.
"With the way you two go at it I hope to see grandchildren within the next few years. I need another heir to groom," he jokes but Ezra and my eyes meet and we know that there's seriousness laced in there. Grandfather is serious about maintaining the familial line both biological and non-biological, so whether I want to or not, I will be having children. I don't mind them per se, but the thought of all that pain is unimaginable. I know it's uncomfortable for Ezra since he's adopted, but grandfather still wants him to produce grandchildren to spoil endlessly and have someone to cater to in his retirement besides his wife. Since I'm used to this conversation it does nothing to physical faze me, but I hear Alison choking.
"Are you okay Ali?" I ask and she's still coughing.
"Wrong pipe," she chokes out and I feel sorry for her. It's her first of many baby talks and my grandfather already promised her the family ring. We've only just started dating!
"Grandfather!" I scold and he rolls his eyes and returns to nursing his drink and muttering things under his breath. I am so focused on Alison that I didn't notice waiters until they were placing plates on the table. It's a Caesar salad and they start asking what we want for the entrée.
"I'll go with filet mignon," I respond.
"I'll go with the salmon," Alison says.
"How would you like your meat?" he asks.
"Blue rare," I say and all the entire table stops talking to stare at me even the waiter.
"I'm just joking, I'll take it medium rare," I say and he jokingly wipes sweat from his head.
"I thought I would have to go get your stomach pumped if you like your steak blue rare," Alison joked.
"Haha very funny," I joke. After thirty minutes of mindless conversation and eating the salad, we're served our meals. I look Alison's plate to see an Atlantic salmon with shitake mushrooms and a truffle jus. "That looks delicious," I say as my plate is being placed in front of me. It's a 12-ounce center cut of filet mignon with scalloped potatoes au gratin and seasonal vegetables.
"Now that looks really good," she says and our mouths salivate at each other's meals and pretty soon we're exchanging plates after taking a bite into our own. After I bring the salmon to my lips I let out a moan.
"You knew exactly what to order for me babe," I smirk at her.
"This would do well with some red wine," she suggests and she takes my untouched Merlot. "Mhmm just perfect with my medium rare filet mignon," she says and the sounds coming from her mouth makes my mouth water not from the seductive looks she's giving me but thoughts of what I want to do to her later on. This is not social; you have to focus on the task at hand Em! How should I approach them? What are their weaknesses? I should ask grandfather. NO! He'll think you're not ready and why give him more ammo? Be confident, cool and collected. Do your own research. You have the Internet and Google; hell you even have your own assistant. Tyler!
Me: Tyler look up these three people and tell me everything about them.
Tyler: What are they?
Me: Chandler Matthews, Katherine Porter, and Sebastian Kane.
Tyler: On it right away!
Me: I need info in the next half hour.
I send the text but receive no response, which I'm hoping is a good sign that he's working on it. For now I want to enjoy my time with my family and friends.