Six year Later….
"Hurry up, Nellie, the guests will be arriving at any minite." Mrs Sunner said helping Nellie pin her wild brick red curls to her head.
"Why are we having this party anyway?" Nellie asked scowling over the fact that her mother was having an absolute episode and clearly taking it out on her.
"I'm going to pretend you didn't even ask that." Mrs Sunner said finishing Nellie's hair, then pushed her out of her way. "Now go downstairs and greet the guests."
Nellie walked down the metal stairs lifting her crimson dress as she took each step paying close attention not to trip over it. It was a very beautiful dress. The color was a mixture of crimson and raspberry creating a great contrast with her porclian skin, which reached to the floor in lace. High heels were not things that Nellie was accustomed to and therefore caused her to stumbled quite a bit as she made her way down the stairs and into her mother's pie shop, the location of the party. Already there were guests scattered across the floor dressed in their finest and mingling with one another. Mr Sunner conversed with a group of five, all members were holding a glass of ale in their hands and laughing merrily. Suddenly, Nellie tripped over her dress causing her to fall flat on her face and making a pretty blonde girl spill punch all over herself.
"You little twit, look what you've done. This is a hundred pound dress you ruined." The girl yelled.
"I'm really sorry." Nellie said getting up, feeling the flush rise to her face.
"You had better be, cause you're paying for it." The girl said.
"Look I didn't do it on purpose, plus you probably could get that out with some soap and water." Nellie said trying to sound polite.
"Oh yeah, that's why you would do, of course. Where did you get that sad excuse for a dress anyway…hmmm?" the girl asked.
"I dunno, my mother made it for me." Nellie said. The blonde girl grabbed a hold of Nellie's sleeve and tore it off completely and threw it to the ground.
"There, now why don't you use some soap and water to fix that?" the blonde mocked cruely.
"Lucy, that's quite enough." A tall grey haired man said pulling her way from Nellie.
"But she made me spill punch on my dress, make her pay for it." The blonde whinned, but was lead out of sight. Nellie on the other hand tried to ward off the tears that filled her eyes as she picked up the sleeve of her dress.
She then walked to the other side of the room that was for the most part empty and sat in one of the chairs alone. She rested her head in her hands watching the guests move from one person to the next talking about ridiculous things, while pasteing false smiles on their faces. Slowly, her mind began to wander off. She began to think of the most ideal party right by the sea with swimming and dancing. Everyone would be laughing and sharing real smiles with one another. All of the men there would have to be good looking and showed off their best tans as they played volleyball and ran down the beach. All of the guests at this party would be people she knew and liked. There was no point in having people who were cruel, false, and snobbish to her. Especially that Lucy girl, she had no right to treat her like that. Suddenly her day dream was interupted by the sound of someone sitting down next to her. She looked up to find a man with black longish slicked back hair, pale skin with coal black eyes, several heads taller than her and in a very dapper black suit. She had seen that man before….but where?
"Whats a pretty girl like you sitting here all alone?" the man asked with a charming smile.
"Nothing…I just…I'm bored and tired that's all." Nellie lied still studying the man next to her.
"Well you must be proud of your father and all. That's a great business proposition, I bet that'll be a great financal booster." The man said.
"I'm sorry, but have we met?" Nellie asked.
"That's a good one, Nel. You said that you would never forget me." The man said.
"I'm sorry..please enlighten me, who are you?" Nellie asked.
"Well I'll forgive you, afterall it has been quite some time. My name is Benjamen Barker and I met you when you were a wee thing of nine." The man said with a charming smile.
"Clearly I've grown up since then." Nellie said.
"Yeah clearly. What happened to your dress?" Ben asked.
"Oh nothing, it got torn." Nellie said.
"It looks good. Very different." Ben said making Nellie laugh.
"Yes, I cannot disagree with that." Nellie said.
"Why are you sitting here all by yourself?" Ben asked.
"Because I got bored with talking to people I don't even know. Its not very fun. Plus these heels are not comfortable to walk in." Nellie said.
"I'm certainly glad I'm not a woman." Ben said making Nellie laugh again
"I'm terribly sorry for being a bad hostess, would you like anything to eat or drink?" Nellie asked.
"Alright then." Ben said pulling her up.
"Are you still attending school, Ben?" Nellie asked.
"No, I'm a barber. I own 'Barkers Barber Service' down the street. Say your father hasn't come for a shave in a while." Ben said.
"He insists on growing a long beard…the reason still puzzles me." Nellie said.
"You should get him to come in for a shave…maybe he could bring you along." Ben said.
"Maybe…but don't get any ideas about cutting my hair." Nellie said.
"Yeah I know you want to grow it out." Ben said.
"Did I really say that?" Nellie asked blushing alittle.
"Yes, you told me a lot about yourself. Funny how I still remember, but you do not." Ben said.
Nellie and Ben came upon the table filled with food and fix a plate up for themselves, then sat down only to talk even more energeticly. Nellie nearly melted in her seat as the handsome, ever so charming man conversed and periodically flirted with her. Sure, he may have been seven years older, but age was just a number anyways. As they approached the desert table, the young blonde woman whom had been very rude to Nellie, caught Ben's eye. She smiled back at him surrepticiously and continued to flirt with him from across the room. Nellie did not catch on and shook him gently.
"Are you day dreaming there, Ben?" Nellie asked.
"No…uh…uh, I have to go to the washroom Nellie, I'll be right back." He said sweating alittle.
"Alright." Nellie said still not paying attention to his strange actions. Mr Sunner walked up to his daughter and patted her on the back.
"Looks like you're having fun." Mr Sunner said.
"Yes I really think I am." Nellie said.
"Well that's good, pet. I think I need another brandy." Mr Sunner said.
"Don't drink too much." Nellie warned and watched him walk away.
Secretly on the other side of the room, Ben was talking to the blonde woman, Lucy, happily. They flirted back and forth, laughing and joking with one another as if old friends. A couple moments later, Lucy was dragged away by her father once again leaving Ben to join Nellie once again.
"Where have you been?" Nellie asked.
"I just saw a girl I knew that's all." Ben said smiling at the pretty red head once again.
"Oh…here's some cherry pie You should try it. Its really good." Nellie said smiling sweetly and spooning more of her pie into her mouth.
"You're right Nellie, this is good." Ben said looking up to see the blonde girl leaving with her father. He sighed alittle then turned his attention back to Nellie.
"Cherry is my favorite kind of pie." Nellie said.
"And candy. I'm really sorry Nellie, but I have to go. I forgot that I have a late appointment tonight." Ben said watching her face fall.
"I was having so much fun too." Nellie complained alittle.
"Why don't you come visit me more often and we'll have more fun." Ben said.
"I think I might." Nellie said giving him a soft kiss on his lips, then backing up quickly. "Sorry…first timer…I just wanted to..uh oh."
"Nellie, if you're going to do that, try it this way." Ben said kissing her gently. "Now that's a kiss. Expect a lot of them from hundreds of young blokes."
"Can I expect more from you too?" Nellie asked lighting up alittle.
"Heh heh, maybe, until then practice on your stuffed animals." Ben said.
"I don't have stuffed animals." Nellie said getting alittle offended.
" I'll see ya around kid." Ben said patting her on the shoulder then leaving with Nellie's dark eyes following him out the door.
Okay, so that was chapter 2. I really hope I was politically correct this time. My reason being that I was not writing this at 2AM and therefore planned what I was going to write in depth. Hope you all liked it. I'm probably going to start chapter 3 very soon. Thanks:)