Richard stood in the lounge swishing the bubbly liquid around the glass he held in his hand, and stared across the room at his wife. She was talking to one of Thomas Wellington's realtors, a young hotshot who thought he had what it took to rise to the top. Richard had perused his file one day and seen nothing remarkable in the way he conducted business. He was just another average employee working for the Wellington name. Why did Shea coddle these wannabes? Whenever her father hosted these routine parties, Shea had that kind nature that required she speak to every one of her father's guests during the course of the evening.
Richard smiled bitterly into his glass. He should have gone into politics. Shea would have been the perfect politician's wife. She had that calm, quiet demeanor, excellent hosting abilities, and great conversational skills, always saying the right things at the right time. Yeah, he should have done something in politics. Richard's gaze shifted to Katherine Wellington, his stepmother-in-law (How totally awkward that sounded!), standing next to Thomas Wellington. Nope, it was probably better that he wasn't in politics. He had a few skeletons in his closet; skeletons that would not stand up under even the most casual scrutiny.
Katherine caught him staring at her from across the room and she gave him a concerned look before he shook his head slightly at her and turned away. He almost tripped over his daughter, Madison, who had slipped silently up behind him. She turned her face up towards him and gave him one of her toothy smiles. He smiled back before moving away.
After making a circuit around the room, chatting politely with various individuals, he ended up back where he had previously been standing. His eyes surveyed the room once again, noting the new positions of his family. Katherine was talking happily to a friend of hers who was married to one of Thomas' colleagues while Thomas stood silent next to her, listening to the woman's husband talk about his latest hunting trip to Africa. Even from across the room, the man had a voice that boomed like thunder and Richard could pick up every word. Richard chuckled silently to himself, as he hid his smile behind his glass. Thomas hated hunting, so the conversation must be torturous to him, not to mention the man's voice could certainly grate on the nerves after a very short while. Madison was hanging around a side table, plucking petals from a flower. Richard felt that he should go stop her, but he made no move in that direction. Instead, he tried to locate Shea in order to signal to her what Madison was doing.
Shea was nowhere to be found, but the call for dinner was announced and the group slowly filed into the spacious dining room. Dinner. Finally! Soon after dinner, there would be more socializing and then the guests would start leaving. Richard groaned at the long night ahead of him. These evenings were truly tedious and he wondered why Thomas continued to host them. When Richard took over, these dinners were going to be the first to go. They were so pointless!
Richard had made the mistake of asking Thomas why he hosted them one day. Thomas had looked on Richard with disappointment before saying that it was his way of honoring his employees, colleagues, and clients. He had even gone further to express his disappointment with Richard's apparent dislike of the evenings, saying that that was how he, Thomas, had managed to last so long. By treating those he dealt with, with the utmost respect. Richard had wanted to throw up in his mouth, but as his entire future rested in the hands of his father-in-law, Richard had expressed his apologies regarding his attitude towards the dinners. He had said that he understood them better now that he knew the purpose behind Thomas' hosting them. Richard had been dismayed to see that Thomas didn't appear to believe him, but the topic had been dropped and they had moved onto something else.
Richard took his seat near the head of the table, and Shea reappeared from the direction of the kitchen to take her seat next to her husband. Always the dutiful hostess, he thought. Making sure everything goes according to plan.