Chapter XVII: Soft Shock

The scenery flashed by, turning from dead leafless trees to white covered pines, and her ears popped from the elevation change. Her drive home seemed to be much quicker than she expected. So lost in daydreams, she hardly knew how much time had passed. Luckily she had a GPS to bring her out of her dreams and remind her where to turn.

In no time, she was there, pulling her car onto the driveway of the ostentatious house. Vee looked at the uninviting front door, and sighed deeply. "Alright, lets get this over with." She blew her plum colored bangs out of her eyes, and got out of the car. She struggled with loading everything up that she needed to bring in to avoid multiple trips, and walked up to the door. Pausing there, she almost felt as if she should ring the bell; that's how estranged she was from her family home. Closing her eyes, she breathed deeply to help relax her racing heart, and went in.

The hustle and bustle of getting the house ready for their Christmas eve party had already begun. She dropped the gifts and her suitcase on the floor, and took her coat and boots off. She went into the family room to see everyone and the dazzling display of their tree. Her whole family was already there, and she greeted them all with hugs and kisses.

As she was chatting with her siblings, her mother was eying her with disappointment. She tsk'd, and said, "Victoria, when are you going to finally grow up and stop doing such weird things with your hair?" Her mother reached up and grabbed a lock of it. "I swear, I just don't know what's the matter with you sometimes. You used to have the most beautiful raven black hair." She dismissively dropped her hair, and before Vee could respond, she said, "Well, I have to finish getting the drinks ready. Victoria, go on upstairs and settle into your room, freshen up, and join us."

She complied with her mother's demands because she did want to freshen up, but mostly she just wanted to escape from her for a few minutes. She got her gifts arranged nicely under the tree, and brought her suitcase up the winding staircase to her old bedroom. The room was strangely unfamiliar to her. The makeover she gave it as a teen (against the detestation of her mom) had long been wiped away. It now had a modern contempo look about it that made her feel like she shouldn't touch anything. Like just her existence in the room would tarnish it.

She flung the suitcase down on the bed, and opened it; checking for the millionth time that the dusty old books were there. Running her hand over the cover of one, she opened it to the bookmarked page, and gazed at the drawings of hands. The inevitable conversation with her father about Edward, and asking for his help was going to be hardest thing she had to do. She at least had mentally prepared herself for it during the drive. She almost had the speech memorized. The tricky part would be if he actually believed her, and didn't have her committed.

She walked over to the adjoining bathroom to shower. As she closed the door behind her, she had to laugh. Hanging on the door was a dress her mother had picked out for her to wear to the party. She never even bothered to bring her own anymore. She pulled this one down, and held it up to herself, looking in the mirror. Hmm, not bad. It was simple yet elegant, and the sage green color matched her eyes beautifully. It was far more glamorous than anything she would ever pick for herself, and she was sure it was a hell of a lot more expensive than anything she would buy too.

After she had finished primping (which honestly didn't take her that long), she strolled down the stairs to join the guests. Her mom ran over to her as soon as she saw her. She looked her up and down, with approval in her eyes. With a smug smile she said, "You have such a beautiful body; you really should wear these types of clothes more often."

Vee couldn't help but blush from embarrassment; the last thing she wanted was her mother checking her out. She sarcastically replied, "Yeah, I'm sure my customers who come to me for their caffeine fix would be very appreciative."

Her mom's eyebrows raised, and her smile dropped. "Well, if you went into a different line of work, you would have more opportunities to dress up." Before Vee could respond, she whisked her over to a young man that she had never met before. His baby blue eyes, blonde hair, and slight cleft in his chin probably had all the ladies impressed. Yep, this guy could be a catalog model for sure. Vee wasn't impressed though; she had always had a thing for the dark and mysterious type. The vision of Edward with his dark eyes, messy black hair, and black leather suit pleasantly surfaced in her mind. Now that was attractive; she could daydream of him all day.

Her mother broke her thoughts by beaming at the stranger, and saying, "Victoria, I would like you to meet one of our neighbor's son, Carlton Samuel Waldorf the third."

Vee eyed her mother suspiciously, and said, "Geez, that's a mouthful. 'Waldorf', as in the salad?"

"Ha ha ha," he arrogantly chuckled. "I can't escape my famous namesake." He grabbed her hand, and brought it up to his lips, kissing it. He let his eyes linger a little too long at her low neckline and what it revealed. "It's a pleasure to meet you. Your mother has told me all about you, but failed to mention your astounding beauty; it could even match my own." This time both he and her mother chuckled.

Ugh, she thought to herself. What a douche-bag. I think I just threw up in my mouth a little.

Her mother looked at Vee, a smug look of satisfaction on her face. "Carlton is here visiting for Christmas, and I insisted he come and meet you. I figure it's about time you met a nice boy."

"I already have," she muttered to her mother's visible surprise.

She dismissed it. "Well now, it can't be that serious if I haven't heard about him yet, now can it? You just go and get Carlton a drink, and get to know him."

She felt as if she were livestock being auctioned off, but there really was nothing she could do. Making a scene and storming out wouldn't be very good for her master plan. "Very well, mother. Right this way Carl," she said, spitting his name out. Her mom gave her a reprimanding look, and mouthed, "Be nice." It, however, didn't phase him at all. He trailed close behind her to the refreshment table. She could sense that his gaze was where it shouldn't be.

The evening progressed horribly. It was probably the worst evening ever; having to listen to this ass talk about how awesome he was. Not only that, but the piece of work couldn't stop touching her affectionately. After the tenth time she shook his hand off of her, you would think he would get the point. She sighed, and looked out the large picture window behind them. She couldn't make out anything in the black night; just the reflection of the tree lights and the last few lingering guests. A weird feeling came over her that gave her the creeps, and made her hair prickle up. She didn't know where this anxiety was coming from, and decided it must be from being forced to spend time with Carlton.

He got up and walked away, as she continued to blindly gaze out the window. She thought of her current predicament with Carlton. She wasn't only uncomfortable with him, but pissed off. Here she was with this jackass vying for her attention, while they sipped rum spiced eggnog, and what was Edward doing? Most likely pacing around her dimly lit home, missing her. The look on his face when she left almost broke her heart. How could he really love her so much?

Her attention was pulled away when he, unfortunately, returned with refreshed drinks. He sat down and instantly started with his pompous bullshit. She barely even listened to what he was saying, she was still lost in her daydreams. His hand on her shoulder, yet again, pulled her out of her thoughts of Edward. His arm was wrapped around her back, and he started to caress her exposed collarbone with his thumb. He leaned uncomfortably close to her ear, and huskily whispered, "Why don't we visit your bedroom? No one will miss us, and I need to see more of you." He slid his finger under the fabric of her dress, and nudged it off her shoulder.

She pushed him off her, stood up, and righted her dress. Vehemently she spit, "Get the hell off me, you jackass!"

He was obviously amused...and aroused. He laughed, "Wow, a firecracker! I love a girl with spirit! It makes the conquest so much more fun."

She didn't even give him the benefit of another comeback; she just rolled her eyes with disgust, and walked away. Luckily, he didn't chase after her. Most likely he couldn't in his current condition. She was going to have to berate her mother for this one.

She wandered from room to room, to see what everyone was up to. Most of the guests were now gone; she wondered if her father would be able to talk to her. She walked to his usual haunt, his study, to see if he was there. The door was open, and he was sitting at his desk. Stepping inside, she closed the door behind her.

He looked up at the noise. "Ah, I see you lost that Waldorf."

She walked over to his desk, and flopped on the leather covered chair next to it. "Yep. Thank the lord."

He chuckled. "I really didn't think much of that kid either. I'd rather see you make something of yourself, than to be married off to the likes of him."

She changed the subject. "Dad? I have something I really need to talk to you about..."

A while later, she emerged to go get the books to help prove her story. He had taken it better than she had expected so far, but his disbelief was still evident. Wandering out to the staircase, she noticed the last of the guests leaving. The reigning jackass king was among them, and thankfully didn't see her as he left. In a despondent manner, he got into his expensive Italian race car. He also didn't notice the sleek black car with tinted windows that had been idling in the driveway all night. Nor did he notice it follow him as he drove away.

Vee, unaware that anything was unfolding outside, quickly got the books and returned to her father. She opened one to her bookmark, pointed at the picture, and said, "This is what I need you to engineer. Do you think you can?"

He pulled the book closer, adjusted his glasses, and perused it. He sighed, "I have no idea. I need to study these books, and try to make sense of it all. I will also need to inspect the machine in question."

She firmly said, "His name is Edward. And you will meet him."

She sat with him quietly while he leafed through the book. The evening got later and later, and she yawned. Her father, on the other hand, seemed wide awake, completely absorbed in the books. She didn't know if she should be crossing her fingers, or praying, or what to do; other than worry.

A knock on the door interrupted them. He quickly shut the book and covered it with one of the papers on his desk as Vee's mother opened the door, and stepped in. She was fidgeting with her cell phone, and looked frazzled. "I just got off the phone with Mrs. Waldorf. Carlton never made it home," she broke down and sobbed. "He was in a car accident! He drove his car off the overpass bridge, and is dead!"

Shocked, both Vee and her father went over to console her. Being unnerved by the news, Vee felt a little light headed, and held the wall for support. Yeah, the guy was a putz, but he didn't deserve this. And his poor family! What an awful thing to happen, especially on Christmas.

Her mom continued to sob, and wailed, "I just can't believe this! Oh, whatever will people think of me when they find out I let him leave in an intoxicated state!"

"Mom! He really didn't have that much to drink. Besides, your reputation is not really what's important here, is it?"

"No, no, of course not. It's just that...I just can't believe it." She sniffled dramatically. Her father put his arm around her and helped her go to bed. Vee also wandered up to go to bed. She was exhausted from the evening; and the news of what happened made her want to be unconscious, rather than thinking about it.

The next couple of days flew by. Between talking to her father about Edward, exchanging gifts, eating feasts, and socializing; she hardly had a spare moment. So many thoughts were going through her head, and she missed Edward terribly. She wished there was a way to talk to him, but she couldn't even do that. He didn't have a phone. She was so busy, and so distracted by her daydreams that she never had any idea that the black car from the fateful night had been parked on the road right outside her parents house. It was there on and off the whole time she was there.

When it was time for her visit to end, she rushed her goodbyes, and got back on the road. She tried her best not to speed too much. She just couldn't wait to see him, and couldn't get back to him quick enough. The only thing she was paying attention to was the road ahead of her, not the road behind her. She had no clue that she was being followed by the same black car that had been there all weekend; stalking her like a shark following its prey.