Early in the morning, the light from the sun glowed on the white silk bed sheets. Spooned in the blankets and pillows was a girl of age who stirred blissfully before lifting her head to a tall, erect figure beside her.

"Hey, stranger." she cooed as she stretched a little and sat up, covering herself with the sheets, "what's that?" He sat on the bed, already dressed in casual day wear which he wore with a certain prestige that was ever-present in him.

"Just a little espresso, I find it works the best for that headache you have." She caressed her temples as he handed her the small espresso cup.

"Thanks." she sipped as she scanned his body. "You're looking quite dapper." she put the cup down and leaned over to him, beginning to unbutton his shirt, "Ready for another go?" she whispered sensually. He chuckled uncomfortably and took her hands from his shirt, re-buttoning the button she un-did.

"You know, I think we need to talk..."

In a few moments, the front door was opened for Edward and Cara as a loud door slam was heard from the upstairs.

"UGHHH!" the girl groaned loudly, "How DARE you!" she spat as she thrust her feet onto the steps of the stairs. "How dare you!" she moaned as she fastened her right shoe on her left foot. She groaned and held her palm to her forehead, sensitive to the loud noise. "You think you can lead me to drink, take everything from me, serve me espresso and vow to never see me again?" He walked over casually to the top step, looking down on her like a child in the midst of a tantrum.

"Why, yes..." He said casually as he smoothed out his shirt.

"Well!" She breathed hard; she looked ravenous, "Fine! I don't want anything to do with you!"

"Ahh! Mr. Royal!" He smiled, looking genuinely happy to see Ernest. "I'm not sure exactly how up to it you are, but might I trouble you to bring home this young, tempestuous lady?" The girl's mouth gaped.

"I'm quite fine, son, I shall." Ernest said, nodding.

"You. Forgot. My. Name!" She huffed and groaned as her arms penetrated her coat, "you're despicable!"

"Ahh, then it is you who has forgotten my name, miss, I am Aron, and you are Emily." Aron smiled a bit and waved, "thank you for our time together, it was most memorable."

Emily let out a loud, final groan as she stomped out the door.

"Ms. Adler." Ernest said quietly as he held the door for her and followed her out. Aron sighed contently and focused on Edward.

"Ed!" Aron announced as he raced down the stairs and hugged him, "How was the drive?"

"Great, but what did you buy?" Edward said smiling.

"Oh, that's right..." he turned his head to a few maids dusting the tops of the console tables, "Florence, Marjorie, would you please empty the car?" They nodded and hurried out the door. Aron looked at Edward then at Cara. "Wait." He looked at her confused then looked at Edward who then sighed.

"Aron, this is Cara, I brought her to stay with us."

Aron nodded, knowingly, "That's right... that's right, you told me that..." he took her hand, "well, it's truly an honor."

Cara smiled wearily, unsure of how to react, "hello..." she said slowly. Aron laughed, letting go of her hand.

"You're right, Ed. About everything about her." He grinned as he looked her over, "you actually described her pretty perfectly, Ed." He looked up at her, "here I thought he was exaggerating." He chuckled as she looked away and cleared her throat. "You've become a kind of celebrity around here."

Cara half-smiled and turned her attention to Edward before a series of clicks descending down the stairs demanded their attention.

"Oh, good, Eddie is here now." A girl with semi-long, straight blonde hair walked towards them, her one-inch heels clicking rhythmically, "so good to see you." She pulled off a pair of small white gloves before hugging Edward. Cara looked away, embarrassed by a twinge of jealousy that she felt. She focused on the maids who carried out all the boxes from the car, "Ooohh! Things!" The girl said pulling away from the hug abruptly and running over to the maids. She scanned the boxes quickly and picked up the smallest one.

"You must excuse my sister's rudeness; she cannot seem to focus on anything for more than four seconds." Aron said looking at Edward then at Cara, "her name is Hailey." At the sound of her name, Hailey looked up immediately and turned her head to listen much like a lemur.

"Wait." She said putting the box down, "who are you?" She walked over quickly as Edward introduced her. Immediately upon hearing 'Cara', Hailey grabbed her and pulled her into a tight hug. "Cara!" She let go and held her hands, "I just know that we will become the best of friends." She smiled genuinely, her eyes brightening, "one of them is for you!" She grasped her hand as she led her to the pyramid of boxes the maids set up. Hailey looked them over and grabbed a box near the top, "this one!" She thrust it into Cara's hands.

"Thank you." Cara half-smiled, still confused but easing slightly. She lifted the cover gently.

"It's just a little welcome gift. Ed told us how you like them." Hailey said proudly. Cara gaped at the quaint arrangement of wild blue irises in the box she lifted them and smelled them, memories of vacations past flooding her mind. She smiled, "we got them all the way from New York." Hailey announced.

"Thank you." Cara said, hugging her, "you're right, we will be good friends." She said happily. Hailey smiled and walked to the drawing room with Cara. A few maids and butlers followed them, carrying the rest of the boxes.

...

"The poor lad was only about twelve but that didn't keep him from believing he was great at everything." Ernest laughed as he finished his last piece of broiled chicken.

"Oh! I do remember that!" A maid, Marie, laughed, "Do you remember the sailboat?"

The table, apart from Cara and Aron, burst out in laughter.

"What happened?" Cara asked as she forked a red seasoned potato and chewed it blissfully.

"Well three years ago, Aron wanted to impress... I don't know... some girl who loved the water." Ernest began.

"But of course, he knows nothing about being on the water and any of that." Hailey continued as she served herself another helping of salmon fillet.

"So he went out and bought a sailboat." A handsome dark-skinned waiter recalled as he piled wild rice onto his plate. "You outdid yourself here, Miss May." He said happily as everyone nodded and smiled at the short, light-skinned woman called May. She smiled a wide toothy grin, making her nose scrunch up and move her tiny glasses down a little.

"I rememba dat boat. I was on dat boat dat day." She chuckled, her whole upper body laughed with her, "He took hi' little girlfriend an' Ernest an' me so I could cook for dem." Another quaking laugh, "ev'rything was fine til' we left da dock."

More laughter.

"I remember how she flew off when he made that harsh turn when the wind kicked up!" Ernest laughed as he poured himself a cup of coffee.

"How many sutures was it?" Florence asked as she cut a slice of cake for herself, "eighteen?"

"Twenty-one!" Aron admitted as he grinned and took a sip of his wine. The table burst out laughing. The dishwasher, George, fell out of his chair, "well, she was a fine girl. And now I have a boat." Another sip.

"How long did you date her?" Cara asked. The table hushed. Aron searched her eyes.

"A day." He said as he sipped again. Hailey sighed and took her plate quietly. She left the room and slowly, one by one, the staff lifted their plates from the table and walked towards the kitchen, getting ready to wash up and continue their jobs.

"A day?"

"Yes." He reclined in his chair, focusing only on Cara, "you see, after the accident and the proper medical attention was given, she found it cute that I tried to impress her." He set his fork on his plate as Ernest walked behind him and took his empty plate from him, walking away with it, "she and I spent the night and then I left. That is the way I have dated women for the past few years now." Before Ernest left the room, he looked back at the table and sighed, shaking his head. This left only Edward Cara and Aron.

"But don't they hear about you from others?" Cara became confused as she turned it over in her head, "you must have a terrible reputation. Do women not get turned off by the stories they hear?"

"They do!" He chuckled and took another sip of his wine, "they always do and many are, indeed, put off. However, I have a theory-" he put down the glass, "they always go for me because they think they will be the one." She smirked.

"The one what?" Edward said quietly as he focused on his cloth napkin.

"The one to change me." He looked at Cara perversely, "and we all know how women... love to do something... hard..." his foot touched hers and with that, her chair made a loud scraping sound as it was pushed out. She stood up tall; her face was flushed with anger and annoyance. She held onto her napkin tight before placing it gently on the table.

"Good night, Edward." She said softly. Edward looked up at her apologetically although she never removed her horrified glare from Aron "I'll see you in the morning." She left the room.

…

Another author's note at the bottom, guys! So, a few things before I sign off, I hope you noticed that the beginning was full of sex imagery, this is intentional. Also that I waited until the very end to introduce the name of Aron's one night stand. Also quite intentional. I wanted some anonymity to the beginning to relay the message of this lifestyle of anonymous intimacy. It's a thing I'm unfamiliar with so the way I see it, the more I can throw it in your face as unobtrusively as I can, the better. I also wanted to point out how Aron and Hailey treat their staff as family, you will learn why soon. However, please pay attention to the manner in which they were addressed: first name or last name. This is important! Anyway, thanks so much for reading, I'll repost mid-week next week. Be sure to review, cheers!