"Miss Arlette?Miss Arlette?" the voice belonging to Sophie made Arlette groan. Sighing through her nostrils and groaning quietly, the girl noticed that she ended falling asleep with her dress on and not on her bed, but the floor. No wonder she was so uncomfortable "I'm coming,Sophie." supporting her weight on her palms, the redhead wobbled sleepily to the door, rubbing a hand over her eyes while the other turned the doorknob. Sophie pratically barged into the room with the silver tray, why was she smiling like that? "Oh,I met Monsieur Quatton, Miss Arlette!" Sophie sighed dreamily, placing the tray upon Arlette's desk "He's so handsome and he has such a beautiful smile...you are so lucky!"

Arlette crossed her arms, frowning deeply "If you think he's all that, perhaps you should marry him." the girl replied harshly, making the plump maid widen her eyes with a hand upon her chest "Mon Dieu, Ms. Arlette! I couldn't possibly do that to your husband!" the maid's response infuriated Arlette even more, but what could she say? In the end she'd have to marry James Quatton and turn into his beloved little wife, with children screaming on her ears. Not that she disliked the thought of being married and having children...but she preferred to think about it with Connor.

"Sophie,please leave,I'm not really...in the mood of talking about him." Sophie bowed her head respectfully, quickly leaving the room and closing the door. Arlette rubbed her hand on her neck, sliding it up to her cheek. Today will be a very long day, she assumed, her father was at home-which normally meant something serious was about to happen- and her brother was just as nervous as she was. Oh well. Better face the lion than kill the lamb. Arlette ran her hands on her long dark red hair, before walking out towards the living room area. Arthur Cunningham was reading a thick book, flipping through the pages quickly, glasses resting at the bridge of his nose "Good morning,father." her father's dark blue eyes moved from the words towards Arlette "Good morning dear,sit down."

Arlette tucked the back of her dress before sitting down on the comforter, hands clasped together over her lap as she awaited for her father's speech "Arlette." here it comes "I know, that a wedding might be something extreme,"

"Really extreme." she said in a quiet mumble, shutting her mouth when her father sent a glare towards her "Do not interrupt me,Arlette." Arthur's firm voice made his daughter nod mutely, lowering her gaze to the floor. Crossing his legs by the knee, the Cunningham's patriarch continued "But,James is a very good man. He enjoys your presence, enjoys the way you are and his family is one of the weathiest I know." Arthur smiled "You shouldn't let this chance pass, my dear. It's not everyday a man will pratically appear in your life."

Oh,how wrong he was. Arlette sighed, dropping her head slightly to let the long dark red tresses fall over her eyes "I understand father." she whispered silently, excusing herself to go to her bedroom once again "Arlette." she stopped in mid step, looking over her shoulder "Go take a bath, James will come to take you for a stroll."

Arlette was not pleased by being dragged around with arms locked with her suitor. Of all the things he had said, nothing made sense, he hand't let her talk no matter how much she tried. James was too busy talking about himself "Did I told you about the time I went to London?Beautiful ." it wasn't really safe to talk about the British in the times of war "I...imagine it." with a forced smile, she started to wander her gaze around. James seemed so full of himself, he kept talking about how women begged and cried for him to marry them and that Arlette 'should consider yourself blessed for being the chosen one.'

"And also, there was this one time that I,"

"I think we should stop now. My feet hurt." that was a lie but he wouldn't know that, now would he? James had a shocked expression upon his face, how could she want to stop when he had SO many things to say?"Well, alright." Arlette sighed in relief, sitting on her favorite spot on the park. Now that would be a nice time to run away from his strange man, but that'd be pointless. She'd have nowhere to hide, she wouldn't have her room or her house.

She was pratically locked on the outside.

"Are your feet still hurting?" what kind of question was that? They just stopped their walk and sat down. Arlette furrowed her eyebrows, slowly turning her head towards him "Yes,James. They are." her answer was dry, meant to make him notice that she was not going to walk so soon again. Arlette glared at the ground as James started to mumble words, he was getting annoyed. Well,so was she! "I'd like to go home now."

"What?!But we just got started!"

"I know James,but I'm overly tired."

James should really think before talking sometimes, before saying things such as: "Are you sick with your mother's disease?"

Arlette's eyes widened and before she knew it, her hand caused a impact against James' cheek. The blond man fell off the bench, holding his spot while the young woman stomped away from him "Arlette!Arlette,wait!" of course she did not stopped. She didn't cared if she was going to walk back to her house, as long she was far away from him she'd feel better. How dare he?Mentioning her sick mother on the conversation! Arlette was so angry she couldn't think straight, bumping into people on the way of finding the road back to her house. It was a different thing when you use a carriage as your main way of transportation. Was he still following her? Arlette dared to peek over her shoulder, speeding her pace as James managed to be about three feet away from her.

"No,no,no,no!" she said with gritted teeth, lifting her dress up to her ankles so she could run between the alleys and streets. And run she did. Of course that deep inside she had no idea of where she was going, but as long she was away from James P. Quatton she was okay. The redhead wheezed out for air, leaning onto a building to rest for a few seconds. She ran quite a distance, she couldn't see that annoying man anymore. She was safe...for now. Arlette looked around, she was close to the port. There were several people walking around with barrels, crates and animals on their arms. Maybe if she stayed here, James wouldn't find her. Yes, that was right.

Her head whipped around, gasping in fear as about twelve red coats started to wander around, muskets resting on their shoulders as they questioned the civillians. That was not good, not good at all. Arlette slowly started to walk away, yelping when her face slammed against a red coat's chest "S-Sorry,sir."

The man scoffed, looking down at her with disgust "Look where you are going, scum." he spit on the ground, brushing past her harshly. Arlette almost lost her balance as the man walked away. She was amazed that he hadn't done anything to her "Y-yes, sir." the Irish were not really popular around, most of them lived in the poor district of Boston. Arlette was lucky that her father and brother managed to be successful accountants,being able to give their family a quiet, calm life. However, the fact that her mother being sick was something always brought up in conversations. How many times she had heard her mother was 'Quietly dying' or 'Was useless now.'

That was not true. Arlette loved her mother more than anything, her mother still woke up, still smiled and talked. Just because she couldn't leave her bedroom did not meant she was useless, did not meant she was another piece of garbage. And the fact that James used that as if it was the reason she was tired, made her blood boil. But that was enough of thinking now, she had to leave this place before it was dark."Where is Adrik when I need him?" she asked herself quietly, "He always knows where to go." Arlete thought about going back, but the chances of meeting James were to high to risk "I need to find a shortcut somewhere." but where? The shortcuts would be darker alleys than the ones she walked through before. "Come on Arlette. Think!" she was starting to panic, now thinking that it was a stupid idea to run away from James. Maybe she should comform herself with the fact that she'd end up marrying him.

Rubbing her forehead gently, the young Cunningham took a deep breath and marched on the same way she came. Happy by the fact she was being able to actually go back, Arlette smiled even more when she saw that James was completely gone. Out of sight. "Perfect." she said pleasingly. What made her smile fall was the sight of Arthur Cunningham, her loved father, with crossed arms and a glare that could kill a wolf without trying much. The carriage was right behind him, meaning he was there to pick her up "Father," Arlette couldn't continue her phrase, her father grabbed her bicep and pulled her into the carriage. Slamming the small door shut, Arthur sat down on the seat paralel's to his daughter, hand on his chin as his glare pierced into Arlette's soul "What's wrong with you?" she hated when he sounded so calm, knowing that sooner or later he'd explode "You know what I was doing when James came to talk to me?" she shook her head mutely "I was talking with his the moment James started talking..." Arthur sighed, trying to remain calm "The look on his father's face...Arlette, do you have any idea about what you did!?"

Arlette licked her lips, lowering her gaze and playing with her thumbs "That's your answer for everything!" now he exploded, making Arlette jump below her skin in fear "You are always silent! For God's sake Arlette!" the poor girl winced, nibbling on her lower lip while trying to contain her tears "Arlette,A-Arlette why, why you did this?There must be a reason!There has to be a good reason!"

"You'll scream at me if I tell you."

Arthur sucked a deep breath, rubbing his face from forehead to chin "No,I won't.I won't. Tell me." he crossed his legs by the knee, waiting her answer. Arlette gulped "I-I...he was being rude to me." she hoped her father could understand that, but apparently he didn't "I can't believe this. James is the most polite man I've ever met!"

The carriage had finally stopped, Arthur quickly walked out looking at Arlette as she slowly stood up from her seat "Arlette, don't start making up excuses. You'll marry James and I don't to hear any other word about it!" she nodded quietly,sucking her bottom lip while rubbing her arms "Yes father." both of them were silent when they walked inside the house. Arlette was fighting the tears really hard, not being able to go to her room because Sophie was currently cleaning it, Arlette went to the only place she'd go:Robert's personal office.

Robert was leaning on his desk, reading a few papers when Arlette knocked silently "Come in." his eyes moved to his little sister, frowning at how red her face was "Arlette?" that was enough to break her down. The girl rushed to her brother, pressing her face on his chest while sobbing. Robert instantly dropped the papers, hugging his sister close "Sssh,ssh, Arlette. Don't cry." he whispered, pressing his cheek atop of her hair "Please, Arlette. Calm down. Tell me what's wrong." Arlette continued to cry, clenching the fabric of his dress shirt tightly, feeling some of the fibers ripping below her fingernails.

Adrik had been watching from the window, he was following Arlette the whole day, but decided to stay in the shadows. The yellow irises shifted towards the sky, the dark gray clouds meant that a violent storm was coming. The black cat leaped from the window sill, trotting away from the house and towards where he last saw Connor.

He needed a shelter and he knew the perfect place.

Whew! So guys, no Connor on this one. I focused mostly on Arlette's relationship with her family and James. Do not worry!Chapter 7 will have Connor :3

Thanks for reading!