a/n characters and source material still not mine..still just having fun.
Chapter 8
At five o'clock in the morning on Thursday, the two Mars sisters found themselves at the Neptune Airport being escorted to the private hanger where the Kane's jet was being stored. Mr. Kane's father, while not adverse to air travel, was said to prefer the new high speed rail, and therefore had sent the jet down to Neptune for his children's use and amusement. The Casablancas were already on board, and indeed already back to sleep. Miss Kane arrived at the same time as them, and it was evident that she had come straight from some assignation; with a wink and nod, she also disappeared inside the jet with no comment. Internally, while Veronica accepted such behavior as she was a guest, and because she found a deep bond of sister-like adoration growing between herself and Lilly, she also felt herself quite free to continue to dislike the attitudes of the idle rich while allowing the excesses of Miss Kane.
Mr. Kane was the only one of the party whom she could regard with any true approval. His concern for Meg was evident, and his attentions to herself were charming, and they prevented her feeling herself so much an intruder as she believed she was considered by the others. Miss Kane, was too absorbed in herself, and engrossed by Mr. Echolls, whom she had decided to torture this weekend, unless some suitable diversion was found in Mexico, to realize that anyone might be uncomfortable being in their social circuit. As for Mr. Casablancas, he was an indolent man, who lived only to eat, drink, and surf, who, when he found she had no opinions on any of those items, and was uninterested in flirting or induction to the Mile High Club, had nothing to say to her.
During the flight Mrs. Casablancas woke up, and Miss Kane had returned from the private bedroom at the back of the jet, looking refreshed in clean clothes and new makeup. When the Mars sisters' inevitably fell asleep, Miss Kane wasted no time in putting her plan in action, and began gently abusing Veronica Mars (if her suspicion about Mr. Echolls was right, this might prompt her to say something, and cause some merry drama during the trip). Her manners were pronounced to be bad, a mixture of pride and impertinence (the very things Lilly secretly loved best about her new friend); she had no conversation, no style, no beauty (things Lily knew to be completely false). Mrs. Casablancas, while not understanding Lily's motivations, was a classic mean girl, and would follow her lead blindly, therefore she added:
"She has nothing to recommend her, but being an excellent soccer player. I shall never forget her appearance Tuesday night. She really looked almost wild."
Lily smirked, sometimes her sister unwittingly gave her the best openings, "She did indeed, Louisa. I could hardly keep my countenance. Why must she be playing such an aggressive sport, and then to come directly over without taking the time to fix her appearance. Her hair so untidy, in pigtails for goodness sakes! And her knee socks! Covered in mud and grass stains."
Mr. Kane was not moved by his sisters' critique, "This was all lost upon me. I thought Veronica Mars looked remarkably well, when she came over Tuesday. Her knee socks quite escaped my notice."
"You observed it, Mr. Echolls, I am sure," said Miss Kane, thinking back to his penchant for a certain naughty school girl costume she had one Halloween, "and I think that you would not wish to see your sister make such an exhibition."
"Certainly not." Logan frowned, also thinking about knee socks.
"To play in a soccer league at her age? It seems to me to show an abominable sort of conceited independence, a small town indifference to decorum. I am afraid, Logan," continued Miss Kane in a whisper, "that her appearance must have affected your admiration of her fine eyes."
"Not at all," he replied; "they were brightened by the exercise." He looked back at her sleeping form near the rear of the jet, and found there were other things to admire besides her eyes.
A short pause followed this conversation, and Lilly prepared mimosas for those that were awake, while Mrs. Casablancas began again.
"I have an excessive regard for Meg Mars, she is such a sweet girl and so talented. I hope for her sake that she finds a good television station, but with such family, low connections, I am afraid there is no chance of it. Talent counts for so very little these days."
"Their uncle is an attorney in Neptune," Dick chimed in, for Mr. McCormack was well known for getting Neptune's younger set off of their juvenile delinquency charges when he was younger.
"Yes; and they have another, who lives somewhere near Brooklyn." Mrs. Casablancas said the last with a little shutter, as if no ne she knows would be caught dead in that borough.
"If they had uncles enough to fill all Brooklyn," cried Duncan, "it would not make them one jot less agreeable. Nor make Meg fall any in my esteem."
"But it lessens their career choices and their chance of marrying men of consideration," replied Echolls.
To this speech Kane made no answer, choosing instead to focus his attention out the window; but his sisters indulged additional mirth for some time at the expense of the sleeping Mars sisters. Lilly kept her eyes on Logan curious to discern his feelings towards her friend.
When the captain announced the planes descent, Mrs. Casablancas and Miss Kane went to the plane's master bedroom to wake the girls and prepare for landing. Veronica was embarrassed that she had spent the entire flight asleep, and slightly ashamed for her earlier internal criticism of the idle rich when she had seen the sleeping Casablancas. She quickly recovered her countenance and touched up her hair and makeup before entering the main cabin and buckling her seat belt for landing.
As they were exiting the plane and waiting for their luggage to be transferred to the waiting car, Miss Kane excitedly laid out the plans for the weekend. Tonight they would be going to the Kane's beach house for a quiet afternoon of surfing, sun bathing, and relaxation. Tomorrow Lilly planed on taking them shopping while the gentlemen again went surfing, and then they would be going to an exclusive Halloween party at a night club. The next day they would be participating in Dia de los Muertos festivals, and the day after that back to Neptune. Miss Kane left no room for opposition in her speech. When Veronica objected that she and Meg had not packed costumes for tomorrow, Lilly simply laughed, "Veronica, I have you covered, and you will be fabulous!"
Two hours later the limo pulled into the drive at the beach house. Situated on a bluff, the adobe building with bright Spanish tile was unassuming in the front, but as Lilly threw open the front doors it was obvious this was more than a simple casita. The entry hall opened on to an internal patio over-looking three stories of glass, with an amazing view of the ocean. The house had been built into the side of the cliff.
After touring the house and selecting guest rooms, the group made their way down the private steps to the beach level bungalow. The caretaker had already set out wet suits and surf boards for the gentlemen, as well as a light lunch, with buckets of cold beer and a pitcher of lemonada.
While Misters Echolls, Kane and Casablancas were pulling on their wet suits, the girls were taking off their cover-ups to prepare for some prime sun bathing time. Logan couldn't help it, his eyes were glued to Veronica as she pulled her t-shit over her head and reveled a small pink bikini and perfectly toned abs. His breath hitched and he suddenly was compelled to walk away from the group and grab his surf board. Veronica was oblivious to the change in his condition, but Lilly smirked, thinking this was going to be too easy.
The day was spent in easy comradely and the worries Veronica had about coming on the trip seemed dispelled. A few locals joined the gentlemen in surf, and were invited back up to the house where they planned on grilling for dinner. After eating, Veronica went to her room to change into something more comfortable, but promised Lilly that she would soon join the rest of the party downstairs.
On entering the game-room she found the majority of the party at the poker table, and was immediately invited to join them; but suspecting them to be playing high she declined it. After watching for a few minutes, she was convinced she could run the table and make a decent profit at it, but as she was a guest, she was not sure it was appropriate. Making schoolwork the excuse, said she would amuse herself with a book. Mr. Casablancas looked at her with astonishment.
"Do you prefer reading to cards, Ronnie?" the old nickname slipping easily from his lips, he continued to look puzzled; "you use to love poker."
"Miss Veronica Mars," said Miss Kane, returning to her plan, "despises cards. She is quite the scholar and has no pleasure in anything else."
"Lilly Kane, you know that is not true," cried Veronica; "I have to keep up with the reading for class, even if I have taken a few days off, but I take pleasure in many things." With that she turned her back from the game table and curled into an overstuffed leather chair by the fireplace, her highlighters placed on the table next to her.
Duncan and Meg wondered away from the table in Veronica's wake. Duncan looked over the library on the east wall as Meg expressed a desire to read for a while too. "I wish the collection at this house was larger for your benefit."
Meg assured him that she could suit herself perfectly with those in the room, and selected a volume by Octavio Paz.
"Books, books, books," said Miss Kane, calling out from the poker table, "you are all such nerds. But I have to admit you have an amazing library at Lester Home, Mr. Echolls!"
"It ought to be good," Logan replied, "it has been the work of many generations. My mother might have been an actress, but her father was an English professor, as was his father, etc. I think one of the great greats was actually the first English professor at Harvard."
"And then you have added so much to it yourself, you are always buying books." Lilly glanced at Veronica, sure the mention of Mr. Echolls' scholarly side would get her friend's attention.
"I cannot comprehend the neglect of a library. There is something solid about a book, real, that simply cannot be replaced by a screen."
"Neglect! I am sure you neglect nothing that can add to the beauty of your estate. Duncan, when you build your house, I wish it may be half as delightful as Lester Home." Lilly wondered if she should mention his other houses, or his glorious Manhattan apartment, but contented herself with talking up his ancestral home. While she knew her friend was uncomfortable with displays of great wealth, she was a dork when it came to history, and a marshmallow about sentimental things like family.
"I wish it may." Duncan barely looked up from his conversation with Meg to answer.
"You really should get a place in the Hamptons. Jake and Celeste love California to have more than the penthouse in New York. So it is the perfect distance away from home. Find someplace like Lester Home to set up shop in. There is no better party homestead location than the Hamptons."
"With all my heart; I will buy Lester Home itself if Logan will sell it." Duncan appeared slightly more engaged in the conversation. His hand was twined in Meg's and in the back of his head, he admitted having a family home would be a good next step, and why not next to his best friend's?
"Don't be foolish, I am talking of possibilities, Donut."
"Don't call me Donut, Flower," Duncan dragged out the first childhood nickname he could think of, "besides, I think it is easier to get Lester Home by purchase than by imitation. Who has time to go searching for all that art…or those books you started this conversation on?"
Veronica was unwittingly caught into paying attention to the conversation; and soon put her school work wholly aside, and drew nearer to the card table. Lilly smirked, this was going to be easier than she expected.
"Has Miss Echolls grown since the spring?" said Miss Kane; "will she be as tall as I am?"
Logan smiled fondly, as he always did when he thought of his little sister. "I think she will. She is now about Miss Veronica Mars' height, or rather taller." Allowing himself to look at that lady for a fleeting moment, he was struck again by her petite beauty, and he schooled his features to a bored look as he moved his eyes back to his cards.
"How I long to see her again! If I had a little sister, I would want her to be just like Heather. So extremely accomplished for her age! Her performance on the piano is exquisite." Secretly, Lilly could not care less, Heather Echolls was underage and did not possess a rebellious bone in her body; Lilly found her boring.
"It is amazing," said Mr. Kane, "how young ladies can still find time to be so very accomplished."
"All young ladies accomplished! Donut, what do you mean?"
"Yes all of them, well if they can be called a lady that is. They paint, play some instrument, and engage in charity work. I never heard a young lady spoken of for the first time, without being informed that she was very accomplished. Then again, typically it is mother doing the introductions."
"Your list of common accomplishments," said Logan, "has too much truth. The word is applied to many a woman who do not deserve it for in truth all their "accomplishments" are purchased. I can think of less than half a dozen, in the whole range of my acquaintance, that are really accomplished. Of course, one hardly expects every girl that is pretty enough to spend some time with to actually be accomplished, so it is no great loss to society."
It was too much for Veronica, the smug superiority on one hand and the casual indifference towards the fairer sex on the other, she finally spoke, "You must comprehend a great deal in your idea of an accomplished women."
"Yes." Logan was certain there was a trap here, and perhaps he should return to the laconic persona he had been wearing in Neptune.
"Oh!" interjected Lilly, who now had Veronica engaged in the conversation, and was not going to let Logan drop the ball on, "no one can be really accomplished, who does not greatly surpass what is usually met with. A woman must have a thorough knowledge of music, singing, drawing, dancing, speak several languages, and, she must possess a certain something in her manner of walking, or the word is falsely applied."
"Yes, this is all true," agreed Logan, "and to all this she must yet add something more substantial, in the improvement of her mind by extensive reading."
"Well, I am shocked, Mr. Echolls, in now knowing your high standards, that you know any "accomplished" ladies."
Mrs. Casablancas and Miss Kane both cried out against the injustice of Miss Veronica Mars' doubt, and were stated confidently that they knew many women who answered this description. Mr. Casablancas called them to order, with bitter complaints of their inattention to what was going forward to the game, which was all he had besides the bottle to distract him from thoughts of a certain young lady with stripes in her hair that he found quite accomplished. As all conversation was thereby at an end, Veronica soon afterwards left the room, saying she really did need to finish the chapter she was reading tonight. Duncan and Meg similarly left the room, headed down to the beach for a quiet walk.
"Veronica Mars," said Miss Kane, when the door was closed on them, "is one of those young ladies who seek to recommend themselves to the other sex by undervaluing their own, terribly manipulative of her."
"Undoubtedly," replied Logan, to whom this remark was chiefly addressed, and who also thought it took a manipulator to know one, and therefore Lilly would know, "there is meanness in most arts which ladies condescend to ensnare men. But I think you perceive too much of yourself in your new friend."
Miss Kane was satisfied to end the subject, knowing that neither Logan nor Veronica would be prepared for what she had in store for them tomorrow.