Chapter 2: The End of Summer
The next morning I woke up late. After a long night of coaching, you really needed to sleep in. Your vocal cords didn't just rest themselves. The boys were off to school to learn the unnecessary skills of homework and studying when they should be at home painting and sculpting...Wait a minute....Now I'm suddenly angry.
"What do you think you're doing, going to school!? If you're going to skip, why aren't you at least sculpting something worth while!" I began to rage at him.
"I-I-I'm so s-s-sorry, Ms. Snow! I didn't mean-!" Dennis stuttered out.
He was scared now. I could see it on his face. After all, I did chase him across the street to yell at him for going to school while Dennis slept snug as a bug in his sleeping bag. Oh wait, it's that uncontrollable anger again.
"But, Ms. Ellie! If you hadn't kept us up all night skilling I wouldn't have overslept." Scott argued bravely.
"What did you just say?" I asked, my fist tingling with magic.
"Uh, nothing ma'am. I love painting. See! Happy slave right here."
"That's right. Now go to school because I have no other choice than to be mad at you for not being at school right now."
"Yes, Ma'am!"
"Next time, sleep in class so you can paint when you get home." I called out as he hailed a cab to drive him to the school.
I shook my head. I seriously needed to get control over my magic before someone got hurt.
So I took it upon myself to practice instead of sculpting. My sculpting skill wasn't going to get my museum pieces done in time, Dennis.
"Yes ma'am, right away ma'am!"
I wonder how bad it was of me to take pleasure in the boy's fear. But whatever got the job done. Anna depended on me. And I could be a little evil when I want to be.
That evening Bruce got invited to a party up at the Vanderburgs. Seeing, Bruce was busy resting up for his night at the graveyard, I decided to take the invitation instead. Who knew. Perhaps they could bring some nice cash in for the building fund, as we are still sleeping in sleeping bags after a whole day. Time sure does fly.
I arrived at the Vanderburg house reviewing the invite. It said to wear your swimsuits as it was a pool party, I supposed. With a spin in the air, I changed into my swim attire and headed inside.
I can tell you now that I'm not insane, nor anywhere close to it. But for some reason I was the only one dressed in their swimwear. Perhaps it was a joke on Bruce because he was a nobody and I took the bait or it got changed last minute and Bruce never passed on the memo. Or maybe it was because I was actually just tanning outside their front door waiting for the Vanderburg's to arrive home so I could steal their money. Wait. What?
It didn't matter though, because two seconds into the doorway. I became star stuck. I immediately wanted to befriend Sebastian. Maybe it was because he was famous or because I found him attractive. Both were possible contributors. But still I had to impress him to win his interest. Which is quite the pain if you ask me.
Seriously I mean. I'm a Queen. He is only a mere prince. How dare, he make me bow and beg for his attention. But apparently I need my wishes to come true so I can purchase things later on, so I succumbed to striking up casual conversation about athleticism, law enforcement and my wealth, though I can't say that impressed him too much, it hardly impressed me. Bruce barely brought in 20 grand, and parts of that went to purchasing necessary items for the family. Like sculpting pedestals, easels, and an all-in-one to save time on bathing.
After a little more conversation, I really wanted to try out the new good luck charm on him, which I learned that morning. It was probably a little too soon to be testing it out, but I really wanted to. So I whipped out my magic wand and gave it a twirl. Sparkles danced through the air as they shot out towards him, but like a barrier in front of him, they bounced back heading straight for me, reversing the spell I cast into an unlucky spell.
Sebastian was such a gentlemen, worried about my well-being that he offered to take me upstairs to rest up.
"So I've been wondering about your attire. You're not insane, are you?"
"Ah no...I was uh...Doing laundry and this was all I had to...uh...wear..." I lied horribly, feeling incredibly awkward now. If only he had known the truth. About the invitation, I mean.
"SEBASTIAN! Is that a woman's voice I hear?" A voice screamed out through the mansion.
"Uh, no mother. It's not. You're just hearing voices again..." Sebastian responded giving me a desperate look and motioning towards the stairs. "It's probably best you left now. Otherwise my mother will start shopping for wedding cakes..."
I was quickly ushered out of the house against my will. I didn't even get to invite myself over to spend the night. What a pity. I would've beat sleeping on the ground another night.
While I trudged my way back to the lot in my swimwear, embarrassed and ashamed, Bruce was having much better luck than I was.
"And Brucey Bear with a death fish for the win. This will certainly win the heart of the lady." He exclaimed excitedly before proceeding to catch a handful more just before summer came to an end.
The next day, Bruce called me out to the Bistro with some exciting news. Since it was Leisure day already, I figured we could take the day off, but I made certain that Dennis and Scott were hard at work, sculpting the finest and painting the greatest. Well quality didn't really matter. it was quantity I was looking for.
I walked up to find Bruce playing in his on little world.
"Winter is coming." He said when he saw me. "Gotta enjoy this time while we can."
"Yeah. It's going to be a long one." I responded.
"But she's going to be a beautiful one. So you won't have to worry about that."
I nodded. I enjoyed the winter time, the snow, the ice, the frost. The cold never bothered me anyways. It could be a beautiful time of year or it could be a terrible time of year. Depending on how you looked at it.
"Yeah, I can't wait." He grinned to himself. He was a little odd at times. But I went with it. He had been an asset to my journey already. So who was I to argue. Without him, there'd be no ambrosia in which to keep me alive for the next who knew how many years.
I only wished there was something more I could offer to him. Since I already knew both he and his boys would live their lives out in my home with no hope of returning to the life they once knew.
Bruce drew me out of my thoughts when he mentioned our table was ready. I nodded, following him over to the table and taking the seat he offered me. We were both quiet for a short period of time while we waited for our food.
After my pumpkin pie arrived, because who says you can't have pie for lunch, Bruce spoke again. "I was thinking, since I caught enough death fish to last you a good portion of your life, I figured I would start working on my painting skills with Scott. I know I'm not artistic, but I can learn. Then after you and Dennis finish making all those ice sculptures, we can start thinking about bringing in the next heir."
I was thoroughly enjoying that bite of pie when I coughed, sending it into the back of my throat. "Excuse me." I sputtered up rather unladylike.
"Well don't you have to bring in the next heir. I know we're not in a relationship yet, but it can happen. You're attractive, and I've got good features. Why not?"
I couldn't help but stare at him. I had barely planned out what sort of shack we'd have to move in before winter, let alone the next generation. "Look Bruce, I haven't gotten that far just yet. I'm still trying to get all this sculpting done before it's too late. Maybe we should talk later."
Bruce only nodded solemnly and went back to eating his cheesesteak.
I felt terrible. I hadn't considered him as a possible spouse. Perhaps I was too focused on the skills he knew. Or it could be that I was too scare to give my heart away only to have it shatter when the time came for them to depart. It definitely wasn't fair that I unintentionally gave him false hope.
Somehow after lunch/dinner, whatever time it was. We ended up at the gym. Why? I haven't got a clue. Maybe it was nearby by and I drank too much juice. Or maybe it was Bruce. Who knew. Either way we ended up there.
Standing outside the restroom, I met a gentleman. You know one of the 10 most romantic places to meet one's true love. Not that I was considering love at the moment. But Bruce did get me thinking.
I introduced myself. And he told me his name. I wanted to say it was Jose Peña. But that hardly fit him. So I'm gonna call him JP. (That's when you already know he doesn't play a major role)
I asked JP what he did for a living and he told me, he was a paparazzi. I was barely half a star celeb. So I flipped my hair back and smiled at him. "Well I suppose I'm ready for my close up."
"You? I don't even know who you are?" I almost when off on him, when he motioned over to the treadmills. "I'm here for him..." He told me happily. He was a predator stalking his prey and ready to make his move.
"You know how about you wait here, I'll bait him and you go for the kill." I told him, with half a smile.
JPappa was all over that idea. So I headed out to set the trap.
"Hey! Remember me? That awkward girl you kicked out of your house the other day?"
"Awkward? You weren't awkward. I just didn't want you to get sucked up into my mother's fantasies of me fulfilling her life long dream of getting married. Though I'm almost certain her wish is to have five children..."
"Oh well. That's good to know. Overbearing mothers are the worst." I replied, eyeing the sky suspiciously.
"What are you looking at?" Sebastian asked curiously.
"Nothing. You wanna go outside?".
"But it's getting cold out. I'm not sure this medieval armor is enough to fight off the bitter cold." Sebastian replied.
"Winter. Is. Coming." Bruce breathed with each lift the weights over his chest
Ignoring Bruce, I eyed Sebastian for a moment before glancing back to where JPappa was crouched. "Well if you don't leave with me, Pappa over there is going to write a story about how smelly you get after working out."
Sebastian glanced back hesitantly before nodding. "I don't think that'd be good for my image." He responded, turning towards the stairs and heading out into the growing cold.
Once on the porch I turned to Sebastian. "So I'm single and living with three men. I have no money, but you have money. I need sculptors, painters, gardeners, and cooks. You've got an overbearing mother that you want to get away from. So why don't we make a deal. You move in, I take your money and build myself a house, and you get to be a slave in my house till the end of your days. How about it?"
"I get to move in and my mother stays?" Sebastian asked hopefully.
"Yeah, she's a vampire so she's not allowed to move in."
"Deal."
And with that we drove home in his nice little convertible. Which we got to enjoy for a whole ten minutes before we sold it off. The money we earned from the car was enough to complete my life's wish of swimming in cash. Though I still didn't see any pools of money lying around. Nor had I even gotten in a pool yet. But whatever works.
Up went the shack that would house us from the first bite of winter. Yeah I know I didn't spend all the money, not even close. But I still have properties to buy, fences to build, pots to purchase, and I just like having money in my bank account for once since I've moved here.
"Hey! What are you two slackers doing asleep! There is no sleeping in skilling!"
End of Summer. Next time, Winter is Coming
