Summer Loving

Chapter One:

There had always been moments in Vesper Ada McDonald's life when others around her had been absolutely certain that she had been born with some mental handicap that had kept her from making great decisions all her life and she would have to agree with them were it not for the sole reason of simply wanting to disagree. Standing at nearly five feet and seven inches, she was decked in a scarlet dress that followed without a crease down to her knees with the thick straps clasping about the bend between the shoulder and the arm as a black ribbon shimmered in her Mop-Top heavy ebony hair; quickly slipping on her black flat buckle shoes and appropriately accessorizing, she certainly felt anxious to attend the party and she had good enough reason. The McDonald's had of recent come back to London after an extensive spell in Paris that had lasted eleven years and she wasn't sure they knew anybody who didn't absolutely abhor Mr. McDonald and his partner George Duváll, courtesy of Vesper's burdensome mother Lola who had made it her business to keep all of the family friends.

Keeping this in mind, it had been eleven years and the human nature's capacity to forgive was vast; Vesper didn't believe so but Victor and George certainly did and so she had let the two plan out the party, secretly anticipating it to be a disaster and hoping so even more silently because George had of recent taken it up to fix her with every straight Tom, Dick and Harry. Before she was even five minutes into a conversation with any handsome young new acquaintance, George was hiring caterers and picking wild flowers from the garden for her wedding bouquet; it was certainly driving the boys away, much to both their dismay so in short, Vesper was hoping for the evening to pan out as entirely unsuccessful so that it would put an end to any thoughts of another party.

There was a sudden rap on her door and George's youthful rosy face poked through, "Toffee, are you ready yet?"

"Yes." Vesper said rather hesitantly, "But I still don't understand why I have to attend."

George made a face that was caught between disbelief and mockery, "Darling, it is your fifteenth birthday party!" he then sighed and said with a great roll of his mouth, "Oh Toffee, get down here, Victor wants to introduce you to a bunch of people who haven't seen you since you were five!" George paused and then said in a low barely audible irritated mutter, "Oh and there's your mother…"

"She came!" Vesper gasped to herself in wonder and even before George could confirm, she had brushed past him and bounded down the stairs in an impatient fashion, her shoes clacking and glimmering in the golden light of the chandelier in the entrance; her house of her early childhood had been decorated with floating crystal glasses brimming to the top with champagne, that had been enchanted to float away if any attempt was made by the underaged to grasp it, and there were streamers and balloons bouncing about nearly everywhere on the black and white marble flooring. Several other enchantments, coupled with the Family Ghost, Auntie Eileen who was pleasantly chatting away to unsuspecting children, the sight of Victor McDonald grimly glancing at Lola as if expecting an attack, and the fact that Vesper barely recognized little more than ten faces in a room filled with strangers as well as the sudden realization that she had not seen her mother in more than eleven years (save pictures), she instantly felt a suffocating burden upon her; her mother Lola, however had spotted her too quickly to allow her time to recover and with an appreciating squeal, began to bustle her way towards her comically frightened daughter.

"Vesper, darling-dear! Oh my love it's been ages!" Lola greeted her daughter as though eleven years had had no effect of strain on their relationship. Vesper was much too taken aback to return the compliment; ages was too relative a term and this had been the moment she had dreamed of since she returned to England; her mother had ruined the reunion. Clearly, she was drunk. "Yes…you too mother…" Vesper affirmed awkwardly as her mother beamed at her; Vesper believed she was being judged.

"Oh call me Lola!" Her mother giggled brashly and then her bubbly mood suddenly moved into a sort of derisiveness as she began to secretly sniff about for gossip concerning her father and his boyfriend. "I say, Vesper dear, George has done a fine job organizing the party!"

Vesper was confused, "Didn't you two reconcile?"

Of what other means could George have invited so many people Lola considered her property? Only once he had attended on, talked to her and come to a conclusion with her could there have been any chance of old friends showing up. Vesper however couldn't help but refrain from blaming Lola for her bitterness towards George; after all, according to George, the two had been best friends since they were seven and naturally, a betrayal such as that, that is stealing her husband, could not be forgiven so easily.

"Oh yes…yes…" Lola sighed with a sting in her voice, "…that…"

Before Vesper could say another word however, Lola had brightened remarkably, literally swelling with happiness as she clasped Vesper's wrist. "Oh, Vesper, I entirely forgot! I have a family to introduce you to! Oh and Vesper…?" Lola winked, "There's a young man that I want you to meet."

This was insane; now Lola was competing with George in helping Vesper acquire a love interest! Vesper attempted to protest politely but was soon overtaken and led to the dining room that though too was practically packed, a group of people stood out rather prominently; they were elegant, good looking and sophisticated, qualities that others in the room too upheld but regarding this group, there was a rotten air of pride about that stunk to Vesper and even before her mother had introduced them, she had been put off and could manage no more than a vague, "How do you do?"

"Here she is! My beloved, beautiful daughter Vesper!" Lola gasped with pure joy and then thrust Vesper into their tight circle for inspection. The next ten seconds within which none of their party spoke where perhaps one of the most exhausting of Vesper's life; internally she rebelled and opposed them but on the outside, courtesy was too much to bear and it was second nature to shrink before them. Following those few moments, a tall stunning middle-aged woman with flowing jet black hair turned to the man on her right and said as if pleasantly surprised, "Darling, she's quite pretty!"

Immediately Vesper wanted to protest but instead she simply glanced a gaze of irritated submissiveness at her mother who hardly took any notice but had let out a sigh of relief. "Vesper." She quickly began, "These are one of my oldest friends, the Black family."

"One of the ones you inherited after the divorce?" Vesper punished her mother for her insolent behavior to her but she brushed it off with a loud and bawdy laugh.

"Yes." She added to the laugh and Vesper cocked an eyebrow. "Why don't you spend some time with their sons?"

"My youngest is currently off sulking somewhere in this gorgeous house of yours." The tall middle-aged woman spoke with a glimmer of a smile; she had been identified as Mrs. Black. "But please- Regulas? Ah, here, would you mind being Miss McDonald's escort for the night?"

"Not at all."

Wedged behind Mr. and Mrs. Black had been their eldest son Regulas who had been chatting imperviously to an attractive brunette rather intently and by his tone and infliction, the interruption had not been welcomed at all; he received it coldly and made every gesture to support the idea and being formally introduced to Vesper did nothing to change his demeanor. Vesper really felt unfortunate to be stuck with him for the night; it was her gift to her mother, she had decided and the idea of any more hoops she had to jump through to be accepted into her mother's society could be immediately discarded.

Once Regulas had taken her arm in his and led her away, he made no attempt at conversation and so it provided Vesper with a better opportunity to study him; he strutted about like Britain's prized poodle and had no care for that fact that she had to stride longer than necessary to keep up with him; at the pace they were going, her dress would rip in some unseemly area but she was just in no mood to talk to him and so kept silent, hoping that he would get the message and move on to somebody else.

After they had done a round and Vesper had been personally able to meet and bask under the wonder of all her unrecognizable guests who had simply gushed and praised her until she actually went a bit pink in the cheeks and red in the ears, he reunited with the attractive brunette five minutes later. Vesper was still there but largely ignored by both; she really didn't mind as she had decided that she would actually work to keep conversation between them to a minimum. Her interest had been entirely in observing her guests and partaking in the festivities with them, only at a distance; she was envied their position and was annoyed with her mother. She did glance at Regulas once though, through the corner of her eyes and found that as the pretty brunette spoke, his eyes had been on Vesper with an intimate soft smile on his face. She was puzzled but then it dissolved once his gaze very fleetingly shifted back to the brunette, smile and all. Her name was Harper Paisley. His company was draining and tense.

"Come along." He suddenly said, breaking Vesper's thoughts and holding his arm out to her which she took with an oppressive shudder.

"You don't like me very much do you?" Regulas said plainly and Vesper was happy to reply firmly in the negative.

"No."

That was the limit of their conversation; outside in the McDonald's expansive backyard where a lighted tent had but put up the cake was cut, Happy Birthday our Loveliest Vesper sung and food brought out and he remained by her side throughout. He clearly took his mother's words with the greatest precaution as Vesper had tried to dodge him a few times and each time he would very nonchalantly catch up with her; once she really believed she was free of him, only for him to appear before her with a slice of cake for her; she was grateful but her first impression of him was too strong so the good gesture was negligible. She couldn't deny though that he had a strong handsome face that was so much rigid that there was constant faint scowl upon him; his hair was short and wavy and brushed aside to one side in a sort of Frank Sinatra fashion and he was stupendously tall. Also, as they ate, both in conversation with everybody except each other, she noticed his fingers at the bridge of the knife and fork; his way with the cutlery was more like a brain surgeon at work rather than a starved young man slicing a piece of apple roasted lamb. Nobody else was as concerned with the bloody fineness of the cut as they were with stuffing chunks of flesh down their throats. Regulas Black seemed a cut above the rest and suddenly Vesper too felt a cut below him.

Without any warning, he shifted to her and said with a slack nonchalant expression, as though in appreciation rather than fixation. "You are very pretty."

Vesper didn't know what to say to that; she was caught too suddenly and so could only manage a thank you that hid none of her confusion.

"Are you done?" Regulas asked, wiping his mouth with a napkin before tossing it aside, knowing full well that Vesper had not touched a morsel on her plate; she had been too busy indulging in pleasant conversation with others and also, she had always eaten very slowly. Still, he threw a lingering gaze over her plate and brought his eyes to hers. "Are you done?"

"Obviously not." Vesper replied with furrowed eyebrows but he was already on his feet and Vesper had much preferred to get over and be done with him; she would probably eat leftovers with George and her father anyway. As she followed him from the backyard inside to her house, she was again left choking on his dust; he was that fast but he was quite indifferent to her feelings and she was through with him. She slowed down her pace and let him stride ahead and then managed to take her escape via an abrupt exit into the well-stocked library; her original destination had been the staircase but the door to the library had been open and the library itself lit which aroused her suspicions. The library door had originally been closed and all others open, a clear indication of the library being off limits during the party hours. So Vesper entered.

She crept into the room silently, not in hopes of catching anybody but refraining from being startled incase if it was some young couple who had picked the area for its seclusion; in the latter case, she would want to make sure that they had not brought in any eateries. There was not a sound to be heard except for her flighty breathing and the soft step of her feet on the carpet. Just as she was almost convinced that nobody was in, she took a turn about the first and shortest bookcase and her discovery was a brooding young man, comfortably tucked away in the corner between the wall and the bookshelf upon a floor cushion.

"Hello?" Vesper warranted for his attention as soon as she stopped before him and she got it; he lifted his curious eyes from the floor to hers and she felt the full flood of his beauty; he was tall but not excessively tall and his was physical frame was lithe, so he was clearly no older than maybe fifteen or seventeen and he had a head of dark curly hair, neatly cut at the edges and let wild like a forest with a particular strand which fell over his forehead that practically gleamed in the white dim light of the library. He sat leaning against the bookshelf with one leg outstretched and the other brought up to a bend upon which his right arm rested. He looked irritated with her intrusion. His eyes were grey and glazed.

"Who're you?" he asked spitefully.

"I'm sorry, I didn't meant to intrude." Vesper said firmly and yet apologetically, "It's just…" she paused and then added, "…you're not allowed into the library…if you want to be alone, I could find you another room…"

"No…I'm fine here." He replied with mock derisiveness.

He turned away but she didn't break her gaze; she was curious. "…Alright…"

She really was curious.