London 1921 - I sit on my trunk. I told my mother my case must be bigger, but did she listen? Does she ever listen? No sir. My hair is constantly falling into my eyes as I become more frantic and flustered over packing my belongings. Who gives a young girl three days to pack for Paris? Do my parents not know how heated the competition to dress impeccably is over there? I close my eyes and sigh, Annette Hanshaw is crooning on my gramophone, i'm immediately more relaxed. I thank the gods for jazz.
"Miss Viola miss?" Mother's new maid interprupted my relaxation process and immedaitly she began to irritate me.
"What?" I snapped, maybe a little too harshly.
"Madam your car is here. miss" She lowered her head. How many times must a tell her? You only need to refer to me as a miss or a madam, not both, the maids were all so uneducated in social society.
"Call for Ern, I need these bags moving" I muttered to the maid, whom to this day I can not recall her name. She nodded and left, I look around my room, continually checking I have not left anything important or expensive. Even in this day of 1921, you cannot trust the staff not to steal. I checked my reflection in the mirror, I took in my soft curls around my face, my bright red lipstick (which i'm sure adds at least three years onto my real age of sixteen) Out of habit I touched my nose, I would never tell this to a soul, but my nose has to be my most hated feature. My mother believes I will grow into it, but it has never stopped me being self-conscious.
I brushed myself down and left my bedroom, even though I had no idea when I would be returning I do not have any longing to stay in the house I was born in. I rarely have any feeling of emotion, it shows weak charachter.
Mother looks up from an important letter, I didn't know it is important, but with mother it was never not. She looks me up and down.
"You're happy to travel in such an outfit?" She herself, was dressed in a simple new season Chanel dress covered in a fur coat, she knew how bitterly cold the Paris winters can be. I knew this too, but i would risk being freezing to look good. Even so, my mother would never be happy with my outfit choices, that was just our relationship.
"We should go, the boat won't wait for us" I replied after she had finished scrutinising my clothes.
"Darling, with daddy's money, we could buy the whole bloody british navy"
