Of Silk and Death.

Chapter 5

After leaving my magazine on the table, going to the bathroom, and saying goodbye to George and the brunette, Peter and I closed the suite door behind us and walked to the elevators. We traveled down to the lobby and walked to the front desk.

There, Peter informed one of the desk clerks, a lovely redhead, that we were going out and wrote a note for Will in case he woke up and asked where he was. The woman nodded and placed the note on the key rack under their suite number.

"Would you like to ask for the hotel's personal car service, Mister Arlington?" The clerk asked.

"Ah, no. We'll just hitch a ride on a taxi, doll." Peter said, smiling and winking, making the young female desk clerk blush.

I smiled at his silly flirting. It was rather adorable.

I then walked to Mister Claude Dupont, the hotel's concierge, who was attending to some gentlemen, to inform him that I would visit Central Park with Mr. Arlington if my parents wondered about my absence. Unlike Peter, it was a must for me to keep my parents aware of my movements unless I wanted to be harshly reprimanded by Mother.

We picked up a taxicab passing by the hotel a few minutes later, and we were taken to Central Park, which was around twenty minutes away. The day was hot but lovely, and I could smell Peter's leathery cologne, even as the fumes of the city invaded the vehicle through the open windows.

We stopped at the corner of The Plaza and Fifth Avenue and got out of the vehicle. Peter then enthusiastically grabbed my hand and led me to The Plaza to see if they had any breakfast. They didn't, as it was too late, but thankfully, their tea room was open, so we sat in the Palm Court for some tea and cake.

It was a lovely hotel, although it was quite a bizarre experience. We were seemingly recognized by some of the staff members, who I could hear talking amongst each other behind our backs. I bet they wondered why a hotel heir would leave his own to get tea with a commoner. I wanted to avoid going into the possible theories they could make up.

"The tea is lovely, but the scones were rather dry," Peter said and laughed as I nodded, a bit disappointed.

"We should hurry," he said. "I want to walk around Central Park, and it's better if we do it before it gets too hot."

"Of course," I said, drinking my lukewarm tea as fast as possible.

After we finished, we crossed the street to the park, and I could already feel the sweat forming under my clothes as we walked around. Still, it was a beautiful sight that time of the year.

As we began to move close to the large pond, Peter started to talk about the conversation we had the previous night and how it had an impact on him. He then stopped and looked into the pond.

"I was thinking I could take your advice," he said.

"About what?" I asked.

"About your father tutoring me," he said. "Showing me the ropes."

"That would be fabulous," I said, smiling. "I bet Father would love that."

He cringed a little, and I asked him what was wrong.

"Nothing," he said, "I was just thinking of planning another party this week."

"Another one?" I asked, caught by surprise.

"I know, I know," he said, cringing again. "But this one won't be as rushed. I was thinking of doing it in a few more days, taking time to organize it and invite some press, radio maybe."

"Like a ball of sorts?" I asked, interested, holding his arm. He looked at me as I held it and blushed.

"Exactly, like the ones at our mansion in Newport. Something formal, but still fun".