Fame < Infamy

Part 12

Priscilla Parker descended the staircase, Victoria trailing behind. Her presence commanded the attention of the room, we all turned to look at her. She was smiling, but it didn't take me long to realize that this was one of those fake smiles that politicians have.

"You know Aiden, Cilla," Vic was saying, "That's Regina, who you wanted to meet. And her adorable little fiancé Jackson. Plus Taylor, Derek, and Charlie and Vivienne."

"Hi!" Priscilla chirped, her gaze turned towards Rydel.  Rydel looked almost afraid, as if Priscilla would pounce on her at moment. Maybe she would, but Ellington would take care of her. So would I. "Vicky told me so much about you, Regina! I just had to meet you."

"Here I am," Del whispered, "It's nice to meet you."

"She's a bit shy when it comes to meeting new people," I explained.

"That's understandable!" Priscilla chuckled, "Are you guys hungry?"

"Starved," Rocky said. Ryland nodded in agreement.

"Well follow me! My chef is making steak, so tell me how you want it cooked and we can have salad until then!"

We all followed Priscilla to her dining room, I noticed Del was clinging to Ell's hand. Gently, I took her free hand and gave it a squeeze. Ellington glared at me, but Rydel seemed appreciative of the gesture and squeezed back.

"Thank you," she whispered. I sent her a small smile, I was pretty surprised that she took kindly to my gesture.

"Why don't you sit next to me, Regina?" Priscilla asked, taking the seat at the head of the table. Del nodded and took the seat next to her, Ellington immediately sliding in the seat next to her. I was across from her, Vic had obviously taken Priscilla's other side and I was sitting by my girlfriend. Rocky was on my other side with Ryland next to him. Ross and Vivienne sat next to Ellington, their hands intertwined. I hated to admit that Ross had done well with asking her out; they were a really good fit for each other.

We went around the table giving Priscilla our steak orders, well except for Rydel who decided she only wanted a salad. After that, Priscilla and Vic small talked with all of us while we ate our salads. I didn't really pay attention, most of their attention went to my sister anyways. Rocky and Ryland had the same idea, they talked amongst themselves.

"How long has it been since you were diagnosed, Regina?" Priscilla was asking.

"About two years," Ell responded. Rydel was still clearly very uncomfortable, but you could see her starting to open up more and more. She didn't really like to open up anyways.

"What's it like?" Vic asked.

"Terrifying," Was Rydel's response, "You wake up and have no memories of what happened, a week long lapse of memories. And you have no control over what you did, I woke up once to find that one of my alters had punched and nearly broken Jackson's nose... It hurts. Knowing that he does nothing but take care of me and some of my alters hate him for it."

"We all try to help out," Rocky added in, "But Jackson is something else with her. It amazes me how patient he is with her, I don't think I've ever seen him lose it once. And he's the first to call us out when we're out of line with her, which happened a lot at first."

"Regina is my soft spot," Ell admitted, kissing her hand. Her nose and cheeks turned a bright red as her eyes went to her feet, "I don't know what it is about her but I want to know that she's safe and taken care of."

"That's so sweet!" Priscilla cooed happily. One by one, servants brought out all of our steaks. We were mostly quiet then, silently munching on our food. These were undoubtedly the best steaks that I'd ever had. Rydel was really missing out.

"Thank you for joining us for dinner!" Priscilla said happily, "I hope it was delicious! And I hope to see you again, especially you, Regina..."

"So it's too late to ask for a tour of the house?" Ryland asked. I grinned. She wasn't pushing us out that quickly.

"Of course not!" She answered. Rocky and I nodded to each other, now it was time to find a weakness in the house.

Sorry this is late and kinda short :O this update is long overdue and I wanted to get it OUT.