Kittie Tales

Chapter Nine I

Chapter Nine I: The Un-guest-ly Appearance.

Have you ever felt like a celebrity? Like someone really important walking beside one of the Dumonte's heirs to a red carpet event on a red carpet, in a beautiful golden dress you could never think of owning and beside powerful and influential men and women of the society? All the flashlights from cameras clicking and paps asking numerous questions you don't even intend to answer.

Damn! If I put it like that, I really felt important.

Or like a miserable impoverished pauper who was friends with the daughter of people who were extremely generous and charitable enough to invite you to a high society event, purchase a gown worth your whole existence, and have their son lead you down the aisle to the event, even though he was more than willing to be your escort.

Simply put, a charity case.

Then, that first thought of being someone of great import drops immediately, and you feel like you don't even belong here at all. Like a two-dollar gown standing in between a D&G and a Sherri Hill outfit in a dress shop, maladroit.

That was how I felt when I walked, arm in arm with Tobias into the Dumonte House - a magnificent Victorian mansion converted into a banquet hall about forty to fifty years ago by Benedict Dumonte's ancestors. It was popular for its opulence and ancient appeal.

Double Damn! The Dumontes could definitely throw a party..

I swallowed hard. I would have appreciated the ancient work of art and architecture that was the interior and exterior of the building by openly gawking at its splendour but my heart had left its position inside my rib cage and relocated to my throat. I was overwhelmed.

Tobias chuckled. "You'll be fine, babe. Just relax", he leaned over and whispered into my ears.

Yeah, easy for you to say, I mentally glared at him.

His hand was resting at the small of my back and when he spoke, his warm breathe on my neck sent a delicious tingle down my spine. I took in a deep breathe, momentarily forgetting about my nervousness. Then another stupid feeling of guilt and uneasiness washed over me and I instantly felt bad.

Why am I feeling this guilty? It's not like I'm doing anything bad at all. Why do I feel like a wicked witch?

Aren't you really? Don't you think leading the poor boy on is a bad thing? I mean, you know he's infatuated with you but you're still giving him encouraging smiles, the rational part of my mind warned.

Of course not! Or am I?

My conversation with my mind ended abruptly when Tobias swiftly guided me into the ball room.

It was definitely a publicised high society event because it was swarming with the society's most important financial industrialists and their families. Everyone who was someone was here. It made me look like the odd and most impoverished ball out of the box and that was even putting it mildly. I grew all the more nervous and my grip tightened on Tobias's arm.

"My, my, look who decided to finally grace us with her presence", Roxie's comment snapped me out of my depressing thoughts. Thank God, if not, I would have ended up cutting all the blood supply from Tobias's arm. "Took you guys long enough", she eyed us suspiciously and I rolled my eyes.

"We weren't out that long"

"You were", she snapped back. "And with you looking like that, I'll have to be extra protective of you tonight", she added and warily observed her brother. Tobias chuckled lightly.