In the Stars

Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Think Fast

Friday evening had raced up on Charlotte. She felt prepared, but overwhelmed all the same. There she was, standing in the entrance hall of Cavendish House, ready to open the doors to the honored guests who were already gathered outside the building. The fact she had to greet these people worried her more than the outcome of her work.

"Ready, boss?" Egon asked from her left.

"Yes."

"They're just humans- not carnivorous viruses."

"I'm aware."

"Tell that to your face."

She had chosen a respectable modern-cut dress in cobalt blue, with her dangling lapis earrings. Her hair was swept into a chignon, which allowed her earrings to dance on her shoulders. They tickled her skin as she stood there wringing her hands.

"Fab necklace, by the way. Where did you get it?" Egon asked. She thought he might be trying to distract her.

"Oh...uh, it's a family heirloom."

She reached up and fingered the pendant that lay against her chest. It had been a last minute addition.

Remembering the contents of her parents' lockbox, she had dug the container out of the still unpacked suitcase in her bedroom. Along with the letter and other legal documents included in her inheritance, there had been a jewelry box. The satin-lined box held a gold rope chain, on which resided the most unusual stone she had ever seen.

The color of lead, this rock looked alien. Iron crystals made a matrix pattern across its surface. They reminded Charlotte of a computer mother board. Imbedded in the rock were clear, light green crystals. She thought they might be peridot.

At the time, when she was first given her parents' legacy, she just thought it was a cool souvenir from another time. Now she wasn't so sure. It looked like the kind of thing the Foxes would own.

Putting the necklace on that night had felt like bringing her parents to the opening. All her hard work had paid off and a part of Charlotte wanted to feel like they knew- they knew the daughter they left behind had made something of herself.

"Is everyone ready?" Claudia asked, walking into the entrance hall to stand with the rest of the curatorial staff. She looked even more like Cleopatra in her Grecian style dress with a gold circlet on her head.

"Ready when you are," Charlotte replied, forcing a smile.

"Open the doors, Randall," Claudia instructed the doorman.

And so it began. Charlotte was lost in a sea of introductions as finely-dressed patrons flooded into the building. The jazz band played in the courtyard space, where the refreshments were served. Excited, pretentious chatter clashed around her as she tried to keep her smile plastered on her face.

"Class act, Charlotte," Leighton told her when she arrived.

She had brought her parents, Lord and Lady Hempel. They were dressed in their gypset best. Charlotte was taken aback by Lady Hempel's resemblance to Twiggy.

"Daddy- this is Egon. He's the one I've been telling you about," she heard her friend say. Then she heard Egon gushing with Leighton.

"Where's Mr. Waincroft?" she asked Egon once the Hempels had moved on.