Daring Further

Chapter 4

Vanessa kept her eyes modestly lowered down to her plate. As she suspected, it was a formal affair for the men to discuss politics and business.

As she had observed when being introduced to the men, they were almost all middle-aged, the master being the oldest of them. As his senior rank demanded, they all afforded him great respect and listened when he spoke. Vanessa did not pay the master this courtesy, for women had no place in either business or politics. She did not see the point in even attending the dinner- she was just a decoration to show off the master's possessions.

The men payed her no heed and Vanessa stabbed savagely at her plate with her fork. I'd rather be doing my lessons than this- I can't even eat what I want. Maia, standing by the servants at the door, gave her a warning glance. Vanessa glanced at the men- when she assured herself they were too deep in conversation to pay any heed for her, she made a gruesome face at Maia before dropping the expression from her face and looking demurely at her plate. A smile tugged at her lips and as she raised her glass to sip the fine wine, she caught Maia's eye again and winked roguishly.

Maia couldn't do anything to check her pupil's behavior without causing a scene, so Vanessa amused herself with watching Maia's eyebrows travel so far up her forehead they threatened to disappear. When one of the men happened to glance her way, Vanessa assumed a formal air before the man noticed anything. Then the man looked away again and Vanessa started her games again. If they were going to subject her to hours and hours of this conversation, she might as well have some fun.

Vanessa speared a lemon slice with her knife and very slowly starting squeezing it onto the fish. She kept a careful eye on the men, but they were crowded at the other end of the dinner table, looking at some papers the master had laid out. They were so engaged with what the master was showing them that Vanessa was able to squeeze two lemon's worth of juice onto the unfortunate cod. One of the men looked up but Vanessa was again too quick to be caught. He merely tapped his wine glass for the servant to refill and then was lost in the fascinating world of numbers.

Vanessa had run out of lemons but she didn't want to be finished- scanning the table in front of her, those devilish hazel orbs landed on the salt.

Perfect. She mouthed at Maia, who was wringing her hands in agony. Taking a delicate pinch in her small white fingers, she sprinkled salt all over the cod. However, it was going too slow for her liking- she took her spoon and began spooning the salt in great heaps over the doomed delicacy. She paused when the salt stopped melting into the lemon juice. Maia looked like she might faint. She was turning red and white by turns. She tapped her wrist frantically and Vanessa delivered the final blow as she stood up to take her leave.

Their eyes turned to Vanessa's as she made her excuses and begged them to allow her to retire. As if I need your permission anyways, you boring old men. Then she very sweetly asked the man closest to her if he would like more cod. He had very obviously thoroughly enjoyed his meal and Vanessa took out the evening's frustrations on the poor, overweight man.

"That would be delightful. Thank you, sweetheart." He said condescendingly with a wink. Inwardly, Vanessa was disgusted at his lack of respect towards her but on the outside she simply plastered a smile on and handed him the dish. He got what was coming to him.

Before he could shove his mouth full of the cod all once, Vanessa quickly swept out of the room and practically ran up the stairs. Maia scolded her all the way up.

"You misbehaved, roguish, awful little imp! What demons possessed you to do such a thing? Do you have any idea of how much trouble you're in, young lady? The master will have serious words for you!" Maia's rant paused as she stopped to catch her breath. She glowered at Vanessa with true anger, while Vanessa paused at the top of the stairs to glower back with just as much spite.

"Go to your room. I don't want to see you for the rest of the night." Maia sternly said. Vanessa didn't say another word, but let her heels make as much noise as possible down the hall to prove her point. As soon as she was in her room, she took her heels off.

"It isn't fair!" She muttered angrily as she threw a heel on the floor. "I don't even see why they make me attend those dinners, I don't even get to talk or do anything besides look pretty and pick at my food. And you," addressing her heels, "have been making my feet ache. And this is so tight, I can barely breathe." Vanessa practically ripped her dress off her body and groaned in delight when she could inhale all the air into her lungs again.

She changed into her silk pajamas and pulled all the pins out of her throbbing head. Her hair fell down her back and the pressure was relieved. Then she crawled into bed and curled up, tiredness and her frustration allowing her to fall asleep quickly, without noticing her window was slightly open.