Episode Thirty-Nine: Human Nature

"Avalon, I’m so glad you came," Katherine rushed over to greet her in an off-white suit; the kind a first lady would wear.

"Well, the thing is, I’m not really sure why I’m here, not that I don’t appreciate it, it’s just all the rest of the staff seem to be serving," Ava was horribly uncomfortable.

Katherine peered around her, distractedly. "Sebastian hasn’t abandoned you, has he?"

Ava strangled her temper. "He’s not my date, he said you insisted-"

"Oh yes, please excuse me," she swiftly brushed off the young lady and disappeared.

Ava was glad; she was more at ease chatting with one of the waiters anyway, at least until he accidentally spilled something on Justine’s dress. Immediately Sarette Jordan (the stuffy woman who did her own shopping) proffered a glass of club soda.

"Dab on some of this, you’ll be darling again in a second. You’ll learn soon enough not to stand near anyone wielding pastry on a tray, trick of the trade," Sarette smiled.

"Yes, I suppose I should have stayed over there with the tycoon who was grabbing my butt," Avalon replied furiously and stormed off up the hillside.

"Goody, if it isn’t my very own personal Mr. Darcy," she sighed; he was hogging her tree. Sebastian was disinterested in everything other than his bottle of champagne as he leaned, with his collar open and his silver silk tie hanging on for dear life.

Episode Forty: Vulnerable