Chapter 5 - An American Flavour

No, I didn’t go with him to Cole Harbour. I couldn’t. Much as I wanted to, I just couldn’t do it. I couldn’t risk it. Not right before my big Halloween party. I didn’t want any new gossip just then, because I didn’t need girls like Katie and Natalie and Sarah blacklisting with the fun people right before the party. My parties were killer for a reason.
It wasn’t too long after Sidney got back though that the suits Grandmama had chosen for the boys arrived from New York. Attached to Sidney’s was a brief note telling me that she’d decided to go with Armani for all of the boys, since the styles were classic. She also said she had them made so they could easily be altered and she suggested a tailor in St. Paul that could do any alterations to her expectations (which are always high in case you hadn’t already figured it out).
Either way, I grabbed the boys, Drew and Jack who I knew a little bit, but I didn’t really know them that well, called the car service, and took them into St. Paul after Church the Sunday after Sidney got back.
As we sat in the backseat of the limousine the boys looked around, eyes wide. “So do you like, live like this?” Jack asked.
I shrugged. “Neither of my Grandparents drive.” I explained. “Old New York money doesn’t drive. So I’ve had lessons and have my license, but I won’t get a car until I know where I want to live. Since it’s definitely NOT here, Grandmama and Grandpapa insist that I use a car service instead.” I paused and grinned. “Aren’t you future NHLers anyway?” I asked. “You will eventually spend a lot of time travelling in style, so just sit back and enjoy the ride. Don’t worry about my life.”
“What I want to know….” Drew said slowly. “Is how you managed to get permission to take us off campus without a teacher chaperone.”
I grinned wickedly. “Didn’t you know Mr. Parisé came with us?” I asked.
Sidney chuckled. “You are something else Kally.” He said.
I shrugged. “Nah….” I said. “I’ve just been here longer then most. You learn how to manipulate the system and get around Stoney after awhile.”
“And apparently the teachers too.” Drew said.
I looked at him sharply. “I didn’t manipulate Mr. Parisé.” I told him. “In fact, I flat out told him that I wanted to take you guys into the city to have alterations done on your tuxes for my Halloween bash and asked him if he’d be willing to volunteer as our chaperone. He said yes knowing full well that I didn’t intend for him to come along. He drove home after we got in the car to go see his wife. I’ll call him when we want to go back and he’ll drive back then. Stoney will never know. So who cares?”
“Besides….” Sid said. “He’s probably done this for you before hasn’t he Kally?”
I grinned and shrugged. “Call a perk of having taught his son everything he knows, kid.” I said, winking at him.
“But you’re a soccer player.” Jack said, looking confused. “How could you teach Zach Parisé anything?” He asked.
I laughed. “I didn’t mean on the ice Jacky.” I told him, the wicked grin still on my face. Jack finally got it and he blushed. “Oh, that.”
I raised my eyebrows. “Yeah that.” Then I said. “I hope you guys don’t mind, Grandmama sent my dress and it has to be altered to, so we have to go to another tailor to deal with that. They have guy couches I’m sure, so you can sit and watch, or whatever.”
The guys shrugged. “Whatever.” Sidney said.
“We’ll do you guys first though.” I told them as I lowered the privacy glass to let our driver, a 20-something hottie named Juan know where we were going first.
“Yes Miss Kallista?” He asked politely.
“To the tailor first Juan.” I said. “And then the seamstress.”
“Of course Miss Kallista.” He replied.
“Thank you Juan.” I said as I raised the glass again.
“Miss Kallista?” Drew asked, his eyebrows raised.
I shrugged. “Old New York money remember?” I said. “Servants do not call their employers by their first name.”
“Doesn’t that bug you?” Sidney asked. “That you are like, placing yourself above them because you have money and they don’t?”
I shrugged again. “I’m paying their salary.” I said. “So I expect to be treated with respect. It’s as simple as that. If I ran into Juan at a club and he called me Miss Kallista I’d tell him not to, to call me Kally, but right now, he’s my servant and he should treat me as him employer.”
“I still think its weird.” Drew said, with authority, having been at Shattuck’s for a couple of years now. “I mean, no one at school calls you Miss Kallista and you’re Grandparents make HUGE donations to the school every time you mess up.”
“Which I do frequently.” I pointed out. “And that’s probably why they don’t, otherwise Grandmama would probably insist.”
“That woman from the kitchens calls you Miss Kally though.” Sidney pointed out.
“Anna met Grandmama when I came out here when I was 11.” I said. “Most people who meet Grandmama are impressed, even Stoney was when he met her. He wasn’t the headman when I first moved here, and he tried to suspend me in Grade 10. Grandmama flew in like a bat out of hell, and he changed his tune. I was still suspended from classes for two weeks but I got to stay in the dorms.”
“This party is going to get you suspended though isn’t it?” Sidney asked.
I shrugged again. “Probably.” I said. “But I’ll just be stuck in my room for a couple of weeks except for piano and harp. It’s not a huge deal. Besides, it’s totally worth it.”
We chatted all the way into St. Paul and then all the way to the tailors. When we arrived, Juan held the door for us and carried the suits inside. “Sid, you go first, go put your suit on.” “Which one is mine?” He asked, looking at the bags.
“Umm….” I opened the bags. Sidney’s was in the latest style and was totally gorgeous. “This one.” I said.
Sidney went and put the suit on. It fit beautifully. “Miss Kallista….” The tailor, a little man named Gregios said. “It fits wonderfully. Mrs. Van Steen had it custom made so that it can easily be taken out as he grows, as young men their ages do.”
“Thank you Gregios.” I said with a warm smile. “They’ll probably need them again this year if I have my way, we’ll make sure to come see you when that happens.”
“You and Grandmama Miss Kallista know a good things.” He said in his heavily accented English. “You know quality.”
I smiled. Grandmama would rather support a small business then a big one. Which is why we always shop at little stores and use old-fashioned tailors and seamstresses. The other boys tried on their suits, and of course, Grandmama had bought them so they could easily be let out as the guys grew, which was good, because my New Year’s Gala was right around the corner.
As soon as we were done, we headed to the seamstresses. My dress, a gorgeous barely there, turquoise creation had been designed for me personally by my Grandmama’s new favourite designer. Whatever his name was, and it fit perfectly. The note Grandmama had attached to my garment bag had warned me not to gain any weight because I wouldn’t be able to fit into it if I weren’t careful.
Well with how little I eat at school, there was no worry of that. It fit nearly perfectly; it just had to be let out a little in the chest (I was kind of falling out of it as it was). Not only was the dress the perfect colour, it showed off my figure perfectly. Sidney whistled as I entered the shop from the changing room and stood on the platform in front of where he and Drew and Jacky sat lined up on the couch.
“Damn Kally.” He said, clearly impressed. “Damn.”
“Keep your eyes in your head kid.” I told him firmly.
“Damn.” He repeated, and I could feel his eyes literally raking my body up and down. “I mean, I knew you had great legs and a nice rack but wow.”
I gritted my teeth. The seamstress, a big hulking Italian woman named Antonia smiled as she chastised him. “It is no polite to talk like that about a lady like Miss Kallista.” She told him. “Exactly.” I said pointedly. “In fact, most of the girls I know are less then impressed when a guy comments on their “rack” as a general rule, whether they’re a lady or not.”
Sidney didn’t even have the good grace to blush; he just grinned a me as his eyes raked my body again sending a shiver through me. His look was just HOT… it was almost erotic the way he was looking at me. “Sorry Kally, but you look too damn good.”
Antonia chuckled again. “Hurry up and get this done.” I snapped, causing her to quickly get to work.
“Of course Miss Kallista. I am sorry Miss.” She said quickly.
As soon as she was done I hurried to the change room to dress. Part of me liked the way Sidney looked at me when I was in that dress a little too much. As soon as we left he grabbed my arm and pulled me away from the other guys. “Was that really necessary?” He asked.
“What?” I replied.
“The way you spoke to her. She didn’t deserve it. She may be a just a servant to you, but that doesn’t mean she isn’t deserving of respect.” He told me.
I shrugged. “She was laughing at you instead of doing her job kid.” I told him. “Time is money and she was wasting mine.”
“You still didn’t have to snap at her.” Sidney said.
“And you didn’t have to look at me as if I were a hunk of meat you wanted to eat kid.” I told him pointedly.
That shut him up and we got into the car without further incident. “Whose hungry?” I asked brightly. “Because I am starving, and I haven’t had a decent meal since August.”
“The food at Shattuck’s isn’t that bad.” Jacky said.
“But she doesn’t actually eat at Berker Hall.” Sidney said. “She sneaks into the kitchens at St. Mary’s when she can.”
I shrugged. “What can I say? Eating dinner with bitches like Katie and Natalie is bad for my digestion, not to mention my appetite.”
“Where do you want to go?” Drew asked.
“Grandmama will have made reservations.” I said, with a shrug. “She doesn’t leave anything to chance.”
“I hate to like, bring you down.” Jacky said. “But I don’t think any of us can afford any place that your Grandmama would make reservations at.”
I shrugged again. “Don’t worry about it Jacky.” I said. “Everything today is courtesy of my Grandparents.” I told him.
“No offense Kally, but why do they spend so much money on you?” He asked. “I mean, everyone at Shattuck’s knows that you live there pretty much year round.”
I shrugged. “Because I’m a throwaway.” I said. “They are too rich and too busy to spend much time with me. It’s a total guilt thing. They’ve shipped me off to boarding school along with my Mom and Washington Willy who thinks that kids get in the way of careers. Mom makes up for it with money. And I don’t think that Grandmama and Grandpapa know any other way of expressing love, its just the way old New York money is.” I explained.
“I mean, some of the kids who’s Grandparents know my Grandparents see their parents once a year, if that, and do whatever they want the rest of the time… at least I’m well chaperoned.” I paused and grinned wickedly. “Well most of the time.”
We went and had a great meal, but it was only just after 5. I wasn’t in the mood to go back to Shattuck’s yet. I picked up my cell after we were done. “Excuse me for a second.” I said, having been drilled by my Grandmama that cell phones at the table were rude. I quickly dialed the Parisé’s.
To my shock Zach answered the phone. “Hello?” He asked.
“Zachie?” I asked, shocked. “You’re home for the weekend and you didn’t call me?” I felt hurt, because my Zachie would never forget to call me, ever.
“Kally, umm hi.” He said awkwardly. “I kind of brought a girl home.” He said. “Her name is Christina and she’s really nice. You’d like her.”
“I’m sure I would.” I said through clenched teeth. “Of course I’d know for sure if you’d introduced us.”
“I didn’t think it was a good idea.” He said. “I mean…”
“I know full well what you mean Zach. You didn’t trust me not to throw a jealous fit.” I snapped. “You’re no different from anyone else you ass.”
“Kally that’s not true.” Zach said sounding miserable. “I just didn’t want you to think that I, like didn’t care about you anymore.”
“Yes it is true Parisé.” I snapped. “Well you’re getting a fit Zach, but it’s not a jealous one. It’s an I-can’t-believe-that-you-don’t-trust-me fit. You’re an ass Parisé and you’re no better then any other piece of scum I’ve fucked over the past four years. You could have at least called me to tell me you were in town.”
“You’re right Kally I was wrong.” He said. “Don’t be angry.” He begged. “Please Kally don’t be angry.”“Parisé I’m more then angry.” I snapped. “I’m livid. And don’t call me Kally. Only my FRIENDS call me Kally.” I said pointedly. “Tell you’re Dad that the boys and I are headed back to Shattuck’s.” I said. “And tear up you’re invitation to the Halloween party. Consider yourself officially uninvited.”