"Hurry
up
Maria," came the call of the gorgeous Danielle Marie Parnell's always demanding voice down the main hallway of her palatial Davidsonville home, "your sister and I will
not
suffer the humiliation of being the last to arrive to this event because
you
can't decide what to wear."
"And no
tracksuits
to this one Maria," laughed Danielle's now nearly 20-year-old daughter Anna, piling on to her mother's insults, "you can work on your lesbian wannabe wardrobe on your own time."
It took all the patience Maria Parnell could muster not to explode at her imperious mother and sister. Besides, what good would it due her anyway - she'd just be grounded again. The sporty Maria, who as an 18-year-old senior in high school was the captain of Davidsonville High School's state championship caliber field hockey and lacrosse teams, knew that rebelling against her arrogant mother - especially now that Anna had almost equaled her in her haughtiness - was a no-win situation.
"I'll be
right
there," the youngest Parnell replied holding her tongue to the best of her ability, "and I still don't know why I need to come along to this silly garden party of yours anyway."
The "silly garden party" to which Maria referred was the annual Davidsonville, Maryland Summer Flower & Fashion Show. While styled as a charity fundraiser - which indeed it was - what the flower show really provided was a chance for the Washington D.C. area's alpha-moms and their daughters to endeavor to one-up each other by lunching in the year's most exclusive summer fashions while their husbands, sons and boyfriends looked on. And Maria's mother was the alpha-mom of alpha-moms.
Danielle Parnell, Esq. outwardly possessed every conceivable imprimatur of beauty. The nearly 49-year old stunner had a body better than most women half her age, honed from incredibly good genetics and a ruthless dedication to fitness. Although standing a mere 5' 3" tall, her legs seemed to go on forever with perfectly sculpted calves, toned thighs and a heart shaped ass that seemed as if carved from marble. Her taught and tanned midsection was merely the staging ground for the gorgeous, firm baseball sized breasts above it and her muscled but feminine arms appeared as graceful as her legs did long. With a face that was a perfect blend of Kerrie Russel and Miranda Kerr, framed by a mane of luxurious, sun-kissed brown hair, the emerald eyed Mrs. Parnell could turn the head of any may - and she loved it. The problem was she knew it. What's more - she wanted others to know it.
She loved nothing more than walking into a room and watching the heads of every man and boy turn to drink in her glory. Although she thought them all beneath her, and would never as much as smile without some ulterior motive behind the gesture, their attention fed her limitless ego - the pathetic losers. Danielle enjoyed nothing more when catching one of them ogling her fabulous form than to loudly and publicly upbraid them for the transgression.
"Exactly what are you staring at Dr. Miras... my eyes are up
here
Mr. Hess... what would your mother think Calum..." she'd exclaim feigning shock while reveling in her target's humiliation.
But what was more exhilarating to the lovely lawyer than humbling these unworthy men and boys was the joy she felt doing it in front of their wives, mothers and girlfriends. For Danielle, it wasn't enough that her physical presence distracted men from their mates, she loved to rub it in by calling it out in front of those women and in so doing causing them to recognize that in her presence they were invisible - the cows.
Anna Parnell hadn't always been like her mother. Threw her elementary, middle school and early high school years she was courteous, studious and thoughtful of others. In fact, when she first entered her teens she was sometimes embarrassed by her mother's showy behavior - how she dressed, the way she bossed others around and how she was always the center of attention - especially to boys who couldn't seem to take their eyes off her. That all began to change as Anna "blossomed" and, by the time of her recently passed nineteenth birthday - although still quite studious - her courtesy and thoughtfulness for others had most certainly diminished. In fact, in almost every way, she was more, rather than less, like her imperious and haughty mom.
Her physical gifts were unmistakable. Standing nearly 5'8" tall, her fabulously toned legs appeared endless and when they did end, it was at a perfectly shaped ass so tight you could bounce a quarter off it. Her muscled yet feminine midsection - which she loved to show by wearing crop tops as often as the weather would allow -- was a mere appetizer to a bustline that made even her mom's pale in comparison. An elegant neck and gracefully sculpted shoulders and arms were perfect accompaniments to an athlete's chiseled back. Yet, more exquisite than even her almost peerless body, was the oldest Parnell daughter's beautiful face. Evocative of Danielle's own gorgeous visage, with piercing blue rather than emerald eyes, the raven-haired Anna Parnell seemed an even more spectacular Miranda Kerr - she was a vision. But now - like her supercilious mother - Anna not only realized her gifts but loved them and loved even more to lord them over others.
Whether it was complementing her male professors with a sexy smile, bending at the waist to pick up a purposefully dropped book or gently touching the arm of, say, Sharon Miras' boyfriend as Sharon stared daggers, Anna took extreme pleasure in her ability to manipulate most any man while likewise reveling in the shame that her toying with them brought on their girlfriends, mothers and daughters. In short, Anna had become Danielle 2.0 and, as Maria finally made her way to the large foyer in the Parnell's manse where her mother and sister awaited, that point could not have been more apparent. Rolling her eyes and stifling a laugh at the ridiculousness of it all, Maria came upon the two
prima donnas
wearing, save for the different pastel of each (one in a blush pink the other a light purple, identical Twenty Fall ostrich feather dresses.
The sleeveless strapless creations were at best minidresses that hugged the wearer at the bust line and ended at mid-thigh. With Anna's height, hers seemed almost scandalously short for an event like the flower show while Danielle had had hers shortened to be no less risqué. Her mother was wearing 5" high Christian Louboutin So Kate ankle boots on her feet while Anna - towering over Danielle much to the latter's dismay - was bedecked in spectacularly high, 5.5", 70s inspired, white patent leather Prada sandals. Atop her severe updo, Danielle wore a light purple top hat with a dark purple satin ribbon. With her hair down, Anna sported a blush pink mad hatter style boater. Of course, despite the pandemic raging around the world, and the imposition by the Governor of Maryland of a mandatory mask order, neither woman had thought to or intended to wear a face covering.
"Birds of a feather for sure," Maria joked as each of her sister and mother sneered at her.
"
Finally
," huffed Danielle.
"It sure took you long enough," Anna joined in, "and where in God's name did you find that dress - the army surplus store."
Not caring a wit about the rather pedestrian olive frock she had found to wear to the garden party, Maria was still annoyed by the patronizing tones of her sister and mom.
"I take it you each remembered to pack a mask in your tiny little purse," Maria queried knowing how much the idea of covering their beautiful faces annoyed them.
"Oh please, Maria," Danielle practically spat at her youngest daughter, "you don't honestly expect Anna and I to wear masks do you."
"Yeah Maria," Anna chimed in with a cruel smile on her face, "it's one thing for the likes of you and your
teammates
to cover up those manly mugs of yours but the whole point of today is for people to see us."
"That's funny," Maria shot back, "I thought the point was to raise money for charity. And besides, the law requires you to wear one."
Piqued beyond words by Maria endeavoring to tread on her professional turf, Danielle decided to put an end to her daughter's carping.
"Is that so, Maria... and you know this because you're the managing partner of one of the nation's largest law firms? Oh wait, that's
me
and I'll not have you telling me what the law does or doesn't require. I know full well the scope of my constitutional rights and I'm prepared to dress down anyone who might challenge that knowledge - now let's go - the both of you!"
I'd sure like to see the two of them dressed down, Maria thought to herself imagining the two peacocks devoid of their ridiculous plumage. As fate would have it, soon enough she - and everyone else at the flower show - would be witness to just that.
* * *
Although the sun shined brightly as Danielle eased her 2021 Porsche 911 Turbo S Cabriolet into the parking lot of the Maryland State Capital - the sprawling lawn of which was the staging ground each year for the flower show - the sporty convertible's top remained up which in turn basically sandwiched Maria in its back seat.
"I can't believe you kept the top up mom," the crouched teen groused, "I'm completely crushed back here."
"Be
quiet
Maria," her mother snapped, "you didn't expect your sister and I to get blown to bits by the wind on the drive over here did you."
"Yeah Maria," Anna piled on, "unlike you, people will actually want to
see
us."
Happy just to be getting out of the car, Maria held her tongue even after noting that her mother had pulled into a spot that said "Reserved - Maryland Attorney General."
As the doors to the Parnell family's $250,000 roadster opened, every male head within view turned to watch. From each of the driver's and passenger's side doors stepped out the long, tan, high-heeled legs of - on the one hand - Danielle - and on the other - Anna Parnell. Bedecked in their ostrich feathered creations and sporting the most fashionable sunglasses below their spectacularly sophisticated hats, the mother and daughter Parnell looked mouthwateringly sexy and they knew it. Abandoning Maria to practically crawl from the sports car's back seat, Danielle and Anna veritably prowled onto the state house's expansive lawn toward the gathering of similarly smartly dressed sophisticates.
After each accepted a champagne flute from the veritable army of waiters racing to greet them, the two beauties temporarily split up, Danielle to torture some of the men in front of their wives and Anna to tease mercilessly the boyfriend of Sharon Miras who, although two years older than the feather-frocked
femme fatale
, was as intimidated by the younger girl as her mother Rachel, the newly appointed Maryland Attorney General, was by Danielle.
Having shunned the affections of Anna's arrogant older brother Will, Sharon was sure that Anna wanted to make her day miserable - and she was correct. Despite her age advantage and the fact that she was already in college, Sharon Miras always felt "less than" around the ceaselessly sexy and sophisticated Anna Parnell. What made today even worse was that Sharon's new boyfriend, the Harvard college rower Aaron Tabash, was standing by her side as Anna approached. Although the fact that the now rising college senior was dating Sharon should have instilled in the young girl the confidence she needed to face down Anna Parnell, the imminent arrival of her uber-fashionable female nemesis instead practically paralyzed her with a foreboding sense of imposter syndrome.
"Why hello there Aaron," Anna practically purred while placing her hand on the tanned forearm of the clearly flattered oarsman, "don't you look handsome today in your seersucker shorts and polo shirt. If only I could see that handsome face you're hiding behind your mask."
Before the captivated collegian - who couldn't pull his eyes away from the vision in front of him - mustered a word, Sharon Miras desperately but cautiously sought to intervene.
"I like your dress Anna," she shyly offered as perspiration began to form on her forehead.
"I'm sure you do," the eldest Parnell daughter replied derisively, before again seeking to belittle Sharon Miras in front of the young Master Tabash.
"How about you, Aaron," she coyly addressed him, "what do
