Thanks for reading! This is the fourth installment of this story so please go back and check out Chapters 1-3. Ratings and constructive comments are very appreciated :)
***
The next month was an exciting one at the Bennett house. Margaret was overjoyed at having two daughters who she considered to be on the brink of engagement. Laurel had decided to keep Carlos away from her family. They kept their rendezvous to his bachelor-pad apartment and even once in the backseat of Laurel's car, but both of those were better than sisters and mothers walking in on them. And she didn't miss seeing Carlos flirt with her younger sisters around the house either.
She was growing more and more unsettled by the excessive amount of time that Sebastien wanted to spend with her. She didn't feel that she could say no because a good impression on the man could lead to some help for their family's financial situation. They took walks together and spent time discussing business and wine in the study. Sebastien was quite a talker and Laurel, although a Master of Business still got lost often when he was talking both because of the boring content of his talks and his thick French accent that often clouded things over.
Laurel was completely spacing one afternoon as Sebastien was discussing the nodes of a good burgundy wine with himself as Laurel pretended to agree by nodding every once in a while. Laurel was reallly contemplating what she would wear to the Miller Christmas party when she heard Sebastien say her name.
"Laurel? Laurel?"
Laurel snapped back to the conversation.
"Sebastien! I'm sorry. I was considering your last point," Laurel fibbed.
"Ah, I understand completely. It's an amazing concept," Sebastien seemed to be on the edge of diving back into the wine discussion, but Laurel cut him off.
"What were you asking?"
"As you know, I'm sure, I have been invited along with your family to the Christmas gathering at Mr. Miller's home. I'm looking forward to it very much."
"I wasn't sure if you were much of a dancer."
"Oh, I assure you, I am," Sebastien said with finality. "I was actually hoping that you would stay near me throughout the evening."
Laurel tried not to gawk. "I-well-I'm sure there will be plenty of women for you to dance with. I wouldn't want you to limit yourself to just me."
Sebastien reached for Laurel's hand. "I was intending-"
Laurel leapt up and laughed nervously backing away. "Sebastien, I will save you some dances, but I couldn't possibly hog you from the rest of the ladies." She thrust open the study door. "Now I have to go...brush my hair."
Laurel nearly ran from the room. Now she understood why Sebastien was always clinging to her and she meant to put a stop to it.
Laurel secretly loved getting dressed up for big parties but she tried to keep her excitement under wraps as her sisters raced around the house looking for shoes, headbands and other sparkly trinkets they'd bought specifically for the evening.
Laurel sat at the vanity in Jennifer's room applying blush when Katarina came flying into the room. "Have you guys seen my left pump?"
Laurel didn't even look up, "do you mean the silver Steve Madden heel that you bought yesterday?"
"Yeah!"
Jennifer turned to her little sister, "How did you manage to lose that already?"
Kat started to account her entire life since purchasing the shoes but Laurel cut her off. "I think it's in mom's room, Kat." Laurel moved on to doing her eyeliner. Not three minutes later Cydalia stormed in.
"Jen, can I borrow your Swarovski earrings with the little roses?"
"I was planning on wearing them, Cyd." Jennifer replied.
"Please, please, please!" Cyd whined and pouted her lips.
"Well..." Laurel could tell Jen would give in soon.
"They go perfectly with my dress and it's not like you're trying to impress all the boys tonight since you've already snagged one!" Cyd reminded.
Jennifer sighed, "Fine." She grabbed the earrings from her dresser and handed them to Cyd who twirled, kissed her sister on the cheek then skipped from the room.
Laurel rolled her eyes, "You really are too nice, you know."
"Well, she was right. They will go perfectly with her dress."
"Yeah, I suppose she had a point; you won't have to worry about catching anyone's eye tonight. David will be staring at you the entire time."
Jennifer replied with a smile.
Laurel and Jennifer zipped each other into their dresses which Laurel had updated with some handy sewing work so they wouldn't all be running out to buy new fancy dresses. Jennifer wore purple and Laurel blue. With five girls in the house who had all gone to prom the house was full of formal dresses. Laurel had tried to convince all the girls of the economy of reusing dresses but Cydalia and Katarina had bought new ones anyway. Jennifer and Laurel still looked very stylish due to Laurel's skill, but Heidi refused to let Laurel fix a dress up for her. She stood in the entry in her black dress looking exactly the same as she had seven years ago when she was a junior in high school. Laurel hoped Heidi wouldn't be gossiped about too much for her dress that was so obviously from the beginning of the previous decade. Laurel drove her car with Jennifer and Heidi followed by her mother driving the younger two and Sebastien.
As they approached the Miller Mansion Laurel's breath was taken away but how incredibly gorgeous the house was. It was hard to even remember how the house had looked so old and sad just six months before. Now under an inch of fresh snow from the morning the house glowed with Christmas lights outlining every window and circling up the pillars at the front door. Glowing luminaries laced up the driveway and a majestic nativity sat on the North lawn in shades of white and gold.
Laurel pulled up at the front entrance where MaryAnn had hired four men to do a valet service so guests didn't have to walk up the snowy hill from the stables where there was room for parking. Laurel handed her keys to the valet and her light blue cape to another hired help inside. Everyone who came in was offered a champagne flute then ushered down the hall to the ballroom. If Laurel thought it was regal outside then the ballroom was straight out of a fairytale. Every chandelier was lit and gleaming. The walls were decked with garlands of holly and ivy. Life size nutcrackers flanked all the doors. A stringed orchestra was tucked into a back corner playing softly. A buffet table was set up against the west wall and was heaped with turkey, ham, potatoes, and Christmas foods from various cultures. Guests could fill their plates and head to a table covered in blue and gold velvet or grab a drink at the fully stocked open bar in another corner.
Laurel and Jennifer looked for Brittney while the younger girls and Sebastien headed towards the bar. They knew Brittney would look extremely classy in her new black dress with beading on the chest that she had described to them.
Brittney was found quickly and the girls searched the rooms for a sign of Carlos, but he could not be found. Soon the dancing started and Jennifer was whisked away to the dance floor by David. Laurel saw Sebastien coming and managed to hide three times before he finally caught her and she had to dance with him. When she finally escaped Sebastien, Jennifer was also taking a break while David danced with his sister.
"Laurel, I have some bad news."
"What?"
"Carlos isn't here...and he's not coming."
"Oh," Laurel said dejectedly.
"David said he turned down the invitation saying he had some urgent business in the city."
"Hmmm, he never mentioned it. He didn't even text me to tell me he wouldn't be here."
"Probably because he made it up!" added Brittney joining the conversation. "The talk by the refreshment table is that Carlos was too scared to come up here knowing that Urs would be here."
