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 Posted: Sun Sep 01, 2013 5:04 pm
Something was clearly off when Zia was letting someone else drive her car. She never let anyone else drive (They would probably be horrible and slow and drive like old ladies and not flip off the proper people and then scratch her baby) but tonight she was nervously picking at her purse in her lap as she sat in the newly upholstered passenger's seat in the Impala.
She was invited to dinner at home, and she insisted that yes, she was totally excited because she missed her brothers and she hadn't met one of her nieces and she was completely happy and stuff.
But there was still a lot of nervous ticking going on.
"You don't have to stay," She forewarned. "We can just go. If it gets bad, I mean."
Zia had done her best to be a lot more open and less secretive lately, and that meant little things occasionally slipped about the controlling and volatile temper of Robert Connolly, which was apparently enough to push away two sons, two wives, and resulted in Zia's disowning for a transgression as simple as dropping out of college.
And now she was off to dinner at his house. She wondered if Pascal was thinking less of her for it already.
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Posted: Sun Sep 01, 2013 10:37 pm
Pascal's fear of the Impala was quite great thanks to all of the near death experiences he had thanks to Zia's terribly unsafe driving that it was almost a miracle that he got behind the wheel. Sure, the number of near death experiences were probably on par with the pleasurable times he spent in, on and thanks to it that it might have been a level playing field. However, it wasn't very often that he drove. He didn't exactly have the money for a car when he lived off loans and other miscellaneously questionable methods and with Zia not wanting to drive he obviously had concerns of this whole ordeal.
Somehow the two of them made it safely, although whether that was a good thing or not was debatable.
"If we're going to stick our tails between our legs and flee then why even bother going?" He said with a grin as he unlocked the car door and stepped out.
It was was too bad he didn't realize the irony here because Zia truly had a tail to stick between her legs as she fled.
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Posted: Sat Sep 07, 2013 8:13 pm
"It's complicated, I guess," Zia mumbled as she got out of the car and stood on her toes to look over it, even though in her heels she was already standing on her toes and this did nothing.
"Is it weird? That I care?"
Her father had put her through a lot. She had always been a nervous and anxious kid and her teen years had put so much emphasis on a combination of looks and grades she very nearly slipped into some dangerous habits with her crash dieting and chemically induced all nighters just to stay 'acceptable' and avoid the rage he had a reputation for unleashing on Noah.
She still displayed a lot of the same nervous habits even as an adult
She walked up the landscaped front yard with him ad stopped at the door, reaching over and grabbing Pascal's hand to give it a nervous squeeze before she reached for the doorbell.
But before she could even ring it, one of the heavy oak double doors slammed open, and in the door way was a small eight year old in a sun dress and perfect ringlets pinned back behind her head.
"AUNT ZIA'S HERE!" She shrieked and tackled her legs in a hug. "And she brought a creepy guy."
"Eloisa, get back in here," A man in a suit demanded and gestured for the two of them to come in to the foyer of the massive house. While it seemed like the sort of place where you would be greeted with stiff pleasantries and maybe even hor d'ourves, the man who had pried his daughter off of Zia didn't seem to have either on hand as he looked at both of them as if he was already tired and but tried his best to seem interested and happy. "Zia. You showed up." And then he looked Pascal up and down. "Who are you?"
"A-ah, um." Zia stepped up in between them. "Matt, this is Pascal, my boyfriend. And Pascal, this is my oldest brother, Matthew."
"And I am Eloisa, you may call me Eloisa," The kid who was now being politely restrained by both shoulders announced, cutting into the introductions because damn it, she was here too. "Are you married yet?"
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Posted: Sat Sep 07, 2013 9:22 pm
Pascal could understand both perspectives and he didn't judge Zia for caring even after everything her father and family put her through. Despite everything his father did to him, and all the things his mother made him feel, he still missed them at times. Unlike Zia, he couldn't patch things up now. He could make a new bond with them if he wanted but given he didn't really like them to begin with that was rather pointless. It wasn't them he missed, it was his family.
"Not at all. In the end, we only have one family," he said with a soft smile, slightly foreign from normal. It was true, even if that one family put you through pain.
What was really foreign from normal was this ******** place! This place made his apartment look like a speck of dirt until the rug! Of course, he had to wonder if they even had dirt under their rugs at all. They probably had maids to clean up after what the other maids missed. Maybe just a maid to clean under the carpet all day.
"I'm not creepy," he said solemnly, crossing his arms and definitely pouting a bit. They didn't remain there long though, falling down to his side to a much less defensive position as Matthew came into view. It seemed he didn't really need to speak after that because Zia stepped up to the plate, putting a gap between him and her oldest brother. He tried to remember the name simply to make a good impression.
Whatever horrid expression he had been wearing lightened exponentially when Eloisa introduced herself. Of course, the expression shifted again when she so boldly asked if they were married. He never really gave it much consideration other than jokingly thinking when she did certain geeky things that she needed to marry him on the spot. Other times when she denied him pineapples and olives on his pizza he wanted to divorce her and they weren't even married yet.
"Not yet. Do you I think I should ask her Eloisa?" He asked Eloisa softly, engaging her in the conversation so she didn't feel left out. He really hoped Zia didn't hit him later.
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Posted: Sun Sep 08, 2013 1:57 am
While at first, compared to other family members all in the open archway, Matthew seemed a bit warmer by comparison even if he was tired. But all that warmth seemed to vanish at the introduction period.
Zia did stammer for a reason, and it was the sinking feeling that Matt was going to make the 'does not approve' face he was currently making. In a lot of ways he tried to take on the 'father' role where their dad was more of a drill sergeant and headmaster and now he was being obnoxiously unhappy in the most cliche of ways.
In fact there was some weird look exchanged between the two of them. Zia pleading for him to knock it off and Matt adamantly keeping it up.
Eloisa was a bit more practical, which was terrible because she was sheltered, and also eight, and was not practical at all.
"I was just wondering if you were my uncle. But if you want to marry her you can. I don't think anyone else wants to. Do you have any horses?"
She liked horses, and even though her family owned a race horse or two she wasn't allowed to really be around them. Small and plagued by health issues, combined with two parents who were too paranoid for their own good, she wasn't really allowed around any animals out of fear of allergy attacks and germs.
She interrupted Zia's weird and silent argument with her father to pull on her arm.
"If he does not have a horse I don't think he's worth it."
Zia's mouth formed a straight, unamused line at the conversation. Aside from marriage was icky, there was something about an eight year old declaring you a hopeless, unmarriable spinster that was offensive. Even when you thought marriage was icky.
"Well how 'bout I take him and you can go marry someone who has a horse?" She countered to the little girl.
Eloisa made an almost identical face.
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Posted: Mon Sep 09, 2013 9:02 am
Pascal certainly never had a warm and loving home environment growing up and perhaps that had a lot to do with why Pascal and Zia connected so well. Thanks to his not so warm and fuzzy childhood and his absolutely horrifying life over the past two years as Pascal Lalande he wasn't scared of Matthew. However, but he wasn't here to pick a fight. He tried to gauge the reactions between Matthew and Zia, taking the older man's expression into account. It wasn't a foreign expression to him. This man reminded him of his own father in that regard.
It was when Eloisa mentioned no wanting to marry Zia that Pascal couldn't help but chuckle a bit. How old was this child? She was probably right. However, there was definitely a part of him that imagined spending his whole life with Zia but how could he ever expect to marry her when he couldn't even tell her about all aspects of his life? He had a deep, dark secret and if he could help it he would never tell her. She would probably never want to speak to him again if she knew. No, it was definitely not that he wouldn't want to but that he couldn't allow himself to. Husbands didn't lie to their wives about what they did in the middle of the night and wives didn't prance around the city with strange men who were actually their husband in disguise.
"Just a mechanical one," he stated. It was tiny though, a toy he built to test basic movement and balance structure with his new control model.
Did it count? Well, at least Zia said she'd take him. Did that mean anything deeper than their relationship now? He looked at her curiously. Did she mean anything else by it? If she wanted him to propose to her she'd probably simply solve it by proposing to him. He was sure she wasn't going to wait to get anything she wanted. She wasn't raised that way.
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Posted: Fri Sep 13, 2013 7:36 pm
"Well I don't think--" Eloisa started after she was done looking like an angry little frog girl in ringlets, but Zia cut her off as she grabbed Pascal's arm. She was getting tired of her unspoken war with her oldest brother, who was clearly old enough to be her father anyway, and decided to drag Pascal out of at least this hostile crossfire.
"Well as fascinating as this conversation is, I think I'm going to see the aperitif and amuse-gueule I'm sure Amber anguished over planning. Come on," Apparently Zia going to see something meant dragging Pascal to also see it.
And also those fancy words were coded liquor and appetizers, even if the appetizers were sadly one bite pieces of saumon fume laid out and offered by hired help Zia regarded with as much presence as the furniture. She didn't willfully ignore other human beings, but she didn't really stop and look at them or great them as she would a normal person.
"Matt can be kind of an a**, but he's a quiet one," She said, as if Pascal needed some comfort for the icy welcome. "Noah's usually nicer, but I don't think he's coming..." In fact, if he knew she did, he'd probably deride her for 'crawling back to daddy'. Noah passionately and vehemently avoided contact with the majority of his family.
She knocked her head back as she drained a small glass of gin and busied herself adjusting Pascal's tie to get her mind off her nervousness. "Are you doing okay so far?" She said in almost a whimper. She did genuinely fret over making him unbearably uncomfortable.
"And try not to make weird faces when you see my dad with his fiance?"
"Zia~!" A woman with reddish brown hair, but of similar age and style to Zia walked by with an artificially white toothed grin and waved, but didn't stop to chat. Which was probably a good thing because behind the smile Zia had for her, she was grinding her teeth in repressed rage and she stopped adjusting Pascal's tie to just hold it. Tightly. "That's her."
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Posted: Sun Sep 15, 2013 8:59 pm
Pascal was more than happy to go along with Zia as she fled, even if he didn't have much say in it. It was good to get away from the child that was destined to be an 18 year old acting out against her overbearing old man by getting everything she wanted in one shot as a porn star featured in pony play and horse videos, and said overbearing brother who was old enough to be Zia's father.
He walked with Zia, his attention rarely leaving her aside from an almost pitiful glance at the ignored help. That could have easily been him, something her brother had already considered given his low class status. Could you imagine if her brother or anyone in her family seen where she lived? Where he lived and dared to invite Zia to move in to? There would probably be some sort of intervention!
"It's fine. How are you doing?" He asked. It wasn't like she was getting all that warm of a welcome either and she was their family. Of course, it wasn't like his childhood home and family was all that warm and welcoming either but he couldn't help but hope for Zia. The whimper said a lot more about her state of mind than his and Pascal tried to make his upturned face into something of a smile.
"Weird faces?" He questioned shortly before the answer came upon them. Suddenly his attempt to smile fled and his face went completely deadpan as if he was trying to hold in laughter and horror at the same time. His eyes widened and he turned his head away from Amber to look at Zia. He felt her grip on his tie and his neck tightened automatically as if suddenly his neck was going to snap a leather band from around it like Gaston.
He could only sigh contently when she passed them by. Thank ******** goodness.
"I'm not sure if this is cradle robbing or grave robbing," he whispered, leaning into her tie holding. It wasn't as insensitive as what he had in mind. Thankfully he still had a bit of willpower there. His first thought was to comment on how if she wasn't careful she was going to trip into a grave and then she'd never get the widowed wife money but being in Zia's father's home it seemed a bit too much.
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Posted: Mon Sep 16, 2013 3:45 pm
"Probably a little of both," Zia snorted bitterly, not even moving when he leaned forward. She just suddenly seemed really interested in that tie. But she soon moved on to straightening up his suit and brushing him off. Usually when she was anxious she rolled napkin corners or bent paperclips out of shape, but apparently tonight her nervous tick was just tugging on his clothes.
"She's wearing my trust fund, that bracelet on her wrist," Zia added, and picked up one of the aperitifs in their gorgeous little long stemmed glasses and offered it to him. "Do you want to--? Oh, nevermind," She set it back down.
"I guess I just keep forgetting you're the only person in the world I know that doesn't drink."
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Posted: Fri Sep 20, 2013 7:44 pm
Amber eyes fell on the glass carefully. Part of him was eager to take the glass and drink it because maybe then he would find himself less troubled by the things in his life. However, every time his eyes settled on the liquor he found himself thinking back to his childhood. It had destroyed his family because of his father's alcoholism. Did that mean he had to let it destroy his? One drink might take the edge off of things. He didn't need to get hammered.
Pascal sighed.
"I am sure I am not the only person in the world," he said with a soft laugh. It sounded pitiful and unsure.
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Posted: Sat Sep 21, 2013 8:57 pm
"Well, no, Chris doesn't either," Zia admitted, with her head lulling to the side as she pondered how she was actually pretty used to people around her who weren't as normalized to alcohol as she was, and that by now she probably shouldn't be constantly offering it to them.
Someone announced that Robert wanted everyone to sit down in the formal dining room, also implying there was a informal one, and that is was almost time for the first course.
Her hands left his tie and slid under his suit jacket, resting on his torso over his clothes as she leaned against him. "You know I'm happy, right? With you and our life and the way we do things." This was almost mental prepping on her end, since she was absolutely sure her father had less than positive comments on what she was doing these days. "And you don't have to prove anything to these people."
----
The table was crowded but thankfully the children had been relegated to a 'kids table' near the kitchen so Eloisa wasn't there to further negotiate trading Pascal for livestock. Matthew was, however, but he seemed to busy whispering and mumbling back and forth with his very pregnant wife to bother with being judgmental. For being in his 70s, Robert sat at the head of the table looking more intimidating than anyone had a right to be at that age. He had clearly been tall and broadly muscled in his prime, but his large figure had been subdued a bit by the years, and was still somehow contained in a suit that probably cost more than several years rent. Facial hair was tightly trimmed and maintained as he looked on at this large family with a jaw set in permanent disappointment, even with the woman from earlier hanging on his arm and trying to coo something soothing, or at least get his attention.
The more loose of the crowd was a man only a year or two younger than Matt who looked more trendy in his hair styling and suit choices than anything and had his chair kicked back while he puffed on a cigar, at least until Zia sat down in the seat across from them. "WHOA-HO, Zee, you got fat since your mental breakdown. Done with the purging thing?"
"You look fit as ever, Luca," Zia said in that calm tone of voice that signified she was clearly about to say something catty as she absently held out her wine glass for a silent member of the catering staff to fill it. "Shocking that your boyfriend left you for the maid."
"I see your giant a** didn't stop you from getting a piece of a**," The cigar was pointed at Pascal. "I want him."
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Posted: Mon Sep 30, 2013 8:00 pm
Pascal couldn't help but think that something terrible was going to happen when Zia admitted to him that she was happy with him and their life together. It was the sort of thing someone said before s**t started to happen and Pascal wasn't foolish enough to believe that being surrounded by her family would be anything but a bear trap. He could watch where he was stepping all he wanted but somehow he still ended up in a situation where someone began to look at him with the eyes of tiger.
"I can see why you're interested in my fabulous a** but I can't imagine why you possibly think I'd be interested in yours." He said in a very strong fashion, wrapping an arm around Zia's waist rather possessively while he used the back of his other hand to brush his bangs to the side of his face. He had Zia who was infinitely better than Luca and the look on Pascal's face said that and more.
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