Different Worlds Ch. 01

Her eyes explored the rest of the room. There were fairy lights, taffeta, bunting, huge baubles suspended from barely-visible threads so at first glance they looked like they were simply floating in the air.

They could almost be at a wedding, a very grand wedding.

She was still gazing around her, taking everything in, when Sally appeared and swept them off into a side room. She introduced the two girls to the other staff and gave them uniforms to wear.

"I didn't think we'd be wearing uniforms," Ivy whispered to Ruth from behind her hand. "I'm really not sure about these aprons."

"Sorry. I should have warned you. It suits you though," Ruth grinned.

"Shut up," Ivy replied, pulling a face and added more loudly: "Do I have to wear this hat Sally?"

Sally smiled indulgently. "No, I'll let you off seeing as you're here under duress but you must wear your hair up, Ivy. I have hair bands if you need them"

Ivy irritably pulled her unruly hair into a low bun at the nape of her neck.

She was handed a tray loaded with canapés and sent out to serve them. Guests had begun to arrive, they were crowding into corners and chatting quietly. And as Ruth had promised everyone was indeed dressed up to the nines.

Terence was looking very dapper in a grey linen suit. He hugged Ivy enthusiastically, kissing her on both cheeks and thanked her profusely for being prepared to step in and help at the last minute.

"I hear you met my boys earlier."

"Um, you could say that."

He laughed so loudly that the small smattering of guests around them glanced in their direction.

"Look, here's Caroline, my birthday girl."

A tall and willowy young woman with lustrous blonde hair and cornflower blue eyes had drifted over. She was wearing a floaty pale green dress. Terence hugged her to him. Glimpses of a her pretty face showed underneath the silver sequined mask she was wearing.

She smiled at Ivy. "Hello, you're living in one of the caravans in the woods behind Sally's shop?"

Despite her cut glass upper class accent, Caroline was softly spoken.

Ivy smiled back. "Actually I live in a truck, but I can't drive it anywhere just now so yeah, caravan might be a more accurate description."

"Oh it sounds terribly romantic. You can just go where you want, when you want."

"Yes, well, that's the theory but like I said, it's broken."

"I'm so sorry, will it be difficult to fix?"

"I don't think so, but I don't want to tempt fate by saying it will be easy." An older lady with a French accent had joined them, she was clearly an aged relative who wanted Caroline and Terence's attention. Ivy excused herself.

"I better go and hand these out. It was lovely meeting you. If I don't see you later, enjoy your evening," and at that Ivy swiftly moved away before they could ask her any more questions.

Armed with a tray of drinks, she headed over to a sizeable crowd of people who had just arrived when she noticed a man standing, arms folded, a little way off. She couldn't be sure he was watching her but he quickly looked in another direction when she glanced over at him.

A few minutes later while she was heading back for more drinks she passed Ruth.

"How's it going?" Ruth whispered.

"Not so bad actually. I met Terence's daughter. She seems very sweet."

"She is, she's lovely and she's having a good time by the looks of things." They both looked over at Caroline as she threw her head back and laughed at something the young man she was talking to said.

Ivy dropped her voice. "The guy in the red jacket by the door, is that one of her brothers?"

"Yes, that's the older one - Richard."

"Okay, I wasn't sure, because of the mask."

"He's looking this way."

"Great, he's probably going to come over and accuse me of stealing the family silver."

"No he isn't, Ivy," Ruth giggled.

"I'd better go and get another tray, I'll catch you later."

The next time she noticed him, he was still in the same place but he had taken the mask off. She hated to admit it but he was quite good looking, despite the foppish blond hair that was hanging over his eyes. She felt an unexpected ripple of attraction. He seemed to have quite broad shoulders too, underneath the jacket. It must be all that rugby they play in those private schools >.

The evening was exhausting. She had doled out endless glasses of champagne and lots of expensive looking canapés, and had started to think if she didn't sit down soon her feet were going to break out in blisters. It was coming up to 2am, the party was still in full swing.

Ivy was having a well-needed break with a few of the others when Sally appeared with a tray loaded with martinis.

"Come and have a drink, we'll finish these, go and do one last sweep for empty glasses and then we can call it a night. Roger and Alex are okay manning the bar."

Ivy probably hadn't eaten enough, she could feel the effects of the cocktail immediately.

"So how's it been?" asked Ruth.

"Well, apart from feeling like an extra in a Disney movie okay I suppose."

Ivy and Ruth were still laughing as they went back out into the ballroom to collect empty glasses.

"Some of those costumes are a bit much though aren't they?" whispered Ruth.

"What's with that one in the pale blue and yellow dress?"

"I don't know, is she supposed to be Snow White?"

"And I thought our uniforms were over the top."

"Well, there's no accounting for taste."

Ivy and Ruth stopped abruptly when they found themselves face to face with Richard. Ivy covered her mouth with her hand as she tried to stifle her laughter. They'd started out trying to keep their voices down but it was too noisy to have a whispered conversation in the ballroom and she was sure he must have heard them mocking the guests.

He was staring at them both with a hard to read expression. Was he angry?

"Sorry," she mumbled as they dashed past.

"Shit," Ruth whispered, grabbing her arm as they passed him. "D'you think he heard what we were talking about?"

"I dunno, does it matter?"

The young partygoers were all pretty drunk now. They were laughing raucously and their dancing was comically uncoordinated. Ivy swept through the hall, collecting empty glasses, deftly avoiding errant limbs.

She checked herself. She was twenty and it was a twenty-first birthday party so they were probably older than her. They did all seem very young, though.

*

Richard was standing in the corner of the ballroom slightly apart from the other guests. He'd been stationed in the same spot for most of the evening. He was trying to stay out of the way. He could think of a thousand things he would rather be doing this evening instead of watching drunken young people trying to be cool, but it was Will and Caroline's 21st and he couldn't begrudge them his presence for this one evening and besides, it was getting close to the time he could plead tiredness and escape. To keep himself occupied he'd been watching her again, he couldn't seem to tear his gaze away. There was something about her that he found enticing. He'd tried ignoring her, but that hadn't worked, his eyes just kept seeking her out. He was sure she'd noticed, she kept glancing over at him and although he always looked away when she did he was sure he wasn't fast enough. He'd made some discreet inquiries earlier and according to Sally she was called Ivy and she had recently moved into the copse behind the farm shop with those other people living in caravans and campers and she had generously agreed to help out when some of the catering staff had fallen ill.

She was undoubtedly very pretty but there was no shortage of beautiful women in the room. There was something that set the girl apart but he couldn't put his finger on what it was. Was it something about her voice? Or the way she moved? She had an elegance, he could see it despite the ridiculous uniform she was wearing, and when she laughed the rich sound she made reminded him of warm caramel. He thought of their meeting earlier, and castigated himself, not for the first time that evening, for not saying anything when Will had been so rude to her but approaching her now and apologising about it now so long after the event seemed even more awkward.

He watched as she chatted with that friend of hers, the small one with the short red hair. She seemed so happy, so carefree. As she laughed at something her friend said and his stomach clenched. They parted and she disappeared into a side room. He was almost relieved that she was no longer in his line of sight. This constant pull of attraction was draining as he fought to resist the urge to approach her. That would be the wrong thing to do, she was working, and he was sure he was the last person on earth she would want to speak to after the events earlier that afternoon. He should steer clear of her anyway, they were sure to have nothing in common.

"Richard"

His sister had joined him.

"Are you having a nice birthday Caroline?"

"You like her don't you?"

"Who?"

"Oh don't play coy with me Richard, you've been watching at her all night"

He scowled. Was he that obvious?

Caroline was laughing. She'd always had a beautiful laugh so it was difficult to be cross even though she was laughing at his expense.

Suddenly there was a commotion coming from the side room just beside them, the room he'd just watched Ivy disappear into. Pleased to have the opportunity to escape his sister, and more questions he wasn't ready to answer, Richard went to investigate.

*

Ivy had just put one tray down and was ready to grab another when she heard a noise. Startled she spun around to find a man standing right behind her. He was drunk, she could tell by the glazed unfocused look in his eyes. That and he was swaying. He started towards her and she panicked. She was backed against a table, so she tried to slip sideways but before she got the chance to move he grabbed her wrist and leaned towards her. She tried to push him away but he was huge, and her efforts had little effect. He was another rugby player by the look of him. The smell of alcohol was all pervading now that he was so close. A surge of nausea rose up in her throat.

He wasn't doing anything, he had a puzzled look on his face, as though he'd forgotten why he was there. His grip on her wrist was starting to hurt so she tried to pull her hand away and this seemed to spur him to action again. He held her tighter as he leaned forward and made to kiss her. She couldn't help but cry out, as a searing pain shot up her arm. She tried again to push him away but he wouldn't budge and he was so close that she had no room to manoeuvre.

"Let go of me," she snarled.

She turned her face away and he missed her mouth, instead burying his face in her neck, losing his balance and lurching forward. Her back was crushed against the table. He still had hold of her wrist, she couldn't escape. She was starting to panic.

Suddenly he wasn't there anymore.

She looked around her to find that Richard was in the room with them. He'd grabbed her attacker by the shoulders and was flinging him bodily out of the door. Then he was by her side, leading her to a seat and sitting her down.

"Are you alright?" he asked gently

He was crouched beside her, gazing at her with an expression of such tender concern that she couldn't find the words to answer his question.

She was baffled as to where had he come from so suddenly. Then their gazes met and she found she couldn't look away. Eventually she managed to tear her eyes away from his as shame rose up in her. It would have to be him who found her beneath a drunken oaf unable to defend herself, of course it would have to be Richard. Her eyes were filling with tears and she could feel her face flooding with colour.

He was speaking again, slowly, clearly, as if she were too stupid to understand what he was saying: "Ivy, are you ok?"

He was seriously good-looking close up, distractingly so. His cheek bones were prominant and high set. His lips were neither too thin or too full, they were the perfect cupids bow, he had the same cornflower blue eyes as his sister. In fact, despite sharing many of his features with his sister on him they didn't look delicate or feminine no one could be further from delicate and feminine. Anyway, how did he know her name?

"I'm fine," her reply was rushed and obviously not true. As an afterthought she added: "Thank you for stopping him."

Sally and Ruth appeared, they both wearing confused expressions. Ivy grabbed a serviette from a pile that was sitting behind her on the table and started dabbing her eyes, trying to make herself look less like she was crying. Damn it, what was wrong with her anyway? She never cried, she shouldn't have drunk that bloody martini.

When she was up to speed about what had happened Sally insisted that Ivy not do any more to help.

"Look, we're nearly finished here. You've been at it non-stop all evening and that was an awful thing to have happened to you. I feel so bad about it."

Ivy tried to talk them into letting her stay and help, she didn't want to leave the others in the lurch but Sally was adamant.

"Ivy, you've had a fright."

That was Terence made his entrance. He was out of breath.

"What happened?" He rushed towards her and gripped her hands in both of his. "Ivy are you okay?"

Ivy closed her eyes and pulled back.

"Father!"

At the sound of his son's voice Terence released her hands and moved away again. She opened her eyes and looked around, the room was filled with worried faces. She just wanted them to leave her be.

"Can I get you anything, a cup of sweet tea maybe?" Sally asked her gently.

"I'm okay."

"You could stay the night here," Terence said. "We have guest rooms that are free."

"No, no I -I just want to go home."

"I'd feel much happier if you stayed, Ivy." Terence insisted.

Richard, who had been hovering in the back-ground stepped forward. "I'll walk you back."

"That would be wonderful Richard," Sally replied and then almost immediately she seemed to remember Ivy's reservations about him and wincing she looked at Ivy, her eyes wide with a silent apology.

"You don't have to. I'm fine really, I can find my own way back."

He took another step towards her, so close they were was almost touching. "I'd like to," he said quietly. There was something very definite about the way he spoke and Ivy had the feeling this was an argument she wouldn't win.

She sized him up, trying to think of the best way to wriggle out of this. She felt uncomfortable with the idea of being alone with him and about letting him see where she lived. In his expression she saw a steely determination. She sighed, she was too tired to argue. She didn't want to walk back to the truck with him but she didn't want to walk back to the truck alone either. She cast a nervous glance around the room. Her attacker was nowhere to be seen, she wondered what had happened to him.

"Okay," she replied, looking away, "let me just get changed."

"Just go Ivy," Sally said. "Bring the uniform back tomorrow."

"Thanks Sally," she did feel relieved to be leaving.

They took the most direct route, through the main entrance. She felt exposed as Richard rested a hand on her back and steered her confidently through the ballroom. They earned a few curious looks from the guests. She tried not to let it affect her, but she must have looked a sight.

Outside the air was cooler than she expected and she'd forgotten her jacket in her hurry to leave, but she was quickly distracted by the view that greeted them.

It was as if the place had been taken over by some kind of enchantment. There were hundreds of paper lanterns; floating on the lake, lining the avenue up to the house, hanging from the trees. When she and Ruth had arrived at Cartwright Hall earlier in the evening it was still light and Ivy had been so distracted by the building itself she hadn't taken much notice of rest of the grounds but now the sun was gone and the lanterns were lit. It was breathtakingly lovely.

Without thinking she left the path and wandered towards the lake so she could get a closer look.

"It's so romantic." She said quietly to herself. She was so caught up in the sight before her that she had momentarily forgotten recent events, forgotten that Richard was supposed to be walking her home.

"It's very effective." Richard replied from just behind her. The sound of his voice and its proximity startled her and she spun round. He was standing a little way behind her, arms clasped behind his back, feet placed wide apart. He seemed very stern, almost disapproving.

Suddenly she felt like she was a child, easily distracted and wasting this important man's time. She bristled. He didn't have to walk her home, he was only there because he'd insisted. Folding her arms across her chest she looked up at him, their eyes met.

"You don't have to do this, I can find my own way home."

"I want to."

"But you—"

"Humour me."

He didn't wait for her reply; instead he slid his hands in his pockets and strolled back towards the path that led to the woods, leaving Ivy struggling to catch up. When she finally did she was shivering, she wrapped her arms around herself, glad it wasn't far to her truck and the warmth of her bed.

He stopped walking and faced her. "You're cold," he stated, and without waiting for a reply he shrugged off his jacket and draped it over her shoulders. Immediately she was warmer, wrapped not just in the jacket but also his residual body heat. The musky scent of shower gel mingled with another, harder to place aroma surrounded her.

"But won't you be cold now?" she asked, glancing up at him as she slipped her hands gratefully into the sleeves.

"Yes, but I'll be romantic," his answer was curt.

She laughed, he didn't, and they lapsed into an awkward silence. It wasn't too long before they arrived at her truck.

She stopped outside and faced him. "This is it, thank you for walking me back."

But he wasn't listening, he was staring at her van open-mouthed. "You live in that?" he asked, the note of incredulity in voice was unmistakable.

"I like it," she snapped.

"I'm sorry, it's just..." He realised he'd been rude. "Well it seems rather small."

"Yes it is, but it's my home."

She slipped his jacket off. "Thank you," she said again, refusing to meet his eyes as she handed it back to him.

"It was my pleasure." As he answered he studied her and she squirmed uncomfortably as his eyes roamed over her face.

"Will you be okay?"

"Yes," she replied.

"Are you sure?"

She held his gaze and nodded.

She waited, he seemed like he might be about to say something more, but he didn't, instead he took a step towards her and lifting his hand to her face he gently brushed his knuckles across her cheek.

Then quickly he slid his hands into his pockets as if to guard against any more physical contact. She was still trying to decide how to interpret the action when he spoke.

"I'll see you tomorrow."

Without giving her a chance to reply he turned and walk briskly back towards the house.

She stood for a while, watching him as he disappeared into the night, bewildered by what had just transpired. Unconsciously her hand moved to her face and her cheek where his fingers had been. Her skin tingled where he'd touched.

It was too nippy to stand outside for long without her coat. She was too tired to try and figure him out. She climbed into her truck, brushed her teeth and after peeling her clothes off she climbed gratefully into bed.

*****

Second chapter to follow shortly, in the mean time I would really appreciate any votes, favourites and comments. For a long time I have been too scared to ask for feedback on my writing, knowing how harsh literotica readers can be and afraid that my fragile ego couldn't cope with too much criticism but I think I can take it now. So any thoughts you have on my style or content would be most welcome! So long as it's constructive. Thanks for reading and until next time