May 15th, 1998
“Oh come on, I just bloody forgot a little invitation at home, trust me, I go to that… Barren school that all these students are from - obviously I have a ticket,” Despite Adelaide’s nearly perfect excuse, the guard at the art gallery did not look fazed. God damn it. The man looked at her in the eyes with a simple “Move aside, ma’am.” It was just… rude. Like who bloody needed a guard outside an art gallery… look, perhaps there was a Van Gogh, Monet, Di Vinci, and some other dead painters art in there, but if it was that big of a deal, why were they inviting high school students? That’s what she thought - now if this rude individual would just… let her through.
She watched as kids her age behind her, handed the man their tickets - easily entering the venue. Honestly, in retrospect, Adelaide didn’t even care about the gallery. Now the only reason she wanted to go in was to prove the big oaf that was sitting in front that she could. Though, why was she here in the first place - in Beryl California instead of London where she should be? Well, Justin’s classes at his fancy school… Barren - it was Barren right? Oh well, we’ll call it Barren - was ending and her parents told her to go pick him up for the summer. Though Addie had decided to come a little earlier… okay a month earlier because she was bloody bored and she wanted to bother her little genius brother… and maybe she missed him but don’t tell Justin that or he’ll get a bigger ego than he already had.
A few weeks ago, her brother had sent a letter saying there was this event at this very gallery and Addie just wanted to… well… shock him. Plus her parents were being overbearing at home telling her to pick a new career and honestly, Addie just didn’t want to deal with more nagging and more useless parties where various princes, princesses, other royals told her it was a cute joke that she wanted to take over her father’s position in the House of the Lords because females weren’t allowed - for fcks sake it was almost the year 2000, could people just grow up already with these backward views that woman should stay in the kitchen and raise 10 kids?
A sigh met her lips as Addie backed up, glaring at the guard as she attempted to look for a point of entry. There was a large line that had started to grow behind her, likely because she had been arguing for quite a while. But the line gave her an idea… she just needed a… target. It was something she had learned to do well over the years - read people. With all the events her parents made her go to, it was a requirement for Parkers to read the room.
And after a second, her eyes locked on a man who had just arrived, locking his car and casually walking towards the front, ignoring the line. If there was reading people, the one thing she could tell immediately was that he had a way inside - meaning he was her way inside. “Love, there you are!” Addie was loud enough that right before the man reached the front with the arse who initially kept her out, he turned around to see who she was talking to. His turning allowed the girl the chance to wrap her arms around his neck and kiss his cheek in a way that expressed to everyone around them that they were, indeed, more than friends. “Well come on now, I tried to get in earlier but I forgot my ticket… you know how clumsy I can be,” Addie continued, guiding his arm so it was wrapped around her waist as they walked towards the front together.
Addie watched as the security looked up at the man she was with, and without hesitation, opened the rope leading inside the gallery. As she walked in, Addie shot the security man a “Ha” look before smiling at the man she was with. “I guess I should learn the name of my boyfriend then? I have to ask - why’d you go with it, darling? I mean, it worked out great for me but what did you get out of it?” she added when they were far enough away from the front door.
There was almost a… bemused expression on the man’s features as he turned towards her, finally moving his hand away from where she had placed it around her body so she could lean on him as they walked. “Leonardo, and I was honestly just curious as to why someone would go into so much trouble to get in here,”
As he spoke, it was the first time Adelaide actually looked at him. Overall, the man was very handsome - if he went to her school, he would likely be one of the guys she and her girlfriends would talk about during their slumber parties. Plus the American accent helped. Her eyes moved back to his blue eyes with the slightest tinge of gray. “Well, Leo - I hope you don’t mind me calling you that. Since we’re dating, I thought we might as well move to nicknames. And to answer your second question…” she started with a soft smirk playing upon her lips as she grabbed two champagne flutes from a waiter, handing him one. “Who says I’m not here for the art?”
Taking a sip of the champagne, Addie casually put her hand in his, leading him towards a random painting by Monet. “So in this painting, tell me, Leo, what do you see?” She found the man raising his eyebrow at her - possibly because she was holding his hand, possibly for her sheer confidence. Either way, he took a second, sipping his glass before answering the question. “Well, it’s called the Truth of Nature for a reason. Beyond the beauty of the painting, if you look closely, you’ll see the overgrowth of nature, untouched by manki-”
“Oh come on Leo, I’m joking. It’s a bridge with some flowers and a lake.” she laughed, “Let me tell you a little secret, I’m not actually here for the art… I mean, don’t get me wrong, it’s all beautiful. But if I had a free Saturday, my first inclination would not be to go to another party,”
There was a lighthearted tone in their conversation, one that continued as she led him to various paintings nevertheless - reading the subjects of the art, and telling Leo what she thought they must have been thinking. Which usually went, “You know why the Mona Lisa has such a strange smile? It’s because a girl can only pretend for so many hours that someone is interesting her. I’m pretty sure the poor girl was board by Da Vinci,” . Throughout their whole conversation, every time he asked her for her name, Addie simply shrugged, asking the man to tell her what she looked like. He did say she looked like a “Jessica” or an “Anna” and though she liked those names, she simply shook her head before asking him to try again.
“Adelaide?”
In the middle of talking to her ‘boyfriend’ she heard a familiar voice behind her and smiled at the confused look her brother held. There was a girl with him that she imagined was Natalia with everything he had written in the letters. “Bloody hell Justin, do you know how hard it is to sneak into this party? I had to get a whole boyfriend in the process,” she smiled, wrapping her arms around her brother and pulling him in for a hug before turning towards the man behind her. “Addie, my name’s Addie and this is my younger brother and the real reason I was trying to get in here,” she told the man who had accompanied her for the last hour. Little did she know how important the man would soon become to her.
The “Something Old” - 2031 - Continued - PART 1.2
Jessica was distracted by the sound of crying that soon met her ears. For the past few minutes, she had been drawn by her mother’s writing - a tale of meeting a man named Leo. There were hundreds of pages of writing and Jess honestly wanted to read it all… she couldn’t help her intrigue at her mom dating someone who wasn’t… well, her father. In the book, she found an old invitation - the one her mother had likely taken once inside. The gallery was actually in Beryl… which… when did her mother ever go to Beryl. Putting the book down, Jess went over to pick up her daughter, shushing the little girl as she placed a kiss on her forehead. “Are you hungry my love?” she asked the little girl, though her mind still went back to what she had just read and what she wanted to continue reading soon.