Chapter Seven

He moved into where the main party was holding, where the elegant tables and chairs were arranged. Middle aged people talked in groups, very elegantly dressed so you could guess at once that they were rich. Most of the young people were in groups of two and three and their groups seemed clustered together to one side of the space from the supposed entrance.

“Oh, there's Mr. Wilde”, he spotted as his eyes moved slowly across the open space. He could see him with some elderly men of his age discussing in low volumes near the stage.

Alistair couldn't believe that he was in this very Voxx meeting - the first after twenty years of his parents’ death. What shocked him the most was his sharp memory of the faces - he could still tell and recognise the owners of some of the enterprises under the Voxx Group and some of his father's closest partners. As his eyes darted around, in search of a free seat, he hoped earnestly that no one would draw attention to him.

But how wrong he was.

“Isn't that Alistair Bane?” , was the first whisper he heard as he attempted to move towards the end of the space. He could feel the eyes of the head that turned to look at him and yes very much, could tell the expression they had on his face.

“Alistair Bane?”

“Alistair Bane, son of the owners of Voxx?”

The scoffs came almost together.

If Alistair thought that would be it, he was absolutely not prepared for what was coming.

“Didn't his parents abandon and betroth him?”

“His the one tying that poor girl down”

“Oh, poor thing. His parents couldn't even leave him the company”

“I heard he actually rejected the offer”

“Funny isn't it, he used to be something now he's nearly nothing”

Alistair's ears could burst with the numerous side talks, jeers and scoffs he was getting. He didn't even know how to handle. One part of him thought of fighting back but the other part just seized with undue anxiety, making it a load for him to even concentrate on getting to the empty seat at the extreme of the space. His mind gave different responses as he struggled to keep his ear from influencing his movement decisions. He bent his head, keeping his eyes to the ground thinking that would help. Without looking, he crashed into an incoming wine waiter.

“Woah”

Thanks to the waiters good grip, only a few glasses came off the tray. Alistair caught one.

“I'm so sorry sir”

“Keep your eyes up will you?” The waiter reprimanded as she walked away to where the bartender's space was.

“Just the kind of attention you were avoiding”

Now the whole place seemed to be boring into his past, present and future.

“Sorry, excuse me”, his quiet voice came, too loud for awkward silence that had rest on the crowd. Feeling to awkward, he stumbled and the contents of his wine glass spilled.

The sudden gasp in the crowd only made the situation worse.

For a moment, Alistair couldn't believe what he had done.

“Oh my God”

He quickly took out hisht

 “I am so, so sorry sir. I…”

Before his sentence could end, Alistair received a hard slap across his face, almost sending him across the floor.

Another unified gasp was caught the silence

“Who let in this peasant of a boy here?! Huh? Who?!”, his uncle's voice thundered in the silent space.

“Peasant of a boy?”

“Oh my God! President sir, I am gravely sorry”, a certain lady said as she came running in. She ordered the boys with her to take off his coat.

“President? His uncle?”

“How did this happen?”, she whispered to one of the security guys near him. He pointed his hand to Alistair and the lady turned her head to see who it was.

Her expression couldn't have been more surprised. Without saying it, you could already guess what was on her mind.

“Alistair Bane?”

In a matter of seconds, another coat, that seemed to have been tailored specifically for him came.

“Don't just stand there! Get this thing out of my sight!”

“Uncle?”, Alistair said, his still voice loud enough in the cold silence. Charlie's eyes glared fiercely at him as if to say again - “How dare this peasant?”

“Where's the damned security?!”, Charlie said instead.

Security couldn't have been any faster as they came running into the scene.

“Uncle… Uncle Charlie.. it's me. Your nephew”

“Get this thing out of here!”, he declared, walking away angrily as he approached the inner room door near the raised platform.

The security approached Alistair but Alistair stepped back, not comprehending why his uncle didn't seem to want to acknowledge him.

“I'm Alistair Bane… I'm…”

“Sir, please.. you are going to have to follow us”, the security guys said, coming to either side of him.

“I’m Alistair Bane… don't…. Don't!”

“Sir…”

“Don't lay your freaking hands on me!”

Alistair resisted but that only made the situation worse. They grabbed him by his hands and he worthless  tried to get away from their grip.

“Let me go! Let me go!”

They took him out and into the elevator. At the ground floor, he was thrown out of the hotel's gate.

“He's banned”, one of the security guys declared to the men at the gate.

“We shouldn't see him inside”

Kate clutched her small, fake gold plated purse, embarrassment washing over her as the murmurs grew louder, seeming to automatically switch their topic of discussion to the Wilde's.

“So much for adopting such a brat, Kate”, the lady besides her said.  The lady was the wife of the director of Voxx Networks and Kate could have begged the ground to open up on her at that very moment.

 Elara on the other hand was busy taking pictures with Glockeran Michelle and could have chosen to act like she didn't care if her group of friends didn't stop her to ask. Call them frenemies at that.

“Isn't that your betrothed husband Elara?”

“Claire please. Not today”

The others laughed lightly and Claire giggled because she knew she had done it on purpose.

“What? What's the harm in asking?”

“Nothing really, is there?”, Elara replied sarcastically.

“And how's our friend Caleb?”

Claire's mood suddenly dimmed. “I don't know what you are talking about”

“Oh I have pictures Claire”, she said, taking her phone up. Claire's face suddenly turned white with fear and shock and she tried to quickly cover up so the others wouldn't notice. Elara shifted closer to her.

“And you had better pray to God that I don't post them”, she whispered, walking away with an annoyed expression on her face. She put her phone to her ear, dialling her mother's number.

“Let's leave. I wanna go home”, Elara said dictactively.

“What do you mean honey? The event just star…”

“Hasn’t your little orphan boy disgraced you enough mother? Let's go before we become the headlines of tomorrow's news!”

She hung up rudely as she made her way to the elevator. She soon got to the car which had come round to the front of the building to pick them up.

“I shouldn't have to say it you dumb thing. Get out of the car! You couldn't have chosen another way to embarrass could you?!”

Alistair came down from the limousine and Elara got in, slamming the door shut without the chauffeur's help.

The car zoomed off and so did the Wilde's too. Kate's side eyes were enough to tell him that he'd probably have to take a cab to get home. He got outside the building premises, only for the rain to start drizzling. This, coupled with what awaited him at home, he probably considered this one of the worst days of his life.

Smack!

He hadn't even finished closing door as he walked in.

“What was that foolish stunt you pulled up at the Voxx meeting? Huh? What was that?!”, Mr. Wilde thundered, his voice echoing throughout the house.

“Everyday, you discover new ways to be more and more of a disgrace. Just look at the embarrassment you caused us! It's like you are cursed!”, Kate added, her words cutting through Alistair like a knife.

“I don't even what to do this anymore”, Elara said.

“Sign the papers”