Country Club Living - Rafe Cameron

Chapter Two - Dinner

As always, the Rutherford family were heading to the country club for dinner for their first night in Kildare. This usually consisted of some awkward hellos to people that Ivy didn't know and her dad disappearing to have 'business talks' with some of the other men there, leaving her with her mother. Ivy loved her mother, she definitely got on better with her than her father, but it was almost like she resented Ivy slightly. They were very similar, a carbon copy of one another but instead of being born into a wealthy family like theirs, Alexis was brought up on The Cut. That's right, her mother was a former Pogue, she had been good friends with Ward growing up and when Ward started to make something of himself he introduced her to Leo and their relationship grew from there, she was brought into a life of luxury and left behind the little family she had left. It was unintentional but it still happened. Alexis harboured a lot of jealously toward her daughter, because she had the opportunities that she didn't, and it didn't really seem like Ivy was interested.

"You should do something with your hair, it looks crazy" Leo laughed

Ivy looked over to her mother, wanting nothing more than back up, the comment about her natural hair pissing her off even more than the thought of the boy across at Tanneyhill but her mother stayed silent, sipping her martini gently.

Ivy picked up her bag and looked at her father in the eyes "No" she said curtly before walking out and sitting in the back of the car, hoping that by some miracle the handbrake would slide down and she would roll down the drive, into the garden wall and suffer a concussion so brutal she wouldn't need to deal with the next three months. But alas the only movement next felt in the car was her parents climbing in. She mentally slapped her forehead and prepared herself for the long dinner, the comment about her hair sure to resurface at some point.

As the family pulled into the parking area Ivy's father paid for the boy at the front to park it. The weather had cooled, and Ivy felt the wind nip around her bare ankles, her sandal strap giving her minimum protection from the cold. She wore a long black satin skirt with a slit in the side and a white off the shoulder bodysuit with a black blazer wrapped around her shoulders. She dressed elegantly despite her disdain for the country club and its members. She loved fashion and looking put together.

She fiddled with her phone while her parents got their reservation sorted, they mentioned that there was not a table large enough at the moment and they would be just a minute which Ivy found strange as it was just the three of them and the club didn't look too busy. The family took seats over at the bar and were handed champagne immediately, a perk to being rich was if you were rich enough you'd stay rich because people just gave you things, that you didn't need to pay for. Leo eyed his daughter silently as she sipped at the bubbly drink tentatively.

"Don't go too wild on that stuff Ivy, you don't want to end up wrecked before dinner" he said looking around to see if anyone was looking.

Ivy just rolled her eyes at her father as she placed the glass back down on the marble coaster. After a moment she realised that a conversation from a brick wall would've been better than that of her parents and she hopped off her seat and headed to the exit, announcing to her parents sweetly that she was going to call Trevor and she would meet them at the table when she was done. A lie she used often as she knew they wouldn't question it.

On her way out of the bar area, she looked around for any watchful eyes and when she was sure there was none she swiped a bottle of champagne from an ice bucket and took a swig, carrying the bottle to the outdoor balcony area. She found an empty bench at the corner, looking over the island and parked herself on the cushions below, the bottle clutched between her perfectly manicured fingers.

"I'll show you wrecked" she mumbled to herself before taking another swig.

Staring out to the darkening sky she looked at the lights illuminating the shoreline, fancy houses similar to her one and if she looked far enough she could almost make out The Cut in the distance. She had only ever been once to the cut when her grandmother was dying. The visit was short-lived as her mother couldn't deal with the shame of abandoning her own mother like that. Ivy was young and didn't really understand what was going on but as she grew up she began to realise.

The thing with the Rutherford's was, no matter how much money they had. It would never fill the very obvious thing missing in their lives, a good family network. Alexis and Leo paid for the hospital bills but never visited again. The next time Ivy saw her grandmother was as she got lowered into the ground in a nice casket courtesy of her father, something he wouldn't let Alexis forget. Leo's family life wasn't picturesque either, a rich family but one where you speak when you're spoken to and if you're out of line you're straight to a boarding school where you really didn't want to be. Ivy's grandfather on her father's side had never taken to her, he was an old racist, classist bastard. She was just a half breed to him, half Pogue half Kook. Tarnish on the Rutherford family name.

Footsteps could be heard coming up the side of the balcony and Ivy placed the bottle down by her side to hide it, when she looked up her face turned sour.

"Pre-gaming before dinner, nice one Rutherford. You save some for me?" Rafe grinned

"All out" Ivy said, not looking in his direction

"I mean come on, the least you can do is look at me" he chuckled

"I'll pass" she shrugged, standing, and leaving the bottle at her feet

Rafe smirked "Do I make you that uncomfortable you gotta leave before the party even starts"

"I'd rather not be in the presence of assholes" she sighed, pushing her way past

"Oh yeah because going in a room with all those guys is so much better" he said grabbing the bottle and taking a swig

"None of those guys have poured a full drink over me for nothing" Ivy shrugged, heading away from the bench and into the warm dining hall.

She spotted the table her parents were at and immediately groaned. The table was set for eight people, meaning another five would have to have been joining them, as she walked closer she stopped dead in her tracks spying Ward Cameron and his wife Rose greeting her parents and sitting down at the table. She suddenly felt the presence of a certain 6'2 antichrist behind her.

"Oh you have got to be fucking kidding me" they both said in unison.