Lost Royalty

Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Party preparations had taken control over everyone's lives, and the village had never before had so much activity. Everyone was full of excitement, and as the day of the party crept closer, it was clear that it would be a wonderful evening.

With everyone so busy, James had taken a full time job of helping Oscar Pavey with the planning of the party. This was the reason that he was sat in the mayor's office having worked for hours with no break. He had been working on the guest list, checking that everyone who was invited had accepted.

"James, is everyone coming to the party?" Mr Pavey asked.

"I'm just checking over the last few names, but I think so, Mr Pavey." He replied, completely lost in the names on the list.

"I don't know how many time have I told you this, James, please call me Oscar." He said, not glancing up from his papers.

"Sorry," James muttered sheepishly.

"It's wonderful that everyone can come though," Oscar said.

"Oh, I completely forgot," James exclaimed. "I was talking to Elle Winters and she said that she isn't coming."

"What? Why?" Oscar asked, looking up from his papers.

"She said that she doesn't really like social situations." He answered, keeping the promise that he had made to Elle.

"There was always likely to be that one!" Oscar sighed, and turned back to his papers.

"Do you think that you will be able to bring her here to see me? I should check that it definitely isn't her." Oscar asked.

"I don't think so, her father is pretty strict and I don't think he'd allow it," James was trying to keep the details to a minimum.

"What's her story?" Oscar asked, grabbing Elle's papers.

"She lives with her father. Her mother died in an accident. I think they moved here when she was about 6 or 7, I'm not too sure." He answered, trying to respect Elle by not giving away too many details.

Oscar spent the next few minutes looking over the papers.

"It all adds up," Oscar said, "Her mother was called Maria Winters. The mayor said that they moved here because their last house reminded them too much of her."

"At least that's one girl down then," James said, trying to look on the bright side of the situation.

Truthfully James was really sad that Elle would not be going to the party. He couldn't stop thinking about the afternoon that they had gone for a walk, and it always brought a smile to his face.

He was actually quite disappointed that Oscar had let it go so easily. He had almost hoped that Oscar would insist on Elle's company at the party, even if it was unlikely to happen.

"I need you to take these down to the village hall, James." Oscar said, holding a rather large bag. "The decorations committee will be sure to want them sooner rather than later."

It was only one week until the party, so the village hall was currently being decorated. No doubt it would be the most beautiful that it ever had been. It seemed that no expense was being spared.

James walked over and picked up the bag. The village hall wasn't far, but the bag was really heavy so he walked at a slow pace through the cobblestone streets.

When he arrived, he found Mrs Trivilla, the lady in charge of decorating.

She was a strong willed lady, with a high social standing. She was a well feared woman in the village. Nobody wanted to be caught on the wrong side of her.

"Thank you, James dear," She said, with an overly bright and completely fake smile as she took the bag.

As James was leaving, he was called back by one of the village girls.

"James," she called.

He turned around and looked at her. "Hi Delilah" he said, with a tight smile.

She began to approach him, and when she'd gotten too close for his liking, she finally stopped.

"Won't you help us put up the decorations?" She asked, placing a hand on his arm and fluttering her eyelashes. "We need someone who is tall as we can't quite reach."

James couldn't stand Delilah. She was overly flirty and would never leave him alone. She had had a crush on him for years now, and what he thought at first would go away, had stayed. It seemed that  the only one who couldn't see that he didn't like her back was herself.

He tried to take a step away from her, but her grip on his arm was too tight.

He was about to say no and turn around, when he noticed all of the girls watching him. He looked at Delilah and back to the other girls.

"Please James," Delilah said looking up at him.

James didn't want to let them down, and the request for help seemed honest enough. Besides, Delilah wouldn't try anything with all of the other girls there.

"Okay, fine." He finally said with a sigh. "But I only have a couple of minutes."

"Oh, thank you," Delilah squealed, and grabbed his hand to pull him away from the other girls and into a far corner of the room. Perhaps he was wrong about her not trying anything.

James helped her put up the decorations, although he was made very uncomfortable at times.

When he was done, he turned to leave only to be stopped once again.

"You will save me a dance, won't you?" Delilah asked, fluttering her eyelashes once again. Her hand was on her arm, and when James tried to pull it away her grip tightened.

"I'll see what I can do," he replied in a stiff voice, wanting to be as far from her as he could be.

He wanted to turn her down, but it would be extremely impolite, and no doubt the whole village would be talking about his rudeness.

"Promise me, James!" she said, smiling up to him.

"Fine." he said.

She finally reaches him and he quickly fled from the building, not before missing the grin sent his way from Mrs Trivilla, Delilah's mother.

It seemed that Delilah's hopes of catching James' attention was passed down from her mother, who clearly wanted James as a son in law.

James didn't think he would survive having her as a mother. Even thinking about it sent a shiver through his body.

James was glad to escape from the village hall, even though it meant another few hours stuck in the small office, pouring over paper work.