He was Almost Absorbed by the System

Chapter One Hundred and Sixteen - The Stepmother's Grievance

Hamilton Halls was an old estate that had been refurbished into a hotel and now held four stars. It was a beautiful redbrick building with three floors to the main house and two to each wing of the property. It had stunning landscaped grounds and many original features. But as much as it treasured these ties to it's history, there was a clean modern feel throughout the hotel, giving the lobby, dining areas and rooms a sense of light and space.

Further into the grounds, beyond the straight paths that lead past blossoming flower beds and water features, was what used to be the private church for the Halls historic Lords. Also built of the same brick, the church retained its colourful stained glass murials and large arched oak doors. It's steeple also remained intact. However, the guts of the building had been carved out and the internal structure was just a single, spacious hall, with white plastered walls. The seating there in was elegant sofa's and chairs. There were several small tables beside the seating areas and a small curved bar in one corner. Occasionally, the seating would change, depending on what use the hall was put to, such as for weddings or wedding receptions. But as now it was for an engagement party, the furniture was entirely suitable.

Waiters and a bartender had been hired for the night and the guests were slowly beginning to fill the room. Mr and Mrs Miller were greeting guests with much enthusiasm once they were admitted, for not a single person was able to enter without their invitation to hand. Karl Jackson and his future bride were also greeting people, but the young man was not revealing such positive vibes, although the girl attached to his arm appeared quite radiant. This was the scene as witnessed by two guests that were not expected by the Millers. It just so happened that one of the guests shared both name and blood, so it was not as if they could turn him away without causing a scene. That did not mean that there would not be words.

Owen had used his allowance (something his father sent monthly for food and clothing, the credit card Owen had used simply for convenience) for the two suits, telling Adam that he could consider the suit 'borrowed' if he didn't like the idea that his boyfriend had purchased the high end suit for him. That the 'borrowed' suit happened to fit him perfectly and would drown the person who purchased it was irrelevant. The two young men had experiences of being of the elite in their past, so they ordinarily would have blended in with this elite crowd. Unfortunately, with Adam's looks and build, the man could hardly be considered ordinary. He wore a black Italian suit with a burgundy shirt, in comparison to Owen's tan suit and black shirt.

The Miller's did not greet their blood relation immediately, in fact poor Mark was summoned and flinched as his mother spoke angry words into his ear. He completely could accept Owen's claims from his mother's harsh dismissal of the boy, so appeared quite sour when he came over to 'welcome' the two men on his parents behalf. Karl simply looked over his glass of wine at the two men from a distance, not saying a word. In fact, if he had not seen a photo of the smaller man in his father's wallet, he would not have known who he was.

Mark looked up at Adam, he shared his brother's near average height. "I didn't expect that he would be your plus one," Mark said to his brother.

"And why would he not be?" Owen asked, slightly testily. "No one will automatically assume the relation between us is intimate, so I am not doing wrong and 'embarrassing' the family."

"No," Mark agreed. "I guess I just assumed that you might bring a girl for... appearances sake. I don't have any problems with your choice of partner, believe me." He had friends in university who were openly gay, the beautiful lilies is what the girls had been nicknamed. Many a fool had hoped to 'straighten' them out, only Ginnie was a black belt... they were not bothered so much anymore. Mark had never entertained dating them to begin with, he liked them because they didn't point out his lack of height!