“How could she?” Alana asked, not expecting an answer. She stared open mouthed in horror as she read the caption underneath the picture of her and Gus kissing. “Has our princess Alana found her prince in Gus Attracelli? Or is Ms. Alana, the ice princess, just another in a long line of mistresses from our handsome Gus? We’re all waiting to see!”
Alana wasn’t sure what to do. She looked up at her father, but all he did was chuckle at her expression again. “Don’t look at me,” he said, raising his arms up in the air as if she were holding a gun to him. “I didn’t take the picture.”
“I didn’t even see her!”
“Obviously,” Ed said, laughing again. He was delighted. He knew Gus Attracelli and liked the man, respected him even. What was more, he had never seen his daughter so rattled. It was a good sign. She’d wrapped herself up in her charity work and his social whirl so much he didn’t know if she saw that life was passing her by. He knew her divorce after her disastrous, one month marriage had hit her hard. She’d never failed so miserably at anything in her life. He wasn’t sure if she’d ever failed at anything, miserably or otherwise.
“This is horrible!” she said again, her hand covering her mouth as she stared at the picture, embarrassed that her father, and the rest of the world, had seen her awful indiscretion.
“Why is it so horrible? People kiss each other all the time. Some get photographed. Others don’t,” he said philosophically.
Alana shook her head. “But those other people aren’t trying to find funding for children who desperately need the help. How am I supposed to seriously ask someone for funding when I act like a trollop?”
“A trollop? Isn’t that a little harsh? You were kissing the man. What’s the harm in that?” he took a sip of coffee, thoroughly enjoying his daughter’s rare show of emotion. She was always so calm, so in control of every situation.
Right now, her cheeks were flushed, her eyes were sparkling and she’d never looked so lovely, he thought to himself. He didn’t dare say that out loud. He didn’t think his always-appropriate daughter would appreciate the extra coloring.
“Well, it seems to me that you have two options,” Ed said.
“What’s that?:” she said, leaning back in her chair, her hands covering her eyes.
“One – you can move to China where probably no one has seen that picture. Or two, you can go out and date the man publicly, get to know him, kiss him more openly and not always behind the bushes, even though those bushes look very nice and private…”
“Stop, dad! You aren’t helping,” she cried.
Ed just laughed harder. It wasn’t easy to rile Alana so he was taking full advantage of this moment.
“I’ll see what flights are available to China, then,” he said and chuckled, picking up his newspaper and flipping the pages straight.
Alana stormed off the patio, leaving her coffee and fruit behind.
Six days later, Alana took another glass of lemonade and smiled at the couple talking to her. She had no idea what they were saying. She felt like she was about to jump out of her skin each time she heard a deep voice, thinking it would be Gus.
The garden party was in full swing. The September afternoon was perfect with a beautiful sunny sky, low humidity and a gentle breeze that was just strong enough to cool down the guests without causing havoc with the table cloths. Alana was grateful for the cooler weather. September days in Washington, D.C. were unpredictable. They could be just like an August summer afternoon with all the heat and humidity making everything sticky and miserable. Or they could be cool, bright, sunny and delightful, just as they were today.
A whole week had passed since her escapade in the bushes with Gus Attracelli. Six days since she’d opened up the paper to see her embrace plastered in the gossip columns. Ever since that silly picture, it was all people talked about. She needed to discuss donations to the school house or companies that would sponsor mentors for tutoring for her kids. She didn’t need to talk about being kissed at some silly party.
“Dear, where’s that handsome man you were with the other night?” Elaine Peabody asked, a smile on her face. Alana didn’t want to offend the elderly lady but the idea of throwing her lemonade at the woman’s face jumped to mind. Elaine was about sixty five years old and wore flowery dresses to every function with a hat to match. She twirled her pearl necklace as she looked around at the other guests with a sweet, benign smile.
Alana’s smile froze on hers. Again! Didn’t anyone else do something silly that they regretted the next morning? “I don’t know. I haven’t seen him since that party,” Alana replied as politely as possible. That was three inquiries in the past hour.
Todd Peabody chuckled. “I can’t imagine Gus letting someone like you loose without him. I know Gus and he’s a great guy. You couldn’t do better.”
“We don’t have any serious plans to see each other again,” Alana said, feeling ridiculous that she’d been caught kissing someone one night, then explaining that she wasn’t very interested in him afterwards.
“You go get him,” Elaine said, completely ignoring Alana’s claim that they weren’t seeing each other again. “He’s a very fine catch. You can’t do better than Gus.”
Alana wanted to scream at the woman and all the rest of the guests she’d spoken to today. Don’t any of them understand that she and Gus were never a couple and never would be? “If you’ll excuse me, I need to speak to my father,” Alana said, her lips pursed to keep herself from yelling. She forced a s smile to her face and tried to appear outwardly calm but she was furious inside. Seething in fact.
Her whole reputation, everything she stood for, was now in shambles because of one kiss. One kiss that she had let get out of control and now everyone was talking about.
Stepping into the shade of a tall, old oak tree, Alana let the cool wind calm her temper. She fought for control as the breeze picked up the wispy chiffon of her lemon yellow dress. The layers of chiffon overlapped, forming a soft silhouette. She wished she felt as calm as she hoped she looked but doubted it was possible since her stomach was clenching in her frustration.
Reminding herself of the desperate need for computers at the orphanage, she dove right back into the party, intending to speak to Mac Sweeney, a software company owner that might have some old computers that he could donate.