Holding on to Old ways- 2

Dear Alex,

Do you remember the banquets that mother used to organize? Yes, I bet you do. How could you not? They were the delight of your life and the tragedy to mine. Nothing much has changed when it comes to that section, I still hate going to Mother's banquets. But she insists I come.

“It's the Annual Council Fundraiser Banquet, there is absolutely no way you cannot attend.”,she exclaimed the other day. When she gave me the traditional do-not-cross-me-young-lady look, I couldn't find any other excuse to get out of the situation. If you saw Reyna now, you would be proud. In your absence, she has really taken up the whole dressing me up scenario. I'm suffering, so that should speak of her excellence already.

Reyna happily whistled away to Hunter Hayes's Wanted as she pulled and pinned Tori's raven black hair. Her hair had been the envy of the Reyna's eye ever since kindergarten, when they met first. It had all began when a silly little boy of 5 had dared to tug at Tori's black locks. He had had his hand thwacked away by a daring Reyna who had jumped in to rescue what she called the 'Wonder hair'. To date, Reyna refused to let anyone other than herself touch Tori's beautiful hair. Even the hairdresser had to get through the strenuous process of interrogation before any form of appliance or instrument of hair dressing came near the 'Wonder hair'.

The last pull of the curling-iron had finally broken down Tori's resolve. She exclaimed in exasperation, “Ouch Rey. Can you leave it already?”

The brunette who had already turned herself into a Disney princess, playfully slapped her Tori's hand away before returning to the flowing cascade that was her hair. With a last desperate movement, Rey slipped in a white rose before stepping back to adore her masterpiece.

“There. Done”,she urged a nervous tori to look in the vanity mirror by the bed.

A beautiful maiden with flowing black hair in loose curls, dressed in a gown of purest white stared back at Tori from the mirror. For a second she refused to believe it was her. But the familiar tilt of her chin, that she had inherited from her mother, told her that this wasn't a dream.

She turned back to hug Rey in gratitude, but was stopped by long nails digging into her shoulder.

“No ruining my masterpiece dearie”,her friend tutted her. Shaking her head at the infantile act, Tori backed away and sat down to wait for her friend to finish.

Rey took her sweet time fluffing her hair to the desired volume and then smoothing the rest of her gown. Wearing a sky-blue Zara gown that Mrs. Rister had gifted her, Rey looked like a princess out of the next Disney movie. Tori wanted to inform her friend just how beautiful she looked, but she knew she would be shushed away with a flimsy excuse, so she decided she'd let the young men in the lawn do the work.

“Just smile and pass plate little one. No extra for anybody. You understand?”, Pedro quizzed the little boy who had been asked to help him in serving the guests that evening. His fierce face coupled with the rough voice had scared the boy out of his wits, he nodded urgently at the information he was given.

Looking over at the lawn which had been decorated for this special occasion, he spotted Martha by the door welcoming the prestigious guests. He had anticipated some high-class upstate people of the town. But the amount of bling at this banquet had put Pedro on edge, hence the incessant barking.

“Listen everybody. This is an exceptionally important banquet. Mr. Rister will be flying all the way from London for this and I do NOT want any mishaps. Is that understood?”,Mrs. Rister had lectured the servants before the banquet began. Martha and the girls had only nodded solemnly before turning their backs and letting out a giggle. Tori's mother had always been an uptight no-funny-buisness kind of woman. But after the death of her beloved elder daughter Alexandra, her harsh behaviour had been amplified to near OCD levels. She often mused about the little spots on the kitchen floor or how squeaky the doors had become. Sometimes she even took mid-night walks in the mansion's backyard, simply because her mind was 'troubled'. Even though it worried Tori to no end, she had taken to laughing on slight things like this with Rey. Otherwise, she would have fallen dead by now.

“Ah Miss Astoria. Finally you are here. I recall your mother expecting your arrival near the stage.”, Martha instructed as the two girls stepped down from the staircase. Tori acknowledged her with a curt nod before dragging Rey by the hand to the courtyard. Her designer courtyard had been turned into a scenery out of 'Alice in Wonderland' by the extremely costly designers that were specially hired for this occasion. Bouquets of white roses hung on the ledges as she tried to walk in her 3-inch wedges that Rey insisted she wear.

Cursing the gods of shoes, she reached the foot of the stage where her mother was deep in conversation with a young man in an expensive seeming suit. His hair gelled perfectly into place, he stood by his slightly tanned friend who was nodding politely at her mother's words. Maybe it was the honey brown hair or the tattoo peeking behind his thumb, but Tori strode confidently, knowing exactly who this man was.

“Astoria, My favourite Rister. Come here”,the man instructed as he turned to look at Tori striding towards him with a rare smile on her face. Running into his embrace, she felt the long-lost feeling of joy bubbling inside her heart. She steeped out of the embrace to examine the man who could have been her brother-in-law.

“You came? It's really nice to see you again Samuel”,Tori turned to her mother who had a similar look of restored happiness on her face. Samuel Johnson, was an acquaintance of the Rister's from long ago. Mrs. Rister had pestered Alex to no end, honing her to at least give the guy a chance, but Alex had remained undeterred. Until, she had bumped into him in Cairo's biggest dance club. The surprise of seeing them had taken the family by storm when the duo had returned hand in hand from the deserted land, exclaiming that they wanted to get married. Moved by tears, Mrs. Rister had agreed at the drop of a hat, but Mr. Rister had ensured Sam have a steady job before he set his daughter's life in his hands. That is how almost five years later, Sam had become a part of the Rister family as the head of Rister Oil companies. But fate didn't hold that statement true. Alex had died months before they could tie the knot.

In her time of distress, he had been the only one with pain to rival her own. That is why, even now, Tori couldn't leave his side in the crowd of bejeweled people. Somehow she sought comfort in the love that they had shared for Alex.

Noticing the expression of dear love that had just taken place among the Rister family, one young man had chosen to silently witness the whole act, before his companion decided to introduce him to the rest of the party.

“Tori, Reyna, Cecelia, this is my cousin and new colleague Jeremiah Gerard.”,Reyna shot ahead to take his hand while Tori looked upon them with humor-filled eyes. She knew her best-friend was a sucker for romance. Often that resulted in her boy-crazy counterpart to burst forth and claim the day, like right now. She didn't mind at most times, but if Rey wasn't stopped at this very moment, she was going to embarrass herself thoroughly. She extended a hand and pulled Reyna back gently, giving her friend a quizzical look, the love-lost girl turned her eyes back onto the gorgeous Jeremiah.

“Well I say, hallelujah. He is too hot”,Reyna sang at a hushed tone in Tori's ears. Her cheeks heating up at the mention of this comment, she looked up to see Jeremiah's eyes on her constantly. Jeremiah had then shook hands with all three, before Mrs. Rister curtly took her leave after informing the 'kids' to take a seat and relax. The group had moved chatting and laughing to the nearest table adorned with a white table-cloth and a vase full of lilies. Tori's eyes had locked onto the vase for longer time than needed, but she had noticed that the lilies had had the same effect on Sam, how could they forget?

“She loved lilies”,Sam whispered. Tori nodded her head slightly before taking her seat next to Jeremiah, who had requested her to call him 'Jer'.

“So Jer, what do you do?”, Reyna questioned enthusiastically, her hands were propped on the table and her eyes were glued to his. He glanced around the table uncomfortably before returning to Reyna and answering her query.

“Well I'm supposed to intern for Sam on his next project.”

At the mention of the project, Sam choked on his champagne, before glaring at Jer and setting the glass down.

“Well, thanks Jer, now there isn't any surprise left to share huh?”,he hissed at his friend who was now staring back at him sheepishly while his hands rubbed behind his neck. He shrugged his shoulders in apology before turning to Tori.

“What surprise Sam?”, she asked. Her eyes had furrowed in concentration, and her hands were neatly folded on her lap. Jer had been captured immediately by her looks, but he knew nothing about the girl. But that didn't stop him from wanting to.

“Well Uh....”,Sam looked at Jer for help.

“We are going to Dubai to check out the new oil digging site”,Jer said, as he sat back in his chair. Sam looked at him, bewildered that the surprise that he had tried so hard to build up had been broken like a clay pot in a matter of seconds, by his own colleague nonetheless. He nudged his foot under the table and gave him a good glare before turning back to an quizzical looking tori.

“Dubai?”,Reyna gasped. The eyes of three different people turned to her as she exclaimed in joy and excitement.

“Well, I probably was mistaken, but I thought I could take you two young ladies with me, you know just for winter break?”,Sam laughed, his eyes twinkling with mirth. Tori hadn't seen his eyes shine like they did now, for ages. She had truly missed that. The whole table shaking with Reyna's little happy dance brought her back to reality and the words from her dear brother-in-law finally sunk in.

Her lips tightening with determination, she replied,”No. Absolutely not.”

“But Tori, why?”,Reyna whined next to her like a toddler, she shut her friend up with an icy glare before turning to Sam.

“Oh C'mon Tori, just for winter break. Dubai is wonderful at this time of year. And I'm sure Cecelia doesn't want you rotting at home.”

“No”,Tori whispered, “I'm not going anywhere. I have better things to do other than traveling around the world”

“Shut up Tori, Sam we are coming.”,Reyna shushed Tori before turning to her new idol. Dubai? The famous land of golden Arabs and beautiful sunshine? She couldn't believe her ears, Sam had ASKED her to come along. This was once in a lifetime chance. She wasn't going to let her delusional friend ruin it for the both of them.

“No, please Rey. I'm sorry Sam. But I can't”,Tori whispered before pushing her chair back and walking away from the table. Reyna quickly got up and trailed Tori back to the water-fountain at the back of the Rister mansion. She spied on Tori standing alone near the statue of the angel, looking up at it and hugging herself in the dim light. Reyna had played witness to many occasions when Tori acted differently, sometimes she didn't understand the reason, but she had allowed to her to get away with all of them. But this had to stop. She couldn't shut the world out forever. That was incredulous.

Reyna turned Tori around, before facing her dejected friend. She sat them down on a nearby bench and held Tori's hand.

“What's the matter Tor?”, she whispered.

Silence. Tori looked away from Reyna and blinked several times before clearing her throat and speaking.

“I just don't want to go. Its really simple. I don't. So I wont.”

Shaking her head, Rey tried again, “No, what's the real reason?”

Tori looked at Reyna, her green eyes hadn't wavered at all as they held her in a dead-set gaze.

“I don't want to travel. That seems an awful lot like Alex, Rey. I don't want to remember the times we traveled all around the globe.”,she whispered, wiping away the stray tears that had tumbled down her cheeks.

“She would always been the one begging me to come away to some new world. Exotic places with new people and different cultures, that was her thing. Not mine. But I did it, only for her. I don't want to do it again. Not without her.”

“You aren't doing it alone you know?”,Rey inquired as she tilted Tori's tear-stricken face upwards.

“Sam had to go through the same thing. It can't ever measure up to what you are feeling, but I lost someone I held dear too. She was a sister to me too. You aren't doing any of this alone. I'm here and I'm gonna be with you when we travel anywhere”

Tori turned her face away, she couldn't bare to hear the same words on repeat again and again. People had been singing the same old tale since forever now. She had grown tired of the empty comforts.

She heard her friend sigh loudly next to her.

“Fine. I tried everything. This is the only one left”.

Tori's eyes widened as Rey got down on one knee and bent her fingers under her chin before pleading with her best set of puppy-dog eyes.

“Astoria Rister. I'm dying out here to get out of this dump of a city. Can you please just get your a*s to Dubai with me? Pweaasseeee?”

A chuckle escaped her lips as Rey continued to shake her hand vigorously under her chin, she knew the battle was lost so she let out a sigh and accompanied Rey back to the party.