Three days after Liona's 18th birthday party, Liona hummed a happy tune as she put together a lunch for Erik. She was determined to apologize to him for forcing a kiss on him, and her mom often told her that the way to a man's heart, at least it was for her dad, was to feed them something delicious. She took those words to heart as she prepared her version of an apology lunch for him. She had consumed a new recipe book that had been given to her for her birthday from her dad, and it detailed new fun ways to make the bento lunches that she enjoyed creating. Combined with the tools to make those recipes now, she carefully put together the layers of food that spelled out, 'I'm sorry' on it.
Once she deemed her masterpiece complete, she packed it up in the matching carrying bag for it and prepared to head out. She was all dolled up and dressed finely in an evening gown, but that was because today her birthday celebration with her family was happening. For her 18th birthday, her family was hosting their family gathering in the ballroom of one of the hotels they owned. It was just one of the many places that her family had inherited after her great-great-great grand uncle had passed away.
He was famously known simply as Uncle Sylvester, and she only knew a little about him. But her family had all loved and respected the man before he apparently passed away from a cancer that was no longer without a cure. Sadly, that cure hadn't come until long after his passing, too late to save him, but that cure had been named in his honor and now had saved millions of people worldwide since its discovery.
After she dropped off this apology lunch at Erik's workplace, she needed to get to the hotel and make her grand entrance. Normally, she would have arrived with her parents, but they had insisted that they go ahead of her to make sure that the place was completely ready for her family celebration. It was a fully formal event, so that meant she had to be dressed to the nines for it.
Carefully getting into her car and making sure the skirt of her evening gown didn't get caught in the door, Liona programmed her destination as the fast-food restaurant. Erik worked at the restaurant before he would work at the grocery store later. She hoped to catch him before he left for his other job, since it was a bit harder to catch him at the grocery store, especially with that awfully harsh manager there.
It didn't take more than a couple of minutes to reach her destination, but her car had a hard time finding a spot to park in the crowded dinner rush of the restaurant. Eventually it found a clear spot and parked itself, and Liona got out carefully to not trip or snag her gown on anything. This dress had also been a birthday gift and was from her Great-Aunt Raylina. She had designed this, and it was one of a kind, so she didn't want to chance ruining the dark turquoise gown that brought out both the green and the blue of her eyes. In her matching heels, Liona carefully made her way across the parking lot and into the building.
Inside it was a crazy chaos of people ordering and noisy people talking while they ate. She had never seen it so busy before. She tried to be patient and waited in line, hoping to catch Erik on one of the registers, but she didn't immediately see him as she made her way to the front as the line slowly moved. When she finally got to the front, she was visibly disappointed to see that Erik wasn't one of the people that was manning the registers, taking orders.
"Welcome to McDermott's, what can I get started for you today?" Liona read the name tag of the person at the register, 'Georgie'.
"Um, is Erik working today? I don't see him…" Liona tried to peer behind Georgie, but most of the kitchen area was obscured by the warming area for waiting food orders, so she couldn't get a good look at who was behind him in the kitchen.
"Erik's in the back manning the grill, but we're really swamped right now, so if you're not going to order, can you come back another time? I'm really sorry, but we don't have the hands right now for anyone to take a break and cover for him. I can tell him you stopped by, though…" Georgie said. Liona knew what he was asking was only right, but it stung being told to leave.
She knew he didn't mean to make that statement hurt, but it did. She did her best to hide how much it stung right now, so she only absently nodded in agreement. She slowly turned and left the restaurant. Tears threatened as she looked up at the sky that was now as overcast as her mood. She had missed seeing Erik all weekend since she had been cooped up in the house recovering from her heat. Even though she took her suppressants, they only did so much for her pheromone output, and she knew it was better to wait until all her symptoms were clear before she went out in public. Both of her parents had ingrained this habit in her ever since she had fully presented as an omega.
With the sky threatening rain, Liona got back in her car and programmed her destination for the hotel that her celebration was happening at. She felt miserable as her thoughts were jumbled up, and she continuously fought with herself for being so stupid as to kiss Erik without his consent. No matter how mad she had been, that was no excuse for her actions. She needed to apologize and when she had tried to contact him using the phone number he gave her, there had been an incompatible device message she had gotten. That meant that she also couldn't give him the money she had promised him for missing out on work and attending her party. This bento she had made had been her latest effort to try to apologize to him.
With the sky now opening up, and it's now raining, Liona's already dark mood just got worse as she sighed. She didn't feel like celebrating right now. She loved her family and wanted to see them, but this big event they had planned for her birthday felt like they were celebrating a part of her that wasn't a mature person. She was supposed to be a mature adult now, and mature adults didn't do what she had done to Erik.
When she arrived at the hotel, her car pulled up to the valet parking, and before she could get out, a valet approached and opened her car door for her. When she got out, they got in and took her car to park it. With her evening bag in hand, Liona headed for the doors. The doorman opened the door for her, because her family believed in employing humans more than automated technology. That didn't mean that there wasn't any in the hotel, it just meant that a lot of traditional human jobs were still maintained. Inside the grand lobby, were signs that directed the Edevane, Bartley, and Hendrix families to the grand ballroom for her birthday celebration.
As she entered, the employees all welcomed her warmly as the young mistress and also directed her to the ballroom. She sighed at this treatment. She really disliked this over-the-top treatment but put up with it since she rarely ever came to the hotel. The only times she came here were for certain events she couldn't get out of, or for family milestone birthday celebrations held, such as her 18th birthday. Making her way to the ballroom, and being continuously greeted as the young mistress, really annoyed her. Couldn't they all just ignore the fact that she was from the Bartley family for one day? Her sour mood was really starting to wear on her tolerance for all this pageantry.
When she arrived at the grand ballroom, the doors were closed, and two employees stood on either side. When they saw her approaching, they bowed and then obviously made a grand hullabaloo about opening the double doors for her. She tried to smile and act like she was in a great mood, but her sourness was emanating off of her, and she could tell because one of the employees flinched as they got a good whiff of her pheromones.
Taking that as her cue to dial back her pheromones, this time she really did try to contain them. It would do her no good if her family thought she wasn't enjoying all this. They would make a huge fuss over her mood and question her endlessly. She didn't want to let anyone know that she was obsessing over what she did to her fated mate. That would only bring more questions, and then they would want to meet Erik. Erik was in no way prepared to meet her family and would likely run away screaming at their over-the-top curiosity as they badgered him continuously about his life. Of course, they would mean well, but that might not translate to Erik, who was skittish over wealthy people. Her whole family was wealthy, so it's not like she could introduce him to anyone without him freaking out.