"Where is she? I absolutely cannot deal with naughty Nova, not today Elijah." Julia asked bad-temperedly.
The Knox's were probably on their way and would be arriving very soon and she had spent all of the day ensuring that everything was perfect so she had not had any time to check on her niece but she had sent an appropriate outfit up, she would have like to run up to check on her but she did not want to move even an inch away from supervising before one of the servants made a mistake that could not be repaired.
"Calm down Julia, she has not left the house and I have let her know that on absolutely no account is she going to skip this dinner. Nothing will go wrong." Elijah reassured her.
He had a very willful daughter who liked to do things her own way and usually he was amenable to her antics but this time since she had been the one to stir the pot she would have to eat what was being served no matter how unpleasant the menu was.
"You have done a great job Julia, I really do not know how I would have coped without you." He said looking around at the freshly cut flowers in vases and all the finishing touches his siter had done in preparation for the guests.
"Let us hope that you will never have to find out." Julia said haughtily and adjusted his tie before scurrying off to adjust the placement of cutlery on the table.
She stood still for the first time in the whole day and surveyed the dinning room with a pleased smile, the oval table with fourteen chairs was laid with a lilac brocade table runner and green place settings, the center piece was an elaborate formation of purple hydrangeas, lilac chrysanthemums and cream orchids. She had opted for the gold rimmed green Verde dinner set along with Cristal D'Arques-Durand glassware to compliment the mint green dinning chairs.
It was imperative that the Knox family know that Nova was not coming from a hungry family, The Addisson family might be going through rough times but once upon a time they had eaten the richest of foods and wined and dined with the wealthiest people in society. Desperation turned people off and it could be smelled away. Julia was thankful for the opportunity to show off her hosting skills, it had been too long since she had had anyone worth entertaining.
With any luck today's dinner would be a success, she could just imagine being catapulted back to the top of society and no longer being a has been and she smiled a self congratulatory smile. Julia began to head up the stairs muttering to herself about Nova who had been given the singular task of getting dressed appropriately and coming down to wait for their esteemed guests was still not ready.
"Ms Julia, the guests have arrived." One of the maids ran and came to a stop at the bottom of the stairs.
"They are here?" and right on time too, it pleased Julia that the Knox's seemed to be taking all this very seriously even after the way her niece had acted.
"Has someone gone to inform Elijah?" Julia asked as she turned back and started to come down the stairs.
"Yes ma'am." The maid said.
"Okay hurry and inform Nova, tell her to come down this instant." Julia said and headed towards the door where she met her brother already waiting at the door.
She patted her hair and fidgeted as she waited for their guests to come through the open door.
"You look great Julia, there is no need to be nervous." Elijah said gently.
"Of course I look great, that is not what I am concerned about, I just hope that Nova is on her best behavior tonight, I have put in so much work and we have too much riding on this." Julia said and a frown descended on Elijah's face.
He did not have anymore time to ponder on Julia's words when Callie Knox came in looking immaculate in a cream coloured Classic tweed Chanel suit and a pearl choker, after her came her daughter Faye along with her husband Ethan and last came Caden.
After pleasantries were exchanged they were led to the dining room where they sat around the table with Elijah at the head of the table.
"Thank you so much for accepting my invitation. Nova will be with us shortly but while we wait i enjoin you to enjoy the bottle of Bordeaux I have been saving for a moment such as this and I hope…"
"… Nova took the stamp that I had been intent on buying and she refused to give it to me, I believe that is why she ran away from my house. Mother says that I will have to share my things with Nova because we are to get married." Caden said imperviously.
"Caden! What have I said about speaking without filter?" Callie asked in embarrassment and turned to Elijah.
"I am so sorry, he really does not mean any harm, he just has problems with impulse control." She apologized.
Elijah looked In bemusement at Caden who was still looking expectantly at him and said kindly.
"I see that you are an ardent collector just like myself, I have been collecting stamps for many years now, when we are done with supper we can go and have a look at my collection then you can have this stamp that you like so much."
"Why don't we go right now? Everyone can wait since Nova is not here yet." Caden said.
"You will do no such thing Caden, that is impolite." Callie scolded strictly "…I apologize Mr Addison, don't encourage him."
"You can call me Elijah and I do not have a problem with offering my future son-in-law a gift we both enjoy… But only after we have enjoyed this lovely feast that my sister worked so hard on." He said to Caden with a gentle smile.
Julia glanced nervously in the direction of the door wondering what was holding Nova up and when she was going to make an appearance, she felt a sense of doom. Who knew what mischief that child had decided to get up to this time? She was quite predictable and she liked to go out of her way to shock people with her behavior.
She decided to get up and drag Nova down if she had to when her eyes widened.
"Oh welcome everyone, I am so sorry that I have taken so long to get down, I was getting ready." Nova said with a devious grin.
She had on a black mesh crop top that showed the numerous tattoos on her midriff and arms, ripped jeans with massive military boots, grunge makeup and hair that had streaks of green and red colour. She carelessly slunk over as everyone stared at her and sat in a seat ignoring the shocked looks on everyone's faces with a contented smile on her face.