Shortly after Iris had gone to her father in a much better mood, Clara Yates arrived to greet her guests, holding onto the arm of her son with a very infectious smile on her lips.
Everyone's attention was now drawn to the young man that appeared beside Clara. Her son had arrived now, and many people wanted to meet and speak to him. However there was no crowd around them like the ones she usually saw at other banquets where guests flocked the sides of the most popular or influential. Everyone stayed at their spot, pretending to be engrossed in other conversations, but were watching the mother and son duo very carefully.
It looked quite amusing when they did it to someone else for some reason.
Iris observed this from afar with her father who was also staring at Them, but then was pretending to speak to an important business owner about the operations at Sunsett.
Some people went directly to greet them when they first arrived. She had the mind to do same, but decided against it in the end. her father had also agreed for similar reasons to her.
Firstly, because it might come off as desperate. Not that she was waiting for Clara to greet her herself, it was just that there would be a better opportunity to do so. Clara would come to greet them her self when she was ready. Walking up to her might diminish her impression of Iris now.
That woman did not do things for no reason. Iris was fairly certain that Clara wanted to speak to her.
The second reason was that well, she wanted to look at her to-be fiance, if everything went well from a distance for a while before she had to speak to him.
She had to admit.... she was a bit nervous. How was he like? Would they even get along well? She really could not imagine marrying someone who she could not speak to properly. It would not only be awkward, but also unhappy for both of them in the end.
Or they could come to an agreement to stay out of each other's space and only show up together for appearances. That could work for the benefit of the two of them.
She still stood by what she said when she told her friend Pierce that she would not fall for him, but she hoped to at least have a amicable relationship with him. That way, they both could be comfortable around each other.
Looking at him now, she had to admit to herself that he looked quite handsome, even from afar. His hair was blonde, quite unlike most of the other members of the Yates family, who were all dark haired. His had a beautiful smile as well, very similar to his mother's. He was tall and had a lean build, and the white suit he wore for the occasion suited him very well.
At that moment, he turned and looked in her direction. Their eyes met, and he tilted his head curiously.
This was the second time this happened today!
Iris stretched her lips in a very pale imitation of a smile, then looked away with embarrassment.
Did the children of the Yates family have some kind of built in antenna for when people looked at them? It not only happened once, but twice, twice in one day!
She looked down, and started to observe the details of her purse with great attention. She had not noticed how many detailed patterns were woven into it, since it all was done in the same color.
She did not want to look up, so she kept on staring at her purse aimlessly. As a result, she was a bit startled to hear her father speak to her.
"You know Iris, it is quite cute that you still do that. You found something very random to look at extensively when you had done something bad when you were younger. I did not know you still did that."
Iris was a bit stunned. Her father had never said anything like that, or brought up her childhood in a long time. These days their conversations were more perfunctory and civil, especially since she did not live at the Clayton family home anymore.
"That's not true, I never did that, and I have not done anything wrong." Iris said, then looked away quickly.
Her father however, looked even more amused.
"That was always your answer as well."
At that moment, she was surprised by her strong desire to pout at him. She however caught herself before she did and looked down. She could not falter around him no matter what. He did not care about her at all. If he did, everything that had happened would not have happened. He would have not allowed it. he would have protected her like he did with Ivy countless times.
Whatever bond they had in the past was forever sealed in her childhood forever. she had no trust for him anymore. All that trust was broken into tiny pieces many years ago.As she did not respond to him, the silence that hung around the table was quite awkward. She heard her father sigh quietly, then proceed to make a phone call to someone.
She began to feel a bit guilty, but shoved it down her throat. She now began to study the floral pattern on the tablecloth unconsciously.
The table remained silent.
Fortunately, around that moment, she noticed the mother and son duo walking towards the cocktail table she stood at with her father. She felt the gazes of so many people wash over her again, this time with a stronger intensity. She somehow managed to look nonchalant about it though, she could not afford to break down after all.
She was nervous, but tried to keep her shoulders relaxed, as it would have been a telltale sign that she was nervous. Her father noticed as well, and placed his hand over hers. When he squeezed her hand, She could feel the excitement and expectation he tried to bottle up with a calm and composed smile.
It was all about to start.