Twenty-One

Twenty-One
Chapter One
(071029-071930)

"Are you sure I can come?" Francesca Borgia asked, frowning at her cousin as she rotated in front of her cousin's full length mirror.

"Yes." Lilith Borgia called from her en-suite bathroom, rolling her eyes while she straightened her hair.

"Are you positive?" Francesca called back as she turned to the side. She frowned at her reflection, toying with the hem of her red halter neck.

"Stop it. You look fucking fine." Lily told her, standing in the door way between her bathroom and bedroom, straightening the final section of curls left on her head.

"You don't think it's a little slutty?" She asked, drawing the tips of her fingers along the neckline. Her thumb brushed against the silver cross on the chain on her neck and Lily sniggered while Francesca turned to face her.

"It's more than a little slutty honey, but you pull it off." Lily retreated into the bathroom, turning her straightener off and spritzing her hair with after cream.

"That isn't very comforting." Francesca called back as she patted her jean-clad bottom.

"Sure it is. Jonathon's gonna see you and not give a fuck about who you are. All he's going to care about is the fact that you have nice tits." Lily unplugged her straightener as her cousin came into the bathroom, fluffing her hair as she teetered in.

"I like your shoes." Francesca told her, fluttering her long dark eyelashes at her cousin.

"What did you want?" Lily asked suspiciously as she applied her lipstick.

"Was I supposed to buy a present because, I haven't." She told her, leaning against the bathroom counter

"I already put your name on the card."

"Thanks Lily." Francesca kissed her cousins cheek before making her way out into her cousin’s bedroom.

When Lily emerged from her bathroom she found Francesca sitting on her bed, swinging her legs, her heels clacking on the bed frame. She was smiling innocently, twisting her silver chain around on her fingers.

"What?" Lily asked suspiciously.

"You're so damn suspicious. I'm just sitting here waiting." Frankie replied.

"You're plotting aren't you?"

"Maybe."

~*~*~*~

"He lives in a fucking hotel?" Francesca asked as the stepped out onto the pavement, the parking complex looming behind her while her cousin tucked a parking coupon into her purse.

"His parents own the hotel and he lives in the penthouse suite." Lily explained as she began walking up the street to the corner near the Maher Hotel complex. Her cousin followed suit, brushing her dark hair back behind her eyes as she struggled to keep up with her much taller cousin.

"What's in here?" Francesca asked, gently shaking the box she was carrying for Lily.

"Random Sci-Fi box set. I'm not sure if he'll like it, but he's weird like that." Francesca shook it again and the pair paused at the traffic lights waiting to cross the road.

The pedestrian light turned green and the both crossed the road to reach the hotel. The door man smiled at the couple as he opened the door for them, the corner of the street leading almost directly into the hotel lobby.

"Thank you Frederic." Lily smiled at the door man as she entered the building with her cousin.

"This feels weird." Francesca whispered as they approached the bank of elevators, a strange hushed silence enveloping the lobby. The sound of their heels echoed through the lobby and the faint ding made by the elevator as they pressed the summon button appeared louder than usual.

They stayed silent as the elevator opened and they stepped in, Lily keying in the code Jonathon had given her for the appropriate floor. The doors slid shut and they turned towards each other.

"This is surreal." Francesca told her, feeling a little uncomfortable and uneasy in the unfamiliar surroundings.

"Yeah. The party will be a completely different atmosphere though, you can be sure of that." Lily assured her as the elevator surged upwards.

"Are you sure it's alright for me to come? He doesn't even know me."

"I told him that you were already eighteen so you were able to drink and that I wouldn't come without you. You're allowed to come."

The elevator reached the top floor and with a loud ding the doors slid open.

"Oh, holy fuck."

~*~*~*~

"Just don't let go of my hand." Lily ordered as they weaved they way through the crowd. Jonathon's apartment was filled with people, most drinking from the ornate bar on the other side of the room. The music was loud and Lily had to grip her cousin's wrist tightly to pull her through the crowd. Lily spotted Jonathon near what was normally his couch area and forcibly dragged her cousin across to him.

The coffee table was covered in bottle caps, empty shot glasses and half full bottles of cognac, whiskey and vodka. The coffee table was surrounded people, the chairs in the general vicinity overstuffed with people. The man of the moment, Jonathon Cooper, sat lounged on the middle seat of the largest couch, watching in the proceedings with interest.

"Lily." He exclaimed happily.

"Okay Jonathon, just how drunk are you?"