Rosabella Sorrento (italianraven) wrote in carpediem_rp, @ 2015-08-18 12:53:00 |
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Current mood: | shocked |
Entry tags: | character: ash redfern, character: bella sorrento, thread: complete |
Who: Ash and Bella
Where: Sorrento House
When: August 14th, Dinner time after this
Warning: None
Status: Closed. Complete.
Bella knew when she was being dismissed and it was happening right now. With a happy fake look on her face she stood up from her place and headed out of the dining room. There was talking about her but she didn’t hear it, like she really hadn’t heard anything at dinner. The moment Nico had told her that he was being married off Bella’s world came a stand still. Not only was she going to lose her brother but she had no doubts that she would to be married off to either Orestes or Ash. Neither were unpleasant choices but they weren’t her choices. So Bella sat numb throughout the dinner, barely picking at her food, and the moment she was allowed to escape she did.
Bella thought she heard her name being called but she didn’t care. She kept moving, almost running, until she burst out of the house and into the backyard and the warm night air. She kept walking until a heel sunk into the grass forcing her to come to a stop. She was going to marry Ash Redfern. She knew Ash but at the same time she didn’t. She didn’t know him on a personal level. They went to the same functions and she was sure they dance maybe once or twice but anything she knew about the older male was through reputations. And his reputation wasn’t good.
Trying to calm her racing heart, Bella stood in the middle of the grounds, her heel stuck in the grass taking breaths and wondering what she had done in a past life to deserve this.
The announcement was made and Ash looked at Bella from where he sat. It was with better posture than he normally had, but instead of looking like a lazy cat, he looked like one that was ready to pounce in a heartbeat if he saw something he wanted. He observed his bride-to-be with mild interest and after finishing his meal, he was given the order from his father. Go, speak to Bella, spend some time with her and seal the deal as he saw fit. Ash wasn't sure if his father was honestly telling him to have sex with her or if he was just telling him to make sure that Bella wasn't going to throw a fit. Not that she seemed the fit-throwing type.
Bella was gone though, hurrying out of the house and Ash sighed, irritated that he was going to have to chase the girl down. He really hoped that this wasn't going to turn into dramatics. They were so boring and they didn't lead to anything useful, only a headache for everyone involved. Bella really should know by now that this was all part of being who they were. This wasn't some fanciful novel where you could fight the system and be happy. And really, he didn't think he was so bad of a catch that she had to go running off that way. Many girls would kill to be in her situation. She should consider herself lucky.
He followed at a leisurely pace, walking outside into the summer evening and finding Bella standing on her own and it sounded like she was breathing hard.
"You don't seem particularly happy," he stated the obvious, "but don't worry, you weren't my first choice either, but this isn't about our choices. This is our parents and they get to decide pedigree."
“First words to me as your fiancé and it’s an insult. I can already tell that this will be a happy marriage.” Bella’s tone held anger and sarcasm though the anger wasn’t at Ash. He was just as much of a victim in this as Bella was. No, her anger was at her father and his drive to reclaim honor power for the Sorrento name. Honor and power that he had thrown away when he married a muggle born against his own parent wishes.
“I’m... I don’t know what I am,” Bella said because she was a mix of feelings in that moment: sadness, anger, shock. “When my father told me we were holding a dinner party I had no clue that it would end up me being engaged to you. No clue. No warning. So if I don’t seem particularly happy right now I have every right not to be.”
She finally turned; her heel still stuck so it wasn’t graceful, and looked at Ash who was standing not too far away. “Are you happy that your father is giving you to a half blood instead of a pureblood?” It said a lot about the amount of wealth and power that the Sorrento name still held that a pureblood family was willing to marry their son to a half blood.
"It's only an insult if you want to see it that way," Ash returned, "I was trying to empathize. We don't talk to each other much even if we move in similar circles. You're marrying a relative stranger and I am as well. I would have preferred someone I knew better." And from what he knew of the Sorrentos, they weren't in high standing as well, so Ash also knew that this was actually a big step up for Bella's family. So with this the Sorrentos were stepping up . . .
But what was his father getting out of it? Bella expressed her cluelessness as to the situation. He questioned, "If he told you before hand, what would you have done?" But then she was turning to him and asking him about the blood purity and how he felt about marrying a half-blood.
"Honestly, I don't have an opinion on it," Ash shrugged his shoulders non-chalantly, "I will say I'm surprised that I'm getting married to one, but my father wouldn't have arranged this if he wasn't getting a very sweet part of a deal that I can't seem to figure out. The Redferns are old blood so, as asshole as this is going to sound, this arrangement looks like my family is stepping down. So my dad must have something up his sleeve.
"And yours probably has more than salvaging your family name. These politics aren't so cut and dry."
“Nothing. I would have done nothing if he told me before hand,” Bella spoke the truth because if she had done something she would have ended up coming to the dinner bruised and that would have been an embarrassment to the Sorrento name. Something their father had no patience with. “But I would have liked some warning. So I could have kept a better face on during supper. Appearance is everything after all.”
Bella softly sighed and brushed some hair from her face. “I stupidly thought because we were half-bloods we wouldn’t end up in this kind of situation. I clearly underestimated my father’s will to reclaim honor and pedigree to the Sorrento name. Come here.” Bella indicated that Ash needed to come closer without giving him a reason why.
"No one's safe, don't you know?" Ash said with dry humor, "just be happy he chose someone your own age. I've heard of marriages planned with a much larger age disparity." So long as the guy had the ability to perform his duty, well, so it went. But thankfully such practices weren't necessarily so common anymore. But he heard back in the day it was actually pretty typical. But he could understand her need for a warning. There was one thing about having company for dinner, another to have that company over for a surprise engagement.
Stay class, Mr. Sorrento.
He seemed surprised by her call to join him. Bella never really paid much attention to Ash before, though some part of him smugly believed she at least looked at him and liked what she saw. Ash was fully aware of his own appearance and that even if a girl may not be "interested" in him, they could admit that they at least thought his was physically appealing.
Ash took a few steps closer with his hands going into the pockets of his slacks, "Yes?"
“And you should be happy that it won’t be official or another two years or so,” Bella commented as she waited for Ash to come over. “I’m going to graduate before I become someone’s wife.” Bella might not be able to control a lot of things but she was determined to control that. She would fight tooth and nail on the subject. “You’ll support me on that won’t you?”
Maybe if Ash and her teamed up, they could have some control over what happened to them. Maybe. Bella had to have hope. She might not like that she was suddenly engaged to Ash Redfern of all people but he was correct. She could have ended up with someone a lot worse and a lot older.
When he finally made his way over to her, Bella reached out and placed her hand on his arm, before she bent down and undid her shoes with her free hand. She was using Ash so she didn’t tip over and end up head first in the grass. She did not need grass stains on her dress. She had no doubt that people would get the wrong impression if they saw that. “My heel is stuck. Hold still.”
"Me? Stand in the way of a woman getting her education? No," Ash said with a smirk and added, "Besides, have you met my mother? She might act flighty at times but if she had the ambition for politics, she'd likely exceed my father." And that was true too. Ash's mother was a woman who did exactly what she wanted and she had no interest in politics. The BMA was safe for now, and hopefully for much of the future.
Ash stood there while Bella held onto him and then her true motive shown. Her shoe was stuck in the grass, probably from stomping so hard. Girls were definitely dramatic and it looked like this father put him with a bit of a drama queen. At least she had the sense not to do it in public, so he would hand Bella that. And so far it didn't sound like this was going to be all that bad. At least Bella wasn't starting to think of china patterns or what sort of dress she was wearing.
"Let me," he said and came to a squat, coming to where her shoe was and plucking it from the ground with a firm tug. Ash didn't move from where he was crouched and looked up at her, offering it to her with a smirk, "Your shoe."
“Thank you,” Bella said taking the shoe from Ash and even gave him a soft smile at his kind gesture. She could understand why girls fell into his bed so often. He was quite handsome even though he knew it and he was charming. But she had no plans on being one of the many notches in his bed posts. Even though their fathers would definitely approve of it.
Offering her free hand to help him up Bella spoke. “I know of your reputation with the women. I think everyone does but I want to make it clear that I’m not interested in sleeping with you. Ever. But I won’t stop you from sleeping with other women either. Even though we are stuck together it is your life. And maybe I will get lucky and you will knock one of the many girls up and annul this arranged marriage.” Bella doubted her father would make her marry Ash if he got someone else pregnant.
"I do have a reputation, but it appears that instead of getting to know me, you're just going to go along with what others have to say about me instead of talking to me yourself," Ash said as he stood up. Granted, most of what others said about him was true, but it didn't mean that she had to use that alone. They were going to be married and even if she didn't care about him continuing to pursue his side-interests, she obviously had no real grasp on what this marriage actually was and his place in it.
He laughed though. Actually laughed. "Oh, Merlin, you really have no clue as to what I'm like and you really don't know what your dad signed you up for. Marriage contracts aren't just about having a name alliance, Bella. Part of that is having children." The idea of having children at this point in time physically revolted him, but it was a few years off. They both had plenty of time before Bella was expected to have one or two children to satisfy their parents.
Ash turned from her, taking a few steps out and looking out at the garden, "And here I was planning on actually taking the time to get to know you instead of relying on what others had to say. Not everyone is what they seem to be, but oh no, I'm sorry. You got me all figured out because I happen to enjoy sex."
Bella was pretty sure she had just gotten verbally spanked by Ash and she deserved it. Everything he said was true. She had based her assumption off of his reputation instead of actually getting to know him. Had her getting to know Misha taught her nothing? Yes, Misha loved to sleep around but that was only part of who he was. Which meant it was only a part of who Ash was.
Dropping her shoes to the ground, Bella stepped forward so she was standing besides Ash as they both looked out at the garden. “I’m sorry,” Bella spoke softly not looking at Ash, “you are right. I should get to know you instead of assuming things based off of your reputation. I... call me naive if you want but I honestly didn’t think this would ever happen to me. The whole arranged marriage. Not after father had ruined the Sorrento name.” She suddenly felt like a child that had a lot to learn about the pureblood world. A world she grew up in but clearly had no ideas how it really ran.
“And there is nothing wrong about enjoying sex. I wasn’t trying to shame you.” Bella knew she was called a prude behind her back but she didn’t care. There was nothing wrong with sex but Bella wanted to wait until she found a real connection with someone before she had it. “I think I’m grasping at anything that could ruin the marriage contract because I really don’t want this. I’m not ready for this.” Bella’s voice had gone soft and a little broken as the weight of what was to come settled on her shoulders.
The apology was heard and Ash might've acted pretty smug about it if he wasn't actually feeling a sense of pity for Bella in some ways. The girl was in way over her head and there wasn't anything she could do about it. She'd have to learn somehow and he knew that it was going to be one hell of a learning curve for her. She'd either conform to expectations or she'd end up doing what he knew James was considering: walking away. It sounded so easy too. Walking away. But it wasn't. With the Redferns you were shunned. Cut off completely and you were pretty much considered dead. That is if your family just erased any trace of you and their parting gift was a notice that you'd been given a name change and no longer had ties to the family.
The Redferns, in that sense, were cruel and extremely traditional, and he knew that his family was not the only one that did that. Some stayed with their family to avoid that and others thought it was perfectly fair. Ash wasn't so much afraid as he felt inconvenienced by it all. He didn't have a strong interest in politics, but unlike Bella, he wasn't opposed to it all adamantly.
"You're naive," he said truthfully, "and you'd be surprised what people will do to salvage a name. You don't know what you have until it's gone and apparently, your dad missed that enough he pulled a lot of strings to make this happen."
Ash looked at Bella and said, "So you've gotten to enjoy the luxuries of the purebloods but none of the responsibilities so far. Well, this is one hell of a crash course. First thing? We're not getting married now and it likely won't be till a bit after you graduate. These things are just formalities. We're not heading to the courthouse for our marriage certificate anytime soon. You've got a good three, probably four years before they start wedding preparations. Then we'll have a couple of years or so before they start asking for a kid."
“Oh goody,” Bella said softly because Ash’s words didn’t reassure her at all but she could tell he was trying to help. She took a breath and looked at Ash. “I know it isn’t going to be right this instant but this changes everything. A huge bomb has been dropped on my life and I wish I could just accept like you have. You’ve probably been expecting this. I have not. I wanted to work with dragons.”
Bella realized in that moment how naive she had been. From this point on nothing would be her choice. It would be either their father’s choice or Ash’s. It made her hate the arrangement a little more.
Taking a breath Bella focused on Ash. “Is there anything you expect from me? Or our fathers’ expect of us?” Bella clearly was over her head with all of this but Ash seemed to know what was going to happen. She would have to rely on him. Rely on a person she really didn’t know or trusted.
"I knew it would come eventually, but I was sort of hoping they would wait till after I'd aced the NEWTs and gotten out of Hogwarts," Ash replied, "but like I said. You got to enjoy the luxuries of it without knowing the rest of what comes with it. Get ready, because the rest of your life is set in stone." He didn't sound so much accepting as resigned. Yet in his tone there was a bit of rebelliousness. Of annoyance at the life he was handed and everything that came with it. But what would he escape to? Was it worth it? So far, he determined it wasn't.
He said, "I don't expect anything of you. If you want to use the next couple of years or so to actually have sex with someone you want to, I'd recommend it. Though if you wanted to keep that up after we got married, you could and I wouldn't stop you." Because he wasn't sure if he'd be all that up for a marriage to Bella if she was going to ensure he'd be celibate by not putting out for the sake of a kid.
"But until then, just keep a low profile. You don't have to tell anyone unless you feel they have to know. And if there's some big event where our families will be, go to them. We'll hang out together for show. There may be hand holding involved to make them happy. That doesn't make you want to throw up, does it?"
“No, it doesn’t,” Bella said knowing the no sex ever comment was biting her in the butt right then. She had been harsh but Ash seemed to accept her word as final which she couldn’t help but lie. “As much as I want to find you repulsive. I don’t. You actually aren’t too hard on the eyes. I might even let you kiss me.” Bella was trying for a bit of humour but she was sure she was failing at it. No doubt Ash would take it as an insult. Bella was saying all the wrong things.
She let out a soft sigh and pushed some hair from her face. “I do understand that part of marrying someone is having sex with them for fun and reproduction. So the having no sex with you ever is sort of invalid. Because like you said our families will expect has to produce at least an heir if not a back up as well.” Bella wasn’t completely stupid to the ways of the pureblood.
“Thank you for... I don’t know. Keeping a calm head as I have a melt down? I promise I usually have a cool head about things.”
"Oh, the honor of that," Ash said with a laugh and then added, "You're hot so at least that was taken into consideration." The casualness in which he said it could be interpreted as incredibly shallow or a joke. Ash wasn't going to elaborate which one it was. He was grateful to hear that she was at least aware of expectations. Pop out a kid or two to make the families happy and to carry on the bloodline. Yay. It was pretty straight forward in that respect, but there were other things they'd have to figure out.
Ash shrugged, "We're all allowed our freak outs. You were smart enough to not do it in front of our parents, I'll give you that." He glanced back at the party and saw their parents watching them. He could recognize the outline of nosy adults anywhere and he looked forward again, "Just go with it."
His hand went to her waist and immediately he began guiding her away. If they were going to continue this conversation, he'd rather not do it while be scrutinized. Especially if it meant that their parents might be employing some eavesdropping spells. Those were always irritating and he'd learned that when eyes were on them, it was best to get out of those sights. He preferred his parents distant a lot of the time.
“I was brought up on the strict rule not to embarrass the family in anyway. I’ve perfect a pleasant smiles for dinners just like this,” Bella said as she let Ash guide her away. She wanted to check over her shoulder to see what he saw but she had a thought it would give them away and that was something she didn’t want. So she let Ash take the lead and took her further into the gardens and away from the house.
“Was someone watching?” Bella asked because if someone had been they could assume a lot of things by their action of going further into the gardens. No doubt those thoughts would please both of their parents.
"No, I just wanted to get us alone," Ash lied, waiting a heartbeat before grinning and then saying, "Our parents. I don't like feeling like a fish in an aquarium." Even if they were the ones outside, he felt a lot like that when parents watched. His father standing there with a proud smile knowing that Ash was going to deliver on everything. Ash was not subservient to many people, actually, no one really, but his father was the last one he'd ever betray or disobey.
He sighed, "For now, let's just talk a bit. Do that getting to know you thing and start planning what we're going to do at public events and how things will affect school, if you want it to affect it at all. I'm perfectly fine with not sharing it with the world, only because it gets tiresome and I'll be honest with you, Bella. A lot of girls at school are not going to be happy about this. So them not knowing would probably be for your own good."
“You talk like my father isn’t going to put the announcement into USA Today. He will want everyone to know,” Bella spoke because she had no doubt that Ash was right. This would put a target on her back with a lot of girls but Bella was thinking about one female Slytherin in particular. Everyone knew that Ash was close friends with Sera Vetrov and Bella and Sera never saw eye to eye. Ever.
“I’ll be able to handle myself with the other girls and it will get easier once they know you aren’t off the market,” Bella spoke because this sounded completely crazy to her but this was her life now. “So please do me a favour and make sure they know you aren’t completely celibate now.” There was a soft sigh as Bella brushed hair from her face. “As for public events we will just have to pretend to like each other.”
Bella said she could handle herself, but could she? From what Ash knew of the fairer sex, their games were far crueler. He'd seen what Sera could do to other girls. The point of her designer heels figuratively pressed against their throat. If anyone doubted the influence and dominance of someone like Serafina Vetrov, they learned the hard way. But then again, maybe there was some fight in Bella. He wasn't sure if she could really stand toe-to-toe with Slytherin's head bitch in charge, but Ash knew that people were complex. At least the interesting ones were.
As shown through her continual spunkiness and readiness to dismiss him so easily. He grinned, quoting Shakespeare, "Love is my sin, and thy dear virtue hate, hate of my sin, grounded on sinful loving." He shoved his hands into the pocket of this pants and turned on his heel, coming over to look over a well-formed topiary.
"You know, Bella," he said, "there may be a day where you won't have to pretend."
“Love is my sin, and your inmost virtue is hate: You hate my love, not because it is sinful, but because you love other men sinfully.” Bella translated looking at Ash’s back as he moved away. “You could have been a Ravenclaw.” It was a compliment though Bella doubted Ash would see it as such. Slytherin pride and all that.
“I honestly hope that day comes soon,” she said as she continued to watch Ash from where she stood. “But right now you are the man my father picked out for me. It is childish but I don’t want to like you for that reason alone.” There was a soft sigh from the Ravenclaw. She suddenly felt very tired and all she wanted to do was crawl into bed with Calcifer and pretend that this was all a bad dream. “We should head back. I think it has been long enough that our parents will assume you got to at least second base.”
She knew the reference and he smiled at that, even if he wasn't facing her. He was a little surprised that she was actually hoping that a day would come where she wouldn't dislike him. Sins of the father and not even his own were the ones he was now having to deal with. Maybe if Sorrento had been less of an idiot prigg, this conversation might've gone better and he could've actually gotten to second base.
"Your hair isn't mussed up enough," he said with a laugh, "And you look too composed." When Ash got to second base with a girl, she didn't walk away looking as neat and tidy as Bella did. He didn't need her to and instead he smirked, offering his arm, "Let's go back though and not sully your good reputation."