Chapter 7 PARTY II

   The stylists left and El waited Inside the room for Adrian's arrival. He promised to pick her up for the party. As she waited inside the room, her eyes constantly went to the clock in her room.

         What is taking him so long? She asked herself. He promised to be here at sharp seven. Since she heard of how wealthy the Graysons were, she couldn't help but wonder what they looked like. And her curiosity was making her assume different faces.

      She couldn't wait anymore. She has seen Ethan and he happened to be the most handsome man she had ever seen. She heard from Louis that he looked a lot like his grandfather and she wanted to see for herself.

   The doorbell rang and she opened it without hesitation. "What took you so long? I've been waiting." She said to Adrian immediately she opened the door for him.

   "I'm sorry for making you wait, but It's 7:00 the exact time I told you I would come at." 

   "Oh"

   "You look really beautiful," he stared at her from her feet to her head and then back. Her hair was made into big curls which brought out her blue-green eyes. The Diamond earrings she wore match perfectly well with her mother's gifted necklace on her neck. 'She looked perfect,' he said inwardly.

   "Thank you, Adrian. You don't look bad yourself."

     He smiled. "Shall we?" He raised his arm.

      "Of course" she smiled as she held his arm, and they left the room. They got into the elevator and reached the last floor. He walked to his black Rolls Royce and opened the passenger's seat door for her, and she got in before he got into the driver's seat and they drove off.

   "Where is Dad?"

     "Well, he said he'll meet us there." 

   "Oh, okay." She stared at his face "Do you know the party is at Grayson's Mansion?"

     His expression changed, not to a surprised one, but a bitter one.

       "You did, didn't you?" He nodded in affirmation "how come I'm the only one who got to find out from a stranger?"

      He looked in her direction, "you're not the only one. I also found out from a stranger." 

      "Really!" He nodded "wow! I wonder why dad kept that from us."

       Adrian didn't say another word to her but just continued driving. They arrived at an estate filled with trees sideways with a road in between, and they drove for a hundred meters before getting to a gate where ten armed security men stood, collecting invitation cards from people.

      "You need an invitation to go in?" El asked surprised as she stared at the gun the men held.

     "Looks like it." Adrian's eyes were still on the road.

      "But we don't have any."

       He brought out two invitation cards from his pocket and showed them to her, and she sighed in relief. Their car was the next to go in and he showed the invitation to the security guard who pressed a button on the remote in his hand and the gates opened to them. They drove in and parked at the entrance of the mansion, where a chauffeur took his keys from him to park his car, and they walked in.

    El's eyes widened in astonishment. No party she had ever attended could be compared to this one. The structure and texture of the building beat all her imagination, as her imagination was ordinary compared to the extraordinary things she saw. She has never seen any building as beautiful as this. It is an entirely different world. As she walked in, she saw the number of guests that arrived, and she was dumbfounded.

   "I thought dad said it was a gathering of family friends?" She asked Adrian who was standing beside her.

      "I thought so too." He was as dumbfounded and amazed as her at the same time. The party was like a ball and you could tell that only elite billionaires attended it from the way they chattered among themselves with wines in their hands.

     El couldn't condone her curiosity anymore. "I'm going to take a look around the building." She said and Adrian nodded.

        "And I'm going to have fun with the ladies." He smiled at her, and they both went their separate ways.

   She walked into a hallway that contained portraits from different parts of the world, which were written on them and she was perplexed. As she strolled through the hallway, one painting caught her attention. She walked close to it and read the inscription on it: 'Interchange - Willem De Kooning' 'Chicago'

   "Mr. Griffin brought that painting from the museum not too long ago" a voice spoke behind her which startled her and she turned in the direction of the voice.

   "Dad, you startled me." Her once terrified face was replaced with a smile. She walked to where he stood and hugged him.

       "I'm sorry honey" he removed her from his embrace and looked at her face, then his eyes traveled to her body and back to her face. "You look exquisite"

       "Thanks, Dad" she stared at his face, still smiling.

        "Let's get back to the party, I need to do some introductions," Antonio said, and she nodded. She followed him and they headed back to the ballroom.

   Ethan stood alongside his parents and grandfather, while his sisters went to meet their friends. Different guests came to welcome them, but his face remained passive even if most of them were smiling at him, especially the ladies.

       He wore a black tuxedo, which hugged his body and his muscles could be seen. He was handsome, and his handsomeness made him stand out from the crowd, as the eyes of all the girls at the party were on him. He knew the effect he had on people and didn't bother hiding it.

   "There you guys are. I've been looking all over." Adrian said as El and Antonio approached him.

       "We are here now. Come with me, we are going to do some introductions," Antonio said and they both followed him. They walked to where the Graysons were.

   "Gage" Antonio called out as they approached them.

     "Antonio" Gage smiled as he shook his hand.

      "Mr. Griffin." Antonio gestured with the cup in his hand and Griffin raised his in the opposite direction of Antonio's cup and it clinked.

   "This is my daughter, Eleanor," He said, motioning in her direction, "and my son, Adrian" he motioned in his direction.

   "Nice to meet you all" El smiled in the most charming way she knew.

        "The pleasure is ours, my dear" Griffin replied as he motioned his cup in her direction with a smile. He was more handsome than she had imagined, and he looked like he was in his early fifties. 

   "This is my son, Gage" Griffin introduced as he gestured his hand in Gage's direction. Gage smiled raising his cup in her direction, and she did the same. He wasn't an exception in the family's beauty.

      "And his wife, Maribel" Griffin added, earning a beautiful smile from Mirabel, which was reflected in her icy blue eyes.

      "You look really beautiful, my dear." Mirabel complimented in the most beautiful voice El had ever heard.

      "Thank you, Mrs. Grayson." El smiled.

        "Please, call me Mirabel" she smiled.

   "And this is my grandson, Ethan. I'm sure you've heard of him"

         "Yes, Mr. Griffin" her gaze shifted to him. Ethan wore an expressionless face as he stared in her direction and he raised his cup, which she motioned back in the same way. He had seen her when she walked into the room with Adrian and watched her walk into the hallway.

   Griffin excused himself from them all and walked to the center of the room with a mic in his hand. 

   "Excuse me all, can I have your attention?" Everyone turned in his direction. "I want to thank you all for attending this party today and welcoming my family and me back to the country."

        Everyone applauded.

        "I have an important announcement to make. My grandson, Ethan Grayson is getting married to a family friend, Mr. Antonio Welsh's daughter, Eleanor Welsh, and their engagement party is in a month."