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miss-duberry · 3 years

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Invitation

The unexpected letter that arrived at 65 Maple Grove Circle was of considerable weight. Anna immediately spied the plum envelope while fetching the mail. It was enough to make her pause, fiddling the smooth vellum paper in her fingers. The foyer behind her was empty, and Madeleine’s things were still absent from the coat rack. Pursing her lips, the girl disappeared into her father’s study and hunted for the silver-plated letter opener her brother Elliott had gifted the old man last Christmas. Robert always kept his office a mess, which her mother detested, but the afternoon sun thankfully illuminated the silver tool to make short work of her search.

The sharp blade slipped under the envelope’s flaps with ease. Anna knew these letters were never for her, but she liked to pretend they were for fancy galas or parties thrown in her honor. She would get to wear a lavish evening gown and have her hair all done up, just like her sister Rachel always did. It was foolish to think these things, but the ten-year-old girl enjoyed her folly.

“What are you doing in papa’s study?”

The letter opener’s edge slipped at the sound of a woman’s voice, and a drop of scarlet blood darkened the rich paper underneath Anna’s fingers.

“Shit!”

The study reverberated with the sharp clacks of heels echoing off of wooden floors, and the girl knew she’d been found out. Rachel had a sixth sense for when the youngest sibling was up to something, no matter how small. It made Anna wish her older sister spent more time at her own flat versus crowding in with them. That thought wasn’t helped when two fingers pinched the girl’s earlobe, which she swatted away.

“You wouldn’t want Mama to hear that kind of language, would you?”

Rachel was more than twice her sister’s age, and it wasn’t the first time she’d caught Anna getting into trouble. The latter was sure she enjoyed playing missus of the house when their parents were out.

“You say way worse!”

“I’m an adult. I can say what I like.”

The girl stuck out her tongue.

“Now really, Anna.” Rachel’s long, slim fingers slipped the envelope away from her sister, turning it over. “I don’t know why you bother being so secretive. She always knows when you open her mail. You never seal it back up properly.”

Her green eyes scanned the addresser’s fine calligraphy on the face of the envelope, reading and then re-reading.

“I haven’t a clue who the Lecters are, do you?”

Anna shook her head, not that it mattered. Rachel had already laid the envelope down on the desk and wedged a manicured nail into the gap left by the letter opener. She made short time finishing her sister’s work. Inside, she removed a thick piece of paper followed by another, smaller envelope already bearing a stamp.

Anna sucked at the cut on her finger while her sister unfolded the letter and read.

“The Lecters graciously request your family’s presence at their first annual fundraiser benefiting the Refugee Crisis Center of Greater Baltimore. All proceeds from the event will go towards those in need, blah blah blah,” trailed Rachel, losing interest and feeling no more illuminated as to who these Lecter people actually were.

“What’s a fundraiser?”

Rachel peered through the other pages, seeing an order form for food preferences and instructions on how to send payment. Bored, she tossed the letter on the desk.

“It’s an event of some sort, usually a dinner, and everyone pays for a seat. The money goes towards some cause, but people really only care about upstaging each other. I’m sure Mama will take the opportunity to pitch Elliott and me to every eligible bachelor and bachelorette that shows.”

Her small frame bent to open a desk drawer. She held out a hand for Anna, and the girl obediently laid her finger on the open palm without asking. A bandaid was wrapped snug around the cut, and Anna tapped her thumbnail against the padding, testing its protection.

“That sounds boring.”

“It is boring. Hopefully there will be at least one or two people who liven the room so it isn’t all serious talk. You’ll likely luck out of this one and get to stay home with Marguerite, though. These things aren’t really for kids.”

Anna’s eyes brightened. She loved the Spanish nanny Madeleine hired on nights the rest of the family would be away. She always learned some new phrase and got to try fun foods she never ate at home.

Rachel repackaged the envelope and handed it to Anna.

“Mama will be so upset when she finds out you’ve opened her mail again.”

“You’re the one who opened it!”

“But you’re the one with a cut on your finger.”

Rachel paused at the office door, turning to give Anna one last look. She stuck her own tongue out, and Anna blew a raspberry in return.

---------------------------- ----------------------------

Thankfully for the youngest, Madeleine’s annoyance over the opened letter lasted only until she read who it was from.

“The Lecters? I don’t believe I’ve met them. Are they your acquaintances, Rachel?”

“I don’t believe so,” she responded, flipping through the latest copy of Vogue and barely paying the conversation any mind.

“Robert? Have you met the Lecters?” Madeleine’s voice carried down the hallway to where her husband was sitting.

“I don’t believe so,” he called back. “Maybe Elliott?”

Her mother nodded at Anna. “Fetch your brother, will you?”

The girl rolled her eyes but hopped up to do as she was told. It didn’t matter, however, as the man in question walked into the kitchen a few seconds later.

“What’s with all the yelling? Were you caught going through the mail again?”

“It wasn’t me, it was Rachel!”

“Oh not that again,” sighed their mother. “Do you know who the Lecters are?”

“Yes, I met Mrs. Lecter a couple of weeks ago at the Johns Hopkins banquet. We ended up seated next to each other, her and her son. Very smart duo, I’ll say. You two were ill with food poisoning and couldn’t attend.”

“Don’t remind me,” Rachel grimaced, thinking of the new Chinese place she’d never visit again.

“Are they from around here?”

“Lithuania, actually. I noticed an accent and couldn’t help but ask.”

“Lithuania? Is that European?”

“Western Europe.”

“So they’re not American? Interesting. Explains the charity, then.”

Elliott gave a cheeky grin and began peeling an orange. “Wasn’t it our great, great grandfather who crossed over from England?” He winked at Anna, and she giggled.

His mother leveled a look at him before moving on.

“I’ll write back that we’re attending. Let’s see what kind of party these Europeans can throw.”

#.#..#...#....#.....#[ story : invitation ]#[ partner : dottoremostro ]#this is so long and not that interesting i'm sorry!!#changing up some things with their family #for fun

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miss-duberry · 4 years

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Serenata

Rachel looked at the calendar she kept in the bathroom near the linen closet. It was March 21, and she’d yet to have her period. At this point, she was three weeks overdue. She’d missed them before — her lifestyle often required strict fasting, which had thrown her menstrual cycle for a loop in the past — but she hadn’t lived that extremely in many months. Hannibal kept her well fed these days, and her periods had been arriving like clockwork for the last eight or nine months that they’d been seeing each other.

Rachel closed her eyes. Worry had been gnawing at her since March 7. The anxiety was only going to get worse, and she had a feeling Hannibal had noticed his lover’s stress those last two weeks.

Downstairs, Rachel flipped through a phone book and dialed a clinic in a nearby city.

● ● ● ● ●

“Thank you, Miss DuBerry, this should be more than enough.” Rachel looked down at the clinic doctor’s black shoes as he spoke. “The test will take about two hours, and we can call your home phone with the results, unless you’d prefer to wait.”

“I’ll head home, thank you. My phone number should be listed in the paperwork.”

The doctor confirmed the information with her before ushering his patient back into the oppressively fluorescent waiting room. The clinic reeked of artificial lemon sterilizer, and the fumes were beginning to make her nauseous. Hustling out and keeping her head down, Rachel slipped on her sunglasses as the door swung shut. She quickly backed the Jaguar out of the parking lot and set off on the hour-long drive back home to Baltimore.

She sang along to the radio, looked out of the window at various shops, thought of her most recent date night with Hannibal — anything she could do to take her mind off of the upcoming phone call. At three weeks overdue, the doctor was sure the results would be conclusive, but he had mentioned a slim chance that it could come back positive when in reality it was negative. “Medicine isn’t perfect. All bodies are different,” he’d said with a wry smile.

What will I do if it’s positive?

She didn’t want to think about that until she had to… no, if she had to.

Two excruciatingly long hours later, Rachel jumped in her armchair when the telephone rang. Part of her wanted to run to answer it, and another part of her wanted to live in anxious ignorance. Reluctantly, she put her book down and picked up the receiver. It was the clinic.

● ● ● ● ●

Rachel picked out a particularly lovely dress for that evening’s dinner with Hannibal. It was a dark sapphire affair that hit just above the knee; it was tailored without being overly sensual or modest. Her Jaguar pulled up to the townhome’s curb at their agreed upon meeting time of seven o’clock. He was cooking for her again tonight, and she usually looked forward to these evenings. They were always exceptionally fun and most often ended with her spending the night. But that evening, she hesitated on his doorstep, spare key in hand.

I can’t hide it from him. He deserves to know.

What if he leaves you because of it? What if it’s not even correct? You know what the doctor said —

It’s been three weeks. I… I have to tell him.

The key slipped into the lock, turned back the heavy tumblers, and she entered.

“Good evening,” she called out, perhaps a little more timid than usual as she closed the door behind her. Rachel hung her bag on its usual hook and straightened out any creases in her dress.

#[ story : serenata ]#[ partner : dottoremostro ]#dottoremostro #justice 4 blueberry

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