For about three weeks—about a week after the luncheon— Amery had been going to the Krovstoff Mansion almost every other day. Today was one of those days. She had changed into a nicer shirt and slacks and coupled them with comfortable—but stylish—walking shoes Lynna had bought her on their day out together.
“Miss Dahla, my lady will be downstairs shortly,” Martin the butler greeted, now familiar to her appearances at the mansion.
“Hey Martin. How did the meeting go yesterday? Did everything work out with the contact?”
“It did.” He told her about the company that had wanted a rather biased contract, and how Grandmother had brokered a more fair arrangement. “They promised to uphold the deal with the new Head as well.”
“That’s great news!”
Martin stopped by elevator. “Will you be walking around the property again today?”
“Yes, through the viewing garden down to the maze.”
“The maze is quite beautiful itself, if you ever get a chance to play it,” Martin replied as the elevator rang. “My lady. Please remember your hats today,” he said, bidding them farewell.
“Martin, if any of my children or grandchildren stop by tell them they can talk to me tomorrow morning before the family meeting. I leave the rest of the preparations for tomorrow to you.”
“Yes, my lady. Have a pleasant walk.”
Grandmother and Amery headed out. For a elderly lady, Grandmother was brisk and light on her feet, and her gaze was perpetually sharp around her. Amery started with their usual topics: work, the latest going-ons in the Krovstoff Group, the status of their relationships with other companies, the status quo.
The entrance to the maze was already in sight when Grandmother suddenly changed her tone. “Miss Amery Dahla, I rather like you.”
“I’m glad you say so, ma’am.”
“People make their livelihoods, their businesses and their careers with Krovstoff Group.” The wrinkles at the edges of her eyes crinkled affectionately. “My husband and I aimed to found more than a chain of hotels. We wanted to create a community of business that operated on integrity and mutual benefit.” Grandmother sighed quietly. “I’ve done my best to keep with those ideals, and to run my family in a way that mirrored those. I hope can only hope my business had succeeded in that regard, for my family certainly hasn’t.”
“Ma’am…” Amery tried to think of something comforting to say. “I only really know Jeriah and Lynna and Gareth, but I can attest that they’re wonderful people.”
Grandmother make a very unladylike noise. “You comfort me, Amery. “Gareth has not been acting like a Krovstoff. We are more than just people with a lot of money. And we should act like it.” Grandmother crinkled her eyes at Amy.
“What do you mean he’s not been acting like a person of high status?” Amery furrowed her eyes, thinking of the way Gareth threw money around.
“He acts like a brat with a lot of money. I would not trust him with the legacy of my entire family. Not yet. He has some growing to do.”
They reached the lake and sat on rocks by the shore. The wind whistled through their hair and for a moment Amy could almost remember spending time like this with her grandmother. If things worked out, this would be her grandmother.
“I will be frank,” Grandmother said resignedly. “Your arrival came at a suspiciously opportune time. I had told Jeriah that to be a contender to inherit the family group, he would need to be in a long-term relationship. Does it concern you that he may be deceiving you?”
Grandmother was not supposed to be so honest. Amery had always been prepared to defend her nonexistent feelings for Jeriah, point to both real and fake evidence of their relationship, but she hadn’t rehearsed for this. Amery was afraid her surprise was written over her face. She was too nervous to even try laughing it off, but she tried to force a hopefully- believable smile.
“No.” Amery paused, not certain where to cite her confidence from. She had her doubts, particularly from the last few Tuesdays. She had Gareth’s proposition, but there was something else in her heart now.
She was thinking about last week, when they’d fallen asleep on the couch together. When Amy woke up, she realized that Jeriah had thrown a jacket over her. She had slept in the crook of his shoulder with his arm wrapped protectively around her. She looked up, rubbing her eyes.
His brow was furrowed into a deep V and his mouth was set in a little front that could almost be called a pout. She knew he was stressed from projects at the lab, the business with his family, and with acting with her on top of all of it. Yet he never seemed to be cross with her.
She didn’t want to doubt him anymore. If she was making another mistake trusting him, she would deal with it later. Jeriah wasn’t Cyril. For now, all she wanted was to be able to do something to ease the tension that he carried even in sleep.
Amy searched for the words to convey her resolution. Finally, she shook her head in defeat. Either way, Grandmother didn’t seem to be interested in her explanation.
“I have watched him grow up. I know he is not above making surreptitious deals to get what he wants.”
What a nice way to say bribery, Amery noted.
“It’s obvious you care a lot for my grandson. Even if your relationship did not start out entirely honestly, I suspect there is something there now. I won’t oppose your marriage if you don’t want to do this, but I have a request.”
Amy tried to gauge Grandmother’s perpetually pleasant mask. How much did Grandmother really know, and how much was a bluff to test her? Slowly, Amy nodded.
“I would like you to leave him.”
Amy’s heart nearly stopped. Everything in her body turned to stone at the suggestion. After all her worry? What was the point of her being a convenient fiancé if his family didn’t like her after all?
“W-Why?” her voice sounded cracked and weak, even without acting.
“Entertain an old woman. I have never seen Jeriah passionate about anyone. He loves his work enough, but if he is going to stay by your side for the rest of his life, I want to know he loves you. I’d like to know that there’s at least one relationship in this family that isn’t built on how much money one party has.”
Grandmother faced her knowingly. “And I’m sure you’d like to know the answer yourself.”
They were only standing at the entrance of the maze, yet Amery felt like she had gotten lost in it already and trapped herself in a corner, with Grandmother on one side and her own curious, traitor mind on the other. “What did you have in mind?”
NEXT (Interlude: Guilt)
Notes:
This comes from a bunch of snippets of Grandmother woven together. I got the idea for this scene when I went to a semi-formal banquet at my university, celebrating some elementary school students that had drawn art for their walls. Most of the families there were from a very high SES society. One of my friends was talking to a dad. He was a former manager and very wealthy, but also very well read. He and his wife kept up-to-date with a lot of research and it struck me that while they had a lot of resources to do what they did, they were also very informed and they expected highly of themselves.
At one point a grad student came over to shake hands with the man. He greeted the man with something like “Mr. Ellis, it’s good to see you.” And Mr. Ellis (obviously not his actual name) was just like “Have we met?”
“Yea, I worked for you/ your team for a few years ago.”
“Oh. Are you still there? I’ve been retired for a while.”
“No, I quit. I’m doing a PhD here now.”
“I’m glad it worked out for you then.”
The wealthy man was kind of confused and formal, but he seemed to come across as both snobbish and polite.
The encounter was in no way a pleasant one, but it struck a chord that was directly opposite to the usual view of rich people just throwing money around blindly just because they could. There’s a certain grace that comes with having a lot of money that I don’t think we see any more.
Grandmother’s view is that the family members of the Krovstoff Group aren’t just wealthy, but that they should behave with better conduct as well. And she’s disappointed by their sense of superiority.
I wasn’t really sure about the pacing of it, but I ended up putting it here to avoid having a going-back-in-time situation come up with the next few scenes.
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