Chapter 7: The Ambassador

Evelyn Jane Orbinson and her immediate family were standing at the front door to an enormous cliffside mansion in Memosa Bay. She had finished her midterms the day before and was not in the mood to play the part of the polite, perfect daughter. She wanted to have fun and being forced to spend the evening with the Ambassador of Takemizu was not even close to what she considered 'fun.'

She saw her father adjust the cuffs of his dinner jacket anxiously; her mother leaned forward and seemed to be reassuring him of something. He had been on edge lately. It was an election year and his opposition had higher poll numbers. He was the Mayor of Kashmire and had been for the last eight seasons.


She figured this diplomatic visit was an effort on his part to make connections and see if the Ambassador could do anything for the re-election campaign. The Ambassador of Takemizu had only just arrived in Kashmire within the last week and had invited the Orbinsons to dinner.

Evelyn Jane was tasked with holding a vase of lilies which was to be a gift for the Ambassador to thank him for his generous invitation. She didn't see why Reggie couldn't hold it. He was currently shuffling about with his hands in his pockets, and he hadn't shaved either so he didn't look as well put together as the rest of the family.

Victoria, her elder sister, didn't seem to want to hold the vase either. Victoria was usually effortlessly sweet and kind, like a regular princess from a fairy tale, but as of late she had been transforming into somewhat of a bridezilla. She was getting married next season.

"Why did I have to come to this stupid dinner?" Evelyn Jane mumbled under her breath and adjusted her hold on the vase. Her father rang the doorbell and a Butler greeted them.

"Maybe because you haven't brought a guy home for mother and father to meet in years and they re trying to give you a respectable option?" Victoria murmured and placed a comforting hand on her sister's shoulder.

"That's ridiculous, father is clearly here for political reasons," Evelyn Jane's frown deepened. Even if that were true, she needed no aid in getting a man. The first night in her scholarship house at Academie Le Tour, she ended up sleeping with the chapter president's fiancée. It was to assert her dominance more than anything, and it worked because, in the next house election, she was unanimously voted in as president, a title she had kept even now as a senior.

"And how is encouraging you to date a diplomat not political?" Victoria responded rhetorically.

Evelyn Jane held in a doubtful snort—she couldn't imagine her parents thinking she'd be remotely interested in some boring, old Takemizian if that were really the reason she was forced to come along.


They entered the mansion and followed the Butler up a spiral staircase to the first floor. The home smelled amazingly fresh and sweet, and she realized why as she saw there were many indoor flowerbeds containing a variety of blooms and topiary bushes.

A man was playing with a dog in the kitchen.

"Ambassador Bao, I present Mayor Orbinson and his family of Isla Del Kashmire," The butler cleared his throat and bowed, gesturing toward them.

The man turned toward his guests and then issued a command to the dog in his native tongue. The Ambassador was not what Evelyn Jane had expected. He had a soft, handsome face, was much younger than she had originally assumed, and seemed less stiff and formal than an ambassador should be despite his dapper style.

He smiled in greeting and came toward them before returning the bow. His dog followed.

"Ambassador Bao, thank you so much for inviting my family and me to dine with you," her father stepped forward and said returning the gesture. "To show our appreciation, we have brought you a gift."

Her father motioned Evelyn Jane forward and she presented the vase. The Ambassador's face lit up seeing the lilies. He gladly accepted it, nodding in approval, and handed it to his butler. He must have instructed the man where to put the gift, but it was still said in Takemizese.

Evelyn Jane wondered if he spoke any Simlish. If not, this dinner would be silent and awkward.

"Tukzee," she mumbled. It was a basic phrase and meant 'you are welcome.'

The Ambassador faced her promptly with a grin, probably amused by her horrible accent, "You speak Takemizese?"

"Three words of it maybe," she admitted. She only knew a few words of the language since she had taken a class in high school. He seemed to speak her language substantially. Not surprising for being an ambassador.

Her answer caused him to laugh heartily, "Well I thank you for it, and for accepting my invitation. Please let us be introduced now."

Her father took action and presented her along with the rest of the family. The Ambassador introduced his dog, Sebastian it was clear that the man had a very close bond with his dog—evident by the way he gushed adoringly over the animal.

While the Butler prepared dinner, Ambassador Bao led the Orbinsons through the mansion on a tour, showing them all the beautiful and meticulously landscaped outside terraces.

"In Takemizu, it's bad luck to have a room devoid of beauty and life—which is why you see flowers just about everywhere here," the Ambassador explained, "Nature is the origin of life and beauty."

Evelyn Jane noticed that he was looking right at her when he said the last part. She averted her gaze to take in the scenery the current terrace provided—an overview of the Skyscrapers of Memosa Bay. It was a bit overkill, all this space only being used by one man and his dog. Then again he was an ambassador, he probably got whatever he wanted as part of Kashmire's goodwill.

After the tour, they sat down in a formal dining room to eat dinner. She noticed that the vase of lilies sat in the center of the table. Salad was the first course. The Ambassador and the Mayor accepted glasses of wine with their food and started talking about the election.


Their mother started in on wedding details with Victoria. Evelyn Jane inwardly gagged. It wasn't that she was unhappy her sister was getting married but wedding talk was so boorish.

Reggie kept quiet and a touch broody as he poked at his salad. Evelyn Jane noticed her younger brother had been increasingly moody over the last few years. She figured he was having a harder time at college. Reggie had difficulty making friends; she didn't know if he even had any at the moment. But it wasn't her responsibility to make sure Reggie was being social. If he felt like moping for no reason, then let him at it.

"And what about you?" She heard the Ambassador ask. It took her a second to understand that his inquiry was addressed to her.

"Me?" she replied stupidly and reached for her glass of water.

"Yes, your father tells me you are an accomplished violinist. I'd love to hear you play," he took a sip of wine.


"How accomplished can she be if she's still "taking lessons from the Maestro?" Reggie blurted rudely.

Evelyn Jane almost spat her drink out. Everyone else at the table looked at the youngest member of the Orbinson family with curiosity. Instead of replying with something equally as rude, she leveled a glare at Reggie and said, "They're not lessons. The maestro wants to collaborate with me on a new concerto he is writing."

"That's wonderful!" their mother exclaimed.

"Very impressive," the mayor nodded in agreement. Though Evelyn doubted he had heard it, and was just going into an automatic response while he had deeper thoughts on his mind.

Reggie rolled his eyes, figuring his sister to be lying. Sure, she was collaborating all right, when 'collaborating' really meant 'having an affair.' She could tell the gist of what he thought, she'd known him long enough to tell, and narrowed her eyes. Reggie didn't know a damn thing. She wasn't entirely lying. Shaun Piper really did value her opinions on his music, and his music was phenomenal. She had once been one of his biggest admirers.

Reggie bit his tongue and continued to poke at his salad.

After the main course was finished, the ambassador and his guests retreated to the highest room in the mansion that overlooked Memosa Bay. The Butler handed everyone a dessert wine. Well, everyone except Reggie, who still wasn't old enough to drink legally.


As much as she tried to avoid it, Evelyn Jane was flagged down to participate in a discussion with her mother and Victoria about the upcoming wedding.

"You'll need to get a pink bridesmaid dress, Evie," Victoria instructed. Pink was not Evelyn Jane's color at all. She didn't even think she had any article of clothing in her wardrobe that was pink.

She couldn't hide her grimace.

"It's not your wedding," her mother chided, seeing the displeased facial expression, "When the time comes you can put Vikki in whatever color she hates though I'd hope that my daughters' weddings would be more about love than a means for fashion revenge."

Evelyn Jane downed her glass of wine and signaled to the Butler for another, before taking leave of them. Love was a joke. "Who says I'll even get married?"

She was to be Victoria's maid of honor. She was close with Victoria and always had been growing up. Though ever since Victoria got engaged she did feel a sort of rift with her sister. Her sister was someone she told all her secrets to. There was only one she kept sealed behind her lips because it was so shameful.

Shaun Piper was blackmailing her.

She would have wiped her hands clean of the symphony conductor years ago if he hadn't promised to ruin her reputation and family name with the fact that she had tried to seduce him, a judge, to gain favor in a local battle of the bands competition. It wasn't shameful just because he was over 30 years her senior and already married, but there was the fact, totally unbeknownst to her at the time, that he was her uncle by marriage. It was the sort of detail that could be missed when one had an estranged aunt. The whole situation was disgusting, and she knew she couldn't tell anyone. If she ended her affair with Shaun, though, he threatened all of Kashmire would find out about it in the tabloids.


With a fresh glass of wine in hand, she went to stand by herself in front of the sitting room s fireplace. The fire was crackling behind her, casting warmth on the back of her legs and she hooked the edge of her heel into part of it while leaning backward to rest against the low mantle. She watched Victoria move on to Reggie and her father to explain what they were to wear for the wedding and felt a twinge of pity for them.

"Are you excited?" the Ambassador approached and tilted his head toward her family, "For your sister's big day?"

Evelyn Jane shrugged one shoulder apathetically, "It's just another day."

The Ambassador gave her a puzzled look, "Is that your philosophy on life?"

"It's becoming that way," she replied and took a sip of her wine. The truth was, Evelyn Jane didn't feel much of anything anymore. There was no more thrill in her life. Her ambitions had seemed to slowly die with every visit to the maestro, and her tenacity and cleverness had no doubt dulled with nothing to sharpen them on. Why wasn't he tired of her yet? The only thing she wanted, she couldn't obtain without it destroying her. Freedom.

"Why do you want to know so much about me anyway?"

She didn't care if her question came off as rude. She was so very tired of being polite.

He didn't seem offended at all. "I have yet to make any friends of my contemporaries in Kashmire, I hear that getting to know someone is the clearest path to friendship."

"How old are you anyway?" She asked, arching a brow. She would have guessed he was in his thirties from the way he carried himself.

"I'm twenty-five."

Only three years older than her.

"How were you able to become an ambassador at such a young age?" She was impressed, but that didn't mean she was interested in being his friend.

"Now who is it that wants to know about who?" he grinned, and she smiled at the clever way he'd turned her original question on her. To her surprise, he reached forward and clinked his glass with hers though there was nothing to toast to, "I'd be happy to indulge you Miss Orbinson, if you would be so kind to agree to take me on a tour of Memosa Bay next weekend."



She was about to decline, just because next weekend was the start of Fall break and she needed it. She could be persuaded to negotiate a different time for taking the Ambassador sightseeing. However her father must have been keenly listening and took that moment to step in, "Evie would be delighted to show you around the city, she doesn't go to school far from here either."

Evelyn Jane caught Victoria's eye from across the room and Victoria raised her glass with a knowing smirk. Damn it. Victoria had guessed correctly, this was a thinly veiled attempt by her parents to match her up. She held her breath in to keep from shouting out.

"Yes. I'd be delighted," she forced the words out through a very false smile. She then took a large gulp of her wine, once more rendering her glass empty. She promised herself then, she wasn't going to like this guy. It wasn't that he was unlikable, Evelyn Jane just avoided any type of serious romantic pursuits due to her unfortunate predicament and she loathed it when she was used as a pawn in her family's political games.



She marched back to the bar and grabbed the bottle of wine, refilling her glass since the Butler was busy elsewhere. She noticed that Reggie had been quiet since dinner, silently brooding and looking out the window. What in the Red Diamond of Aspirational Hells did he have to brood about anyway? He wasn't being blackmailed, he wasn't being sneakily coerced to go on a date for political advancement, and he was the one to inherit all of the Orbinson estate and most of the family assets. So what was his problem?

She might have chucked the empty wine bottle at him if not for Victoria approaching her and snatching the bottle out of her hand with a sharp whisper, "Evie, you've had enough."