A Party To Remember - Part 1

Ophelia's POV:

"Ma'am wait!" Hearing the store's receptionist calling out to me, a terrible grimace crossed my lips.

"What?" I asked, turning to look at her.

Nervously flapping her hands near the registers, she forced an awkward smile. Directing her gaze to the checkout device again, she pointed at it for some reason.

"You haven't paid…for the dress actually," recoiling her arms closer to her bosom, the young woman looked away from me as if terrified.

"I work at the nearby embassy of Human and Monster Relations, there's bound to be an account for our branch in your store," pointing her back to the register, I urged her to check again.

"I-I know, but I still need your name," scratching the side of her freckled cheeks, she awkwardly chuckled lightly. "We need it to maintain records for who bought what exactly."

"Ophelia Everstorm," I replied, and she instantly started looking for my name.

With the understanding that this would take a while, I moved back over to the counter and laid the shopping bag on it. Inside it were my work clothes that I'd just taken off, right before changing into a deep blue dress. Hugging my skin tight, the glittered fabric emphasized my curves a bit more than I would've liked. However, given the fact that the event was a young man's birthday, I imagined the guests to be dressed just as–if not even more provocative.

'I could do without the feathered collar and the deep v-cut to my belly though…' An obnoxious beeping from the register broke my chain of thought. Shaking my head, I collected myself and glanced back at the cashier. Watching her awkwardly smiling again I leaned closer to the counter and tried to spy at the monitor to find out the reason for the error sound.

"There is no Ophelia Everstorm here, unfortunately," she mumbled almost in a whisper.

"What?" Dumbfounded at what I heard; my eyes went wide. For a moment, I had no words after all I've worked for the damned place for longer than most people working now have been alive for. But then remembering something from a distant past, I shook those thoughts out of my head. "Check if it's under Cassiopeia Everstorm instead."

Once again bringing her attention to the monitor, she quickly checked for the name. Thankfully, this time instead of an error sound a similar yet more pleasant sound rang from the register.

"Oh, it accepted it," with a surprised look, the receptionist looked at me. Grabbing my bag, I got ready to leave, but the girl spoke up again before I could inch away from the counter. "Cassiopeia, such a nice name. You must've been a lovely baby for having been chosen such a cute name."

"Uhm…" The last thing I expected was a compliment, especially over something I had no control over. 

"Do you mind if I ask who chose it?" With a genuine smile, the receptionist cleaned closer to me from over the counter. The clumsiness from before had been completely washed away from her somehow, in its place was a beaming curiosity one akin to that of a naive child. "I've never heard it so I'm kind of curious, is it ethnic? Or an original?"

Taking a step back, I felt coerced to navigate through a sea of memories to find out exactly where I'd first read it. It was on parchment made of dried goat hide, and the ink used was a mix of indigo and thickened tree sap.

"It-It was my father, he called me Ophelia but he had written letters before passing away," the moment I mentioned the passing, her curiosity was washed with regret. "He used to call me Cassiopeia in those letters."

The memories of my maker often spewed up an emotional turmoil in my heart. I never knew the man in life, and what I saw of him before gaining consciousness with his soul had already fled away with the passage of time. Now, centuries later, the only thing I remembered were the study reports he made over me, and the regret he carried at the last dinner.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked," taking note of my dreamy state, the receptionist recoiled back into her work spot.

"Yes, you shouldn't have," responding almost in a whisper, I left the store without another word.

Even as I got back into the car, I kept quiet even though the chauffeur tried to make small talk. After a while, we were at the far end of the city's bounds. Edging the highways, we soon arrived at the Villa suspended between two city borders.

'A desert? Great…' Getting out of the car and looking around, the only things I could see were rocks, dirt, and cacti. Despite that, the Villa stood tall amidst the scorching desert with fountains and pools all over the premises.

"I'll walk inside myself, you go back," shutting the door at the Villa's security gates, I ordered the driver to head back.

While he turned the car around to leave, my eyes scanned the massive walls encompassing the resort. They were high enough to ensure nobody could jump inside, and I felt nervous about their effectiveness. Turning my attention to the gates, I started walking towards the guard's stations outside with rifles. Their eyes had been drawn to me ever since I left the car, but as I approached their guns were drawn at me as well.

"Ophelia Everstorm, embassy sent security for Master Ray," brushing past their display of power, I kept on moving until I was standing right before the two men. Looking at the security booths on both sides, I noticed two additional men pointing their guns at me from inside the iron box.

"Stay there, we need confirmation!" Yelled one of the men from the booth.

Putting his gun away, he turned to the small counter before her with a laptop. It took him a while of jumping through hoops to reach the intel, but eventually, I was let into the Villa without any problem.

'You'd think since it's Madam Superior's orders everything would go smoothly, but the middlemen transferring too lazy to transfer intel fuck everything up.' This wasn't the first time, I was fucked by the negligence of other people, and yet it stung like a hornet every time it happened.

"Forget it, it time to join the party," letting out a sigh, I brought my attention to the front.

Fountains, pools, greenery, all the middle of the desert, and for what? A safe space for spoiled brats of VIPS to party and do god knows what. Closing my eyes for a few seconds, I altered the structure of my face wax to blend in without being recognized by anyone.

'Now to meet up with Ray, and stay by him.' Hoping he knew that his mother had sent me, I made my way further into the resort.