The Hampstead Country Club glowed bright in the dark winter night. The snow lightly layered around its perimeter glowed gold in its presence. It sent a beam of merry and cheer into the night sky, beckoning the residents of Hampstead Heath to come, join them, celebrate together, as a town.

Marley watched the white mansion as the car slowly approached, slowly rolling up the inclined driveway that led to the entrance.

Thea and her parents were in the car in front of them. Gabbie sat in the middle with Stella on the other side of the car. The Harkin family was dressed to the nines and they had Thea Clausen to thank for that.

A team of stylists was waiting for them when they returned from the senior center and Thea had exactly one minute to explain what was going on before the beauticians pounced. Marley just barely made it clear that no, she did not want her make-up done and had to compromise on her hair in return.

While her scalp was being pulled and tightened by forceful hands, Marley had a wandering thought as to where these women had come from. It was an off-handed comment from her mother to Thea that cleared up the matter.

The team had a standing appointment to ready Thea and her two daughters and their families every Christmas afternoon for the country club dinner. They were paid extra to bring along gowns for Avery and her daughters.

Grandma Thea made good on her promise. When the three sisters entered the country club, they blended right in.

They were welcomed into the establishment by two men dressed in matching red wool coats lined with gold braid. The gold of the door frame could be seen in the reflection of their shoes.

The cold night was kept out and immediately the beautiful wool coats that had come with their gowns became a burden as the heat from over two hundred bodies kept the temperature in the large ballroom high.

Marley and Stella didn't need Gabbie's chattering stream of consciousness anymore as the ambient noise of a hundred different conversations filled the air, mingling with the jazz band set up in front of the wall of windows that looked out onto the sloping lawns of the golf course below. It was a sea of neat white snow, untouched, perfect.

Marley was thankful that Thea's stylists had brought flats as an option as she watched Gabbie stagger off like a baby giraffe in her sparkling heels that matched her glittering ball gown. Marley had never had the occasion to wear heels and didn't think to start now.

Her dress was simple, not floor-length like most of the ones currently swishing around her ankles. Just above her knees, green velvet with a white lace collar, the closest thing the stylists had to something she would have picked out herself.

She had to steal off to the bathroom right before their car left to redo her hair in a low bun with half the amount of bobby-pins and half the amount of scalp pain. Marley now saw why those extra bobby-pins might have come in handy. If she was to do any dancing, her hair was running the risk of falling out altogether.

She looked around for mother and father, moving out of the entranceway, out of the way of people streaming in through the entrance. Marley almost didn't recognize Avery where she stood in the middle of a crowd all about her same age, laughing, smiling, chatting. Her father looked barely comfortable, his hand fidgeting at his sides, begging to loosen his bow-tie. Avery kept a firm grip on Christoper and made sure to smile up at him every few minutes to help calm his nerves.

This wasn't his scene but Avery looked as though she had never left.

Stella had wandered away at some point and Marley found herself alone, taking in the strange setting she found herself in, all by herself. Another party where she felt trapped in the corner, her only option to observe, not participate.

Slowly she moved around the perimeter so she stood opposite the entrance, able to now watch the people swaying on the dance floor, the people coming in from their chariots outside, and the elderly crowd that seemed content to watch the younger generation on the dance floor from their seats at the tables that bordered both sides.

"Hamptons party number two. What are your thoughts so far?"

Marley had seen Christian approaching, watched him as he grabbed two glasses of what looked to be champagne but Marley hoped was sparkling cider, smile, greet Gabbie and then send her on her merry way again to go make friends somewhere else.

Marley took the glass handed to her and sniffed, just in case.

"It's cider, don't worry."

Marley nodded and drank. It helped her quell her stomach just a bit, at least satisfy her hunger pangs a bit as her nerves were not going to let her eat.

"So this is the infamous Hampstead Country Club Christmas party," Marley said.

"Infamous is a bit of a stretch, I'd say. Traditional, classic, mandatory, boring. Any of those would fit better, I think."

"Boring?"

"The same people, every year, all of us slowly growing old. You and you're sisters are the first newcomers we've had at one of these parties in all of my twenty years of experience. One of the pulls of this crowd is that they're extremely exclusive. And one of the downfalls is that we're so gosh darn exclusive."

"I'm surprised they even let me in the door, then."

Christian huffed a laugh, a slow smile spreading across his face.

"You're one of Thea Clausen's grandchildren. They would be complete idiots if they didn't."

"So it's only because my mom was born into this that I'm even allowed here."

"Exactly."

Marley scanned the room with this new perspective. Everyone around her did seem overly familiar with one another. And, if she looked closely enough, slightly bored. Except for Gabbie, who seemed to be having the time of her life. The kids her age seemed to have forgotten that she hadn't grown up with them and accepted her wholeheartedly because she was fresh blood, new life injected into a stale environment.

Watching those around her, Marley kept trying to shake the feeling that she was living a weird twisted dream she had once had as a child after her mother had put her and her sisters to sleep with stories of her own childhood. Christian talked on about different people who were in attendance, who they were related to, why that made them important. Marley only noticed he was talking when he suddenly stopped.

Marley followed where his eyes had frozen and found him standing in the entranceway.

Gone was the relaxed authority of the senior center, back was the rigid stance from the restaurant. Now that she saw it, Marley wasn't sure how she hadn't recognized him before.

The dark hair that had barely fallen over his forehead was now slicked back, plastered to his skull in a style that was supposed to be fashionable but looked unnatural on him. It displayed his prominent forehead and brought attention to the bright silver of his eyes.

As stiff and as rigid as he seemed, compared to the girl standing next to him, he looked positively relaxed.

She was his exact height, her heels bringing them shoulder to shoulder, her exposed arms long and thin, her face sharp and narrow, her silver eyes just as bright as his, her own black hair slicked into a long ponytail that hung down one shoulder.

They wore matching expressions as they scanned the room, their eyes landing on Marley and Christian at the same time. A second after eye contact was made, Christian grabbed Marley's glass, placed it on a nearby table, and pulled her onto the dance floor with barely a 'Dance with me' tossed her way.

Jazzed up versions of Christmas songs flowed around them as they slowly stepped back and forth on the dance floor. Marley didn't speak. She could feel her cousin's shoulders tense under his suit and let him lead the conversation.

As they slowly turned, she caught sight of the guy once every few minutes. He had followed his parents to a table Marley had assumed was theirs and stood watching Christian and Marley dance. The girl, who had to be his sister maybe even his twin, glared at Marley, never breaking her gaze until a whispered word from her brother softened her stare and her eyes moved from Marley to Christian.

She had thought Marley was Christian's date. The guy had set her straight. If he knew Thea, then he knew who Christian was. And now he knew who she was too.

A cough coming from behind stopped Christian and Marley in the middle of the dance floor. Couples around them continued to sway as Marley turned around.

"May I cut in?"

He was looking at her but Christina spoke first.

"Do you really think that's a good idea, Reigns?"

"I don't see why not, Wyzemen. Do you have a problem with it?"

Christian shook his head and took Marley's hand and placed it in her new companions. Marley watched Christian exit the dance floor, headed in the opposite direction of the girl. Marley turned to her new companion as the girl's eyes followed Christian...

"So not a server."

Marley met his eyes and shook her head.

"No."

"And you don't work at the senior center in Ellington."

"Again, no."

"But you do work at Marguerite's in the city."

"So you do recognize me."

"It took me a minute but yes, I do."

"Do I look like a server tonight?"

He shook his head without having to look down at her dress.

"Not at all."

Marley had to look away, regretting not letting the make-up artists put blush on her cheeks as it would have hidden the blood rushing to her face just then.

"My name is Felix, by the way. Felix Reigns."

"Marley. Marley Harkin."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Harkin."

"You as well, Mr. Reigns."

"Please," Felix said, "Mr. Reigns is my father. Call me Felix."

"I've met your father."

Felix bowed, to hide something, embarrassment perhaps.

"So you can understand-"

"Why you don't want to share the same title as your dad? Absolutely."

His smiled. It was shocking. Marley hadn't thought it possible on a face so stately and poised. It was almost lopsided, the first thing about him that didn't seem absolutely perfect.

"And how are you finding the Hamptons, Miss Harkin?"

"If I'm to call you Felix, you'll have to drop the manners and call me Marley. I haven't been called Miss Harkin since I was sent to the principal's office in the ninth grade."

"Why were you sent to the principal's office in the ninth grade?"

Again Marley had to look away.

"My, um, my sister's ex-boyfriend made a joke at her expense in front of all his friends. I happened to overhear it. Let's just say justice is swift."

"You slapped him."

Marley nodded.

There was that smile again, bigger this time and more crooked.

"Okay, then. Marley it is. How are you finding this little world of ours?"

Marley looked past his shoulder and around her, taking in a deep breath and then letting it go.

"It's like I'm living in some sort of dream."

"Not a good one?"

"For my sister, maybe. This is her fantasy, not mine. If this is a dream come true for me as well, it's not one I would have chosen."

"Your life is nothing like this, is it?"

"We don't exactly have country clubs in Brooklyn."

He laughed. Marley drew back in surprise. His laugh was contagious and she was letting herself smile.

"No, I imagine not. This life is rather surreal, I'll give you that. The older I get, the more places I go, the more I realize that life here, in Hampstead, is not reality. It's a world of its own to say the least."

"So it seems."

The music stopped playing, dinner was called and still they were the last people on the dance floor.

They separated after Felix gave a half bow over her hand. She was afraid he might try to kiss it but didn't pull her hand away.

He left with a 'Have a good evening' and moved to join his family. Marley was left standing on the dance floor.

She turned in the opposite direction and found her family waiting for her on the other side of the room. She met Thea's eyes as she wound her way through the maze of chairs, her matching hazel eyes flicking from Marley to where Felix was seated with his family on the other side of the room.

A/N:

Did you know that when you mix Christian's name and Winter's name together it spells TENSION??!

That was a terrible joke. I apologize. But hey! At least we don't want to kill Felix anymore, right??

Oh. You still do? Dang it.

Excuse me. I gotta go up his cuteness factor. Check in tomorrow to see if you can spot any difference.