“How could I possibly appreciate the food when I was being tortured? I’ve never been more humiliated in my life!” Kitty seethed.
“I don’t know what you mean, Kitty,” Oliver said lightly as he took the stack of in-flight magazines out of the seat pocket and shoved them into the pocket adjacent to him before the passenger arrived. Anything for the extra legroom.
“Everybody at the dinner curtsied to Colette! That snotty Swedish ambassador guy next to me glared at me when I didn’t move, but I’ll be damned if I curtsy to my own stepdaughter!”
“Well, Thorsten obviously did not know who you were. And Kitty, that whole curtsying thing was a complete farce. I don’t know which edition of Debrett’s Yolanda Amanjiwo is reading, but she was absolutely incorrect. A British earl does not have precedence over the First Lady of the country where he is nothing more than a visitor. They should have been bowing to her. But these Singaporeans are so awed by any ang mor with a two-bit title that they just bow and scrape away like subservient little toadies. I remember a time when the Countess of Mountbatten came to visit Tyersall Park, and Su Yi wouldn’t even come downstairs to receive her!”
“You’re missing the point. Everyone treated Colette like royalty all through the dinner. They were dressed like peasants and the people were still sucking up! That idiot on my right wouldn’t even lift his fork until Colette lifted her fork. And then the minute she was done with her dinner, we all had to stop. That Carolina Herrera–perfumed flan was the first thing I was actually enjoying, but then dinner abruptly ended and the royal couple was off.”
“The last thing I thought I’d ever wanted to eat was a dessert that tasted like Carolina Herrera, but it was superb, wasn’t it? Well, aren’t you at least glad the dinner passed with no incident? Colette didn’t try to insult you or cause a scene.”
“No, what she did was worse—she didn’t even acknowledge my presence! And I’m married to her father! The man who pays all her bills even though she won’t talk to him anymore! Do you know how hurt he feels? That ungrateful, spoiled little beast!”
“Kitty, I wouldn’t take it so personally if I were you. There were thirty of us in that ghastly room, sixty if you count the ridiculous footmen, and Yolanda was dominating every minute of Lucien and Colette’s time. Trust me, I was right opposite from them. You were on the other end of the table hidden behind those ridiculous birdcage centerpieces—I honestly don’t think she even saw you.”
“Colette saw me, I can assure you. She doesn’t miss a thing. Why was she even in Singapore anyway?”
“Lucien is an environmentalist, and they are going to be based in Singapore for the next month, that’s all. They’re on their way to Sumatra to observe the orangutan situation.”
“What orangutan situation?”
“Oh, it’s quite a tragedy. Thousands of orangutans are dying because of deforestation in their natural habitats. Colette’s become quite involved in orangutan orphan rescue.”
“That’s what you talked about? There was no mention of me? Of her father?”
“Kitty, I can assure you that the only people that were mentioned by name happened to be orangutans.”
“So she doesn’t know you and I have a connection?”
“She doesn’t. But what would it matter anyway? Why didn’t you just come over and say hi? Be the bigger person and welcome her to Singapore? That would have been the smart move,” Oliver said as he struggled to tuck his leather valise under the seat next to him.
“Hnh! I am her stepmother! She should introduce herself to me, not the other way around!”
“Wait a minute…are you saying you’ve never met Colette?” Oliver was genuinely shocked.
“Of course not! I told you, she hasn’t seen her father since she found out about our affair. And she wouldn’t come to the wedding. She hasn’t set foot in China in more than two years. She told him that he…that he was marrying a whore.”
Oliver could hear the tears in her voice, and he began to see the situation in a whole new light. No wonder Kitty had been traumatized when Colette made her grand entrance last night. In China, Kitty had been eclipsed by Colette in absentia, and here in Singapore, she had been eclipsed again in an even more dramatic fashion. A flight attendant gestured to Oliver. “Kitty, my flight to London is about to take off now, so I have to put away my phone.”
“Oh really? I thought no one cared if you use your phone in first class.”
“Well, you don’t know this, but I’m one of those aviation geeks that actually likes to watch the safety demonstration.”
“I didn’t know you were off to London again. You should have told me—I would have lent you one of my planes.”
“That’s very kind of you. Kitty, I’m going to spend the next fourteen hours on this flight coming up with a plan. I promise you, Colette will never humiliate you again.”
“You promise?”
“Absolutely. And look on the brighter side…you have so much to look forward to. Your Tattle cover is coming out next month. You will be an absolute sensation, I tell you! And you’re besties with Yolanda Amanjiwo now. This is just the beginning for you, Kitty. Colette has to head back to some drafty old manor in England, while we are designing you the most spectacular house Singapore has ever seen.”
Kitty sighed. Oliver was right. There was so much to look forward to. She put down her phone and looked in the small gilt mirror that was given to her as a party favor last night. She did look a bit like Emma Watson, that actress who played Hermione Granger. And Oliver with his big round spectacles looked a bit like Harry Potter. Oliver really was a kind of wizard. And now he was going to wave his wand and bring even more magic into her life.
On the SQ 909 flight to London, Oliver turned off his phone and tucked it into the seat pocket. A flight attendant suddenly leaned into his row. “Excuse me? Is that an extra pillow I see? I’m afraid I’m going to need that,” she said with an apologetic smile.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t even see it,” Oliver lied.
“And is that your leather bag? I’m also going to have to ask you to tuck it under your own seat. Make sure the straps are tucked in completely. We have a very full cabin here in economy class today,” the stewardess said.