Double Trouble: Thirty Five; The Ball Begins!
by Cariad
 

Double Trouble
~Thirty Five~
Holly took a tentative step out to the top of the stairs and froze. Far below, her father, Rebecca and Jonathan Hotchkiss all stared up at her. She managed a flashy smile and gathered her courage. She slowly walked down the stairs a hand on the railing, feeling over exposed in Julia’s slinky red dress. Finally, she reached the bottom and crossed to her father. “Daddy,” she said, batting her eyes, trying to be a convincing Julia. Holly turned to Jonathan. “Do you like my dress, Johnny?” she asked sweetly, turning so he saw the slit up her left leg to the thigh. She never felt more naked and filthy in her life.

“Very nice, Julie,” he said in a bored tone.

Holly nearly sighed in relief. Thus far, the disguise was working.

“Now where is my Holly?” Jonathan demanded of Julian. “I told her six thirty.”

Julia knew that Johnny’s words were her cue. Remembering her give-away the last time, she didn’t bother with a pause at the top of the stairs. Instead, she gracefully descended and gave a hand to her Johnny. She said nothing.

“No greeting for me, dear?” Johnny asked.

“I’m being civil,” Julia replied, throwing a hidden wink at Holly. This was going to be fun.

“Mr. Crane, Mother, Julie,” Johnny said, “We will see you at the Ball.” He pulled Julia out of the mansion after him. Julia barely had time to grab her winter cape. He escorted her to his Ferrari and took off a moment later.

“Have you thought about what we talked about today?” He asked in a cool tone.

Julia swallowed. What did they talk about? What would Holly do in such a situation? Julia turned to look out the window. Less than a minute later, her evening suddenly wasn’t much fun.

“Will you go along with my lead?” Johnny demanded.

“Sure,” Julia replied off-handedly.

“Sure?” he asked.

“Yes,” Julia said. “I’ll follow your lead.

The tension in Johnny’s shoulders eased some. “That’s good to know. I wouldn’t want to be embarrassed this evening. And I wouldn’t want you to be either.”

Julia smiled. Crisis averted. Now, back to the fun.
 

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Holly spent a tense limousine ride with her father and his mistress. Rebecca was once again decorated in the stage jewelry she received for Christmas. A particularly large false ruby pin held together a glimmering gold turban—to hide the splotchy parts of Rebecca’s mane. Holly watched in disgust as Rebecca’s hand crawled up Julian’s leg.
“Do you mind?” she demanded.

Julian delicately removed Rebecca’s hand for the moment. Holly stared out the window as they passed the wintry countryside.

The New Year’s Eve Ball was being held at the former estate of a once powerful family. However, legal troubles and labor troubles drove the family’s company into bankruptcy and the family out of society. The estate stood abandoned for several years until some enterprising individual decided it would make the perfect party-house. The house and a portion of the lands were purchased at a bargain price, and the ground floor was renovated into a hall. The upstairs bedrooms were restored for paying customers—for all sorts of affairs and business was conducted at such society parties.

The gardens had been groomed once more, along with the patio, and a balcony off the back as a hill swept downward from the house. Candles had been placed in the snow bank lining the driveway, lighting the way for the expensive cars and limousines. Icicle lights hung in the windows and along the eaves all lit up for the party. Ice sculptures stood out against the snow front of the house, lit with red and yellow spot lamps. Holly had never seen such a wintry wonderland in her life.

As always, when a party was not held at a private estate, photographers stood ready as people handed their cars off to the valet parking or alighted from their limousines. Just in front of them, Jonathan’s Ferrari was being driven off, and Jonathan and her sister were being photographed. She sighed. The captions would all be wrong in the tabloids. At least her name would not be associated with the leg-bearing dress.

The chauffeur opened the door to the limousine, and Holly prepared herself for the flashes. There were not as many as she expected. Of course, none of the Hollywood set had been invited. Still, she knew her place as a Crane, and she smiled on her father’s arm. Theresa, at least, would be safely inside before the photographers showed up. No sense in them having a glimpse of her before she was named Mrs. Julian Crane.

Once warm inside the foyer, she shed her cloak and stuffed the return tag in her purse. Only a few other souls dotted the inside. Holly smiled. Julia was safe with Jonathan, and none of the old leeches were here yet. She could enjoy the moment.
 

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Jonathan escorted Julia around to the side of the great hall where the tables were set up. A small stage highlighted a string quartet while behind them was the as yet unused space of what looked to be a jazz band. But Diana O’Leary would be performing at dinner. What an evening it was going to be!
“Why did you wear Julia’s cape?” Johnny asked her, catching Julia unawares. “At first I thought I was mistaken, but when you gave it to the coat check, it was most definitely Julia’s.”

Julia gulped. “Well, you ushered me out so fast, I grabbed the first one that came to hand!” she lied quickly. “Had you given me more time, I would have grabbed the correct coat.”

Johnny nodded and smiled, apparently assured that he had the correct twin. Just then, Holly came sauntering up.

“Daddy says that we can meet Diana O’Leary before dinner!” Holly smiled.

“Lovely!” Julia said back.

As the twins walked away and headed for the stairway, Holly asked, “How’s it going? Does he know?”

“Not yet,” Julia replied. “There were some tense moments, but I worked through them. You look like you’re getting used to the dress.”

Holly grinned devilishly. “I’m beginning to feel a little confidant that it won’t slip off if I breathe!”

Julia laughed. “You know, I feel like naughty and nice.”

“Too bad Christmas was last week!”

At the top of the stairs, they ran down the balcony and into a dimly lit hall. The room seemed quite a distance to get to—but that was probably for the best to keep the masses from the star’s dressing room. Of course, not many people had heard of Diana O’Leary, but probably most of the gentlemen in attendance would be drooling at the photograph of her legs.

They stopped outside the door showing a crack of light at the bottom. Holly rapped gently.

“Diana,” a male voice said, “I don’t know if we should be here. It’s awfully near Harmony.”

They heard a sigh. “Brian, love, it’s money. And you know as well as I that we need all the good-paying contracts I can get!”

“I just have a bad feeling about this.”

The door opened and the twins’ jaws dropped in identical expressions of disbelief.

Julia recovered first. “Aunt Sher?” she whispered at the tall blond woman clad in a fetching tropical robe.

“What did you say?” the woman asked.

Holly pushed her sister aside. “Nothing,” she said. “It’s just that you bear a striking resemblance to our recently deceased aunt.”

“Oh,” she said. “Well, come in, the both of you. And happy early birthday! Eighteen is a big year, you know.”

The twins staggered into the bedroom, noticing the devilishly handsome rogue who looked decidedly uncomfortable in formal wear. “How did you know it was our birthday?” Holly asked.

“And how did you know it was out eighteenth birthday?” Julia continued.

The man, who could only have been Brian, had a confused expression on his face. “They never said it was a birthday party you were performing for,” he observed. “Are you remembering something more of your life?” he asked, his voice full of concern and fear.

“I don’t know!” Diana replied. She turned to the twins. “Well, my employer said he had a pair of daughters who would like to see me. I’m guessing you’re them. So who are you?”

“Holly and Julia Crane,” Holly replied immediately.

“Crane,” Diana said, swirling the name in her mouth. She sat suddenly on the bed.

Brian swore. “Well, girls, you’ve seen her, and you can talk with her more after the show. For now, Diana needs her rest.”

“Brian, it’s ok. They can stay for a little longer.” Diana said. “You must forgive my husband, girls. He’s been very protective of me since he pulled me from the ocean, what was it, two, three months ago now?”

“How long have you been married?” Holly asked.

Diana blushed. “Not so long yet. We got married on the eighth, and we were going to sail around the world on our honeymoon.” She reached out a hand for Brian, who obediently came to his wife’s side.

“But when we got the call to come up here and perform,” Brian explained, “we decided to start our honeymoon cruise here.”

“That’s so romantic,” Julia said. “So he just pulled you out of the ocean?”

“Well,” Brian said, “It was a terrible storm and I got caught out in it, and I see this big flash, like something exploded, so I sailed that way looking for survivors. The only body I found was Diana’s. She was half-dead from exposure, and she could only remember the name ‘Diana.’ But we nursed her back to health on the island where we noticed she had this talent for singing and dancing.” Brian’s eyes were glowing with adoration. “I let her use my last name for awhile, but then I asked her to make it legal.”

“And I said yes,” Diana concluded, kissing her husband on the cheek. “I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t rescued me.”

“How sweet,” Holly said, her eyes shining. Then, her expression turned sad. “That was probably the same storm Aunt Sher died in,” she said softly.

Diana wiped the tears from Holly’s eyes. “I’m sorry girls,” she whispered. “Sometimes I feel guilty that I survived and so many others didn’t. But let’s not be sad tonight. It’s going to be a New Year. Let’s treat it like one!”

Julia gave a tentative smile.

“You ladies look so lovely. And so much alike! I can’t believe it!” Diana exclaimed. “I’ll sing a special birthday song for you both tonight. But Brian’s right. I am feeling a bit tired right now.”

“But…” Julia protested.

Holly gave Diana and Brian a smile and pulled Julia from the room.

Almost as soon as they were within eyesight of the crowd, Jonathan pulled Julia onto his arm. Julia gave her sister a triumphant smile, which Holly echoed right back. Holly wished Jonathan the best with her sister. Descending the stairs after the couple, they saw that many more people had arrived.

Their mother arrived on the arm of Chief Bennett, stirring some of the society crowd, and many of the local attendees. Noah dutifully escorted his youngest sister Jessica on one arm and Kay’s friend Simone on the other. Holly’s eyes searched out the other Bennett sibling. There Kay was, clad in a deep purple dress, her hand lightly resting on Reese’s arm. Reese looked phenomenal, Holly thought. His shoulders were emphasized in the slight stretching of the jacket’s fabric. His back was towards her, so she caught the way the cut of the pants fell. Her breath caught in her throat. She knew he was a beautiful man, but she never realized how wonderful he would look in formal wear.

Holly passed her sister and Jonathan on the stairs as she rushed to greet Reese. On the floor, she made a beeline towards him, only to be stopped by a strong adult arm.

“Where are you running off to?” her father asked. “Remember what your Grandfather said. I have someone I would like you to meet.” Julian dragged his daughter around to face a man much older than her father. He was only a few inches taller than Holly, and had a thick salt-and-pepper mustache. He was neither thick nor thin, nor was he in good physical shape. He extended an age-spotted hand. “Julie, my pet, this is Philip Underwood. Philip,” Julian said to the man, “my daughter Julia.”