Linn waved goodbye to her friend, before heading home. Alice's nanny had come to pick her up, which she was upmostly grateful for. It seemed like she was doing this a lot recently. The sleep-deprived 50 year old woman pulled up, and Linn slid into the back seat, now beginning to feel the affects of the alcohol. She was going to have one hell of a headache... What had she been thinking? Letting herself get all worked up over a guy! That was totally not her. Last time she checked, she was far from a relationship, anyway.
The car ride only lasted about 15 minutes, but it was enough for Linn to close her eyes and try to make sense of the muddled up emotions. Sure, she was sad, and angry, but there was nothing she could do now. She needed to apologize to Honey. It wasn't like she went out of her way to upset Linn - she was following her heart, like Linn would have done in her position. How would she have reacted? The same way? Probably not, but then again, as soon as Honey mentioned how she felt, Linn probably would have lost him anyway. As she had said before, how could she compete with her?
The car pulled up in front of the estate, and Linn slid out of the car, slamming the door behind her. The lights were on in the kitchen and living room, she could see that from here, but Alice's lights were off. She was asleep. What time was it? Linn decided she didn't really care, but followed the older woman in silently.
The inside of the house was eerily quiet - Linn didn't like it. Her father always slept with soft music playing, so that they could hear it throughout the house at night. She didn't hear it then, which meant her father was awake. She turned the corner to see him sitting at the round breakfast table, tapping away with his fingers. "Linn." Was all he said to acknowledge her presence, and she shuffled in, taking a seat next to him slowly. She sat there in silence, not knowing what to say. A few awkward minutes passed, before he finally began to talk. "You've been acting weird lately... Very quiet. And you haven't been seeing Silver all that much, either." He began. So he had caught on? Well, it was better than usual. "Truth is, sweetie, I'm getting worried." She swallowed. It had been a while since her father had paid this much attention to her. "And I had two calls earlier... I think you'll like them." Linn's head shot up to look at him. She had been staring at the wood grain on the table, but now her eyes were fixed on his face. "What? What happened?" Her eyes were eager, excited to find out exactly what was going on. HE was obviously trying to look sincere, but suddenly he broke out smiling. "I got a call from your agent earlier." That was a shock. Linn hadn't talked to her agent for years, not since her mom had died. "He said that there was a local modelling agency that were looking to scout people out, and were appealing for people your age. You're in for a good chance."
Linn could tell that wasn't all he wanted to say, though. "Even better is that we bought a company today. It's guaranteed to make a profit, so... I've planned a little something for you and your friends..." An excited looking Linn couldn't help but try to sneak a look into her father's work bag as he dug around, before pulling out about 20 or so plane tickets. "What?! Dad, are you serious?" His resulting smile confirmed that he wasn't kidding, and she leaned forward and gave him the biggest hug she could manage. "Where to?! And when?!" She could hardly contain her excitement at the idea of taking her friends with her to another country. A holiday! She couldn't believe it. "Christmas holidays. The alps, in France, for skiing and lodging. And the lodge is reserved for you and your friends." He finished, hugging his daughter back. "Now go on, get to bed. Long weekend ahead, ey?" He gave her one last hug and a smile, before Linn dragged herself upstairs, slipping under the covers, and falling asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.
The next day, Linn woke early. She had a headache pounding somewhere in her skull, somewhere she couldn't pinpoint. The sun was streaming through her window, but it was more golden than sunlight. It was an early sun, probably about 6 or 7 in the morning, but Linn didn't care. She slid out of bed, changing into a simple pair of jodhs and a designer polo shirt with her name appliquéd on the back in felt. She pulled on a pair of riding boots and crept out of her room, quickly peeking in at her sleeping sister, who looked very peaceful in her slumber. It brought a smile to Linn's lips before she headed outside, breaking into a jog as she headed down the beloved path to the stables. It wasn't long before the smell of hay filled her nose, and the sound of whinnying horses greeting the new day met her ears. It brought a smile to her lips.
She entered the stable and hurried over to her horse, kissing him on the nose. "Hey, boy." She whispered into his muzzle. "Only guy I need is you, huh?" She gave him one final kiss before searching the tack room for his saddle and bridle, returning quickly and working to get his gear in place. He had already been fed, about an hour ago, thanks to the grooms they had. It meant she could ride him like this as early as she liked. It took her no time at all to mount up, and be galloping through the fields as fast as she could - towards a lonely tree on a hill, which almost nobody knew about. She was confident that nobody would find her, maybe she could think about some stuff that she needed to think over.
The most important thing about this tree was that it was her mother's favourite, and that was where her grave lay.
It took her no time at all to get there, but Linn was sat under the tree, trailing the grass through her fingers for almost an hour. Silver was grazing not too far from her - she could easily catch him, and the leaves waved in a warm breeze. It was her favourite place to be alone. She brushed the dirt off of the gravestone in front of her, exposing her mother's name and date of birth, and death. It was a very peaceful place. Linn loved it there, mostly because it let her be close to where her mother would come a lot.
Naea hardly remembered the time, but soon enough, almost two hours had passed. She couldn't remember what she said, but there was nobody around to hear it anyway, and soon she had mounted up and headed back at breakneck speed. After she got back, she untacked the horse carefully, packing it away and wiping it over with a sponge, before lovingly brushing Silver's coat until it shone. A loud voice broke her concentration as she worked. "NAEA! Your phone went off!" The little cherub of the name Alice practically yelled as Linn stood up straight and peered over the door of the stable, Silver at her back. The little girl brandished the phone in front of Linn's face, and she took it, the screen black. She turned it on, and had to cover her mouth to stop her from cussing.
"Oh no! Shai's gonna be here any minute! Rapid, Alice, nous nous devons dépêcher!" She exited the stall, giving Silver a quick pat on the shoulder, before scooping up her little sister and hot tailing it to the house. She let the little girl down before she took the stairs two at a time, thumping up the stairs. Almost a few seconds after she had gotten up and had dug through her wardrobe to find a pretty white, lace dress that came to her knees and a beaded yellow necklace, she heard the shrieks of her little sister's delight in seeing one of Naea's best friends again. Chuckling to herself, she grabbed some sandals and slipped them over her ankles, giving herself a once over in the mirror before heading downstairs, to the amusing sight of Shai dragging the little girl along, Alice seemingly unable to let go. "Linnie's in her room pouting. She only went riding for an hour this morning." She heard the little girl say, and she rolled her eyes. "For your information, miss, it was at least two hours. And I was NOT pouting!" She waited for her friend at the top of the stairs, as Alice was shepherded off to the playroom, before heading into her room just ahead of Shai.
"Like I told you, we are having a girls' day, missy, and you're going to like it. So, you better be dressed in there and have a bag packed." Linn couldn't help grinning. "Ahh, is my fabulous dress not good enough, ma chérie?" She pouted slightly before quickly returning to her smile. "Oh my god! You'll never guess what I have in store!" She squirmed in anticipation, before finally exploding with, "My dad got me and you and about 18 other people tickets to France in the Winter hols! He booked a lodge and skiing and everything. It was a lovely surprise." She couldn't help but hug her friend at that point, giving her a tight squeeze. "Also, I'm really sorry for missing the text. Alice waltzed in to the stables this morning with it, yelling that I had a text. I miight have gone out to exercise Silver really early this morning without it." She pulled a face. "I think I should apologize to Honey and Chad though. I was really irrational yesterday." She mentioned out of the blue, under her breath. "But that's enough of that! What have you got planned for today, Mademoiselle Lehman?" She finished with a cheeky smirk, sitting on the bed and swinging her legs to and fro.