By one o’clock, Sophie’s nervousness had turned into anxiety. "What if he doesn’t like me?" She asked worriedly, "What if I’m not really his granddaughter?"
"Relax Sophie," Duo urged as they got into his jeep. "Everything will be fine. There are still tons of other numbers in that book; we just need to figure them out. And besides, I’m pretty sure this guy is a relative of yours. The number was in your mother’s book, and he had a granddaughter named Sophia."
"But my name is Sophie!"
"Sophie can be a short form of Sophia." Duo replied. "Now calm down, you’re making me nervous!"
Sophie sighed and put most of her effort into sitting still and calming down. She watched the scenery rush by as Duo started to drive towards the given address.
Parish Manor was a huge estate with a big iron gate in the front, and guards at the doors. There was a waterfall near the entrance, and the house was hidden at the end of a long driveway behind countless gardens and trees.
There was a valet at the door who took the jeep with a semi-disgusted look and went to park it. The same English butler who answered the phone opened the door.
"Good day Sir, Hello Madam. Master Parish is waiting for you in the back garden. Shall I take you there?"
"Yes. Please." Duo said, staring in awe at the cavernous room he was standing in. The floor was dark brown tile with a hint of red, and a huge spiral staircase with gold railings stood in the center. There were dark wood tables with flowers and other things on them. The room itself was bigger than Duo’s house, and this was just the lobby!
They followed the butler through the lobby to the French doors in the back, which opened into a perfectly manicured garden. There, on the patio, was a distinguished-looking man sitting at a white table. The man had silvery hair, and a stern and worn face, decorated with wrinkles and laugh-lines. His deep-set eyes were the same ocean color as Sophie’s were. The way he dressed and carried himself just reeked of money, and so did his house.
"Good afternoon Sir," He said, standing up. "My name is Fredrick Parish, you may call me Mr. Parish." He shook Duo’s hand roughly.
"Hi, I’m Duo Maxwell."
"Funny," Mr. Parish replied, "I thought you were bringing a young lady with you."
"Hun?" Duo turned around, only to find that Sophie wasn’t there.
"Sophie?" Duo asked, "Sophie where are you?" He called; there was no answer.
"She must have wandered off," Duo sighed.
Mr. Parish looked at the butler and said, "Jones, please go find the young lady, I need to speak with Mr. Maxwell alone for a moment anyway."
Jones nodded and turned to search for the missing girl.
"Now Mr. Maxwell, if you may," He motioned for Duo to sit down. He did so. "I must warn you, Mr. Maxwell, if this is some sort of prank, I will involve the authorities."
"It’s not," Duo promised, "I’m just trying to help Sophie find where she belongs."
Mr. Parish nodded slightly. "Very well then, Mr. Maxwell. I should hope you are telling the truth." He paused, "Tell me, what exactly do you do, Mr. Maxwell?"
"I work as a Preventor." Duo replied absently as he glanced at the door to see if Sophie was there yet.
If he had been paying attention, he would have seen the impressed look flash across Mr. Parish’s face.
"Not bad for one so young." Mr. Parish said politely. "How old are you, Sir?"
"Eighteen," Duo replied with a grin, "One of the youngest Preventors except maybe Wufei."
"I suppose that you know Miss Une then?"
"Personally," Duo grinned, "Even before I was a Preventor."
"Really?"
"So how do you know Une?"
"I do some business dealings with the Preventors." "Ah," That wasn’t uncommon; many rich people had Preventor bodyguards. "You hire from there?"
"Yes,"
Duo nodded slightly, "Who do you work for?" Mr. Parish asked.
"No one," Duo grinned, "I’m not in the protection part of that place."
"Really?"
"Yeah, I deal with the big stuff like terrorists and ‘putting out fires’, as Une likes to say."
"And how long have you been working there?"
Duo thought for a moment and counted on his fingers, "About six months."
"Your rank?"
"Lieutenant, why?"
"A Lieutenant already? After six months?"
"Yeah, I’m pretty good." Duo grinned. He loved watching the faces of old stiffs when they heard of how powerful he was. Especially since most rich people sneered at his appearance.
Mr. Parish looked as if he was about to say something more, but then his eyes widened.
Duo looked behind them curiously and saw Sophie and Jones entering. He could see that Jones was trying to hide a smile.
"My G-d," Mr. Parish gasped as he stood up form the table. He walked slowly over to Sophie and examined her closely. "Y-You look just like my Gina." He said.
"I-I do?" Sophie asked shyly.
"Yes," Mr. Parish smiled. "This is incredible! And all this time I though you were dead!"
"Y-you mean…you mean I’m really your granddaughter?" Sophie asked hopefully.
"Yes, I’m sure of it! Of course I’ll have to check your records but…"
Sophie beamed and looked at Duo. "Duo," She whispered, as if speaking any louder would shatter her happiness. "It’s true, I really have a family!" She jumped over to him and gave him a hug.
"Now my Sophia, I’m so happy to see you again!" Mr. Parish gasped. "I’m going to throw a huge ball for you! And you’ll meet all our family members!"
"Really?" Sophie squealed.
"Yes, yes," He turned to Jones. "Jones! Prepare a room for my granddaughter!"
Duo turned to Sophie and smiled. "I’m happy for you Sophie, but I’m going to miss you."
"What do you mean Duo? I’m not going to leave you. You’re my best friend in the world."
"Well, I can’t see you too often if you’re going to live here with your grandpa!"
"Live here?"
"Of course! Don’t you want to stay with you family?"
"Yeah, I guess I do." Sophie smiled, forgetting about Duo for the moment. She was completely lost in her own wonderland.
The rest of the lunch went by really well, Sophie talked with her Grandfather for hours, catching up and reliving faint memories. Duo was so happy for her that all he could do was watch. He wondered what it would be like to meet his own family and his old friends. What he wouldn’t give to see Solo again, just for one day; or Sister Helen and Father Maxwell. But of course it was impossible for him, since they were all dead. But still, if he couldn’t see his family again, then living through Sophie’s happiness would be enough for him.
When it was time to go, Sophie was too happy to give him a long farewell. Instead, when the ball was mentioned, she told him she’d see him there.
"I’m invited?" Duo asked out loud.
"Of course you are, Mr. Maxwell." Mr. Parish laughed. "Everyone will want to meet the man who saved our Sophia."
"Yeah, sure. I’ll see ya there, Sophie."
"Bye Duo!" She waved happily. She stood at the doorway until Duo was out of sight.
Duo couldn’t help but notice how quiet it was in the car without Sophie in there with him. She was always chatting happily about something. He sighed as he thought about how lonely it was going to be in his house now.
He pulled into his driveway and stepped out of the car. As he entered the house, he saw that Nano had made a mess again. Sighing, Duo started to clean up.
Nano nipped at his feet and then whined a bit. It seemed that the little dog missed Sophie as well. Well, at least that was one thing Duo could fix. The next day he could bring Nano back to Sophie, as well as all her clothes.
After cleaning up a bit, Duo finally saw that it was getting dark and ate a quick dinner before going to bed early.
Sophie’s face lit up when she saw Duo at the door the next afternoon.
"Duo! And you brought Nano!" She squealed with delight as she took the puppy from Duo’s arms.
"I figured you would want him back, and he really seemed to miss you too." Duo grinned.
"Really? That was so nice of you Duo! Can you come in for a while?"
Duo looked behind her at Jones’ disapproving face.
"I can’t today Sophie, but I’ll see you at this ball, OK?"
"Ok," Sophie sighed.
"Aren’t you looking forward to it?" Duo wondered.
"Of course I am! It’s a chance for me to meet my family, but…"
"But what, Sophie?"
"I just hope it’s not like the last ball I went to…"
Duo laughed, "Relax Sophie, these rich people are a lot different than those new Preventors."
"Are you sure?" Sophie asked nervously.
"Yeah, and besides, they’ll mostly be your family anyway, they won’t try anything."
"If you say so…"
"Of course I do," On an impulse, Duo leaned forward and gave Sophie a quick peck on the cheek. Sophie blushed deeply.
"I’ll see ya later Sophie," Duo said as he turned and walked back towards his waiting car.
Sophie stood at the doorstep until Duo was out of sight and then silently went back inside the house.
"Oh, Sophia! There you are! I’ve been looking for you all morning!"
Sophie turned and smiled as her Grandfather came don the stairs, followed closely by another young man, around Sophie’s age.
"Was that Mr. Maxwell at the door?" He asked.
Sophie nodded. "Yeah, he came by to drop off Nano." She held up the little Husky puppy for him to see.
"Did he leave already?"
Sophie nodded, "Yeah, he did."
"Too bad, Vilas wanted to meet him."
"Who?"
Her Grandfather stepped back and introduced the young man who was standing behind him.
The man had black hair that was short at the back, but his bangs were long, and parted in the middle to frame his face. He had smooth features, and cool gray eyes that twinkled and made it seem like he was hiding something. He was dressed well and formally, just like her grandfather was, but something told her that he was as uncomfortable in the fancy clothes as Sophie was.
"Vilas is the son of a very good friend of mine, and a fellow businessman." Her Grandfather explained.
"It’s very nice to finally see you again, Miss Sophia." Vilas stepped forward and took her hand and kissed it gently.
Sophie blushed and asked, "Again? Have I met you before?"
"Yes!" her Grandfather cried. "You and Vilas were…very close as children."
"Oh, well…it’s very nice to see you again, too, Vilas."
Vilas laughed at this, "You don’t even remember me!"
Sophie shook her head, "I’m sorry…"
"Ah, well," Her Grandfather said hastily. "I’ll let you two get re-acquainted. I have some business to attend to."
Sophie and Vilas watched the man leave. Once he was gone, Vilas turned to her. "How about a walk through the gardens, so we can talk?" He suggested.
Sophie thought of the last time a man had asked her to go outside alone. She shivered inwardly, "Um…no, maybe we could stay inside?"
"Is it too hot outside for you?"
"Oh no! I have been living alone on a tropical island for most of my life. It’s just that, I want to see this house. I haven’ had a lot of time to explore yet."
"Ok," Vilas shrugged. He took her arm and started to lead her around the house. Sophie smiled inwardly; she didn’t want to be alone with any man she didn’t know. She had learned that they couldn’t be trusted. All of them, that is, except Duo. But Duo was no longer with her, and she suddenly found herself missing him terribly.
‘I’ll see him at that party,’ she told herself firmly. ‘And maybe he can keep coming for visits.’
She shook all thoughts of Duo from her head and attempted to be nice to Vilas as he told her about the house.
