Evelyn Stewart surveys the party from the seating area on the second floor balcony. The party is enormous, as it usually is with the Rollins family, and there is no shortage of kids. Currently, a game of tag is being played across the stone patio, the wooden deck to the right of it, the acre or so of open lawn behind all that, and presumably parts of the first floor. Evelyn chuckles to herself at the thought of Patty Rollins yelling at the kids while her husband Tom discreetly eggs them on while laughing.
The Stewarts and the Rollins have been friends for years. Evelyn and Patty went to college together and in the almost thirty years since then have stayed close ever since. Patty wasn’t raised in extreme wealth like Evelyn was, but Evelyn’s father always made sure that his daughter was well rounded. It was years before Patty found out about the type of wealth Evelyn’s family owned. By then, she was engaged to Tom who had been working for his father’s construction company for ten years and poised to take it over.
Money is something the two of them have grown accustomed to, however not necessarily in the same capacities.
As Evelyn diverts her attention from the kids and onto the rest of the guests, she looks over the latest addition that Tom’s company added to the backyard: a fire pit with stadium-style raised seating surrounding it. The sandstone seating surrounding the pit has to weigh an incredible amount, and it all looks very professionally done.
Troy, her husband, is among a group of the other fathers around the fire chatting with their beers. He happens to glance up at her at the same time she is looking down, and raises his glass towards her. She smiles down at him, and laughs at his formal hello. Looking down at her own glass she realizes it has been empty for some time.
“Time for another,” she says to herself under her breath as she turns to re-enter the house.
She debates looking for her parents, but knows they are most likely picking at the appetizers and complaining at the quality of food. If they start dwelling on the negatives, it’s damn near impossible to get them to stop complaining. Evelyn can’t afford distractions. Not tonight.
Tonight has the possibility of being a very special night. She smiles at the thought as she passes through the hallways to the central staircase leading to the foyer. Nodding and smiling to each guest she passes, she does her best to not get caught in any particular conversation.
An older gentleman, Patty’s uncle if she remembers correctly, makes a move to stop her progress back to the kitchen, however she politely raises her empty glass and taps the side a few times to signify her destination. The man smiles and raises an open hand as if to continue guiding her down the hallway.
“Just another business idea that needs financing, I’m sure,” she mutters to herself after passing him.
With the wealth her family still possesses, people are always pitching her ideas for investments, and they are rarely ever worthy of her time. No, for Evelyn Stewart, she enjoys procuring her wealth in other ways. Certain skills that she’s been honing over the years that she learned from her father, and others in the business as well. The challenge and thrill of it all continues to drive her to it to this day.
It’s her reason for being in this house, on this night, at this party. Being friends with Patty is just an easy excuse for being here.
Typical theft is anything but typical these days. With most robberies happening online, requests for physical items are few and far between. A low supply means higher demand, and sometimes the “buyers” will hire two, or even three, people to ensure the job gets done.
Obviously, this is less than ideal for a thief.
Luckily, for Evelyn, she’s been around the block enough that she can swing her weight to keep others from poaching her jobs. It helps having a history, and her history is long, thanks to her father and his thrill-seeking desires as the son of an oil tycoon. Without the need for a serious career, his one-time shoplifting of a baseball souvenir at the age of seven turned into a life of white-collar crime.
Of course he dragged his only daughter into it as well.
Evelyn made sure no other thieves took this job, but a whispering thought in the back of her mind spread seeds of doubt, thanks to the strange nature of the contact that sent her the details of the job. It’s not rare to have second thoughts, but this time it felt different.
She physically shakes her head free of those thoughts, hoping to put the worry behind her.
As she approaches the bar near the kitchen, the density of people has increased. Appetizer plates are being removed, and the serving plates for the main course are being brought out to the buffet tables. All the commotion continues to bring people into the kitchen. Evelyn studies the crowd for a particular person, when Patty starts clapping for people’s attention.
“Thank you all for coming to celebrate the success of my husband, Tom! To say I’m proud of him is an extreme understatement. The recent contract he signed with the government will be the biggest the company has ever seen. Before we dig into this wonderful meal, a toast! To Tom!”
In unison, everyone raises a glass and cheers his name. Evelyn spots Troy out of the corner of her eye and waves to get his attention. He nods and begins to work his way through the crowd toward her, but she waves him off and shakes her head. Troy gives her a puzzled look.
“Nicolas” she mouths to him. The cheers for Tom are still drowning out any conversation at this point.
“What?” Troy mouths back.
“Nic-o-las” Evelyn tries to mouth back to him, enunciating each part of the name.
She hasn’t seen her son in some time now, and is curious if her husband has by any chance. It’s not like him to be out of her sight for this long.
Although, as a young man in his early twenties, hanging around his mother might be the last thing he wants to do, she thinks.
At that moment, she sees him coming from the same direction she had, through the foyer and into the kitchen near the serving line for the main course. Evelyn tries to wave at him, however his head is down, seemingly focused on some task for who knows what. From a distance, she watches her son move nimbly through the crowd, making sure to not disturb anyone carrying their plates of food to a spot to eat. Finally, he arrives at the dessert table and leans over to grab a few wrapped candies.
“You sly little devil,” Evelyn mutters to herself.
Those are the same wrapped candies her mother loves to eat. She shakes her head and chuckles quietly to herself.
Maybe he could have some future in the family business, however he’ll need to work on his pickpocket skills, she thinks.
“Something funny?”
Evelyn jumps at the shock of the voice directly behind her. She turns to find out who snuck up on her only to see Tom standing there with an enormous smile on his face.
“Sorry, Evie. I didn’t mean to startle you” he says.
“Tom! Only my father calls me that. Please, it’s so childish,” she says with a bashful grin.
“Oh, shit, you’re right. I’m sorry Ms. Evelyn,” he replies with a grin of his own.
“Don’t patronize me!”
“I would never think of it. Are you enjoying yourself? Finding everything you need?”
“Not exactly…”
Evelyn trails off as she looks across the foyer at a familiar looking young man that crosses the hallway towards the library. The look of confusion on her face prompts a question from Tom, but her attention is now elsewhere.
Didn’t she just see Nicolas in the kitchen?
Writing by Adam 