Time Warp: When We Were Young (Chester)

[Calliope Gallo]

Canon: 2005

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Social business circles ran pretty tightly. It meant families were intertwined and interacting more frequently than they might have liked. Especially when children were involved; harsh, honest critics if they didn't or wouldn't like something or someone.

A young Calliope Gallo tugged on her father Andrew's hand as he lead her through the banquet hall, past chattering couples and waitstaff handing off beverages to willing patrons. He was dressed to the nines in a perfectly fitted suit, while she wore a dress in the same shade of green as her mother, who was far too busy scolding Nikolas for not taking this seriously enough. Callie's long blonde hair hung up high out of her face, save for the bangs that remained clipped to one side. Suddenly he stopped, tapping a gentleman with bright red hair on the shoulder.

Andrew let her hand go, resting his behind her back to tentatively push her forward. "My daughter, Calliope." He introduced. But not to the man -

To the boy at his side with hair that matched his father's.

[Chester Douglas]

Although Chester was at that age where all he wanted to do was impress his father any way possible, he hated that he had to do it with his hair gelled beyond repair and slicked back, making his forehead look even wider than it actually was. His older siblings had dispersed and his mother was tending to Olivia and Paul upstairs.

His father had decided a long time ago that Chester was to continue with the family business, to which the younger Douglas gladly accepted without even thinking twice. His father knew he had more of a mind in business than his other siblings even before he could talk. He obviously chose wisely.

Leonard looked down at his son and straightened the tie he had put on Chester and smiled. "You look sharp, Chester. Like a Douglas should." He stated, patting the young boy on the shoulder. Chester beamed up at his father and nodded. "Thank you, father."

He heard a voice from behind him and he turned to find a pretty girl standing beside a rather tall man. Of course, at his age, everybody was tall. At least he still towered over the blond girl. Calliope, her name apparently was.

Chester looked up at the man and smiled, holding his hand out, as his father had taught him to do in these such occasions. "Pleased to meet you sir." He greeted before turning his attention to Calliope with a polite smile. "I'm Chester Douglas. Pleased to meet you, Calliope." He reached out an upturned palm for her to rest hers on.

[Calliope Gallo]

Calliope at first felt the overwhelming need to stand behind her father, tucked to his side slightly. But she didn't. At a younger age she would have thought to shy away from the boy who introduced himself to her. She watched as her father caught Chester's hand with his own and offered a shake. She took the time to look around and notice that there weren't a lot of younger people around. Niko was trying his best to chat up the girls who flocked to him, and Eric was already talking business despite his young age. In her family he was the first born, and the one who was clearly interested in the family business. Niko was enjoying the big party.

And Callie was just... There.

She looked up very briefly to her father, who nodded and pressed his hand to her back for a moment or two. With that encouragement, she offered her very best smile to Chester and reached out to rest her hand on his upturned palm. "Nice to meet you, Chester." She replied lightly, pressing her lips into a line to stop herself from, well, giggling at the whole act.

[Chester Douglas]

When Calliope smiled, Chester's got a lot more natural. She was definitely very pretty. Especially now she was smiling. He leaned forward as she placed her hand on his. Gripping it lightly, he pressed his lips against her hand, remaining eye contact with her even as he pulled away. His father had taught him that keeping eye contact was important to establish a rapport with someone. Especially a lady.

Looking up at her father, Chester cleared his throat before asking. "With your permission sir, I would like to bring Calliope over to the dance floor?" He looked down at Calliope with a smile and a nod before looking back up at her father.

[Calliope Gallo]

Callie instinctively blushed when he pressed his lips to her hand. She knew it was what people did in that situation, but he was a nice boy and from him she already liked the attention. It was a lot better than following Eric around or trying to keep up with Niko. She watched as he asked her father for permission. Andrew offered a low stint of laughter.

"Be careful what you wish for, young man. She might never let you leave." He replied, ending the sentence with a small nod.

With her elbow, Callie offered her father a quick hit to his leg. At this point, she had realised and been quite vocal about her love of dancing. Eric and Niko were to tall to be partners, and even then, Niko notoriously had two left feet anyway. "I would love to." She conceded.

[Chester Douglas]

Smiling at the blush Calliope produced, Chester gently squeezed her hand in reassurance. Like she needed any.

The tease from her father and the elbowing he got from her made him turn his head to the side with an amused grin. His father caught the look and gave one of his himself before patting his back.

"Andrew, shall we convene to the dining hall, leave these two alone?" Leonard clasped a hand on Andrew's shoulder and gestured to the direction of the dining hall.

Chester turned his attention to Calliope and smiled broadly. "Shall we?" He gave her a moment to gather herself before pulling her gently to the dance floor. Instinctively, he led the blonde around the room, expertly dodging the much taller dancers on the floor.

"You are Niko and Eric's sister, aren't you?" Chester asked, only because he always found the two hanging around Darla and Daniel, the twins above him.

[Calliope Gallo]

The reassuring squeeze seemed like just the thing Callie needed; it brightened her features instantly as she smiled back at him.

With Calliope's father conceding to leave them alone, she felt a weight lift off her shoulders. In the presence of someone her own age, she felt like she could relax a little more. She was pretty sure she wasn't all that good at keeping up the right image. Such a strange thing to worry about at such an age. At least he could understand it more than people who weren't thrown into this kind of situation.

Callie allowed herself to be lead, instantly trusting him not to have her run into someone else. If she so much as flinched in that instance, the balance would be thrown and that was never a good thing. She placed her other hand on his shoulder, feeling no need to look down at her feet. It was a trust thing.

"Yeah... Well, Eric's only my half-brother but he's still my brother." Calliope admitted, though she didn't feel ashamed that they didn't share a mother. And the two looked considerably more like their father than Nikolas did. "They're embarrassing. And they don't really like me following them around at stuff like this."

[Chester Douglas]

Chester couldn't help but smile back when he saw Calliope visibly relax against him. It was the duty of a gentleman, as was taught by his father, that he make his partner trust him in a matter of minutes. Calliope's movements after that squeeze implied that she already did.

Of course, Chester could tell that Calliope was just the sort of person who gave out trust easily but that did not mean he would betray it any time soon. He was raised better than that. And true to his own thought, he managed to maneuver her around the dance floor without hitting anybody. She was perfectly safe with him.

"I think it's the age gap. Daniel, my elder brother, would tell me to wait five minutes outside of the cinema before walking in just so he wouldn't be seen with me if he bumped into his friends." Chester chuckled, not offended by his brother's actions in the slightest. He figured it was just a phase.

"Is this your first event?" Chester asked, keeping up the small talk.

[Calliope Gallo]

Callie couldn't help but laugh at the story offered to her. She was glad he laughed as well, or she might have felt bad for finding humour at his expense.

Thoughtfully, she shook her head. "But I don't come along very much. Eric always does, though. I think he's the business one in the family." She added a shrug to the end of her statement, looking around briefly. "You look like you come to these things all the time. You're so... Um, smart about how to act. I think I'm just not used to it all yet."

[Chester Douglas]

Surprised that this wasn't her first, Chester nodded at her explanation. "I figured about Eric. My dad thinks Daniel would do well to follow his example. But Daniel wants nothing to do with the business world. Which I think is pretty smart of him." It was obvious that Chester looked up to his elder brother, even if the boy was a little too rebellious.

"Well, yes." Chester smiled a little shyly. "My father usually hosts these dinners at our house. I've been a part of this world for as long as I can remember." He shrugged. He didn't think it was such a chore. He got to put his dancing lessons to good use.

"Maybe now you will have a reason to come to these things. I would enjoy these events even more if you were around." He smiled widely.

[Calliope Gallo]

The way it was clear that Chester looked up to his brother made Calliope smile. Despite how embarrassing she could find her brothers, she still loved them and looked up to them immensely. "You either wanna do it or you don't, right? Maybe dad's lucky Eric actually wants to." But how her brother knew what he wanted to do already, she didn't know. She was too young to fully grasp that concept.

"So you must be pretty used to it, huh." Callie denoted. The corner of her mouth pulled into something of a quick frown. She wondered how long it took to get comfortable at these things.

Of course, it would be a lot easier if she had someone like Chester to hang out with. It made the whole ordeal seem like, well, less of an ordeal. "Are you always going to be here?" She asked with a small, almost embarrassed laugh, "You might get sick of me always following you around, though."

[Chester Douglas]

"Exactly." Chester responded with a nod. "I think now dad's hoping I would take an interest. Which is why he drags me to these things all the time." He shrugged, not actually minding it. He thought, if being in the family business meant fancy parties all the time, he was up for it.

"It depends on the company you keep." He stated, looking at her deliberately, adding a soft smile to his face. When he noticed the frown, Chester pulled her in closer at the waist. "And as far as I'm concerned, I'm in the best one right now."

Her question and succeeding statement made him shake his head. "Not at all. And if I seem to, you might have to check if it's actually me." He joked with a grin. The song ended, and he stopped momentarily. "Would you like a drink? I'm a little parched."

[Calliope Gallo]

"And?" Callie asked, glancing towards him again. "Well, I mean... Are you taking interest?" After all, he did say he came to these things often. Maybe he was more interested than his brother.

She felt her cheeks heat up again, and her instinct had her turn her gaze away sharply. A nervous laugh escaped the young girl's form. "That's really nice of you to say." She said quietly, looking back again as he pulled her in closer.

"You like, know all the right things to say. Has anyone ever told you that before?" Callie asked, stopping with the end of the song and drawing away to offer a small nod of acknowledgement. That's what they did at these things, right? "Yeah, sure! I'd like to stay in your company." She said, trying to adopt a little more of his persona to her own advantage.

[Chester Douglas]

Calliope's question had Chester smiling with the slightest of shrugs. "I might be." He answered. He was definitely more interested in it than his elder siblings were. It was probably because he loved spending time listening to his father spout off business jargon. It all sounded so complicated and sophisticated, two things Chester strived to be.

When the blonde blushed and looked away, Chester couldn't help but smile proudly. He had succeeded in making his acquaintance fall for his charms. Though not yet out of spite, the pride he took in this was making him rather giddy.

A small laugh came from the ten year old heir at her admission and consequent question. "I've never had the pleasure of hearing those words, no." He shook his head and gave her a genuine smile. "And I'm glad you are the first." He squeezed her hand in his and beamed at her response. "Fantastic! Now, shall we go and get as many cakes and pastries in the dining room and spoil our dinner while we're at it?" He grinned, his eyes glinting mischievously.