The entrance of the new arrivals seemed to have been timed. Being neither early nor late, they suppressed the whole scene with their momentum, making not just the noise, but even the music reflexively die down.
For a moment, only the sounds of the two competing sports cars on the track remained, strident but distant.
The sports cars fanned around to give way to the one that seemed to be the leader, letting it take the middle of the scene as it stopped. As the competing rockets approached the finishing line on the track, the door of the sheer white Ferrari SF90 Stradale XX, which the other cars seemed to exist only to set off, was pushed open.
Black hair, slightly pale skin, a handsome face with slightly narrow eyebrows above his pale blue eyes that swept over the scene.
At that moment, it did not matter anymore that the Stradale was custom made. It did not matter how expensive it was, nor how powerful it must be. A ripple passed through the crowd, and following it was a murmur that silenced the place:
"Kris Lenner…"
There was no more need to shout to be heard after all the noise died down. That made the quiet words ride with the wind and resound wider than it should have. And that name, which some might not have known, and many might not have recognized the owner of without a prompt, took away the heavy momentum from earlier, and replaced it with a quiet but all-pervasive suppression.
*Phew!!!*
The two sports cars on the track passed the finish line like two blurs, but no one cared. No one had the mind to care. No cheer, no wild comment, no applause. Not even attention.
At the bar, Sharon's heart skipped a beat at the mention of the new arrival's last name. Lance glanced at the uninvited guests, before focusing on the ringleader. After taking a sip of his drink, he smirked, and spoke loudly enough for everyone to hear:
"Well, well, well… Look who is here. If this is not the dreamer of the Lenner family. What an honor, indeed! Have you become the crown prince of the family in your daydream yet?"
Despite his last words, there was no sincerity on his face, only mockery, and barely veiled disdain.
A few stifled laughter responded to the words laced with as much ill intention as the uninvited arrival of the new group, but just a few. Not many had the guts to laugh at the words that brought out the internal tension within the younger generation of one of the most powerful families around.
Kris calmly turned his gaze to Lance, his blue eyes indifferent under the teasing smile in the pale green eyes across, then looked around, before calmly asking:
"Where is your master, Lance? He should not be too far away from the good dog that always follows behind him, right? After all, two decades of loyalty should be rewarded, don't you think so?"
Lance raised his eyebrows. He pulled his lips back to bare his teeth in a mock display, then suddenly waved his hand before his nose and laughed:
"Hahahaha, really, I can't even feel offended. I accept being called a dog if that can justify how I always smell a stench from you. Maybe that is why, unlike your cousin whose shadow you have always lived in, you have to pay others to pretend to be your friends."
Pulling the corner of his lips back in a deep smirk, Lance landed the final blow:
"Heh, I'm happy that Alex didn't come. He would have had to endure your sewer kind of perfume if he had."
Kris's expression didn't change. In the silence that turned suffocating amidst the surprising exchange, he gave Lance a long look, his gaze deep, then he shook his head, his disdain plain and clear on his face as he smirked:
"I still can't get why you like licking the butts of that mama boy so much. He might even be under his mother's skirt right now, looking to hide better from the world like he has come to like doing."
Lance's smile slowly slipped away from his lips. His calm gaze turned into a glare as his chest rose sharply. Putting his glass down, he made to push himself off the bar counter, the look in his eyes gaining in intensity. But before he could really move, a hand fell on his shoulder and pulled him back, at the same time as a casual voice rang on the scene:
"Yo! And here I was, thinking that some big shot had arrived. Turns out, it is just an attention-seeking bundle of jealousy. What? Can't organize your own party to vent? Can you only come here to prove your existence?"
Kris took his eyes off Lance, the smirk on his lips receding. He gave a deep look at the man coming out of the shadow beside the blond, and spat out with deliberate emphasis:
"Tyler. Darkhope. The poorest of the bunch who is always trying to pretend that he belongs with my dear cousin and his puppy. Done brooding already?"
"Oh? You know me. I'm honored."
Tyler raised an eyebrow, his expression indifferent. He didn't even care about how Kris got to know what was happening before his arrival. He turned away and took his hand off Lance's shoulder to wave at Frank, the bartender. His all too flat reply had Lance let out a stifled laugh, then stop paying attention to Kris too. Instead, he glanced at Tyler.
Taking in the calm expression on his friend's face, Lance took a deep breath to push his rising melancholy down, and waved at the crowd with a bright smile:
"Everyone, we've got a star among us tonight, and I'm sure many of you have watched her last movie, right?!"
The shout was like a hammer shattering a frozen surface. There was a moment of pause, then the party manager picked up on the cue. The spotlights that seemed to have dulled for a while flared to life, moving in one swift motion to the side where Lance was pointing, bringing the attention on the rider of the wave of fame and popularity who had been ignored earlier.
The crowd started to stir. While Glenn smiled at the blonde, Lance continued:
"I heard that she did many of her stunts herself for that movie! And now, Ron thinks he is charming enough to get a date with her! Whether she accepts or not, everything here is dealt with on the track, ISN'T IT?!"
"YEAH!!!"
Flashing Ron a vengeful grin as he recalled the previous brush with a cardiac arrest, he went on:
"That is why Kris Lenner got jealous enough to come to our party uninvited, right?!"
"YEAH!!!"
The fire was coming back, and there was no more care for the weight of someone's background.
Not caring about him, Lance took the microphone that arrived at just the right time, and turned to Sharon to ask in a deep voice:
"So, Miss Kenner, care to show us what you can do?"
"WOOHHH!!!"