The rain pelted the crowd of black umbrellas, as if the sky were crying over the man that lay beneath the casket lid. The tap tap taping of the constant down pour mixed with the solemn voice of the man in black, talking about ashes to ashes and dust to dust. Every eye that didn't hold tears, held a look of sorrow.

All except Audrey.

Her eyes were dry, her body numb as she stared at the dark casket and the rivers of rain drops that slide down the side. A gentle hand wrapped around her and squeezed lovingly. The owner of the hand meet Audrey's gaze with a face that held a tender, understanding look. A face that looked so much like Audrey's deceased mother it still startled her, even after of a year knowing the difference.

Audrey looked to the minister, her ears hearing the words but nothing reaching her, as if he spoke a foreign language.

Eyes flickered to Audrey and she felt the weight of their stares as well as the feel of their curious thoughts. As if they were themselves arms that reached out for her and wrapped around her, studying her. Audrey dropped her gaze again, trying to connect to the casket and the man that lay beyond it.

A man whose blood was flowing through her, but she had only seen five times in the past three weeks.

The minister's voice had drifted off and a smartly dressed man and woman stepped forward. The man's thick gray hair was neatly trimmed and the woman's black dyed hair flawlessly styled. They each placed a rose on the caskets lid and drifted back into the crowd. A blonde, with too much work done in the face, moved forward, picked a rose from a silver bucket and laid it down on the casket.

Behind her followed a tall, blonde haired man who looked only a few years old than Audrey herself. He moved with a heavy tread. He laid the the flower down gently as his mouth moved wordlessly, his eyes holding the all sorrow the blonde woman had been lacking.

As the man stepped back, Audrey's aunt's hand dropped from her shoulder, the sign that it was now Audrey's turn. As she self consciously smoothed down the front of her faded black dress she moved forward.

Eyes locked on her, their thoughts as loud as their looks.

Picking a rose from the bucket, Audrey took a step towards the casket, her mind racing.

How was she suppose to say goodbye the man she had longed to know all her life and had finally met at the end of his?

How did she grieve for the one she had spent her life grieving for?

She knelt and laid the rose down on the rained splattered casket, her fingers resting gently on the surface for a heart beat longer.

"Goodbye Richard. I'm sorry I didn't know you longer." Audrey thought to herself.

When she rose and turned away, she met the gaze of the blonde man and he nodded at her. Audrey returned the gesture and rejoined her aunt, the one face out of the hundreds that Audrey knew. The only one that didn't look at her as if she were a headline.

A headline reading, 'Billionaire dies leaving everything to recently discovered daughter.'

**************

Hey there cowboy! (Or I guess it should be cowgirl instead.)

This is about a girl dealing with the grief of a father she never knew while entering the world of the elite and finding that on the inside it doesn't glimmer as brightly as when seen from the outside.

How did I come up with this? I actually can't really remember. I think I wrote this first chapter and then it took off from there. I thought it fascinating to toss a girl who has lived her whole life on a tight budget and the thrift store into a world where money is not a problem.  So yeah...that's how it came about.

What did you think? Who do you think the blonde haired guy is?

Vote, comment, follow! I really want to know what you thought!