VAILE, Neva Cressida Skyden

[neva cressida skyden vaile]

NEVA CRESSIDA SKYDEN VAILE

FULL NAME: Neva Cressida Skyden Vaile.
NICKNAMES: She doesn’t like nicknames.
AGE: Twenty-four.
GENDER: Female.
SEXUALITY: Straight.
STATUS: Single.
GROUP: Citizen.
GRADE: N/A.
MAJOR: N/A.
JOB OCCUPATION: Owns Beyond The Vaile Curiosity Shop and a socialite

HAIR: Blonde, naturally darker blonde, but Neva lightens it and has recently started to play with a rainbow of colours. It’s long, always has been, and though she wears it up and styles it according to the occasion, Neva always prefers to wear it down.
EYES: Blue.
SCARS/BIRTHMARKS: She has one on her left knee due to surgery when she was fourteen to treat damage from a broken knee cap.
TATTOOS: Truth on the inside of her bottom lip, an owl on her middle finger, ‘index’ on her index finger, her sister’s name on her wrist in white ink, a peace sign on her palm, three stars behind her left ear, a heart in a diamond behind her right ear, the Geini symbol on her ankle, feather on the back of her neck. She has two white feathers on her stomach, too.
PIERCINGS: Left side of her nose and her septum, her belly button, seven in her left ear and two on her right.
PLAY-BY: Abbey Lee Kershaw!

LIKES: fresh bedding, her grandfather’s photographs, dark chocolate, shoes, social galas, brooches, receiving flowers, vegetarian dishes, Mediterranean holidays, face masks, archery, salt baths, finding new things for the shop, oil paintings, horse riding, chai tea, prosecco, perfume, lavender candles, European literatures, lipgloss, apple turnovers, Archer, sushi.
DISLIKES: insomnia, people repeating themselves, hiding her tattoos, being judged for where she comes from, nightmares, very spicy food, clowns, being so tall, live spiders, jealousy, horror movies, crowded venues, sticky heat, graphic violence, ruining a pair of shoes, character mascot costumes, feeling indecisive, having no one to talk to, warm wine.
FEARS: mascot costumes, clowns, being disowned by high society.
SECRETS: Neva has developed a psychological dependence to her sleeping pills. They were intended to be a short term solution to her insomnia when it was extremely bad, but the last time she had them the thought of stopping them and sleeping without them made her anxious and led to severe anxiety. He recommended she stop taking them six months ago, but Neva can barely handle a few nights without them and then she’s freaking out and stressed over how lightly she sleeps, adamant in her mind that she needs the pills.
PERSONALITY: Neva may be a socialite, but that doesn’t mean she’s all that you read in the magazines. Yes, she’s got expensive tastes and has her moments of entitlement, but she’s also clever and cultured. She’s multi-lingual thanks to her love of classical European literature, and appreciates timeless things. It’s important to note that Neva is changing a lot at the moment, and is currently finding who she really wants to be, after some written words of wisdom from her late grandfather. There are moments when she might appear cranky or short with people, but this is usually when she’s very tired, which is due to her being an insomniac. Neva has never been a good sleeper, plagued with strange nightmares no one has ever been told about. She doesn’t know where they came from, but they’ve haunted her since childhood. She knows she can be powerful and uses her charm alongside that to get what she wants when she wants it. She’s feminine and likes things to be pretty often in their own unique way. She’s a social butterfly who loves her galas and her brunches as much as anything else, even if she is taking a chance at trying life away from all of that, too. She’s not one to have a temper – usually – but she can shout and scream and stomp her feet with the best of them when her buttons are pushed. Neva would probably consider herself a romantic who likes being surprised with flowers and the like, but at the same time she’s easily bored by men trying to wow her with lavish gifts or by taking her places she could easily take herself. She needs someone who can keep her on her toes and intrigue her, without boring her or using her purely to increase their own social standing or fame.

MOTHER: Uma Katarina Vaile, 56 .
FATHER: Thomas Christian Harvard Vaile, 59.
SIBLINGS: Thomas Donnelly Jackson Vaile, 31.
Prudence Caitlyn Marley Vaile, 27.
OTHERS: Opal Elizabeth Vaile, 28, Thomas’ wife!
Markus Evan James Brantley, 29 – Prudence’s hubby-to-be!
Thomas Carter Vaile, paternal grandfather, deceased.
PETS: Bichon Frise, Charlotte, two.
HOMETOWN: Bel Air, Los Angeles.
HISTORY: Uma and Thomas Christian were introduced to each other when they were teenagers. It was no secret that their parents wanted them to fall in love. Uma’s parents longed to climb higher in the world of high society and Thomas’ father was rumoured to have descended from Thomas Jefferson – hence why all the sons were given Thomas at their first name in tribute. The Vaile’s were high in power, many of them going into politics or law for centuries. They made their mark on the country and people seemed to fight to get their attention. Well, Uma certainly won over her future husband. She was a classic beauty, and she was sweet which won his heart quickly. He had never wanted a wife who would go out and spend all the family money on materialistic things just to flaunt at the country club or at the next big gala. Uma was a kind heart, who worked to bring a more of a charitable side to the Vaile name. They already did their part, but she brought it more to light.

They had three children; a son and two daughters. The son would be groomed to carry on the family name, and the daughters would be expected to be perfect debutantes and follow into the socialite life. Of course, the world of socialites was changing, and Neva was thrust into a world where it didn’t just matter to have the correct manners and be seen in the right company. She needed to be in the right designers, look flawless at all times and ensure that she was as perfect as could be. The twenty-first century turned socialites into minor celebrities whether they wanted to be there or not. Prudence was more prepared for it than Neva was, always making a show out of something tiny. Neva often didn’t understand why people needed her photograph or insisted that she make her mark wherever she went. It turned her into something she probably never set out to be.

Privately educated, Neva was always encouraged to learn. And she did. She enjoyed old things, be them antiques or the classics in her grandfather’s library. He collected literature from around the world, so she learnt to read in several languages, and spoke them too. Her grandfather was very close to her, but he distanced himself from the Vaile empire rather early on in her life. He moved to his New York residence and though she spent many holidays there before they went on a family vacation, there were always mumblings from her father about worries of his old mind. Later she learnt that her grandfather had vanished from many public appearances due to a minor breakdown after his wife’s death. Neva had few memories of her grandmother, but a stunning oil painting of her in her youth had always hung in the home of her, capturing the beauty that she was told had been passed onto her; she apparently looked just like her, and Neva saw the resemblance in the painting as she got older. Still, she adored her grandfather, and he would call after he knew she had an exam, or a gala, or anything remotely of importance to talk to her about it. He wanted the news and would ask if people were still catty or trying to weasel in close to the family. He might have stepped away, but Neva considered him to still be sharp.

Away from that part of her life though, it was very easy for Neva to be tempted by the modern world of the socialites. She held a lot of power with her name, and being young it was easy to exploit it. There were times when she was bitchy, turned her nose up at things, and had an attitude that screamed her status. Neva didn’t even realise she was doing it. It was just done. People wanted to be her friend because they thought being her friend would get them places, and earn them things. Her family were a legacy, but being young Neva didn’t know what to do with so much of that. So she was popular, and being popular led to a lot of drama. When a skiing accident led to her broken kneecap at fourteen, some were pleased that there was a temporary gap in the hierarchy while she was recovering, but then the moment she came back to school that instantly switched the power back to her; A Vaile was a Vaile after all. She made it through school unscathed, and went to Princeton to study European Literature. None of her family needed to work, but her father encouraged his daughters to get a college degree just in case something terrible ever befell their lineage. Prudence had already met and was discussing marriage with Markus by this point in time, and her brother had wed his wife the summer Neva was packing up her things to move. The idea of needing a back up plan sounded positively ludicrous, but it was the family tradition.

Princeton breezed by. She ruled there as much as she did back in Bel Air. Her brother and father had attended the school, along with some previous relatives, so her name was known. They had dipped their toes in Ivy League schools around the countries over the decades. Neva got through her education there and then had all her plans set up to return back home, which she did. For a year and a half she simply lived like Prudence did. Galas, country clubs, shopping…it was the life of a socialite. She met a few suitors, but none of them impressed her enough to stick with them. It wasn’t that Neva had high standards, but she was bored easily when they flashed their cars, or started trying to impress her with places she had spent her whole life going to. If she was honest, Neva was a little bored with the life Prudence and her mother seemed to thrive in, but if she ever suggested as much she was laughed at and they told her to book a vacation, and would start listing options of where to go next.

The twist in Neva’s life came shortly after. Her grandfather died suddenly when she was twenty-three. He passed away in his sleep from a heart attack, but no one expected it; he was such a healthy man. When the will was being read, everyone was stunned to discover that Neva had been left a shop in New York City. No one even knew he had it. They all flew out to see what it was, and they were all somewhat horrified to find the curiosity shop tucked away in the heart of New York City. Her sister suggested gutting the place and turning it into a boutique, but then Neva found the letter addressed to her. In it her grandfather told her to go back and let that curious little girl run free again, and suggested that she just lock the doors and spend some time alone in the shop before she pulled a face and wondered if maybe he was just a senile old man. He explained that as a little boy he had secretly loved places like this, and once he was away from the family’s limelight he had decided to follow his childhood heart and open one of his own. He wrote that as a little girl, she had been full of wonder, too, and he hoped that she would make this more than he ever could. He closed off the letter adding that there was more to life than being a Vaile; adding a pun that she should look beyond the Vaile. The letter won her over. She shot down her family’s worries and suggestions and told them the shop was staying as it was. It was her grandfather’s legacy and she would make it her own.

But then he walked in; the assistant her grandfather hired. He knew everything about the shop and had something to say about every little thing Neva did to the place. If she rearranged the shelves, he had a problem with it. If she bought new stock, he would question the authenticity even though she knew what she was doing after looking through everything her grandfather had left for her. He had clearly intended to leave Beyond the Vaile to Neva for some time, because she had mountains of letters and files with her name on, full of notes and rundowns of the business simplified and explained for her. Still, she wished she could get rid of the assistant because he was such a pain in her ass, but he knew the store well, and he was interested in the place. Neva needed that. She had her own troubles and she still had her own life to live. Moving to New York hadn’t ended her life as a socialite. She had more galas and events to attend her than she had back home! She hadn’t closed the door on that part of her life. She was just finding a balance and figuring out who she wanted to be. It was like her grandfather said – there was more to life than being a Vaile. They had used their name and done the same old thing for centuries. Maybe it was time one of them stepped out and changed things.

YOUR ALIAS: Kim.
RULE WORDS: kidnappedbykim.
WHERE YOU FOUND US: At the bottom of a bottle.
SAMPLE:

Never!

[kim]