“You’re late, ” an old man sitting on a couch pointed out the moment Solene walked through the front door. For a seventy-five-year-old senior, he still had a thick mass of gray hair and could still walk properly without the aid of a cane.
Solene dipped her head shyly and approached her grandfather.
“Sorry pops. I’m on a tight schedule with my school work.” She stooped low and placed a quick kiss on his forehead.
Her grandfather cringed.
“Seriously, you’re the only college student I know who goes to the library almost every day, ” he commented.
Solene didn’t see it as a complaint though. She just chuckled and walked towards a bookshelf near the kitchen.
“All part of a student life pops, ” she answered whilst placing her newly acquired books on the shelf.
“Bah!” her grandfather waved a dismissive hand and clucked his tongue. “When I was your age, I was gallivanting around school looking for a fun time! Your grandmother too. Oh, yes, she was a party beast. How come you didn’t inherit that from us?!”
“Because dad, I brought her up like the studious girl that she should be, ” came the reply of Solene’s mother as she walked out of the kitchen.
“Hi mom, ” Solene leaned in and kissed her cheek.
“You’re late, ” her mother gave her a pointed glare.
“Sorry. I’ll be early next time, ” Solene promised.
“Urgh, nonsense, ” her grandfather interrupted. “Death by studying, ” he ground out, not looking at the television anymore but to the two women snickering to themselves. “Yes, I’m pretty sure Solene’s going to end up with that if she won’t stop reading.”
“Father, you are spoiling your granddaughter, ” Meridith sighed and neared him, placing a quick kiss on his forehead too when the old man continued shaking his head.
“Thanks pops. I’ll take note of your advice, ” Solene grinned and thereafter went to the kitchen.
“Hi AC! Come here you, ” she immediately crouched down when she saw her ten-year-old adoptive-brother playing Legos under the dining table. She hoisted the boy up and gave him a cuddle before the boy decided it was enough.
“Is grandma coming?” Solene asked when AC slipped from her hold and went back under the table.
Meridith nodded at her.
“Yes, ” she turned to the cupboards and pulled out four plates. “She’ll arrive before—” But then she paused after realizing her mistake.
“Before?” Solene parroted, quick to notice her mother’s unusual lack of words. She gave her mother an arched brow, sensing something wrong.
“Before we have a mother-daughter talk, ” Meridith continued.
“Why? What’s wrong Ma?” A sudden spark of anxiety surfaced inside her. She hoped her mother would answer, but Meridith only gave her the four plates and said:
“Let’s eat first.”
By the time their dinner had ended, Solene’s anxiety had grown a hundredfold. She felt she was the center of everyone’s attention when she sat at the far end of the living room where the outside playground of her adoptive brother could be seen.
Inside the living room was her grandparents and her mother all looking pensive. She could feel the atmosphere around her different from the usual daily evenings they had. It was always cheery and light, but now, it almost looked like someone was being sent to the guillotine.
“It’s time Solene, ” Meridith proclaimed without a heartbeat.
Based on the weight of her mother’s gaze, Solene immediately knew exactly what she meant.
She sighed and as oppose to earlier where her shoulders were stiff as a board, now it had sunk.
“I was hoping you had forgotten about it, ” she said, glancing down the wood floor.
Meridith shook her head and frowned. “You know I can’t. It was your father’s last wish.”
“Yes, I know, ” Solene cut in. She looked at her grandparents who chose to stay silent and then to her mother looking for approval. “But maybe I can request the Rantzen family to...you know...cancel the agreement?”
“Solene, ” Meridith’s voice lowered, a silent warning coming from it.
“Or maybe to give me a few years more?” she added, feeling her throat tightening.
“Solene, honey, you’re turning twenty-one within a month. You know exactly that’s the deadline, ” her mother answered.
“It’s just that I don’t understand why I have to marry into that family. I haven’t even seen my betrothed.” Solene stood up and crossed her arms to her chest. “He, whoever he is, hasn’t even had an inkling to check on me, or maybe even introduce himself, maybe establish rapport, or create a friendly relationship first? I mean he has the whole twelve years of my life to do that and yet he didn’t.”
“There must be a good reason for that, Solene, ” her grandmother chimed in. “This family is after all the most prominent in Basque.”
In contrast to her grandfather’s happy-go-lucky attitude, her grandmother was all by-the-book kind of woman. She was prim and proper. She had the cleanest bun on her head and wore the most well-ironed dress. It looked as if she was a seasoned governess of some royal family. What his grandfather said with her being a party beast somehow couldn’t be believed.
“Still...” Solene managed to say. She could feel her grandmother’s eyes reading her like she always does ever since she picked up that weird book of her father.
It unnerved her sometimes, but still, her grandmother was family. She could never hate it.
“A representative of the Rantzen Family has called in yesterday and said that someone is going to get you on Saturday afternoon. They already made arrangements for your university and their sister university in Portugal. In that way, your studies won’t be affected.”
“That’s thoughtful of them.” Solene hid a scoff.
Meridith stood up, approached her daughter, and squeezed her shoulders.
“You will be fine, Honey. Everything’s going to be fine.”
Solene bit her lip and took in a good amount of air. There was no other way but to relent. She knew this day would come. She had come to terms with it since she hit her teen years where first kisses and first dates should have been experienced. She had already mentally prepared herself with it. She loved her father and she will fulfill his wish.
“May I at least know the name of my groom?” she broke out after a few seconds. “Or even that tidbit they didn’t share.”
Riza, her grandmother, stood up and like a Lady of the Water, glided towards her and cupped her chin as if blessing her.
“Your future husband’s name is Lord Henri Rantzen.”
The next day, Solene took her little brother in the local supermarket for a quick shop of produce and fresh fruits. She parked her mother’s SUV first near the entrance of the supermarket and hand-in-hand, they walked inside the building with an eco bag in hand.Solene picked the biggest wheeled grocery basket so that her brother could ride inside it. They entered into the Candy and Chocolate’s Section first by AC’s insistence. Solene didn’t mind as she also loved to buy her favorite chocolate-covered macadamia nuts.It was past nine in the morning on a Friday so the local supermarket was filled with customers. Some were together with their families and some others were buying alone.On their way into the C and C Section, Solene noticed a commotion some distance away. It was the manager of the supermarket arguing with the delivery men about the late deliveries. She just shrugged her shoulders, seei
By afternoon, despite her conscience telling her otherwise, Solene braved herself to leave the house. She had only one goal in mind and it was to go to the library and ask Dally for a copy of the log records yesterday.She remembered the time when she had seen the man inside the library. She knew how to focus her search and oust those names which were students of the University. She could narrow her search down to his name — whatever name he had — and possibly try and track down his address.By the time Solene arrived in the library, there were only a handful of students in sight, mostly men taking their IT major. Dally was in her usual counter, busily sorting out piles of magazines.“Hey Dally,” Solene greeted, showing a soft smile.“Oh, back so soon?” Dally looked at her from behind thick-rimmed glasses and smiled back.“Yeah, I need to
With a strong conviction to hunt for the truth, Solene decided to visit the supermarket and ask to see the security camera of the building, specifically while the tremors happened.There was footage found, yes, but it only showed pictures before the shaking started. Solene couldn’t be more disappointed when the video stopped right when she and AC were about to approach the Nutella shelf.‘A technical malfunction,’ the manager explained, but Solene didn’t buy it. It was damn too coincidental. Something in her gut told her it was intentional. As to why and who did it were the two questions that filled her mind.Ultimately, she returned to her house with more questions than answers, and those lingered until the next day.Early in the morning, Solene met with her thesis partner and best friend, Myrna — a redhead with a short bob and thick lashes. They chose the
“Okay, let’s pick up where we stopped,” Myrna stated once they settled onto their seats. This time, they chose the University library to finish their planning instead of anywhere outside the school.After the incident they experienced that morning, Solene returned to the house to change clothes. She had coaxed her best friend not to visit the hospital. She didn’t need it when really nothing had happened to her. Myrna told her she had an insane amount of luck, but Solene just shrugged the statement off. Clearly, her best friend knew nothing of her growing fear.“We were about to make the second draft of our thesis, Myr,” she reminded, getting comfy with her chosen wingback chair.The latter puckered her lips and grinned.“Oh, so you really were paying attention to me other than just checking that stranger in the cafe.”Solene rolled
A black limousine pulled over the curb just as Meridith entered the kitchen. She had just finished attending to AC’s needs in his bedroom when she decided to prepare snacks for Solene on the road. Sure there would be more food inside the plane, tastier and fancier ones even, but Solene preferred her cooking, and she loved the tuna sandwich she always whipped up.Some minutes later, she heard the doorbell rang. She wiped her hands clean and sashayed towards the main door.“Madame St. Fair, good morning,” a Caucasian man wearing an MIB-inspired suit greeted once Meridith opened the door. He had a perpetual passive look on his face that said he wasn’t here for leisure. There was no hint of a smile nor a grin, just a signature straight face that she knew came from a certain family.‘Right on time,’ her mind commented. She expected no less from the staff of the Rantzen Household.&nb
The stewardess left the bedroom first while Solene followed. The whole time she traipsed the hallway to the interior of the plane, her pulse double worked. She felt as if her heart was about to leap out of her chest. She felt as if her insides had somersaulted sixty-nine times or possibly even more. Her breathing picked up and all her senses grew hyper-aware.She was about to see her soon-to-be-husband finally and she was going to give him a piece of her mind, planning to ditch hi’s or hellos and other unnecessary pleasantries. After all, he didn’t seem to care about that before the plane took off, or what’s more, for the whole of her fifteen years of life since they were faithfully betrothed by their families.Karma was in order and she was going to serve it in full.However, as she got a full view of the man sitting on one of the leather seats facing her, she couldn’t help herself but laugh&mdas
Once they landed and transferred to an eight-door black limousine, Solene had not had the chance to speak with the Lord anymore. The moment he entered the vehicle, the constant ringing of his mobile phone regarding business matters didn’t give Solene an opening to broach the earlier subject. Sure this disappointed her, but expecting she’ll be spending time with him more and more, she decided to bury her inquiry temporarily. Instead, she rerouted her attention to the view past her side of the window, allowing herself to acquaint with the new country she was in.But even with the fresh touristy look of the streets, shops, and the scenic spots they passed by, she couldn’t peel her focus away from the man beside her. His voice reverberated all over the small space, confining her ears to his manly sound. Adding to her dilemma was his scent: a mixture of cologne and something delightfully masculine, teasing her nose to take a deep breath. She certain
Silently, they walked side by side along the hallways and stairs with Patricia following behind them. When they reached a ten-foot double door located on the second floor of the mansion, the Lord offered his elbow for her hand to slip into. Solene did so whilst trying to calm her pounding heartbeat. She wasn’t really into parties, but she could hold herself when she was in one. All her anxiety stemmed from the fact that she’ll be seeing all members of the Rantzen Clan as per Patricia. This party was not just a welcome party, but an initiation to officially include her into the Rantzen circle.“Master Henri Rantzen of the Rantzen Clan with his fiancée, Miss Solene St. Fair, of the St. Fair Household,” announced the Head Butler of the mansion, Norman. His chin was raised high and a proud smile crossed his face.Henri and Solene stepped forward past the double doors, their heads held high, commanding attention. Ho