Arranged British Love

I was woken up the next morning by what felt like an elephant walking through my room. The covers were pulled off of me and I was left in my over-sized t-shirt and shorts. I groaned and shivered, curling up into a ball. It was a Saturday, I should been allowed to sleep in on a Saturday!

“Oh, my gawd! Wake up! You sleep more than Ethan!” The high voice was loud and near to my face.

After opening my eyes, I found that the elephant; Juliet, who had been jumping up and down on my bed, was now lying down beside me.

“It has taken you ten minutes to wake up! We need to get ready!” She was back to bouncing up and down in excitement.

“Ready for what?” My voice was groggy. “What time is it?!”

“Twenty to twelve. And the ‘what’ of which you speak” She said in her posh accent. “would be the dinner party we’re having tonight. Remember?”

Dinner party. Oh poo.

“Wait, isn’t the dinner party like...later?”

Juliet sat down beside me as I pushed myself onto my elbows. “Well of course! But I’m helping you pick what to wear, and we’ve got people in to do hair and make-up. Oh, this is going to be brilliant! How exciting, your first dinner party with us, and our friends. They are going to love you.” She was grinning madly and speaking quicker than I had ever heard anyone talk before.

I sighed heavily; I had never enjoyed the whole dressing up fandango. No that’s a lie. I liked dressing up, it made me feel pretty, one of the only times I looked at myself and found myself pretty. It was the getting ready that got on my nerves. Obviously it was all part of the fun for Juliet.

“Fine. But I have to eat first.” I grumbled.

Juliet leapt off the bed, pulling me with her. We walked (she walked, I was dragged) into the empty, white as a fluffy cloud living room. I wondered where Ethan was; I hadn’t seen him since last night. When he had kissed me (on the cheek).

After turning my light off last night, I lay awake for at least an hour thinking about our second of intimacy. I had gone through the moment over and over again, trying to work out what it meant. Was it just a friendly kiss on the cheek, or did it mean more? It was only my exhaustion and jet-lag that had put me to sleep.

So it was then that I chose to surreptitiously ask the burning question. “So, urr, where’s Ethan?” As his name rolled off my tongue I felt a thrill run through my body. Damn, if this was how I was going to react every single time I thought about him, I was going to throw myself off a building. Was I really going to be this giggly-girly every moment I am near him? That’s a little sad. But something about that thought made me feel excited, like maybe this marriage wouldn’t be too bad.

Juliet pulled me down the stairs while she answered. “He got up ages ago and went for a walk.” She said in a voice which told me that she really couldn’t care less. “What do you want for breakfast? Well lunch really. Ehh, brunch. Mum and dad are busy sorting out the arrangements for tonight, but they said for me to take you to the Ballroom when you’ve had something to eat.”

“I’ll have an omelette, is that okay?”

By this time we had arrived in the dining room, and the waiter at the door bowed to us as we entered. “Omelette, please.” Juliet said, smiling at the waiter, who bowed once more and responded with a quiet “Right away.”

The dining room was huge, with ancient carpets and a wooden boarder on the walls with intricate swirls and flowers carved into it. There was a large crystal chandelier hanging above the middle of the long table that must’ve been able to seat at least thirty people. The chandelier’s crystals reflected the midday Sun around the room in the form of a serene rainbow hue every now and then.

Juliet took a seat near one end, with her back to the floor to ceiling windows that covered the back wall, giving us a beautiful view into the back garden, while I took the seat opposite her.

“Nice room.” I spoke, gazing round in awe.

The twelve year old smiled and her eyes shone with a kind of intelligence that seemed too old for someone of her age. “Yeah, it’s one of my favourite rooms.” She started swaying gently from side to side. “Oo, hey! Do you want to go horse riding tomorrow?” She asked, acting once again like her actual age.

“Horse riding, huh, urr...okay then!” My answer was hesitant only because of my poor balance and special awareness. Sport had never been my strong point, exhibit A; I had fallen on my butt when trying to catch a tennis ball thrown perfectly towards me.

I was surprised when we were interrupted by the waiter coming back with a steaming omelette on a plate. Woah, that was quick. Seeing the look on my face as the plate was placed in front of me, Juliet laughed. “Yeah, service here is quick right?!”

I ate my omelette while talking to Juliet about herself. In the ten minutes it took me to eat, I found out that she attended a private school; St. George’s in Ascot, and was in the Second Grade. She also went horse riding every Sunday, usually with Ethan. I tried to imagine him on a horse, but I just couldn’t. He didn’t seem like that kind of guy. Then again he didn’t see like the kind of guy to sit with me for an hour, listening to my ex problems.

It was then that something hit me like a wet fish. Something that Charlie had said in his last email. “Juliet, I need to get changed, so can I go back to my room and get dressed? I’ll make my own way back down.” I lied swiftly. Normally I laughed when I lied, but this was too important for me to laugh about. The little princess nodded her head, standing up as well. “Sure, I’m going to go see what mum and dad are doing.” She waved as she walked to big double doors on the opposite end of the room to where we came from, into what I guessed was the ballroom. “See you in a bit.”

I waited until she had closed the doors before running out of the room, past the waiter at the door, up the huge stairs, all the way back to my room. It seemed to take forever for the laptop to turn on, so while it did I quickly changed into jeans and a white tank top, and brushed my teeth. When the computer had turned on, I opened up my email inbox, and clicked on the fifth email Charlie had sent me.

I scanned through it, ignoring the anxiety that I felt at reading his harsh words once more.

That ‘friend’ of yours let slip...

It all made sense. The overcompensation of hatred towards him in her email...they had spoken on the phone...I could the multiple number of times that she had blown me off for some guy that she had never let me meet, on the same night that Charlie would come down with a cold, or be going out with other friends.

Damn that girl! I grabbed my phone, turning it on for the first time in two days. I ignored the multiple texts and dialled in the number I knew of by heart. It was noon now, so it would be early morning back home. The phone rang twice before she answered.

“Hey, P! I wondered when you’d call.” Mimi’s voice was seemingly happy.

“Hi, urr, I don’t suppose you’ve heard from Charlie at all, have you?” I tried to keep my voice friendly, but there was no hiding the edge behind it.

My friend was instantly defensive. “No, of course not! Why, what’s he done?” In the background I heard a voice mumble something.

“Funny. I was just about to ask you the same question.” I spoke in a cold tone.

“P? What are you talking about?” She asked. God I hated her using that nickname for me.

“I know all about you and Charlie. I’m not stupid, Mimi. I can’t believe you’d do that, after all he’s done to me! He hit me, you saw the cuts and bruises. And behind my back!” She tried speaking but I interrupted her. “Don’t bother trying to explain yourself. And don’t come running to me when he beats you black and blue. Put him on the phone, please.”

“He’s not... ...fine, yeah whatever.” She mumbled rudely.

The was a silent before I heard Charlie’s voice. “P, what...how?” He seemed, for once, lost for words.

“Hi Charlie. I just wanted to say, I’m not scared of you anymore. You can’t hurt me and I don’t care what you say. I hope you guys are happy together.” I snorted before pressing the off button.

I walked to the French doors, hauling them open and walking out to the balcony which ran along the side of the building to Ethan’s room. There was a cold breeze which whipped around me as I stared out into the back garden. It seemed to go forever, and near to the house was a pond with a fountain in the middle, shooting water at least ten feet into the air.

I looked at the expensive phone for the last time before hurling it through the air. With an quiet splash, it landed in the pond a hundred or so metres away. I was amazed that I threw it so far. Must’ve been the anger. I smiled, turned my back to the phone and made my way down to the ballroom.