For Eternity

Everything between Oli and Mila was awkward. She didn’t know what to do to fix the situation. Her and Oli had, had sex. She didn’t understand why they were being s weird about it; strangers had sex every day. She couldn’t figure out what made it awkward on her end; all she knew was that she couldn’t stay in a room with Oli for more than a minute.

Today, Oli’s parents were forcing the two to join them for dinner. It was nerve wracking for Mila because her parents weren’t going to be there and they were always around when the Sykes’ family was around. She knew it was going to be nerve wracking and awkward because Oli would be there, too.

Mil stood in front of her mirror and eyes herself. Her hair was pulled back into a French roll. She wore a floral printed dress with leggings underneath and black flats. She had a cardigan pulled over her shoulders, but left it open so the whole dress could be seen. She wanted to look cute without freezing her arse off.

A small knock on her door sent Mila’s heart into a frenzy. Her head snapped over toward the entrance of her room, where Oli now stood. He stared awkwardly at the floor and cleared his throat.

“Ready? They’re expecting us in ten minutes.” He mumbled. He ran a hand through his hair nervously. He was worried about being alone in the car with her, stuck beside her at the dinner table with his parents; being around her, period. It was awkward for him because they barely knew each other and had sex. He didn’t know how she felt about them having sex so early, so he was scared to be around her and find out she regretted it.

Mila straightened out her dress and did final touches on her make up quickly. She grabbed her small handbag and shoved everything she needed inside of it, closed it up, then followed Oli out of her room. The two were both quiet as they exited the flat building and walked out to Oli’s car. Once he unlocked the door, Mila quickly climbed inside to escape the cold.

Oli climbed in to the driver’s seat and started up the car. Suddenly, he couldn’t take the awkward feeling between them anymore. “I’m glad we had sex. Not because I wanted to have sex, but because we got it over with, but now it’s extremely weird between us and I don’t like it. We’re getting married in two weeks. I want to have a real relationship with you before then. I want to take you out on dates, to kiss you, to do everything real couples do, but I can’t, because of this awkward state we’re in. I want to move past it, Mila, and try to make something good out of the sucky situation.”

Oli sighed heavily in frustration. He wasn’t upset with her, just the situation. He began to drive and said nothing further. He wasn’t even expecting her to respond, but was shocked when she did.

“I haven’t talked to you the past few days after we had sex because I didn’t know how you felt about it. I’m fine with it because I’m sure it was going to happen eventually, anyways, so why not get it over with and not have an awkward wedding night?” She paused. “I want a real relationship with you, too, Oli.”

A small smile crept up onto Oli’s face. He took one hand off the wheel and reached over to grab Mila’s hand. He pulled her hand closer to his face so he could place a light kiss to it. He rested their hands in her lap after as he continued to drive.

After a ten minute drive, Oli quickly parked outside of his parent’s house. He hopped out and practically ran over to her side of the car to open the door for her. He took her hand gingerly and helped her out, then shut the door. He placed a light, lingering kiss to her cheek before he turned to lead her up to the door.

Oli knocked on the door and smiled when his mother answered. She immediately took her son in her arms. “Aye, Oli, Mila. Dinner just got done; let’s go join your father.”

Carol led Oli and Mila inside. The two took their shoes off at the door and followed Carol into the dining room. Mila and Oli sat down across from each other at the table as Carol sat down across from her husband.

“Well, let’s eat.” Carol smiled.

Twenty minutes into dinner, Carol interrupted the conversation to serve desert. Once she was seated, she cleared her throat quietly and eyed her husband expectantly. Ian gave her a soft sarcastic smile in return, then looked between Oli and Mila before he spoke.

“Well, something has come up with work and your mother and I will be leaving out of town the day before your wedding. We’ve talked to Mila’s parents and worked something out. The wedding has been moved to the middle of next week.”

Mila thought her head woule explode. They had less than a week to finish preparing for a wedding. That gave her and Oli barely any time to get to know each other more, because she knew she would be running around with her mother to get everything ready. She stared down at her plate in disbelief. She felt like her life was spiraling out of control and there was nothing she could do about it. Her and Oli were being controlled by their parents. She felt like a little kid all over again.

Oli wasn’t any happier about the situation than Mila. He knew he couldn’t say anything, though; He knew the real reason he and Mila were getting married, but he wouldn’t dare tell her. He wouldn’t embarrass her parents like that. Of course, his parents knew, also. Mila was the only one who didn’t know the real reason for their marriage and it bothered Oli, but he didn’t have the heart to tell her.