Closer Than You Know

“Melrose, sweetie!” My mother’s voice called softly up the stairs from the kitchen steps that led up to the hallway. “Could you come down here for a moment?”
“I’ll be right back,” I told my best friend Kay who was just lying on her back with her feet in the air. We did this whenever we got bored, which seemed to be a lot.
“I’ll be here,” she said mindlessly waving me off.
I walked down the hall and down the small set of steps. The sun shone brightly in through the kitchen windows making the white appliances and marble stand out even more. My dad told my mom it was ridiculous to have an all white kitchen. My mom ended up getting her way as she did with everything else.
“Hi honey,” She said leaning over to kiss my cheek. Her hair was pulled back into a neat bun. She looked at me and smiled. Her teeth gleamed. Not a wrinkle on her face. My mom was a product of my father’s money.
“Tell Kay she needs to head home. You missy need to shower! We are having the Lane family over for dinner. Connie has a dress in my closet for you to wear. We just bought it when we were in the Philadelphia,” She said as she went over to look at a paper on the counter.
“Why am I wearing a dress?” I asked.
“These are daddy’s business friends and we want to look our best! Now go get ready they will be here soon!” She smiled and looked at me for a moment. Then she went back to her paper.
When I got back to my room I found a very bored Kay rolling around on the floor. “Hey, we are having dinner guest so I’ll call you later?” I said. She sneered at me. “Doesn’t anyone ever notice you aren’t home ever?” I joked.
“Nope that is why I stay here! Everyone is so welcoming!” She laughed as she put her shoes on and grabbed her bag. “Call me after this dinner party pooper.”
“Yea. I’ll be texting you through it,” I told her as I plopped on my bed.
“Lighten up! There will be food!” She laughed as she kissed my cheek and left.
She knew I had issues with food. My mom was perfection. But when she was my age she was flawless effortlessly. Some days I rarely ate and every once in awhile I did throw up my food. I have gotten myself into the mindset that I need to do this. I need to drop this weight, just a few more pounds. I laid on my bed and put my hands on my stomach. I started grabbing at my fat. My parents noticed when I lost my first ten pounds. I assured them I was just exercising a lot. Then they dropped it. They too busy with their lives to notice ten more pounds.
My father is an architect. He is one of the most prestigious architects in the country. That’s where our money comes from. Before my mom met him she was designing clothes in a little boutique now she has her own clothing line named “Melrose” after me. It’s weird when I wear her clothes or see others buy things from the line because they are taking a piece of me with them even though they don’t even have a clue to who I am or what Melrose even means.
~*~
After I got a shower I went to my mom’s room to find the dress she laid out for me. My parents had a really high bed with tons of pillows they didn’t even use. When I was younger all I wanted was to lay in here all day. But my nanny would never let me be.
The dress she laid out was a sleeveless cream scoop neck Marc Jacobs with pleats in the front and a silk bow.
“Fitting,” I muttered to myself. I got dressed and slipped on light pink heels. I let my hair dry wavy. I put some eye makeup on and lip gloss. Now I was ready. I walked downstairs through the main staircase. My dad was in our open living room with his back toward me talking to a man that I’ve never met before. The man had grayish brown hair and tan skin.
“This must be Melrose!” He said smiling up at me.
“Hello,” I smiled. But he just walked passed my father and gave me a hug. I hugged him back unsure of what to do. My eyes were wide and my dad just shrugged and laughed.
“It’s so lovely to finally meet you!” He said when he pulled away.
“Sweetie, this is Henry Lane. He’s a Stock Analyst in New York. We’ve been friends for a long time,” My dad said putting emphasis on the long.
“I’m retiring! They don’t have me doing much work anymore,” He laughed again.
“But you’re making the money,” My dad countered.
“That’s right!” Henry kept laughing a deep throaty laugh.
“Where’s mom?” I asked.
“She’s giving Mrs. Lane and their son Oliver a tour,” He said to me. I love kids. They make everything interesting. Plus little boys aren’t afraid of anything. I walked away in hopes to find my mom and our new guests. They weren’t in the dining room, the office, the den, the family room, the music room, or the kitchen. I finally found them in the backyard.
“Hi honey!” My mom said. “This is Mrs. Lane,” She said as I walked up. She was a short woman with perfectly blown out brown hair.
“Hello dear,” She said smiling. “My son was just here a second ago.” She perched her head up to look for him. Our backyard was huge and we had a big pool and a pool house. Beyond that was my old swing set from when I was little. My mom had an outdoor patio area set up but it was mostly for barbecues and sometimes just entertaining in general. My mom never stopped when it came to decorating and spending on lavish items.
‘It’s so open out here,” A voice behind me said. I turned around to see a handsome boy, not a child.
“Honey, this is Melrose!” Mrs. Lane said. “Melrose this is my son Oliver.”
We stared at each other for a few seconds. I could feel our moms looking back and forth at us. Oliver was tall and muscular with a slight tan. He was a brunette with sharp features. His hair was tousled but you could tell he had some gel in it. He wore a white sweater with the sleeves pushed up a bit and black fitted jeans. He resembled a model to me.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” He smiled.
“Likewise,” I said to him looking at my feet. I felt a chill in the October air.
“Why don’t we head inside?” My mother said.
~*~
During dinner they sat me next to Oliver.
“So your parents tell us you like to play the piano?” Mrs. Lane asked.
I swallowed my food and nodded, “I’ve been playing for nine years.”
“That is lovely. Oliver played when he was younger. Now he just plays in some silly little rock band,” His mother said. Oliver stiffened next to me.
“I play guitar and sing in a band with a few of my friends. We are actually going to record soon. So it’s not silly,” He said to his mother. The mood in the air changed to awkward.
“I tried to play guitar once. Then my fingers started to cramp up,” I laughed. The adults laughed too. Oliver looked at me with a pleased look.
The parents spoke about parental things. Oliver and I made eye contacts but nothing more than that. I picked at my food, cut it into a million pieces, ate a few bites, and spit some in my napkin. No one noticed.
After dinner my dad suggested we all move to the study for some after-dinner-conversation. What could people possibly talk about after dinner when they could barely talk at dinner?
“May I be excused?” I asked my mom in private.
“No, just come for a little,” She said as we walked to the study.
“Why don’t you sit next to Oliver on the loveseat!” Henry said laughing again. He laughed at a lot of things. This time I didn’t understand it. There was tension in the room. My mom stood in the corner looking at books she never did and never will read. My dad and Henry spoke low with a manila envelope in his hand. Mrs. Lane just sat their quietly looking at us.
“So, uh, do you like New York?” I asked.
“It’s the city that never sleep,” He shrugged.
“But that doesn’t answer the question,” I said.
“It’s home,” he said. “I don’t think I could survive out here. I’m not used to it. I’m a creature of habit. New York is my habitat.” He leaned over and put his elbows on his knees and grabbed his hands. His mom just stared at us. I took my shoes off.
“We have some news,” Henry said first sitting next to Mrs. Lane. My mother took a seat in the leather armchair. My father stood behind it with his hands on her shoulder. “A long time ago your father and I made an agreement to ensure that a deal would be made.. Today we are seeing through that it is kept. Melrose, Oliver,” He said taking a pause, “You are arranged to be married. Legally this has been contracted for almost ten years. If you do not agree you do not get any of your inheritance money,” He spoke every word calmly like he rehearsed this a million times. Then he smiled like this isn’t the end of the world.
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me!” Oliver said.
“Watch your mouth, young man!” Henry said.
“I’m sure everyone on the Upper East Side cares about how I’m speaking but won’t care about you marrying off your son at seventeen!” Oliver said now standing with his fist clenched.
“There are rules to this contract, young man and you must follow them. Or you can kiss everything goodbye,” Henry said.
“Mom? Dad?” I said. They just looked at me. My mom’s face was twisted with remorse. My father couldn’t even look at me. I got up and ran out of the room. I ran outside to sit by the pool. I looked at the glow of the water and wished somehow I could drown myself. All I could do was cry. I didn’t want to get married at sixteen. That’s ludicrous! Who wants that for their child? I stayed outside for a long time. The crickets chirped around me.
“Hey,” Someone said softly. It was Oliver. He offered me a blanket he brought out. I took it. He sat on a chair across from mine.
“You look good,” He said trying to make light of the situation.
“What do you want?” I snapped.
“They sent me out here to come get you. Don’t get pissy with me. We’re in the same boat right now,” He said. The glow of the pool reflected on him. He did look handsome.
“I’m not going in there,” I shook my head.
“Then freeze out here… I don’t care. You just make calling off this wedding a whole lot easier,” He said.
“You’re an asshole,” I spat and with that he walked back inside leaving me alone. Somehow though, I drifted off to sleep.