Lust for Romance

As I stare at my reflection in the mirror, analysing every aspect of my appearance, I fall into a daze. I think to myself, ‘he likes blue, maybe I should put the blue dress back on’.

In the distance, I hear the a faint voice approaching me. Vaguely, I hear “Olivia!” repeated at least two or three times.

Snapping out of my daze, I turn to my mother, who seems to be irritably frustrated with me. ‘She must have been standing in my room calling my name a few times’ I think to myself.

“We’re going to be late, its just dinner, any dress will do!” She said in an annoyed voice.

“The black one looks lovely.” She then added reassuringly.

I looked at her shyly, straightened my dress and then followed her out of my room, walking down the stairs.

“The car is waiting outside. Grab the present and meet me in the car.” My mother then added, and before I could reply she was attempting to run from the front door to the car, in her heels.

With the present in one hand, I pulled the front door of the house shut with the other hand and followed my mother into the town car, threw myself into the back seat and pulled the car door shut. The driver took off shortly after I settled in.

Through the camera of my phone, I used it as a makeshift mirror to look at myself as I was anxiously fixing my hair and assessing my makeup.

I wore my long thick dark brown hair down and straight, and kept my makeup simple, with a clear lipgloss and a soft smokey eye makeup look.

My mother looked beside me, gave my a smirk and chuckled “You look stunning Olivia. Nathan will certainly be impressed don’t you worry.”

I looked at her sheepishly as my face slowly started to turn red, “Please mother” I pleaded and turned away, putting my phone down and resting my arms by my side.

Soon, the car finally arrived at the Middleton household. The house was set back by a long, paved driveway behind a huge gate which let us into the property.

As we approached the huge mansion, which looked historically built and preserved since the early 1900’s, the car came to a holt and we opened both sides of the car door and got out.

Adjusting the hem of my dress as I got out of the town car, my mother and I stood beside each other, gave each other a quick glance, and both headed to the front door.

We rang the doorbell, moments after ringing the bell, we were greeted by their butler who opened the door and said, “Ah the Renolds, please come in, the Middletons are waiting for you!”

As he stepped aside, holding the door open, we stepped inside as he motioned us to follow him into the living room after he closed the door behind us.

As we walked into the living room, I could see Mr and Mrs Middleton who both glanced at us with smiles from cheek to cheek as the both rushed to greet us.

“Olivia! You look more stunning since last time we have seen you! I didn’t think that was possible.” She said kindly as she kissed both sides of my cheek to greet me.

I gave her a polite smile and greeted her and Mr Middleton back.

In the room with them, was their youngest son, Dean, who was a year younger than me. However their oldest son Nathan, was not there.

I thought to myself, ‘I wonder where Nathan is… is he coming?’ I pondered as my mother was talking to Mr and Mrs Middleton, I heard my mother say, “So where is the birthday boy” she asked curiously.

The mother, Meredith, responded, “He should be here shortly, he must be running late.”

As I was watching their conversation from a distance, I felt a light punch on the side of my arm. I turned and it was none other than Dean Middleton.

He looked different since I last saw him. He definitely had grown up. I had been away for a year completing my final year of high school abroad at a boarding school, which I received a scholarship to.

“Hey stranger” Dean said with a cheeky smirk on his face.

I was stunned to see him. Especially considering how much more handsome he had gotten since I saw him last.

He had grown at least a foot or two taller, being at least 6 foot tall, with light brown hair, which had a slight curl in it, gorgeous green eyes and he was dressed neatly in a button up which fitted his chiseled body well.

I looked at him with a delightfully surprised expression on my face as I chucked “Oh my good, hey Dean!” as I leaned in for a casual hug.

“It's almost been a year since I’ve seen you, how are you” Dean asked casually.

“I’m good, I’m good” I added.

“You’re going to find this so funny, Nathan is coming tonight and for the first time he’s bringing his girl-“ Dean suddenly stopped talking when the front door opened.

Nathan walked in. He looked amazing. I didn’t think the mental image I had of him last time I saw him a year ago could be topped. But there he was. As he walked in with that gorgeous grin on his face, I couldn’t help myself but stare.

He was wearing an all black outfit, his shirt buttoned almost alway the way up, leaving the top to buttons undone, exposed his tanned, muscular chest. His hair was sleek back but kind of looked a little messy. I wondered why. He had beautiful bright, white teeth and alluring blue eyes. He was the textbook definition of the male beauty standard.

Behind him, holding his hand, a girl walked in, trailing closely behind him. She walked in smiling at everyone innocently. She looked pretty, had porcelain skin, long blonde hair, with a curl put through it, and she wore a short blue satin dress with black heels.

She looked well bred but I couldn’t help but envy her. I wanted to hate her. I wanted to be the girl walking in holding Nathan’s hand. I wondered who she was to him, how they knew each other and every other detail that came to mind.

They greeted everyone as they walked in, and Nathan introduced his parents and my mother to this girl.

“Vivian, this is my mother and father, Meredith and Charles, and this is our close family friend Kirsten.” Nathan said formally as he acquainted everyone to Vivian.

She smiled at them and praised them for inviting her to join us tonight.

Nathan added, “Kirsten is Olivia’s mother” as he pointed over towards me.

As I saw Nathan pointing at me, I tried to look away and focus on my conversation with Dean, as if I hadn’t been watching Nathan and Vivian since they walked through the door.

Vivian turned to look at me and then started approaching me, followed by Nathan.

“Oh my god, Olivia I have heard so much about!” She sounded excited but to me, I felt it was a bit disingenuous.

“Nice to meet you” I said with a formal smile.

I turned to Nathan, and casually said “happy birthday” with a sincere smile, I handed him the present I had been holding.

After handing Nathan present, I corrected my gaze back to Dean after he smiled at me and said “Why thank you Olivia” with that gorgeous smile of his, as he jokingly pinched my cheek.

“This is Vivian” Nathan repeated to us. “My girlfriend.” He then added casually.

We all exchanged smiles at each other. I found it hard to force a smile, as I had not mentally prepared for Nathan to bring back a girlfriend. It hurt a bit, I must admit.

But then again, it had been a year since I had last seen him. It was naive for me to expect to see everything was the same as it was the day I left for boarding school.

Before we could continue any further conversation in the living room, the private chef had announced that dinner was ready and before I knew it, we all made our way to the dining room to take our seats.