As she was staying outside, she tried her best not to cry because she doesn’t want to ruin the makeup done by Nikki. The cold air of the night was comforting yet it also made her feel sad. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
She looked at the mansion they were invited to and couldn’t even appreciate the beauty of it till now. The marble walls, medieval feel, and beautiful interior and exterior design mesmerize her. She took a deep breath again and closed her eyes to calm down.
“I didn’t expect to stumble upon you here. Maybe we can call it.. destiny?” She opened her eyes and turned around. Her eyes widened when she saw her mother wearing a formal dress with the same shade as her dress, the color red. “Would you look at that,” her mother said in amusement while looking at her daughter’s dress.
“We’re matching dresses!” She exclaimed in a disturbing way, making Fatima feel unsafe.
“Just mother like daughter, aren’t we?” As her mother got closer, she could smell the alcohol from her mouth. She squinted her eyes before backing away.
“I am not like you and will never be,” she said in spite. She was about to leave but what her mother said made her stop. “How’re my two sons doing? Philippe.. and Timothy,” she asked in an ominous way.
BACK AT THE PARTY, Grian and Christopher were arguing while Nikki and Philippe were trying to defuse the situation. The two are on the brink of having a fistfight while the two sixteen-year-olds are having a hard time figuring out what to do. They’re currently in a hallway at the end of the place so no one can hear them “I didn’t want to be with Hannah, I don’t love her!” Chris argued.
“Just stop it already,” Nikki whispered to her brother.
“And Fatima doesn’t love you!” Grian argued back and their jaws clenched.
“You can’t just tell your mother that she’s your girlfriend when she’s not. You just made her uncomfortable and put her in a terrible situation! She doesn’t love you anymore, get over it.” Grian breathed heavily as his anger grew even more. No one ever saw him get angry like this so they were all surprised. Christopher stepped forward to get closer to Grian.
“Let’s just go get my sister,” Phil suggested and tried dragging Grian away but it didn’t work. He and Nikki looked at each other in worry.
“Are you just mad because you like her?” Christopher provoked, making Grian scoff, and grabbed Chris by the collar.
“This is beyond that. I’m concerned for her because of the bullshit you pulled.” He let go of his friend and breathed heavily. Philippe went in between the two and even if the height of the two are a lot higher than his, he stood there with confidence. “Nothing is resolved if you two will continue fighting,” he said as he looked directly at Grian’s eyes before turning around to Christopher.
“Why don’t both of you calm down, hmm?” he said as he looked at Christopher’s eyes.
WILLIAM, TOGETHER WITH his date, arrived late at the party and he noticed Fatima talking to her mother. He got out of the car and was about to go to her when his date held his arm. “Don’t,” his date said in a deep voice.
“She’s my friend,” he said and his date was not amused.
“Come on, don’t let the night get ruined,” his date insisted and he furrowed his eyebrows before removing the man’s arm from his.
He approached his friend and stood next to her. “What’s going on here?” he asked and looked at the woman and checked Fatima if she’s okay. “Are you okay?” He held her shoulders and she nodded before mouthing she’s fine.
He looked at the woman and he was unfamiliar with her but she seemed to know him. “The bartender at the bar, how nice. Are you friends with my daughter?” she asked light-heartedly and his eyebrows furrowed.
“D-daughter?” He looked at Fatima and she just stared at her. “You’re her- what..” His confusion was giving him a hard time comprehending anything.
“How long have you been friends with her, hmm?” she asked in a joyous tone but her eyes were looking a bit crazy as she only blinks once in a while and her eyes are always widened. This woman is really making him feel a bit off.
“Let’s go back inside,” Fatima said in a whispering tone as she turned around and started walking slowly. Her mother smiled at William before he turned around with his eyebrows still furrowed and assisted her.
“Did she do anything to you?” She shook her head.
“She just.. said some things,” she answered but her mind seemed to be somewhere else as if she just saw a ghost.
“Fatima,” Philippe said and walked to her and checked her.
“I want to go back to Grian’s house,” she told her brother and William sighed while he watched the two siblings.
Grian grabbed the keys from his pocket and walked to her and she shook her head. “No, no. I can just take a cab and you can all enjoy the party, I just feel sick and I want to rest,” she said but he shook his head.
“Sorry but without my date, the party is lifeless,” he declared with a sly smirk and William snorted.
“Nice one, Romeo,” he joked and Grian chuckled.
THE TWO OF THEM LEFT the party while the others stayed behind. Philippe hasn't gone to a gathering like that so this will be a nice experience for him. She hasn’t seen Christopher after the whole girlfriend thing. “Sorry,” she said as Grian drove and he looked at her in confusion.
“Why?” he asked.
“The Uhm.. party. Sorry we couldn't, you know, enjoy the party much because of me,” she said and he smiled.
“It’s fine, Fatima. I only wanted to go because we’ll be able to spend time together,” he said and she pouted before looking outside at the streets. For her, the feeling of the night and cold breeze is better than a hot sunny day.
Once they arrived at the house, Fatima hugged her brother before thanking the babysitter for taking care of him. Timothy kissed her on the cheeks and she carried him. “Have you eaten dinner?” he nodded and she smiled.
Grian sent the babysitter away after paying her the money before going to Tim and Fatima. “Let Timothy sleep, I’ll prepare food for the two of us.” She nodded and carried him to the room she got ready from and put him on the bed.
“So fluffy,” he said in amusement as he laid down on the bed. Fatima chuckled before nodding. “I know, you’ll have the sweetest dreams when you sleep here.” He giggled before handing her a piece of paper. She looked at it and it had a drawing of her in the red dress. She held her heart before looking at Tim. “You look like a princess,” he whispered in a cute tone before closing his eyes.
Fatima left the room and smelled food coming from the kitchen. She walked around the house and found Grian cooking. He looked over to her and raised his eyebrows. “Hungry?” She shook her head.
“I’ll go wash up first. Where’s the bathroom?” He pointed in a direction and she nodded.
“There are towels in the drawers in there too,” he said and she walked to the bathroom and entered it. Even the bathroom looks good in his house, he’s living in the house of her dreams.
“How the fuck-“ She struggled to take off the dress. She almost fell and decided to take her shoes off first before the dress. After struggling for several minutes, she left the bathroom and approached Grian. “U-uhm.. can you help take off my dress?” Grian almost chopped his finger off with the knife.
“What?” He turned to look at her and she looked away in embarrassment.
She led him to the bathroom and told him to help unzip the zipper at the back and he struggled as well. “Uhm, it won’t come off,” he said as he tried pulling down harder. He started sweating a little the more they stayed inside the bathroom.
He pulled one more time and it unzipped all the way down to her waist and she was quick to catch her dress from falling. Grian blinked a couple of times before realizing what happened and moved away from her. He couldn’t help but notice the scars on her back though. “Thanks..” Fatima said awkwardly and he nodded before leaving the room. He took a deep breath and held his heart that’s beating so much from that one interaction. His mind can’t help but think about the scars on her back that looked like lashes or something sharp.