SARAYA’S POV
My lips cracked up in a smile as I opened his message first.
There was a loud knock on the door. I immediately got out of bed and hurried to the door wondering who the hell that is.
I opened the door and found a young, tall guy about Eighteen years old. “He must be Evan-” I told myself but something seems strange about him.
My brother who looks and is behaving… different. An imbecile, I have to reveal. It’s no wonder our father wants me to take over the business. Evan has the mind of a seven year old.
“Hey there, little guy.” That clearly was an irony compared to how tall he towered over me wearing a pair of lenses, but he is my younger brother after all.
He wrapped me up in a bear hug and without saying a word, ran off to his room that happened to be opposite mine. Separated by the long lobby.
I closed the door and walked back to bed.
‘If we had the same mother, would he have turned out different or was my father fated to have an imbecile son?’ The thought of a whole different life if my parents had been married played in my head till I eventually close my eyes to sleep.
*****
I woke up from the rough shaking of the bed and the tapping that followed thereafter. I opened my eyes to find Evan seated on the bed and tapping me hard to wake up.
“Evan?, ” It surprised me to see him in my room this early. “What is it.?”
“Partyyyyyyyyyy” He gleefully replied with both hands raised up in excitement.
“Yeah, but it’s like,” I looked up at the big clock on the wall, “nine in the morning. The party is not until noon, Evan.” Evan rolled his eyes at me, reached into his pocket and brought out two melting candies and stretched out his hand to me.
“Ummm, No thank you. I’ll pass”
His face fell but I paid him no attention. I got up from my comfort and rushed to the bathroom before he could hand me anymore unwanted candies. Another “No” and I might just be the worst big sister ever on my first morning here.
Arlan! – I remembered.
I had completely forgotten to reply to his messages and just left it on read. The thought of our dance at the club began to flood back to my mind so much my cheeks flushed red. I turned on the tap and splashed some water on my face.
He wasn’t just sexy looking, he ticked off all my boxes; he had a good sense of humor and style, charming personality, has his life together as a man, voice that made my stomach knot, and a god-like physical features for a man his age.
He is all I wanted alright, but I still had to take things… slow, get to know him better; make sure he doesn’t have a complicated family out there like mine or a baby mama since he isn’t married.
‘How old is he anyway?,’ I wondered, ‘he looks thirty to me or maybe thirty-five judging from his physical physique.’.
I did my morning facial routine thinking about my next move on Arlan.
I got out of the bathroom to find Mary waiting for me with a long dress neatly laid on the bed.
“Good morning stepmother ” I strode to her side.
The air around us suddenly felt awkward. Mary looked nervous as she tucked a strand of her hair behind her ears.
“Good morning, Saraya. Umm, I got you a gift. A dress for your party. I’ve only seen you in photos and videos and your outfit always has a touch of purple in it, so I thought maybe purple might be your favorite color. Also, I pray the dress fits. I couldn’t really tell your size in those videos but the seamstress did her best judgement.” She spoke so fast I could hear the nervous tension in her voice.
I took a glance at the beautiful purple body con dress with sparkling stone designs from the waistline all the way up.
Purple was never my favorite color, It was my mother’s. I had only worn the color in my outfits to please my mother, to remind her of her radiant younger self-That didn’t work out.
But seeing this beautiful dress made me feel my mother’s warmth, like she was there with me. My eyes lit up as I walked closer to it.
Mary gave me a knowing smile, pleased to see that I loved her gift.
“Thank you so much, I love it!” I hugged her excitedly.
“I’m glad you do, I’m dying to see how well it fits you, I pray. Don’t forget to have breakfast, trust me, you wouldn’t have the time to eat anything till all of the guests are gone which is literally all day. You only have time now, the party starts in like,” She glanced at her wrist watch, “three hours from now.”
“Sure, I will. Oh wait,” I stopped her before she could leave. “I also have something for you,” I brought out a small bag containing the gift I had gotten her and handed it to her.
She looked inside and smiled. “Bless your sweet, kind heart Sara. ” She placed a hand over her mouth and playfully feigned a gasp. “I can call you Sara, can I?”
I giggled. “Sure, you can.”
She laughs too.
“Thank you for this, I’m sure I’ll love whatever is inside. I’ll send in the maids to bring you breakfast if that’s ok with you.”
“Oh even better, I’d prefer that.”
She gave me a hug and left.
*
The party air bubbled with guests tripping in one after the other, and slow music waltzing throughout the entire house. I saw from my window, the Media positioned at the entrance and photographers ready to take possible shots, all aimed at the distinguished guests and popular media faces.
I turned to the mirror and stared at my reflection, looking in different angles, how perfectly fit the dress was on my body.
“Would he be at this party?” I muttered to myself.
I couldn’t decide if to wrap my hair up in a pony and highlight the contours of my face, or let my hair down and highlight the openings of my cleavage. After a few minutes of deciding, I let my hair up in a pony.
I looked out again to see what else was going on. A black Lincoln limo arrived catching everyone’s attention including mine, the chauffeur quickly came out and opened the back door.
My lips cracked up in a smile as I saw it was Arlan, wearing a black suit and pants, his hair brushed to the back like last time.
“Does he ever miss a party?” I thought.