Soulmate / a compass to your heart

Dinner with the Crosby's

We arrive at the house of the Crosby's. It didn't change a lot they only got a new fountain in front of the house for as far as I can see. We head inside and are greeted by the maids. They take my coat and lead us to the living room and announce our arrival. I look at Reed and I have to say that he looks absolutely stunning I can't deny that he is a handsome young man. I politely greet everyone and lastly Reed.

"Gracie I'm really delighted to see you again." Reed says as he takes my hand and kisses it. I stay indifferent it's a bit strange to greet each other like this. "Likewise, It has been a while since we lastly spoke." I say as we walk to the table and Reed pulls my assigned chair for me, I take a seat and Reed slides the chair to me. "Thank you" I say as I take the dinner napkin and place it on my lap.

"I've heard you have traveled after you've ended school. How was it?"I ask while I look at him as he takes a seat opposite of me. "It was splendid. I made some cinematographers so I can maybe show you them sometime." He says. "I would absolutely love to see the cinematographers." I reply a little excited to see what kind of photo's he took. I love seeing the world and appreciate art in all sorts of ways.

Dinner starts after awhile and I listen to the conversations and answer whenever I get a question. "Let's make a toast shall we." Mr. Crosby says as he raises his glass and so do the others. My mother nudges me to pay attention (was I thinking about my soulmate? Yes...yes I was). I quickly hide the necklace and I raise my glass as well a little confused with what is going on.
"To a successful marriage." Mr. Crosby says and the others repeat except for me. I look at my mom and Reed looks at his dad. "Mother am I going to marry Reed?" I ask in confusion. "Yes darling your father and I talked to mr. and mrs. Crosby and agreed to an arranged marriage. You two already know each other and seem to find it very well with each other." My mom says.

"It's a great honour that you put your trust in me mr. And ms. Harper, I will take great care of your daughter." Reed says to my parents, completely ignoring my facial expression I had for a moment as I was absolutely baffled that my parents arranged a marriage for me without my knowledge of it. "We already consider  you family son. We know you will." My father says after drinking.
" I'm very grateful for your trust in me mr. and mrs. Crosby. I will take good care of your son." I say. This is what my mother taught me to say, since she made sure I'd be a great wife. "To our marriage." Reed says as he raises his glass towards me while looking into my eyes. "To our marriage." I say trying to sound convincing and raise the glass and slightly ching our glasses together.

Dinner went by and we just finished dessert. "Mr. and mrs. Harper  would you mind if I take your daughter for a stroll through the garden?"
"Of course not dear, go ahead."my mother replies as our dads are talking. Reed gets up and walks over to me and takes my hand and leads me out of the dining room.

He puts my coat over my shoulders. "Wear this it's very chilly outside I don't want you to get a cold." Reed says as he puts on his coat. I put my coat on properly and hook my arm into his.

We walk to the garden and it's absolutely stunning. All the plants look great. There are many different kinds of flowers and trees and bushes. I'm looking around and Reed looks at me and stops walking. "It's beautiful isn't?" He says still looking at me. "Oh it has such a magical feeling to it, like a painting brought to life." I say admiring the garden. I turn to look at him noticing he was already looking at me. I clear my throat and ask "Did you want to talk about anything?"

Reed had noticed the soulmate compass had appeared earlier. He can see part of the chain hanging out. He reaches for it and pulls it out. I look away feeling embarrassed and try to get it back but to no avail. "Are you still looking for your soulmate?" Reed asks looking at the small heart shaped compass in his hand with an unreadable expression on his face. "I..." gosh how do you explain to the man you basically just got engaged to that you were thinking about your soulmate.
"I was just thinking about him." I say trying to justify this. Not like it's a good thing to do. He slowly nods . "your parents would be so disappointed if they knew." He says looking away from it. "I know." I reply looking down. He sighs looking at me and softly lifts up my chin making me look at him.
"Please, give up on finding your soulmate. Have you heard any of the stories lately? How most of these so called soulmates were just liars and thieves or even killers?" He says sounding worried. I just stare at him.
"Promise me you'll stop thinking about him. I will try my best to make you happy and I want to live a good life together." He says waiting for me to answer. "...I promise." I say as he takes my arm again continuing our walk but he changes course to the pond. Reed handed me the compass and I look at him confused knowing he wants something. "Gracie it's time to prove you're actually going to let it go. I've known you for too long. You've always loved the thought of a soulmate so I'm asking you to throw it in the pond. Throw it as far as you can." He says as he puts me in front of him facing the pond.

I indeed have been hearing all these horrible stories about people finding their soulmate but not for the better. I'm engaged to him now and as much as I hate to admit it he does have a point and I do believe that he can make me very happy. I tightly grip the compass and turn to him. "Wanna do it together?" I ask feeling a little nervous. Reed gives a small nod getting closer to me. I slightly lean against his chest  scared to fall in as he takes my arm backwards. "Ready?" He asks. I give a small nod and take a deep breath. "3..2..1" I count down and throw it away together with Reed. He holds my shoulders. "Let's head back inside." He says while stepping back and holding out his arm for me to take. I reach for his arm and stumble, he smoothly catches me and helps me back up. "Watch your step." He says sternly. I give a soft scowl and fix my dress. "I'm fine thanks." I say slightly annoyed.

We walk back to the house in silence. Suddenly Reed says."... I always knew I would be in an arranged marriage and I secretly hoped it was you since we go way back. We already know each other and now we can get to know each other even better. I really hope we work out well cause we are going to spend our lives together after all. I promise you that I will treat you well so no worries okay?" He tried to lighten the mood by talking. Ge didn't like awkward silences. I can't deny that Reed is an amazing guy and that he just made my heart flutter. I don't think that it will be hard to fall for him. "I hope so too. You truly are a great person and I want you to know that I trust you and will be good to you." I say. He grabs my hand and we continue walking under the bright night sky in the beautiful garden. It's pretty romantic honestly just us two getting closer on a night like this.

After sometime we arrive back inside and our parents look at us and notice us holding hands.
"How about you two spend the week together?" Mr. Harper says. "I would love to spend time with Gracie to get to know her better." Reed says
"And I would love to get to know Reed better." I say. "Good that's set then Gracie can stay at Reed's place for the next week and if there's anything you want or need just come to us okay?" Mr. Crosby says. "Gracie the maid will make your suitcase and I will let someone drop it off at Reed's place, so you two can head to the house." my mother says. I nod "thank you mother." I say as Reed grabs his car keys. We walk to his car and drive to his house.