New Desires

Chapter 33 part 2

     Zara got out before I did so that she could pick out my clothes after getting ready and she knew I'd take a bit longer to get ready than she would. Although it's Christmas, we didn't wanna over do the outfits we wore. It was only gonna be a few people from the night before and my family so It wasn't any pressure to look like a million bucks. I dried off and put on lotion after the shower. I came out into the room to see Zara putting in her new earrings- heart drop made of sapphire and gold. I looked over to the bed to see an outfit laid out. Assuming it was mine since she's already wearing her outfit, which if I might add, is looking amazing on her, I go over to the bed. She laid out a pair of low waisted corduroy pants. Kind of a lighter tan color. She matched it with a white button up cropped cardigan and a pair of white sneakers in front of the bed that I had never seen before, but, they were very nice. She however took a darker approach to her clothes; as she always did. She had on a black turtleneck tucked into a pair of grey pants held up by a black belt. She had a matching grey jacket hanging on the back of her chair and I figured that was a part of her look for the day.

     "Do you like it?" She asked looking at me from the mirror infront of her.

     "Yes." I looked back down and put my towel down before getting dressed.

After we got dressed we waited until jas was ready to leave. We packed the car full of presents and headed out to my parent's. Imogen told us in the car that my parents invited her family to spend the day with us so It was gonna be a bit more crowded than we had initially thought. Once we got out of the car we grabbed the presents and headed inside to greet my family. My mother was making sure all the presents looked nice and organized under the tree while my dad was still upstairs putting his suit on and probably taking a few business calls. My mother hates when he takes calls on holidays, but, it never stopped him from doing it behind her back. We greeted my mom and set the presents down next to her so that she could organize them to her liking before everyone got there.

As guests arrived, we took our places on the leather couch so that we had somewhere comfortable to sit while everyone else mingled. I sat with Zara, trying to be as close as possible without making it obvious- although, I doubt anyone was paying attention to anything but her. The very few of my family's friends that came kissed up to her so much that even if I wanted to sneak something in, I wouldn't have been able to sneak in the time. They didn't ask any rude questions really- rather invasive in some instances, but, nothing overly private. Damien came down and joined us, sitting on the arm of the couch and taking sips here and there of some sort of beverage he came down with in a cup.

My mother forced all of us to get up and take pictures infront of the tree- even Zara and Jasmine. It's been about 30 minutes of pictures alone and I'm looking for literally any excuse to get out of it. Suddenly, the doorbell rings as its my turn to take pictures with the family. I pretend to be overly eager about who could be at the door on my way towards it as if anything could prepare me for what I had seen when I opened it seconds ago. Lynx. My smile quickly drops and I can feel my face grow cold and the colors rush from out of my cheeks. Holy shit, what is he doing here?

"Aren't you gonna invite me in?" His smug demeanor throws me off as he lifts a few presents from the ground and lets himself in.

"Lynx!" My father says, holding his cup of whiskey in the air and holding his arms out. "How are you, son?"

"Can't complain, where should I set these down, sir?" He asked referring to the presents.

"Honey, close the door." My mother says to me. "You're gonna let all the heat out."

I snap out of my daze and shut it slowly. I walked back to everyone at the tree as my father and Lynx engaged in the most boring conversations about how he's been doing in college. He is the ideal guy my father wants me to be with. I knew that that's why he still stayed around even when I wasn't here. He looked at me for a moment and once our eyes connected I could feel his intentions with just the glare.