Dear Mister Summers

sixteen

It was clear right from the very beginning for Sebastian that his family did not like Andin and he had no clue why. At first, he thought they were just reticent. Maybe they were just worried about this woman that he had gotten engaged to, a woman that he was only introducing them to for the first time. He could understand them being upset by that, though he was unsure why they are only taking it out on her; it would definitely be his fault if the engagement was real.

Surely, though, they would warm up to her over the course of the party. After all, she was supposed to be his fiancé. Why weren't they happier that he was settling down with a nice woman? Even Thornton had not seemed to mind last week yet only he and his wife were the only people who seemed to welcome her. It simply did not make sense, especially when, as the next two hours wear on, he noticed that their reception had not improved at all.

At one point in the night, both Andin and Sebastian had been separated. He was not entirely sure where she had gone, and honestly, with the welcoming (or the lack of it) she had been receiving, he could not blame her for wanting to get away for a moment. The rest of his family was milling around the room, completely at ease with the splendor of his home.

For a small, insane moment, he wondered what the fuck happened to him. He had gone through all the troubles to build Summers Entertainment from level zero up to where it was now. Now he could afford to live in a mansion, women were falling over themselves to get to him, and there were very few people in his life who were there because they were not attracted to his wealth and power. Sometimes it was easy to feel proud of what he had achieved, perhaps too proud. Yet being with Andin reminded him of what it was like to be more down to earth and to think about others.

He wanted her. Plain and simple. Painfully so.

Unfortunately, she was the only woman who had ever told him 'no', and that had been both frustrating and fascinating. His courtship of her had started out because of pride. He had to find some way to make her fall for him so that he could truthfully say he could have any woman he ever wanted. Somewhere along the way, the beauty that had attracted him to her in the first place was only the top layer of her deep personality, and, the further he dived beneath the surface, the more he found himself floundering in a sea of feelings for her.

More and more, lately, he had been imagining what it would be like to be in an actual relationship with her. How would it feel to wake up in the morning with her in his arms? How nice would it be to kiss her and laugh with her and hold her close? How amazing would it be to come home and have her there to talk about our days and discuss plans for the future? There was something deeper there, something he could not quite name, but he knew he wanted something more from her, something more intimate and gentler.

"Stop it," he hissed to himself. This was ridiculous!

He swirled the rose gold champagne in his glass, looking around the room. Everyone was chatting. He could see his brother in the corner, talking animatedly with his aunt and uncle, while his parents were talking to his sister by the door. They all looked happy. Yet, every single one of them had subtly snubbed Andin the moment he had introduced her. He just could not understand his family sometimes.

"What a nice place," said someone beside him.

He looked to his side. One of his old friends, Michelle, had sidled up to him with a smile. Their families had been close, even their families had gone on holidays together sometimes. She was around the same age as him and they had spent many years of our childhood playing together, to the point where she was almost like another sister to him. Lately, they had not been in contact as much especially since he was working on his own empire while Michelle was busy flying to New York to Paris to Tokyo and god knows where else for being a model.