Purcell's Pairings | ✔

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     BREAKFAST HAD GONE over far too slowly for Annalise's comfort. She was forced to take a seat at the small round table with John and hadn't had the opportunity to say anything more than something that agreed with his words. He hadn't once taken a moment to address her, or praise her, not like the way Annalise had always envisioned future husbands would do. He'd acknowledged her father's "impressive business routes," and although Annie thought it was a bit odd, the way he talked of business given the fact that he ran nothing more than a family bookstore, she had clamped her mouth shut and done nothing more than nod her head. She was more uneasy over the fact that he had jumped on the opportunity to call her Annie so frequently. There were few people that called her that, and although she did like it over Annalise, she felt that was a name she should have been able to give out when she was ready. John had taken that from her, too. Was this how it was always going to be? There was surely the chance that John simply wanted to boast about all his doings since they did not know one another, and that could also be why he rambled on and on without pausing to ask her about anything in relation to herself, but she was still discouraged. He had complimented her on one thing, though, and that was that the biscuits were delicious. Annie hadn't made them, but she didn't tell him that. A simple ghostly smile would do.

     The next thing that had caught her off guard was when she stood, only to be told to take a seat once again. According to John, she shouldn't be dismissed until he was done, and it was then that she asked herself if she'd ever leave the uncomfortable chair she had pulled out. The worst part was, there wasn't a single body around the two of them. The more she began to tune John's deep voice out, the more Annie began to overthink. Had he instructed everyone to stay out of the kitchen so he could have his private space with her? And if that was the case, did that mean he thought the other men were a threat? The Purcells had made it very clear that the group of young adults who'd received a shimmery brooch or cufflink were to only spend some time together because they were of age to marry and her parents believed the particular selection would be suiting for one another. That being said, although the matching gems did have a bit of a connection, Philip and Beth Purcell had made it clear that a matching gem did not mean a definitive wedding. After all, the way they chose to hide how the pairs were selected hinted that they hadn't specifically paired up everyone with someone who seemed suiting. Everyone was suiting in their eyes. Annie wondered how much they knew about this John Arten. Given the number of times John had verbally touched on her father, she had suspected that his own knew hers or vise versa, but she didn't recall ever hearing the surname Arten leave her parents' lips. It was evident they knew exactly what they were doing when pairing Esther with James, but she was questioning it when it came to herself and Maisie, whose match she didn't even yet know. This odd conversation with John made one thing certain; as much as Annalise was against getting married, she was going to have to find someone more suiting before it was too late. Her parents were not going to be as easy on the three sisters as the rest of the guests; if they did not find a proper suitor whom they truly loved by the end of this "trip," they were to marry their assigned pairs. Annalise Purcell was determined to find a way around John Arten. His ego was big enough to sculpt out a real human-being, whom he could marry so they could forever gossip over himself. Annalise liked to show off her victory here and there, but she was nowhere near as bad as Mr. Arten was. And it seemed though, yet his confidence was as high as the Purcell mansion itself, he was settle about it. Settle in the sense that, he seemed to prefer to gloat in a one-on-one conversation, as opposed to getting in front of a crowd the way many men would. Now that Annalise thought about it, and as much as she hated to admit it, it was smart. After all, one could feel the tension, the attention they were captivating from the other when participating in a one-on-one conversation. It was hard to get a glimpse of what was going through the minds of people when speaking to multiple.