Hidden Motives

The First Encounter

At around 6 pm I got a call from Mary, she said that Dave and her were going to meet up for dinner after work. She told us that they were going to be home late and there was no need for us to save them any dinner.

Shortly after, there was a hard knock on the door. I rolled my eyes as I got up to answer it. I knew that it must have been Adyline's boyfriend and his brother. I then turned the knob to reveal just that. A tall man who looked to be about 6'3, with dark brown hair, and piercing blue-green eyes. He had a muscular build and was looking at me as if he was staring into my soul. "Quite intimidating" I thought. Next to him stood a man quite similar. He had black wavy hair and green eyes. He wasn't as muscular as the other man but wasn't exponentially far from looking like a bodybuilder. His eyes also weren't as intriguing as the other man and he looked much kinder.

"Hello" I said activating my accent.

"Hello" said the second man in a heavy British accent. The first man was just staring at me expressionlessly.

"Aren't you going to say anything?" I asked him annoyed.

"Hello" he said rolling his eyes in a cold tone. "Is Adyline here?"

"Yes, she is, come on in." While I was saying this Adyline ran down the stairs and pulled the first man into an embrace while the other stood in the corner awkwardly. "Maxx!" she screamed. "Zara this is my boyfriend Max and Max this is my twin Zara!"

Max again stares at me expressionless. "This is creepy" I thought to myself.

"Oh and this is Max's brother, Dylan!" Adyline then walked over to the second man. He waved at me and smiled. I smiled back at him before walking over to the kitchen to escape Max's solid gaze from the other corner. "What was a girl like Adyline doing with a man so emotionless. Yes, he was attractive, but not enough for me to date him."

Adyline then joined me in the kitchen and I whispered "Personality matters, too, you know" into her ear before planting myself on the sofa. She rolled her eyes and said "He is not that bad" quietly enough for only me to hear.

Soon enough the boys joined us on the couch and we watched "Pride and Prejudice" per the request of Adyline. She fell asleep halfway through, and both Dylan and Max looked bored out of their minds.

About 30 minutes before the end of the movie Dylan made his first move. He reached for my hand, but I pulled back almost instantly. It was just reflex at this point. He looked disappointed and didn't try anything else for the rest of the movie. Max saw this failed attempt by Dylan as Adyline was gently asleep on his lap. He looked at Dylan and then at me. After that, he faced back towards the TV smiling, almost as if he was happy at his brother's failed attempt to make a move.

"How rude," I thought in my head. "Not only is this man emotionless, but he is also rude and lacks any sense of basic respect."

Once the movie ended, Max carried Adyline into her room and laid her on her bed. He tucked her in before coming back downstairs to collect his brother who was passed out on the sofa. "Wake up dipshit" he said. I laughed, but that was probably the only sensible thing he did all night.

Dylan seemed tired and it was only 10:30 pm, but I was feeling pretty tired as well. Max analyzed me for a few seconds before saying "You look tired, you should get some sleep."

I looked up at him and thought to myself "No shit Sherlock" but instead I took into account that this was the first thing he said to me and it was semi-decent. "Yeah, I probably should. The sleep on the floor didn't do me justice last night."

He stood there and looked deep into my eyes before saying "You also should work on that accent a bit more before going out in public. It's quite easy to tell it's forced as of right now. Anyways, we've better get going. See you on Monday at school".

I almost choked on my water when he said this. "How could he tell, I thought my accent sounded perfect. This man is unbelievable. And did he just say school on Monday? This man got into Oxford? He will be going to Christ Church College with us? I really need to talk to Adyline in the morning."

Dylan then approached me from behind and said "Bye Zara. It was nice meeting you! You are quite beautiful by the way. Maybe we could get dinner sometime?"

I laughed a little and then said "Bye Dylan, and maybe we can" as I lead him to the door. Max was waiting outside and I couldn't help, but notice how nice his car was. It was a jet black Ferrari. The rain falling lightly made it look illuminated. "He is rich. That's how he got into Oxford" I said as I closed the door.

That night I fell asleep to the sound of rain lightly hitting my window and my thoughts slowly flowing through my head. "What's up with Max? Why is he so closed of? Why is Dylan so different from him? What does Adyline see in him? Why was he looking at me like that when I answered the door? What is he hiding? How did he catch on to my fake accent?" And finally, "Who is Max Payne?"