Moira

Chapter 33

Mallory stepped out to the backyard where Bellami was having a conversation with her father.

"Where's mom?" Mallory asked them before she grabbed Bellami's glass to serve herself lemonade. "In her studio" her father Roman said.

"Are you busy Bella?" Mallory asked Bellami who frowned and pointed to her father because it was clear that they were having a father daughter moment.

"Why don't you take a seat, we can talk about the company. You and Bella can split it fifty fifty" Roman said to Mallory. "Before you start nagging, I don't want it. I just wanted to ask of you have the necklace I let you borrow" Mallory said to to Bellami.

"Its in my fifth jewelry drawer, you can get it if you want it" Bellami said. Mallory left them alone and went up to Bellami's closet to look for her necklace and when she was just about to step out Bellami bumped into her.

"Where are you going?" Bellami asked Mallory. "To my room to shower" Mallory said.

"You know your doing the right thing, right?" Bellami asked. "What do you mean?" Mallory asked.

"Hanging out with us, with Dimitri. You really don't want to be associated with people like him Mal. It's for the best" Bellami said.

"Your speaking of Ezekiel or Dimitri?" Mallory raised her brow. "Ezekiel, he comes from a bad family. You don't need that in your life. Anyways changing conversation, we should go to the spa today, we haven't had any sister time" Bellami said as she removed her ring. The exact ring Mallory had because their parents had gifted it to them. However Bellami wore it more than Mallory ever did.

"Yeah, sure. I'll shower first then we can leave" Mallory smiled before heading to her bedroom.

~

Later that afternoon Ezekiel looked at his phone to check for any new notifications. The only notification he wanted to see was the one from Mallory saying she was outages but he never received anything.

He looked at their messages and the last one was from his part sending her the address.

He put his phone away in his pocket and turned when someone touched his shoulder.

"Hey" he smiled.

"Arent your parents coming?" His friend who had just gotten married asked him. "No, my father worked until late and so they decided to stay home and rest" Ezekiel shrugged.

"So you didn't invite anyone?"

"It's just me" Ezekiel smiled. "Well come have some drinks with us" His friend said as he began to walk away. "I'll be there in a sec" Ezekiel said as he leaned back on the nearby tree.

He took his phone out of his pocket and looked at his notifications once again as they still remained the same. He opened up his messages and thought about texting Mallory.

"Zeke"

Ezekiel turned to his side and looked at her before he put his phone away. "Hey" he said as he took a step away from the tree.

"Were you John's best man?"

"Yeah" Ezekiel nodded. They looked at each other and there was nothing but awkward tension. "That's great, it's been different without you" she shrugged.

"Different? I hope a good different" he nodded. "I , I'm engaged"His ex girlfriend Emily said.

"Yeah I heard, congratulations" Ezekiel said. "Yeah, thanks. He's actually supposed to meet me here. I mean I say it because John is my friend too and I don't want things to be awkward if we're both going to be here" Emily shrugged.

Ezekiel smiled and was going to laugh as he felt embarrassment for her.

"Why would things be awkward?" Mallory said as she stepped besides Ezekiel and smiled at both Emily and Ezekiel. Mallory knew who Emily was since Ezekiel had already shown her pictures.

Ezekiel turned to look at her as he didn't see her arrive and so did Emily. Ezekiel grinned as he saw Mallory in a peach dress as he had asked her to wear that color. She had her usual amount of makeup and her hair up in an elegant yet messy bun.

"Mallory Kline" She stuck her hand out for Emily who had a small frown on her face. She didn't know who Mallory was but was eager to find out.

"Emily" she responded but didn't shake Mallory's hand as she figured who she was by the way Ezekiel looked at her. Mallory looked at Emily and thought to herself that she was really pretty and had nice skin. Emily however looked at Mallory and knew she was pretty but was hating her for it. In a few seconds Emily disliked everything about Mallory even though she knew it was jealousy.

"Are you a friend of his?" Mallory asked Emily as she put his hand on Ezekiels shoulder.

"Yes"

"No"

Both Emily and Ezekiel answered at the same time. "Why don't we go inside" Ezekiel said to Mallory.

"Sure. Nice to meet you Em, see you inside, that's if your not leaving yet" Mallory smiled before turning with Ezekiel.

Once inside Mallory looked around and liked how the decor was minimal yet so elegant.

"Was that your ex girlfriend?" Mallory asked without looking at him. "I'd respond but you already know the answer" he smirked.

"Was she telling you how much she's still in love with you even though she's a few weeks from getting married?" Mallory asked as they got to a table.

"Are you jealous?" Ezekiel asked.

"Oh no, the only time I've ever been jealous was when Bellami got a horse for her seventh birthday and I didn't" Mallory shrugged. "Besides I did that to get you out of the tension that was building up" she added.

"I thought you weren't going to show up" Ezekiel said.

"I thought so too, but I like weddings and cake so I made some room in my schedule" Mallory smiled. "You look amazing" Ezekiel smiled.

Mallory fixed her Elie Saab dress, "thanks" she said.

"Who else are you here with?" Mallory asked. "You're the only person I invited" he said.

"What about your parents?" Mallory asked remembering about her father asking her to stay away from him. It was hard for her to believe his father was capable of something like that however she didn't know his father.

"Exhausted from work" Ezekiel shrugged. "Why? Did you want to meet your future in laws?" He playfully teased.

"What are they like?" Mallory raised her brow. "My parents?" He smiled.

Mallory nodded.

"I'll tell you about them after this dance" he smiled as he got up and grabbed her hand. "I don't know how to dance, someone can see us"

"Good it gives me an excuse to dance with you all night, so I can teach you" he smiled. Mallory hesitated.

"Relax, nobody here knows you" he said.

Mallory finally gave in and put her hand on his and followed him to the dance floor.