ALL THE LOVE WE LEAVE BEHIND

Chapter 41

Friday

The day prior had faded with Lauren and me going out shopping, and her pushing me to get this gorgeous lilac spaghetti strapped dress. When I wore it, I felt almost as angelic as I had the time I wore my pink silk dress. Lauren, of course, also bought herself a mauve halter strapped dress, which reached her ankles and was embellished with a fine lining of silk- I had to hand it to us both, we hadn't lost our charm.

The clothes were for Saturday evening - the engagement party. The entire day tomorrow - tonight included - was meant to be a rundown of events; starting with a family dinner that the Malik's were hosting, followed by morning brunch and then the grand engagement party that would be held in our backyard. Malik was Zain's family name, and tonight would actually be the first night I'd be meeting them. I had heard that they were as extravagant as us- if not more- and I wasn't sure if that was a compliment or an insult, but Lauren was happy, and so I figured I'd be too.

There was little I knew about Zain though, but from what I had heard, thanks to Lauren - keeping me up all night as she told me the gory details of their relationship- I was pretty excited to meet the gentleman that had won my sister's heart.
She told me how they bonded over their mutual love of law- as a matter of fact, they met, while working in the same firm - she told me about how incredible of a cook he was - from making poached eggs in the morning to shrimp tacos and even humus in the evenings - she told me about how he ran his father's business on the side of pursuing law, she told me all about his hobbies and his love for sports - especially tennis, she told me how much he adored his little sister, Sophia- but everyone called her Sophie - she also told me about how she was worried his mother would be too conservative, but he made her feel at home when she stepped into the house. His mother - Ayla, as well, was over the moon when she laid eyes on Lauren. She wasn't the stereotypical Eastern mom that Lauren was expecting, Ayla was actually compassionate, driven and welcoming.
She didn't hate the fact that Lauren worked, in fact she loved it, and they bonded over women in business, while Lauren listened to how Ayla dreamed of expanding the floral shop that she had started up just a few years ago. She also loved the way Lauren carried herself, and they ended up spending hours looking through wedding dresses together - despite his mother having a more traditional wedding with saris and lehengas, she was more than thrilled to be looking at simple white dresses. The thing she loved most about Lauren, though, was how she could spoil her with gifts, and Lauren happily accepted each sentiment given to her.
Both families worked like crazy as well, so it was a match made in heaven, when they met for dinner. While, Zain's father did major in business and ours in law, they still got along pretty well, the mother's as well, couldn't stop talking- as per what I heard- and Marc and Zain had already established a brotherly relationship, leaving just me to be completely disassociated from the new family. Then again, the only person I had to blame for that was myself. I shrugged off Dylan's words, but found it hard to not accept them. It was really my fault... and I would just have to deal with its consequences.
Speaking of Dylan, I hadn't received one single text from him since I got back. No checking up, no apologies, hell I didn't even receive a simple message saying, 'have you landed safely?' Nothing. I got nothing, and so I tried to be as forgetful of us as him, but with me knowing that he was still facing Tyler troubles, I made a call to Maya just to checkup. Thankfully, she told me that the hearing sorted things out, and he was free to go. I didn't want to dive into too much detail about it, so I just told her to tell Austin I miss him, and hung up.
Now my plan was to spend the next two days in peace - without even a shred of time wasted on thinking about London- but as luck would have it, London approached me. I had received an email from the University of London, this morning with an interview set up, which would act as the final determinant for my offer. It would be around 6 pm UTC, so 1 pm here.
Now the rational thing would be to cancel it, since Dylan and I had broken up, and my entire schedule was ready for Florida. But, after talking it out with Lauren - who was the only person that I revealed the entire truth to- I decided to take the interview and then if I got in, I'd just decline, but there was no harm in trying and seeing where I stood. I once again reminded myself that this had nothing to do with Dylan's harsh sentences - telling me that I'm not pursuing what I want because I don't have the balls to. I was doing this for me, because of me.
I did however keep it a secret from my mom, since I knew she would flip upon finding out that I applied to a foreign country without taking her consent. Therefore, when the time came, I hid myself in the dining room downstairs and set up my laptop for the interview process.
My mom was on the phone upstairs, and everyone was outside trying to get the backyard ready for tomorrow's event, so I knew no one would walk in. Besides, no one ate lunch before 2 pm, and the interview would only last 15 minutes max, so I had nothing to worry about.
My attire wasn't too formal, either. I just wore one of my dad's white buttoned down shirts, and Lauren's polka dot pajamas underneath. The laptop camera was only going to capture my upper body, so there was no point in dressing up from the waist down.
The interview started promptly, as I was grateful that I remained punctual and joined a minute early. After being welcomed by a British woman, who had sunflower colored hair tightened in a bun, and a matte shade of beige lipstick over her lips, I greeted her with formality, as she posed a bunch of questions to me. The questions weren't too hard, they were relatively the same as when I had applied to Stetson, so I knew how to answer them with ease.
The one thing that took me aback was her mention of a masterpiece. She said she had never seen anything like it. I frowned, before nodding my head in the realization that she was referring to what I had auctioned at the fundraiser.
Dylan submitted it, didn't he?
How or why he did that was out of my understanding, but I softened at the thought that he did. Perhaps it was before our fight, but it couldn't have been, because I painted it only the evening before the fundraiser. I was confused at his gesture, but frustrated too - He loved me, but that love just wasn't enough to make him stay - so was it even worth it?
Still, my mind was on the interview, which when it ended, made me feel more than satisfied. I was just about to get up and jump with glee over how much the interviewee praised me, when I looked up to see a figure by the door.
Shit.
I muttered under my breath as the woman made her way into the room, making me instantly regret what I did - despite it being nothing wrong.