The Surprise Engagement - Zeitus Archipelago

Chapter 1: The Invitation

Olivia Ardent shaded her green eyes from the glaring sun as she struggled through the bank holiday crowds that filled Ambleside's narrow streets. Ducking out of the way of the tourists, she hurried towards Jasper's house. All day she had been hearing horror stories about the police raiding his shared house or that Jasper had been arrested. But the story kept on changing and Olivia no longer knew what to believe. So, she had decided to find out for herself. This would off been so much faster if Jasper was proficient at using his phone!

Grumbling under her breath, Olivia headed straight for the gate leading into the back of the house. None of the junk in the backyard looked like it had been moved. There was still a pile of abandoned bikes and surfboards in the centre of the yard, clothes hung dejectedly on the washing line. Nothing was out of place. If anything, they had added more junk to the pile since Olivia last visited Jasper's house. Taking in a deep breath, Olivia knocked on the back door, which swung open easily under the force of her knocks. The door had been left ajar.

"Jasper?" called Olivia as she carefully stepped into the house. The kitchen was a mess, as always, dirty pots and pans covered all the surfaces and water covered the floor. Frowning in confusion, Olivia called out again, "Jasper!"

Where an earth was, he? Jasper's pots were not among those abandoned on the side, yet his cupboard was hanging open empty, his slow cooker was gone from the top of the fridge....

"Jasper are you here?" called out Olivia again, dread entering her voice.

"He is upstairs." grunted a young man who was lying sprawled on the sofa in the adjoining living room.

"Tyler, what happened?" asked Olivia, quickly turning around.

"I don't know... some hot chicks came in and emptied Jasper's place." He moaned before groaning into a conveniently placed bucket. Holding her breath, Olivia hurried out of the room and up the stairs. She didn't stop until she reached Jasper's room in the attic. She could at once see that things were missing. Such as the beautiful tapestry that used to cover the door was gone.

Taking a deep breath, Olivia knocked on the door. "Jasper, are you in there?"

For a long moment Olivia thought that there would be no answer, but finally, after what felt like a lifetime, Jasper's quiet voice answered, "Come in, Olly."

Pushing the door open, Olivia gasped, her hands flying up to cover her mouth. Jasper's room was empty. What had been a nice and cosy retreat was now a bare shell, the stark white walls and faded brown carpet all that remained. Edging forwards Olivia approached Jasper's slumped figure in the centre of the room. He didn't even look up as she approached; she didn't need to see his face to recognise the cause of his sniffling.

"Surprise," he whispered sarcastically.

For a moment too long, Olivia did not know what to say.

"Are you alright?" she blurted out before mentally kicking herself. Of course, he isn't alright! Sinking down onto the floor next to Jasper, she searched for something to say.

Thankfully, Jasper beat her to it. "I turned down my aunt's invitation again."

"So, she destroys your room?" questioned Olivia in disbelief.

"She is trying to make a point," trailed off Jasper, shrugging his shoulders to Olivia's bewildered look.

"But this is your room."

"I know."

"Why Jay, this isn't right. She can't do this." Argued Olivia heatedly, not understanding why Jasper was not raging against his aunt.

"You know I am a foreign student..." shrugged Jasper, looking at Olivia as if that explained everything.

"But that doesn't give her the right to steal your possessions!"

"I am her ward still. That means if she says jump, I must jump."

"I don't understand," murmured Olivia, shaking her head. She had always known that Jasper wasn't from the UK and that his aunt was important. That was pretty obvious because of the smartly dressed people that would always follow Jasper around on field trips, but never anything that suggested he was under somebody else's will.

A strained silence filled the room as they both tried to work out what to say or do next. Biting the bullet, Olivia broke the silence and spoke up, "So... what are you going to do?"

Sighing deeply, Jasper seemed to fold himself into an even smaller huddle. "Well, there is only one thing I can do. But it is going to be near impossible without my wallet."

"What!" exclaimed Olivia, looking around the room frantically, "This isn't right Jasper."

"I know, Olly, but there is nothing we can do about it." Forcefully said Jasper, as he visibly pulled himself together and scrubbed at his red face. "I need a big favour?"

"Go on," urged Olivia, intrigued by the sudden topic change, after all what could be more important than finding his belongings.

"The event is in London..." said Jasper carefully, still not looking at Olivia properly.

"And..."

"Can you give me a lift?"

"To London."

"Yes."

"Now, this minute?"

"The event is tonight at 8pm."

"Jasper..." sighed Olivia, shaking her head in exasperation. "You know that is at least a 6-hour journey."

"Well, we had better get going then!"

Shaking her head, Olivia looked again at Jasper's slumped form in contrast to the eager and hopeful expression on his face. Yes, it is a long way to London, but perhaps Jasper just wants the knowledge that a friendly face is there. After all, his aunt does not sound like the nicest person! She felt like she was in a fairy tale and was about to lose her best friend to an aunt in the disguise of an evil stepmother. To make matters worse, there was nothing she could do about it.

"Well, at least you don't need to pack!" exclaimed Olivia, standing up determinately. "If we are going, we need to get gone now."

Offering her hand to Jasper with a splitting grin covering her face, she pulled him to his feet quickly. After all, there was no time to lose. It was already 1pm.