Unadulterated Pleasure

12: A House in Panic

"Amara, are you pouting?"

Amara could hear the amusement in Lauren's voice, and as she turned to look at her, she found that her face housed an amused smile. She hadn't been aware that she was pouting and quickly wiped it from her face. It was a reflex, really, because pouting was not acceptable at the academy. Sometimes, she forgot that she was no longer there. That their teachings weren't actually relevant to the relationship, Amara had found herself in.

"I'm just a bit upset," Amara responded.

She, her mother, and Lauren had been out for the past several hours looking at potential venues for the joining. They'd left that morning at nine, having breakfast before going to tour the locations they were scheduled to see. So far, none of them had been what Amara was looking for. They'd been pretty, yes, but she could also tell that they were expensive, and while she'd been told that didn't matter, she wanted something that seemed more intimate and organic. Not staged like the places they'd seen.

That was where Amara's upset stemmed from. They'd seen four locations so far and were currently on their way to the last one, and she had little hope for it as well. Which was discouraging. She hadn't thought finding a beautiful location would be that hard, and technically it hadn't been. Every place they'd seen was beautiful it just wasn't what she wanted.

Amara was being picky, and she knew it. At one point before she'd come to be with Dorian, she probably just would have settled for something, even if she didn't like it one hundred percent. Now, she wasn't willing to do that. One, because he'd made it very clear that she didn't have to. That whatever she wanted for their joining she could have, and two, she wanted the day to be exactly how she envisioned it.

It was a little less than two months until October, which mean that was the amount of time she had until they were supposed to join. Amara wanted to have the ceremony the second or third weekend that way, when they went on their joining trip, the weather would still be nice. That also meant that she had to send invitations out soon as well. Not that she had many people, she was inviting outside of her mother and Tahly. Everyone Amara knew and would consider inviting was housed at the facility, and since she wasn't as close to them as she was to Tahly, she decided to just invite her.

Amara did want to invite some of the household staff that she'd become close to, but she wasn't sure if that was allowed. She made a mental note to ask Dorian about it when he got home from work.

"I'm sure we'll find something you like, Mara." Her mother informed her. "And if it isn't the last spot, then we can just look some more."

"Adina's right. There are ample places to look at even if we have to get a bit creative." Lauren threw in, and Amara nodded, taking both women's words for it.

When they pulled up to the final location, Amara decided that she would keep an open mind. The venue could surprise her and be everything she was looking for and more. It could be better than what she pictured for their joining.

Open-mindedness let her down because it was not in any way what Amara was looking for. It was pretty, yes, and while she could tell it was expensive, it looked less so than the others, which would have been a big plus for it. However, the flowers, plants, and bushes that surrounded the area were fake, and it made Amara's heart sink a bit. It wasn't something that would be noticeable right away, but she had noticed. When the wind blew, none of the plants moved, and it prompted her to feel them.

She didn't do a good job of keeping the disappointment from her face, and Amara knew that she offended the proprietor even though that had not been her intent. The woman sneered at her a bit, and Amara swallowed as she stepped closer to her mother's side. Lauren inserted herself between Amara and the blue-eyed woman, who quickly avoided her gaze.