Déja Vú

The Part We Hadn't Practised

Leora

I walk in on my dad asking Ashton where we met, and I swoop in to the rescue.
Thinking back in hindsight, it was really stupid of me to invite him here without going over all that first.

"Hey, babe," I say, smiling as I give him a reluctant peck on the cheek before sitting beside him.

He slips his hand over my shoulder and pulls me closer, and it honestly takes everything in me not to shove him off and just confess already.

"Okay, you two. We're going to see your Aunt Martha, and she'll drop us at the train station. We'll see you three at dinner," Mum says, already halfway out the door with Dad, who had loaded all their suitcases into the car.

We say our goodbyes, and once they're gone, Londyn turns to us.

"Uhm... I need to get a dress for the wedding, so I'll see you all in a bit, okay?" she says, grabbing her purse and heading for the door.

"But, Londyn, you already have an outfit for the wedding," I say.
I knew exactly what she was trying to do. She wanted me alone with this man, and I was not about to let her get away with it.

She looks determined. "Well, I need another one. A girl can never have too many clothes, right, Ashton?"

She nods at him, and he nods back—stupidly.

"Well... I won't be gone for long, okay? I love you, bye!" she says quickly, rushing out before I can protest any further.

I sigh and sink deeper into the chair, still very aware of Ashton's hand resting over my shoulder.

"You can let me go now. No one's here," I say, scooting away and putting some distance between us.

"Your wish is my command, darling," he smirks.

I scoff.

"Anyway, we need to appear more romantic. My mother almost sniffed us out," I say, staring straight into his eyes.

"Well, that's not my fault, miss. You won't even let me hold your hand," he says, accusingly.

I take a deep breath.

He was right. I needed to make an effort too. For this to work—no matter how painful that was going to be.

"True. I'll try to do better," I say with a sigh of resignation.

He smiles, and no matter how pissed off I am about this entire situation, I can't deny it—he looks even more handsome when he does.

And that only makes me more annoyed.

I mean, what is it about him? What does he have that makes me feel so drawn to him?

"So, how are our wedding preparations coming along?" he asks, leaning back into the chair.

"Well, I spoke to the planner. He said he'd get back to me once he's done with Kathani's, although I already made some suggestions," I say, and for a brief moment, it feels real.

Like I'm marrying for love.

I shake the thought away and focus on the man in front of me, who's nodding along.

"Okay, cool. But I think we should have the engagement party in Miami."

"Miami?" I ask, clearly confused.

"Yeah. That way, you get to meet my family. Although events like that are usually really grand and formal over at ours... if you don't mind."

"No, it's fine. Can we have it a week before the wedding, though?" I ask.
I still need to go shopping, because arranged marriage or not, I cannot attend my own wedding looking like a piece of shit. Anything less than gorgeous would raise serious alarms in my family.