Not Just A Love Story

Chapter 45

Writer's POV

"No way, we are staying here." Lauren spoke astonished looking around the cottage house which looked a bit old but still had that modern touch in their infrastructure. The cottage house was located at the outskirts of the city. 

"You said you loved mountains, so a small birthday surprise for you." Ethan spoke tucking Lauren's hair behind her ear. Today is her birthday and if he could certify some day as the best day in the whole year, it would be today.

"I love this. Thanks a lot Ethan. I could live here forever." Lauren looked like she could shed tears at any moment staring at Ethan.

"You can if you want to. This property is yours."

Lauren's eyes couldn't widen anymore at Ethan's words.

"What? I- You mean--" Lauren stuttered unable to bring the words out.

"Yes. This whole property is registered under your name. It's a small gift for your birthday."

Surprise and disbelief fought to be expressed on her face listening to Ethan. She wonders if she just fell in love with him a bit more than before. It's not just about the surprise that made her feel emotional. She remembered him asking her a question about mountains or beach once when they are playing would you rather.

No way, he asked all that questions to plan this for her birthday.

"I think I just fell in love with you all over again." She spoke the words out and kissed him while others tried giving them their privacy doing other things except staring at the kissing couple. Ryan and Eva started talking about their trips for the next year whereas Alice ignored Chris with every cell in her body while the latter glared at her for ignoring him.

Lauren stopped kissing her favorite person in the whole world when she remembered that they are not alone and rounded her eyes back to the house which is hers now avoiding Ryan's taunting smirk.

Milo went for a run around the place as soon as they arrived. He now came back and stood before Ethan with his wagging tail and looked around but stopped when his eyes fell on Eva. He gets along with everyone but takes advantage of Eva's fear of animals. Running towards Eva, Milo barked at her where she stood beside Ryan making everyone laugh. Milo really loves barking at Eva or catching her off guard. He is seriously a devil but he doesn't hate Eva or anything. He just loves playing with her differently. Milo and Eva has developed that weird friendship since she started coming to the penthouse to meet Ethan or Lauren.

Lauren looked at the whole place that looked like a castle but with cozy, homely vibes, placed among the rocky mountains filled with greenery, tall trees and a perfect view of a lake. The scenery here can take you back to the Victorian era if you dress up in a lavish ball dress.

"This place reminds me of pride and prejudice," Alice spoke standing beside Lauren and the two childhood friends started gushing about how dreamy the place is.

"Nah, Aly. Your saying would have been perfect if there were a few hens and cattle roaming here and there." Ryan spoke abandoning Eva's side for the first time since the day began and stood between Lauren and Alice.

While Lauren, Alice and Ryan talked about the pride and prejudice, Ethan and Chris looked at them as if they started speaking some foreign language they couldn't understand. Eva just stood there shaking her head with a soft smile at their banter on which version of pride and prejudice is the best.

"Who knows, I might even find my own Mr Darcy here?" Alice spoke taking a peek at Chris for a moment before averting her eyes back to the others.

"Subtitles, please." Chris gave Alice a tightlipped smile to which the latter rolled her eyes. He didn't like how Alice spoke about her own some mister. The thought of another man in Alice's s life brought disgust to his tongue.