Highest Rank achieved: #10 in Teen Fiction
"What the fuck do you want, Friso?" I asked, saying each word slowly.
"My condition is very easy to comply, love," he told me, his pair of steel grey eyes boring to mine as if saying I already know what he...
"Hello, my love!" his mother ran to him joyously before grabbing his face with her black polished hands to kiss both of his cheeks. Embarrassing. That was what he thought, especially since they were both in a public space. But he had to play it cool. He leaned in, and let her give him a bunch of kisses. "I'm glad you came!" she exclaimed happily upon pulling away.
"Yeah." He only nodded and began roaming his eyes around, looking for Vanessa. It was the only reason why he wanted to go after his mother. When he heard her voice from the car speaker talking about being with Vanessa and her mother, he wasted no time and immediately asked to accompany them. He was a tad upset earlier because he couldn't keep Vanessa from leaving after not seeing her for almost an entire week. But it seemed that the odds were in his favor.
"Richard, Lancelot," his mother acknowledged the butlers' presence behind him by simply nodding. The old gentleman responded with a polite greeting.
"Come, come." The petit redhead grabbed her son's wrist and dragged him in the direction where two ladies were standing behind a cart. His breathing almost hitched when he caught sight of her thin, golden tresses arranged in a subtle wolf cut, her bangs framing her heart-shaped, porcelain-like face. The young woman was facing her mother who talked to her something about her job, which caused the former to laugh heartily.
He felt his chest soar. His eyes mellowed. There was something about the way her eyes smiled and lit up, cheeks flushed, and the lifted corners of her lips that made him see a bright light emanate around her, singing birds come up and rest on her shoulder as butterflies flew around her. Time was slow. The air was different. There was something about that expression that gave him the urge to get close and marvel at her beauty. He could never get tired of seeing her face, especially with that expression... which she never wore in front of him, at least.
"I have come back with company," his mother announced joyfully in a sing-song manner, causing the two women to look in their direction.
He watched her smile immediately turned upside down and the light in her eyes went out. It was obvious that she wasn't pleased with his presence. One corner of his lips lifted into a smirk, those eyes turned sharp as she glared daggers at him. He didn't mind seeing this cute expression as well. She was always adorable in his eyes, whether she was angry, frustrated, giddy, or whatever. But he liked it best when she was happy, and hated it most when she was sad. He felt that he was going to die when he saw her cry out of woe before.
"Hello..." her mother, whom he once deemed and still deems as his future mother-in-law, awkwardly greeted after glancing at her daughter who still had a big frown. "...it's been a while." She offered him a small yet warm smile. "You've grown quite tall. I remember you were only a few inches past me before." She gave off an uneasy laugh. He understood, knowing that both of their parents knew about their relationship and eventual fallout.
"It's good to see you again too, Mrs. H." He leaned in, expecting that she was going to give him kisses on the cheek as well. She did. "Hello... Vanessa." He pretended to be timid and coyly greeted his ex, which he had only last seen 10 minutes ago.
"Hey." The fuming girl had no choice but to greet him back politely. The heated gaze was gone, replaced by a forced smile smeared on her face. He knew she wasn't going to act up in front of two older women and would rather bite her tongue than embarrass herself.
"Aw, it's so nice to see you both like this. Getting along..." Allison clasped her hands together, all smiles. "...Don't you think so, dear?" she goes over to Isla and hooked her hands around the latter's arm. From the corner of his eye, he saw the Hatherns look at each other.
"We know there was some stuff between you two before, but you're both grown up now! You two should get along like good old friends!" Sometimes, Friso thought his mother was either an airhead or simply had good intentions but executed them badly whenever she placed people in several situations, especially him. One prominent example was when she agreed to a producer's request to put him up in a TV show with his father when he was a child. His mother loved the shot of him talking to a mannequin and bragged about it not only to her friends but also to his friends. Now, he struggled with the embarrassment whenever his friends brought it up and blew out a hearty laugh. But right now wasn't the case. Rather, he was thankful. He had the chance to spend some time with Vanessa.
"I think so too," he replied to his mother's statement, teasing Vanessa. He peeked at her and saw that she was glaring holes in his face again. Her eyes were already conveying what she wanted to say: As if we get along!
"Isn't that good?" Mrs. Hathern replied, looking at her daughter with a soft gaze and reaching out to hold her hand. God knew how much he craved to hold that colleen's hand as well.
"Uh, yeah." Vanessa only nodded in response.
"Oh hello, Richard!" Mrs. Hathern looked and waved at the servants behind them.
"It's a pleasure to meet you again, Mrs. Hathern." The gentleman bowed his head with a hand on his chest.
"It's nice to see you again too, and you... uh..." she glanced at Lancelot, whom she was unfamiliar with.
"That's Lancelot, we only hired him 2 years ago. So it's your first time meeting him," his mother immediately introduced the younger butler.
"Sure." Mrs. Hathern nodded and waved at Lancelot as well who replied with the same gesture as Richard did. "Let's go?" she asked and they immediately started their errand.
Grocery shopping was a chore for Friso, although he had never done it his entire life. To him, it was the same as shopping with his flings. Dull and boring. But he didn't mind doing this dull and boring thing as long as Vanessa was there. He would do anything even just a glimpse for her right now. In fact, he would do anything for her.
He roamed his eyes around, looking at the different products on the shelves. Musing that none of the products in the array were his go-to brands, he glanced at her, who had been entertaining the two older women's chatter. It was conspicuous that she had been avoiding looking in his direction. He knew she was trying her best-est not to look at her. Meanwhile, Richard and Lancelot were like shadows, following behind them silently without saying a single word. They moved painstakingly so that they were invisible to someone who was too occupied with getting their list done.
Now they were lining up at the meat section for a fresh cut of pork ribs. The line was unusually long and they were the last ones in the queue. It might take them a century before they could get their cuts. The noise of his mother and his prospective mother-in-law's nonstop chatting went from one end of his ear to another. He was occupied gazing at the ravishing beauty beside him, who was trying her best to ignore the gazes of other people by twiddling with her fingers. They were standing out in the crowd because of three things: mainly because of Allison's high-end outfit; second because of the dashing butlers behind them; and lastly, their uniforms.
"Oh!" Mrs. Hathern gasped so suddenly. "I forgot to pick up some mangos."
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