𝐃𝐈𝐕𝐈𝐍𝐄 || 𝐒𝐞𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐒𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰

Chapter Five

It had been a week since Vienne had met Sebastian, and he had been a thought consistently popping into her mind. She didn't want to intrude, but she also desperately wanted to see him again. On top of that, she also wanted to speak with Ominis again, and since they lived with each other, it would be easier.

Sunlight peered through her window, quickly walking her up. She rubbed her eyes and rolled out of bed, her long ginger hair falling over her eyes. She walked over to the vanity and pushed her hair out of her face and pulled it back. She'd do her hair later, when she was more awake.

She made her way downstairs and to the dining room. Surprisingly, her mother was in there. Usually she was in much earlier than Vienne. "Oh, good morning, mother." Vienne said, sitting down on the opposite side of the table, creating some distance between them.

"Good morning, you're up late." Claudine replied.

Vienne raised a brow. "You're in here late; I see no problem with me waking up late." She replied confusedly.

For once, Claudine seemingly didn't have a snarky reply or a reply at all. A moment of silence passed between them before she finally spoke up.

"Mr. Edward Carter will be here around twelve. You'd better be presentable by them." She spoke up, lifting the cup to her lips.

Vienne's eyes widened. "Hm? What?" She asked, her mouth slightly open. That certainly threw a wrench in her plans to go see Sebastian and Ominis that day. And to be honest, she wasn't really fond of seeing Edward that day. Knowing that her mother would most likely make it awkward.

"Mr. Edward Carter will be here around noon; you'd better be presentable by then." Claudine repeated. "I expect you to be ready and here in the home by the time he arrives."

Vienne started to feel a little more anxious about her plan to leave. But the other half of her said she could go and get home and ready all before noon. It would still be awkward with Mr. Carter, but being awkward was better than her mother getting angry at her.

She decided to stick to her plan. She nodded her head. "Alright." She replied simply.

Claudine gave her a suspicious look, wondering why she was so quick to agree. She was waiting for some sort of protest-anything, really. She gave Vienne one last look before standing up to leave the room.

"Oh, mother," Vienne sighed, shaking her head. They could barely keep up a conversation anymore.

Nevertheless, the sooner her mother left her alone, the sooner she could get out of the house. She ate quickly, pushed away from the table, and headed up to her room again to get ready.

She got dressed in a simple, off-white dress with some frills and sat in front of her vanity to actually do her hair. She much preferred being able to do things herself, just the way that she liked them, rather than someone else getting to choose for her.

As she did her hair, she began to think of how the conversation with Sebastian would go. She knew close to nothing about him, but he somehow interested her so much. But hopefully, this would go well.

***

Once she was ready, Vienne carefully stepped down the stairs, trying to make sure she wouldn't make much noise. She didn't want her mother to be suspicious of where she was going if she heard. Sometimes she couldn't believe she was twenty-two and still couldn't leave the house without her mother interrogating her about everything.

Near the bottom of the stairs, she caught sight of one of the family maids, Ceci. For as long as Vienne could remember, Ceci had been working for the Austen family. She didn't know how old Ceci was; however, she remembered her father mentioning Ceci being around when he was young. So it was safe to assume Ceci had been around working for the family since George was a small child.