Sebastian

Chapter Eleven

This chapter has 1238 words. I had a lot of fun writing this chapter, especially now that Sebastian's and Elizabeth's lives are getting more intertwined :D I actually wrote this entire chapter AND LOST IT. But luckily, Wattpad is being kind of messed up today, so I copied and pasted all of it to my notepad because that's the only way I could correct errors. Wattpad would've saved it, except I lost internet for about an hour, and I had this chapter all the way written when it happened, and I was checking for spelling errors. And then my computer shut off. So there was some serious fear there. Thank you for reading!

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I learned a lot about Sebastian. He offers all of his workers the opportunity to live in his grand house, and for a guy that owns everything I've ever known and is richer than every single person who lives in Lake Village and then some, he does an awful lot of work. He told me about Roy and how he considered him his closest friend, and I told him about my lack of friends. We steered clear of the heavy topics, but the tension of it hung in the air. I wanted to ask him serious things, like how he could live with himself knowing the things he did every day. I wanted to demand that he show some kind of remorse for it all, because surely, there had to be something he felt bad about. While I was pondering this, I kept catching him looking sideways at me, like he had some serious questions to ask me also.

As we descended the stairs, Roy found my gaze and I saw his lips twitch. He glanced at our joined hands, and raised his eyebrows very slightly. I looked away.

"Roy, I need to speak with you for a moment." He said. He turned to me. "We'll be back shortly, make yourself comfortable." He instructed, letting go of my hand and giving a light nudge to a small lounge nestled into a wall to my left. I watched his and Roy's retreating backs as they walked.

I walked into the small room and sat on one of the couches. It was well lit, and had one long couch against the entire back wall, a coffee table, and a large TV that hung on the opposite wall. I had only ever seen an actual TV once; the TV was small and had funny little wires poking out of it. This TV was nothing like that. It was wide and flat, and the screen was so vibrant it hurt my eyes. There was the little remote on the coffee table, but I didn't know the TV channels well enough to know what was on and when it was on. It was on some news show anyway, and I didn't mind the news. There was a small bowl on the table with various fruits, and I took an apple.

After about ten minutes, Roy poked his head in the arched entryway; there was no door.

"Ready to go home?" He asked. I stood up and nodded. We headed for the front door, where Sebastian was waiting with a medium-sized box wrapped in golden paper, adorned with a shiny silver ribbon. The ribbon had something on it, but I couldn't tell what it was because the rest of it was hidden underneath the bulk of the material. Sebastian handed me the box, and I looked up at him, confused.

"A thank-you gift," He explained.

"For what?"

"For giving me today," He said. He looked at Roy. "I want her here tomorrow at the same time." He ordered. I looked at Roy, who nodded.

"Wait-What?" I asked. Sebastian looked at me, as confused as I was.

"I'd like another day with you?" He said, his statement sounding more like a question, like it was something I should've been expecting but surprised him when I didn't.

"Tomorrow, though?" I asked. "But what if I have other plans? My dad has been very sick, and now he's better, and I want to spend time with him."

Sebastian looked thoughtful for a long moment, and then looked back at Roy.

"I want her here tomorrow at the same time with her family." He stated. Roy only nodded again, but I could see laughter in eyes.

"You can't be seri-"

"I'll have outfits sent for all of you shortly after you leave. You'll get them tomorrow morning. Make sure your family knows to be ready on time, no later than two o' clock."

"Seb-"

"Elizabeth, it's getting very late. If you don't go home soon, you could sleep in late tomorrow, and that could cause Roy to have to wait while you get ready, and that will cause me to have to wait, do you understand?" He asked. I could see there was no point in arguing with him.

"Okay," I said. He looked at Roy, who met his gaze and turned to open the doors. Sebastian grabbed my hand and brought it to his mouth, placing a kiss on it without breaking eye contact. I felt the blush coming up, but I looked down so he couldn't see it. Roy placed a hand on my arm and we turned to leave.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Elizabeth," He called. I looked back at him, and shockingly, he wore a goofy, wide grin on his face. He saw me looking and coughed into his hand, obviously trying to hide the fact that he was grinning like an idiot. I bit back a laugh as the doors closed behind us.

On the ride home, all I could think about was how well that wide smile fit his face. The image kept slipping into my mind, and I couldn't stop grinning. I thought about how long it must've been since he smiled like that before, and it made me feel a little smug to know that I brought that smile back. It was the most genuine smile I'd seen him wear. Roy looked over at me.

"I take it you had a nice time?" He asked. I fidgeted with my gift; I still hadn't opened it.

"Yeah, you were right about him being a nice guy," I said. Roy laughed.

"I don't recall calling him a nice anything. I remember telling you he wasn't a sex-fiend," He said with a smile. I watched him as he said it, and even though he smiled, I noticed his eyes darken and his brows furrow a tiny bit. It unsettled me, but I ignored it.

After some more small talk with Roy, which included more sly remarks about Sebastian and his sketchy personality, my house came into view. He pulled up to the door and stopped the car, but he didn't get out to open my door like he usually did. He stared at the steering wheel, and I glanced at him worriedly. I placed my hand on the door handle, but Roy's voice stopped me.

"Be careful with him, okay?" He warned.

"What do you mean?" I asked. He sighed.

"Just..Be careful." he muttered. Just as fast as his wariness had come, though, it was gone. He looked at me, and the hand I had on the door.

"I know you're not about to open the door yourself."

I laughed, but I kept his earlier warning in my head. As I stepped into the house, I waved off my excited parents and went straight to my bedroom to open my present. Elmer saw the shiny wrapping paper and sniffed it curiously.

"You can have the ribbon," I promised him.

I carefully took the ribbon off, and noticed the same thing I noticed earlier. Wrapped around the ribbon was a small necklace, and it had a simple white pearl as a pendant. I placed the necklace on my bed away from Elmer and tore the paper off, wrinkling it into a ball and throwing it him. He instantly grabbed it in his mouth and growled at me, dragging it away to play with. I opened the flaps of the simple cardboard box, and I froze at the contents inside. There was a stick with a ribbon on it, a bag of assorted balls, a small bag of treats, several jingly bells, a collar, a leash, and a small piece of fabric in a package promising there was the perfect amount of catnip in it to make your cat go wild.

Sebastian didn't give me a gift. He gave Elmer one.