Butterfly

40. Nobody Heard A Thing.

Chapter Forty: Nobody Heard A Thing.

♡ Jessica Washington ♡

"And you're sure that you're not nervous?" I ask River from my seat in the taxi. It's the weekend that I'm spending with River and his dad, so I'm definitely nervous, but I wasn't expecting River to look as nervous as he does. 

"It's my dad, Jess, of course I'm not nervous," River assures me, and I roll my eyes disbelievingly. It's around three in the afternoon, and we've spent the last few hours heading up to where River's dad lives. My dad dropped us off at the train station, then we got a train into Oxford, the place where River's dad lives. Of course he lives in the most expensive place to live in England. Then at the train station we caught a taxi to River's dad's house. 

The houses in Oxford are beautiful, and seeing how amazing this place is just makes me more and more excited to attend university here after the summer.

"Well, we're here," River tells me, as he steps out the car. He walks round the taxi and opens the door for me. He pays the taxi driver as she gets our bags out the boot of the car, then she drives away, leaving River and I stood outside a large, wooden gate. River walks over to a small keypad and presses on the button in the corner. 

"Hey dad, it's me," River says, before letting go of the button as the gate swings open. And I think my jaw drops when I see the house, or mansion, that I see before me. 

"Oh my god," I say, and River smiles slightly.

"Yeah, I know," River smiles, amused, putting his index finger below my chin and closing my mouth. I bite my lip nervously, realising what this is going to be like. I'm Jessica Washington, I live with my dad and we're just scraping by, not living in this luxurious mansion. They're not going to like me, I can see it now.

The door of the house opens as we walk up the steps to the front door, and I see a lady who looks like they're a housekeeper or something answer the door.

"Fern, hey," River smiles at the lady, who smiles.

"River, nice to see you. And this is...?" the lady, Fern, asks, and I smile brightly. 

"Jessica Washington, hi," I smile, and Fern smiles in response.

"I'm the housekeeper here, have been since they moved in here, nice to meet you," Fern smiles, taking both mine and River's bags. 

"Thank you," I smile, feeling slightly bad about her taking my bag when I'm perfectly capable. River rolls his eyes, smiling in amusement. He takes my hand, before leading me through this house to where I'm assuming his dad is. 

River opens the door and I see a man who looks a lot like River sat behind a desk with a lady sat on his leg. She must be the one River's dad had an affair with while he was with Rachel. But I'm going to try and not think about that, because I'm not very good at hiding what I'm feeling and right now all I can think about is how much this must have hurt Rachel.

"Dad," River says, clearing his throat slightly and letting go of my hand. 

"River, good afternoon, it's nice to see you. Who's this?" River's dad asks, standing up and walking towards us, his green eyes, similar to the eyes of River, looking at me in confusion. So River didn't think to maybe inform his dad that I was coming? Really helping me out here in not being nervous.