Butterflies [On Hold]

Chapter One

CHAPTER ONE:

‘Marie, get up out of the bed now!’ her brother yelled, throwing something at her bed.

She jumped, sat up and looked at the teddy he just threw at her. ‘What did that teddy ever do to you?’ she grumbled, throwing it back at her twin brother. ‘Ugh, Alan, what time is it?’

‘Eight o’clock. Someone’s downstairs … They need to talk to us about something,’ Alan told her, going to her wardrobe and throwing her housecoat and slippers over to her.

Marie stared at him. ‘Are you joking? You let a stranger come into our house at eight o’clock! You don’t even know who –!’

‘It’s apparently about Mom, okay?’ he growled. ‘It’s important, Marie! Something’s wrong – it’s written all over the man’s face!’

As soon as she saw his expression, Marie felt her blood run cold. ‘Mom … ? But Mom’s meeting up with business people in Paris, right? Nothing could be wrong –’

‘Look, I think we should just go downstairs and find out, okay? Just brush your teeth and follow me down …’ Alan sighed, scratching the back of his head. ‘She might be sick, or something … I don’t know … Hopefully it’s not too bad.’

Alan left her room and descended down the stairs. Marie stood up, quickly put on her housecoat and slippers, and rushed into the bathroom. She brushed her teeth, rinsed her mouth, tied back her hair into a ponytail and scrubbed her face so thoroughly that she was sure a layer of her skin would peel off.

To be honest, she didn’t really feel too good. Her eyes stung every time she tried to look out the window, and her teeth were aching, reminding her of the first week she had braces back in eighth grade. She felt really sick, and the queasy, thumping headache she now had wasn’t really helping. Maybe she was just craving some tea … It was eight o’clock in the morning, after all.

When she finally came downstairs, she went into the living room to find a tall man, wearing a well-fitted and beautifully cut black suit, sitting across from Alan. As soon as he saw Marie, he rose from his seat.

‘My name is Stephan Carswell,’ he said, shaking her hand firmly. ‘You must be Marielle Dumont? Pleased to meet you.’

‘You too,’ she muttered, taking a seat beside Alan. How did he know she was called Marielle? Usually people just knew her to be Marie. This really must’ve been serious …

She watched Stephan as he sat back down opposite them. Despite the current situation, she couldn’t help but admit that he was a rather attractive man. He was a little older – she guessed early twenties – and his dark coffee hair was slightly wavy and slightly shaggy. He had the perfect jawline, radiant blue eyes and heavy eyebrows … Damn, he wasn’t rather attractive, he was extremely attractive – one of the most attractive guys she had ever laid eyes on.

Alan cleared his throat and rolled his eyes at her. Marie blushed, eventually managed to tear her eyes away and waited to hear what the hell was wrong with her mom. Stephan pursed his ruby lips, fidgeted with the buttons on his sleeves, and then pulled out an envelope from the inner pocket of his jacket.

‘You must be wondering who the hell I am,’ he attempted to laugh, taking out a piece of paper in the envelope. His smile dropped as soon as he saw Alan’s icy glare. ‘I knew your mother very well, as did the rest of my family. My cousin Frank met your mother over there. She wanted us to be the ones to give you this –’

‘Give us what?’ Alan demanded, his expression so grave it frightened Marie.

Stephan handed him the folded piece of paper. ‘This is a letter from your mother to the both of you. I’ll just step outside for a minute or two to give you both time to read it.’