The Hamptons (paused)

Nine

When I get back from running, I take a shower and put on some fresh clothes. After combing my hair, I walk down the stairs to find Sarah and Peter in the kitchen.

"Oh, hey", I greet them and sit down at the bar counter. "How was your day?"

"Well, to keep it short: Sarah needs an additional closet", Peter says, rolling his eyes.

"I take it you were successful?", I grin at Sarah.

"Yes, and I got you something too!", she excitedly says, walks out of the room and comes back with a Prada bag. I lift an eyebrow - is she crazy?

She hands me the bag and after a few hesitant seconds, I take it. "Are you mad?", I exclaim when I get out the black dress. "This is too much", I try to hand it back to her but Sarah won't take it.

"I thought you needed something beautiful to make you feel better", she shrugs and stirs in the pot on the stove. "I mean, it helps me so I thought..."

"It's perfect. Thank you", I smile at her sincerely and stand up to hold the dress to my body. The fabric feels nice and smooth and Sarah also considered that I don't feel that comfortable in too tight fitting dresses.

"Put it on!", Peter orders and I follow his request.

"Wow!", they say in unison as I reenter the kitchen. They still throw compliments at me, when Luke comes in. He looks exhausted, his hair pulled back and a little sweaty. He also smells like pizza, what I kind of like.

"Going somewhere?", he asks, pulling up his eyebrows.

"Doesn't she look great?", Sarah asks excitedly.

Luke shrugs. "It's okay", he says and I am not sure if he means it or if he's just mocking me. "Whatever, I'm gonna take a shower. Call me when dinner is ready, yea?"

"Sure, honey", Sarah answers sarcastically when he leaves the room.

"I will change back", I murmur and follow Luke upstairs in hopes that he already disappeared into the bathroom.

"Are you following me?", he asks when he sees me coming up the stairs.

"Why would I?", I roll my eyes, trying to get past him.

"Because I'm irresistible?", he explains and I can't help but laugh at it. To my surprise, he joins me.

"Well, you should really take a shower now, you smell", I tell him and shut the door of my room behind me.

+++

We spend the evening watching some tv show on Netflix, occasionally yawning because I really don't care about supernatural beings, and giggling because Sarah finds the male protagonist super hot.

When the fifth episode starts, I excuse myself to bed and walk upstairs. When I turn the light off, I am wide awake. The snuggly blanket and comfortable sofa reminded me of lazy nights with Matthew. Although he tends to work late, we found time to just relax from time to time.

I turn on the light, reach over to grab my phone and check if I have any messages. There are five sms from Caroline and three from my mother but none of him. I sigh and let myself fall back onto the pillow. I know, I promised to help my sister planning her wedding. But that was back when I thought it wouldn't be long before it was my turn.

Now I just want to not think about weddings. Especially not the one of my oh-so-perfect sister. Ever since we were children, my mother compared me to her. I worked my butt off to get good grades and a job, while she brought home the A's without even looking at a school book.

I hated her for that but those feelings are long gone. I got used to her being closer to our mother, since I was dad's favorite. I also decided it was better for my mental health to stop envying her and start to make my own life. But it still hurts when I have to listen to my mom talking about how great Caroline is.

Thinking about all the drama in my life, my brain starts to get tired and before I know it, I am asleep.

+++

The next morning, I wake up sweating as hell. I had the weirdest dream. It started with Matthew and I in a bar in New York that he once showed me. He ordered a Margarita for me and a Whiskey sour for himself and told me about a new client - without names of course. Then my dream switched to him walking me home - in my dream, I lived with my parents in a New York apartment. I closed my eyes when he leaned in to kiss me and was surprised because it felt different. More passionate, more emotional... it had more fire than ever before and it made my stomach flutter. My mind tried to reason that this wasn't real because firstly, he would never kiss me like that, and secondly, he broke up with me. But I shoved the thought aside and slung my arms around his neck, enjoying the kiss. When he pulled away, I let out a sigh and opened my eyes. That's when I screamed and woke up. The man I kissed in my dream wasn't Matthew, it was Luke.

And, even worse, I remember everything from the night we went out.

Heavily breathing, I look at the clock sitting on my night stand. It's time to get up but I am still in shock. I can't believe what I know deep down is true.

I had sex with Luke. And it was great.

---

Hey, if you are still here: THANK YOU so much for reading. I know it's not the best story/writing, maybe I'll go back and edit the story later but I honestly just write this because I have to study and am procrastinating.

So, please comment and let me know what I should change or add to the story to make it more interesting for you and other (potential) readers.

xoxo