Seeking

Part Two

Disheveled, dirty, and not to mention rude. Also, broad and contoured- from what I can see through rip in his shirt. That is my first impression of Jackson Reed. If it wasn't for his obedience when my father spoke, he probably would have been banished from our lands and disqualified from the marriage race. He looks like he has a burning temper waiting to explode, hence, I was surprised to see him listen to my father. The Reeds are delightful people, always smiling and up for any spontaneous adventure. I am interested to know what type of mutant Jackson is.

Mateo Mills on the other hand, looks sweet and sensitive, he has the most expressive brown eyes, fortified by the longest black eyelashes. I always thought that it was unfair how most men have twice the amount of eyelashes that I have, and need. The Mills men were lumberjacks and the women were seamstresses. They built the best homes, including the CC, and made the best, most expensive clothing. Their trade ranked them at third, with the Jacksons at fourth for just being socialist.

The two of them stood there with their gazes to the floor as my father reprimanded them. They both apologized and explained that they got lost in the woods and encountered some type of animal. When their stories started to differ, my father and everyone else, did not believe them and grew very suspicious. However, he let the men go and they immediately came to Desmond and I.

"You must be my future bride." he kisses each of my hands. "I apologize for creating a scene. I have a bit of a temper. I know it's not a selling point for marriage but I'm more of a lover than a fighter" Jackson steps aside and gestures for Mateo to greet me.

"What a striking beauty you are Miss. I am Mateo Mills, and am honored to make your acquaintance. You seem like a kindred spirit, and I look forward to getting to know you." a tearing sound echos as he bows, and he quickly straightens up and apologizes for the state he is in, while I giggle at his misfortune.

"Thank you for your lovely introductions. Your second impressions outweigh your first impressions by tons." I look at Desmond and introduced him as their competition. He was more than happy to show off that he had me in his good graces, which meant he was winning.

"I'm sure that the both of you wouldn't like to enter the dining area looking like that. Why don't we skip dinner and get to know each other in the garden." I don't wait for them to answer, instead I walk to the glass doors gesturing for them to follow me. I stop dead in my tracks when I see a familiar silhouette examining my orchids. When I move a little closer and squint my eyes, i see that it's Seth. I fall into a trance watching his every move. He looks up; straight into my eyes and we stay like that for a few moments. He breaks the contact first and goes to sit on the bench overlooking the koi pond.

Not a second later I feel Desmond's hand on my shoulder, he asks if I'm alright. Still in my trance, I nod yes and pat his hand to assure him. He then says that he is going to take Mateo and Jackson to his room to see if anything of his will fit them. I think that he said he something about him not wanting to miss the main course, but I didn't pay much attention to what he was saying, instead I find myself gravitating toward the bench that my former friend is sitting on.

I take a seat next to him and we sit in silence for a few minutes before I turn to him and examine his features with disbelief? Shock? Awe?
"What is it about you?" I ask myself, still examining him, while he continues to stare at the fish. He suddenly turns his head to face me and I see all the emotion in his eyes. Almost as if he lifted a veil to showcase all his demons and they make my chest clench with with pain. "What's wrong Seth? I know that you're hurting. I don't know how, but I can sense it. Even without that feeling; I can see it." I reach over to touch his hand but he retracts before we even make contact.

"Nothing's wrong, or everything's wrong, I just can't believe that you're pretending that everything is alright." he gets up and walks to the edge of the pond, the apex of his shoes dip into the water as the soil sinks under his weight.
"You and your pretentious family," he scoffs "You think that this marriage is going to work. You're worthless right now, you're weak, a pariah, a freak of natu-" I stormed over to him and slapped his right cheek leaving an imprint of my hand.

My tear ducts overflows and paints transparent streaks along my face. My brain is filled with a tumultuous noise that only allows me to shove him, but he stays unmoving. I shove and shove and shove until I'm breathless. Then, with all the strength I can conjure up, I shove him one final time and he moves backward and ends up tripping over a root, falling into a mud puddle.

Witnessing what I have done, causes waves of laughter to erupt from my mouth. I can't stop laughing and my stomach hurts as much as my heart does. Everything I'm feeling feels amplified.
Eventually, my laughter dies down but the feelings stay put and I fall to the ground as my knees betray me. I'm left a sniffling mess with a hollow core. "You know you're right." I look at him through my blurry vision as he sits across from me playing with grass between his fingers with his head hung low.

"I might be all of those things, but at least I'm not a heartless bastard who thinks his above everyone else. You know what, I'm glad that you ended our friendship. I wouldn't want to be friends with a monster like you!"A heavy wave of pain travel through my veins and expels itself through my fingertips as Seth clenched his fists.

" Me, end our friendship? " he stands up."You and your father ended our friendship." he walks away, and a thought pops up in my head but it doesn't feel like my own:

"You ended everything."

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I sat on that spot for about ten minutes after Seth left the premises. The second he put distance between us, my emotions started to flatline. I was amazed by the effect that he had on me.

His words were stuck in my head, playing on a loop: "You and your father ended our friendship"

What did he mean? He was the one who left me after the first week of our dospělost. How did I end our friendship, and what does Papa have to do with any of this?

I need to go see my father.
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"Papa!" I shout across the room. "Papa!" he sees me and his eyes widen at the sight of me and hurries over to escort me upstairs.

"Oh sweet daughter of mine, what happened to you, look at your robe, its full of mud and your face looks like a horror!" He studies my face. "Have you been crying?" I wake ahead of him when we reach the top of the stairs.

"Are you keeping things from me?" I ask in a soft tone.

"No my love, what would give you that idea?" he genuinely looks confused.

"Seth said-"my father's head snaps up with instant rage and he stands in front of me. Intimidating me with all his fatherly power. I feel like a dog backed up into a corner.

"Seth? Seth Barry? You were talking to that černý vlk?" he grabs me by the side of my arms and shakes me.

"I don't ever want to hear that name come from your mouth again!" he let's go of my arms and dismisses me,"go clean up, we have guest".

His reaction was unnecessary, he must know something about Seth. I'm going to find out what it is, even if it's the last thing I'm going to do.

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💜A. N💜

THIS CHAPTER TOOK MORE EFFORT THAN I THOUGHT IT WOULD, I STILL DON'T THINK THAT IT'S PERFECT BUT I WILL DO SOME EDITING.

THANK YOU FOR READING UNTIL THE END AND PLEASE DON'T FORGET TO VOTE IF YOU ENJOYED THE CHAPTER. 😊💜.