Beautiful You

Chapter 4 : The News

A soulful sound of violin can be heard from the Coopers household. Nicholas is practicing his violin by playing a piece by Tchaikovsky. His father enters the room and sit on the piano chair,  while waiting for Nicholas to finish his play.

"Nicholas my boy, tonight the Taylor will come for dinner, put on your best suit, it's been a long time since we met them", Mr.Coopers says as Nicholas finished his play.

"Yes father, but father, why do i have to wear my best suit?  Taylor is like a family to us, we usually use something more comfortable when we're having a dinner with them"

"Oh, you'll see why, just prepare yourself, and please behave once you heard the news".

As a well behaved son that he is, Nicholas replied,  "Alright Father, I understand".

"Now, continue your practice", says Mr.Coopers while leaving the room.

Nicholas' mind is now filled with possibilities of what will the news be. He was pretty sure he will be set on an arranged marriage with Vivian. And he hope his guess will be incorrect, marrying a woman is the last thing on the list for him. He then continues his day practicing violin, and visiting a near coopers' inn before preparing himself for the dinner.

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"Good Evening, Sir, Ma'am", Nicholas greets Mr and Mrs Taylor as they arrived.

"Hans", Nicholas greets him with a hug, then he greets Vivian by taking her hand and plants a gentle kiss on her hand.

"Vivian, you look as beautiful as i remembered ", he greets her smiling.

"Oh Nicholas, still as flirty as i remembered", replies Vivian while all of them follows the elders to the dining room.

"He's not fliring with you kid, he's being polite, don't be so over your head", says Hans

"God Hans, i'm not a kid anymore!"

"Yeah sure", Hans said rolling his eyes

Vivian growls softly, while hitting Hans arm.

"Ouch, wow Vivian, such a ladylike behavior", says Hans sarcastically

"Hey hey, don't fight, you both are still the same as ever, fighting over silly things. Come on now, our parents are probably waiting", says Nicholas while walking pass the Taylor siblings to the dining room.

Nicholas pulls the chair out for Vivian, and then walks to his sit. They all chat a little while waiting for the dinner to be served, it's rather a crowded night, with Nicholas' brother that had come with his wife and their first daughter. After a while, they had their dinner, and Mr.Coopers clears his throat as a sign for everyone to pay attention to him.

"So, I and Mr. Taylor was wondering if Nicholas will be Vivian's husband-to-be, what do we all think?", announce Mr.Coopers

Nicholas guess was correct, he still was surprised but has composed his self well, Vivian on the other hand was kind of shocked, her jaw dropped a little, and her eyes widens.

"I think its a wonderful idea too!", says Mrs.Coopers

"I would agree to this too, considering Coopers family is a really close friend, so my darling, Vivian, you wouldn't say no, wouldn't you?", adds Mrs.Taylor

"Ah.. Yes Mother, i'll do as you wish.. ", replies Vivian rather confused.

"Not to be out of my place, but I think it's best for Vivian to have a choice, don't you think?  After all, it's Vivian who will spend the rest of her life with the man she marries", says Nicholas while eyeing poor confused Vivian, also hoping all of this marriage thingy will not happen to him.

"Yes, that is true Nicholas, it is her choice, but I think we, as parents also have a saying on her marriage life, we want her to have a decent man as her husband, and you can be the man", says Mr.Taylor

Nicholas wanted to say something but was cut off by his father.

"Let's just get on with this arrangement shall we,Nicholas? Vivian has already agrees, what about you son?"

"I have to think about this first father.. ", answers Nicholas

"Oh no need to think about it, Taylors are good friends with us, Nicholas. If you still doubt this, how about we have you and vivian engaged but we'll keep it private, in the meantime, you'll both start to get to know each other better, when you're ready, and some weeks before the wedding, we'll make it public", offers Mrs.Coopers

Nicholas knows he can't get out of this, his mother has made an offer.. or a plan actually, which he can't denies or run away from anymore. With a heavy heart he finally says yes to all of this.