11. ORION ASHBOURNE
It felt good - no grounding - to see mama and dad genuinely smiling for once. This dinner, despite the twenty four hour prep timeline, was going better than expected.
The Lincoln's were easy guests. Polished, charming, the kind who bought expensive bottles of wine and compliments wrapped in sincerity.
We had been family friends since long back and their return did seem special. Hence all the efforts were worth it.
Mrs. Lincoln had already mentioned twice about how much she loved the earring set I had gifted her and Ivy and the cufflinks gifted to Mr. Lincoln along with an invitation for tonight's dinner.
I had deliberately gifted Mrs. Lincoln the limited edition earring from The Seraph pearl set, knowing she would love to have something unique for herself.
As for Ivy, I sent the petals of Lysandra, a delicate earring set with a single diamond dangling beneath as the hues of pink, purple and blue diamond petals bordered in elegant gold half cuffed the ear.
Mr. Lincoln received a simple golden set of cufflinks from our latest collection which was yet to be released.
"The arrangements are wonderful." Ivy re-entered our executive dining suite.
The perfect palette of beige, soft gold, muted olive and espresso brown. And those beautifully reflected pendant lights enhance the soft floral theme on the table.
"Orion had been planning this since the day his father told him about our dinner." Mama said, clearly hinting at how much anticipation I had for our family dinner.
"Such a sweet child." Mrs. Lincoln appraised.
"You are flattering me aunt." I said before serving some food on Ivy's plate.
"I have worked really hard for this body, no more making fat again, Orion." Ivy said, looking at her now refilled plate.
"All you have been eating since arriving is roasted vegetables Ivy! You should eat more." I said, happy that things were still the same between us both, no awkwardness after not being in touch for so long.
"No, I already had-"
"Though I won't disagree that you were fat back then." I interrupted cracking a joke as the whole table had a hearty laugh while Ivy gave me a light smack on the arm, joining all of us while laughing.
Ivy had been one of the fattest kids in school back then. She looked like a potato who could walk and talk. Pfft.
Okay not exactly a potato but still. Close. And now.. now she has turned into a beautiful woman with all the right features passed onto her through her family genes. A woman who commanded all the attention - a pointed chin, heart shaped face, pointed nose and eyebrows and eyes..
I caught myself staring - not at her looks but at something else. Her eyes. And her freckles.
I was suddenly reminded of her eyes, her freckles, her expressions that screamed of unsaid stories and lastly of our last meeting at mart.
Ivy had freckles too. But they didn't speak of suffering. They didn't make me want to destroy someone. They sat beneath a perfect layer of foundation, hidden beautifully instead.
Hers weren't just freckles though - they were constellations of pain. If Ivy's freckles were charming, hers were a warzone.
I was still in a dilemma about what I was going to do with all the information I had on those kids.
My grip on the wine glass tightened, just ever so slightly. The company dinner was in three days. Just three days and I had everything under my control - their names, their files, their leverage. With a flick of my hand, I could make their lives difficult. I could ruin them - not like the way they did to her, but worse. Public. Permanent.
But was it all worth-
"ORION!"
Mama called me and with her tone I was sure this was probably not the first time she had called my name just now.
Her voice snapped me out of the spiral. The room returned - polished cutlery, clinking glasses, low hums of conversation between our dads.
"Yes.. yes mama." I replied.
"Ivy was saying something to you? What has gotten into you?" Mama had a light tone now, but she wasn't very pleased.
"He is a man with several things to worry about. And that's completely fine, Viviana." Aunt took my side immediately.
"I am sorry Mum. What were you saying Ivy?" I turned to her, who like everyone else didn't mind my absentmindedness.
'Pay attention to the things happening around Orion! Lincoln's are such a good family and friends as well. You shouldn't be ignoring them. Where are your manners?' I scolded myself internally before carefully listening to Ivy.
"You still do that thing where you suddenly disappear into your head." Ivy said with a smile.
I forced a smile, hoping it looked less guilty and more charming.
"Some things just don't change, you see." I wanted to say something funny, but somehow came up with this.
"You remember we used to tease you about this habit of daydreaming and you used to get upset. But just one Crème Brûlée and you would be alright.
Kids nowadays are very different. The other day I heard about a school child visiting their counselor because he was being teased about something. I mean how can they…" and slowly all of Ivy's talk was blurred in the background as I remembered the scene from mart, imprinted on my mind as if it had happened moments ago.
How insensitive we are while making fun of others without realising the amount of damage it is doing to them. I never-
And suddenly between our conversation, that is between Ivy's talking, she took out a cute little round box from her bag and opened it for me - Crème Brûlée!
"Ivy, you know me the most!" I exclaimed, almost about to snatch the box when mama's gentlemen chapters rang in my head.
I took a spoon and handed it to Ivy, before grabbing another one.
"Are you serious? You are actually letting me have a bite from this? In fact, the very first bite!" Ivy was genuinely surprised but I simply smiled.
"Not bad Rio." Ivy said, amazed, but she was sweet enough to let me have the first bite and in fact the entire box to myself.
The dinner was almost about to end when Ivy's dad suddenly shouted.
"Ivy no!" Even taking Ivy by surprise.
"That's peanut butter chocolate mousse tart. You are allergic to peanut honey!" He said, a little relieved that he managed to stop Ivy on time.
"No uncle, don't worry. I already told them to replace peanuts with hazelnuts for Ivy. She won't have another reaction again." I explained, not forgetting Ivy's allergy from years ago.
She had once had a salted peanut caramel tart all by herself and started sneezing continuously. We took her to the hospital where her mild allergy was discovered. Since then, I made sure that she is not consuming any peanuts even accidently.
Of course, how would I forget that now?
I smiled while watching how contented mama was at my attentiveness towards Ivy and her family.
'Mission successful.' I told myself.
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Hello guys.. how are you all doing?
Also wanted to share this super good news with you all first that our book has been contracted now! It's seems such a milestone to be a contracted author on this platform, for this book, with you all lovelies being my witnesses. A thank you to every single person who has in one way or other helped me reach here. Forever grateful to you all!
- Kara