Rowan has started to take part in company-related matters. He is enthusiastic, excited, and eager to experience this new phase of his life, but there is also fear.
Rowan invited me twice, and I had the privilege of getting a glimpse of how things run in Desmond Company. Rowan exuded confidence; he handled the company's issue with poise and authority. I fell in love with the professional side of Rowan.
I returned and started concentrating on my studies. Chats and calls were in the same flow. Rowan's birthday is an upcoming event that has fallen on my schedule. It's in 40 days; as it's his 18th birthday, his family is throwing a huge party. Rowan invited me, and he is hoping that I will attend the party. This is an important day in his life, of course. I am going to take part in it, and I have to deal with my schedule somehow. Next comes the most important part, about picking the gift. It's an important turn in his life and the legal age for everything. I gave a thought to gifting him expensive wine; he may be legal, but not for enjoying expensive wine that seeks experience. The watch was another best option. I almost decided to order a custom-made watch, but at the last moment I held back to consider more options. Clothes were out of options; his family started making custom-made clothes for every occasion. I am left with only one option: buying an ornament in gold or diamonds.
My dad is awfully much in touch with me and is also planning to add more activities to my schedule. I think I pissed him off too much, and keeping me engaged every hour is his way of getting me back. I would like to think that way, or else a few things that are happening recently between Dad and me don't make sense at all. He is nagging too much about Rowan for no reason.
I took a huge step in my life, responding to all the gestures with at least a nod around the campus. Tagging with a few guys whenever it's convenient, and of course, drugs are on the loop. Things are ok, not worse, but ok and manageable with the rendering of sleepless nights. Something in me has made peace within itself, or maybe it has compromised with the situation or maybe even adopted. I don't know the exact reason, but I am ok with how things are running at present.
I found and formed my own group of friends for my needs, not sexual, but I need to keep my other things in check. I have not overstepped the boundaries, as my dad always makes sure for me to go through blood tests now and then. He has drawn a line that is meant to never be crossed, and I am sure he is going to find a way to make sure I stay within the line. Look at me, doing all the stupid things before reaching the age, except sex, and I am not addicted to anything. Thanks to my dad, keeping me in check, I can see the consequences with a flicker of his finger. I don't want to be on the receiver end.
I called Mr. Thomason, my dad's secretary, through FaceTime. He lightly groaned as he received the call. I only call him whenever there is a major crisis, and I am out of option. I would never call him randomly and ask him how he is doing; that's never me, but he will always call me just to check on me. I am staying so far from him, but Mr. Thomason knows everything that's going on around me. That's creepy if you ask me, but I overcame his creepiness a long time ago.
He sighed at the call, and I know, he knows. "I am not helping with this, Dante; forget it." That's a live example. Thanks for staying in tune. "Your dad strictly prohibited me from helping you, especially with things like these." I don't know what my dad's actual problem is. "Concentrate on your studies, please." I huffed at that, and I shared the score of my previous semester. He smiled at seeing my score and nodded his head in approval. "Good, good, damn boy, you are a genius." I wanted to roll my eyes at the obvious thing. "Dante." I knew that tone; he has not given in yet. "Two days," I spoke in a small child's voice. I don't know whether he likes kids or not, but this works on him. "Your dad is keeping a record of everything about you these days, a little bit too much." Well, why am I not even surprised? "Please," God, this should work. Mr. Thomason rolled his eyes and scoffed. "Let me see what I can do, but be careful while you are here, got it?" I nodded at that. This will be a big problem if I consider Rowan's background. I think I can manage for a few hours and catch my flight back.
It was evening, and I entered the Rowans' mansion silently and stood somewhere near the corner. The room was occupied by Rowan's family members, by elders and teenagers. The music was playing at a slow beat; the servers were serving alcohol, and Rowan stood in the middle, along with his family. The directors and other affluent individuals were conversing and having drinks. If this is how he is spending his birthday party, I feel sorry for him from the bottom of my heart.
Rowan stood in the middle, looking more elegant and breath taking by his eye-matching blazer. I stared at him, openly without blinking, for a few minutes. No matter how much I tried, I couldn't avert my eyes from him. Rowan's new look is a killer one. There is appreciation in everyone's eyes; most of the ladies are thoroughly checking him out twice, and the girls are eye-fucking him. The guys are also giving equal competition in ogling Rowan. This whole thing feels bizarre.
Rowan's family stood with him proudly, making sure everything was perfect at the party and also introducing him as their heir. His dad was a stern-looking, rigid, well-built man, carrying a height of 6.2 with a pale complexion, wearing a black tuxedo. His mother is a gorgeous lady, blessing Rowan with her eyes, white complexion, and around 5′0", 8 inches of height and a well-maintained figure. His sisters were a beauty pageant. The elder one, Ameria, was elegant just like her mother, with a smooth, well-maintained figure, followed by Amelia. Audria, his third sister, looks more like Rowan, carrying the same eye colour but a paler version. There is more similarity between them.
Once I was done with scrutiny, my eyes fell on Rowan, who was shaking hands with someone. I gulped when there was a twitch. Sometimes, I don't know how to describe this behavior of mine, which is entirely perverse. Hampering my breathing, the eradication of my heartbeat, and the intense feeling started to cause problems. His smile is making my blood rush toward south, and his eyes are making my throat dry. From day 1, his eyes always drew me in, capturing and rendering me speechless. I am hardly controlling his physical effect on me; the need is trying to cross the barricade, and the desire and hunger are reaching their peak. The ache is the result, and I don't know whether it's because of not fulfilling the physical need or because of something else.
The world around me stopped when Rowan's eyes met mine. I thought I had succeeded in concealing my identity for obvious reasons. Rowan gave me a broad, meek smile, for which I rolled my eyes. He should stop doing this to me. I am too young, and my sexual needs are on a marathon because of him.
He didn't waste a second and was in front of me. I turned my face from the crowd, and together we faced the wall. With a smile, he spoke. "You know many of them, I guess." I nodded at that. "This is a real surprise, thank you. I thought your dad would never allow you, especially today." He did his best. We stayed silent for a while. I inhaled his scent as much as I could and tried to conceal the eradication of my heartbeat.
"Everything is overwhelming, you know, 18th birthday, this crowd, and the attention I am getting." He took a long sigh. "It's a dream come true, at the same time, I am scared." I momentarily faced him. He is successful in masking his emotions with confidence. There is always a first time for everything, and he will get over it. "Happy birthday." This is the best diversion I could bring up, and the reason I took a big risk. He smiled in return. "Thank you, Dante Morris." I scoffed at that. "Come on, heir of Morris, attending my 18th birthday. I am the luckiest person on this earth." Well, he is exaggerating. By rolling my eyes, I passed him the gift box.
Rowan's eyes fell on the package, and he met my eyes for a brief second. Slowly, he picked up my gift, evaluated the packing, or maybe tried to guess the gift item inside the package, but I never thought he would open the gift in front of me. I didn't want to witness, but I was out of options. I stood there when he was carefully opening the gift. It's just a gift wrapper; why be so careful about that?
I was eager, and I was never this eager to open any present, including my family members' presents. I don't know why I was happy and eager to know what Dante had chosen as a gift to me. In fact, his presence was enough for me, and I never expected any present from him. When he silently placed the box in front of me, I couldn't control myself. Like a kid, I started to unwrap carefully. It was a small blue box. I carefully opened the box, and there was a bracelet. I took the bracelet and observed keenly. The letter 'R' was in the center of the bracelet, carved in gold and set with blue diamonds in it. A gold chain was attached on either side, and once again, small blue diamonds were placed, giving a unique shape to the bracelet. The most attractive part is that it matches my eyes perfectly, and this gift took me off balance. I was momentarily stunned at the delicate finishing touch that was given to the bracelet; it was like every detail was carved from the heart. It was shining; the overall look of this bracelet looked radiant, and it was perfect. It was definitely costly. Every tiny detail was screaming perfection, and I fell in love with it. Part of me is saying to return the gift, as it was expensive, but my heart was feeding me something else: wear it and shine with it.
My eyes were still glued to the bracelet, never moving and completely forgetting about my surroundings. I didn't know a gift could have this much distraction and attention. It's just a damn gift, and I have seen so much gold and so many diamonds in my life. Today, I will be overwhelmed with the same thing one way or another, but this gift feels so much different, rendering me speechless.
"Can you help me with this?" I couldn't place the gift back in the box, no way. I want to see how it looks on my hand and shine at this whole party. Slowly, I brought my hand in front of Dante, who was staring at me in shock. I urged him by placing the bracelet on his hand. Dante, by nodding his head slowly, picked up the gift and secured it around my hand. The world around me paused, and for some reason, my eyes were glued on Dante.
We stood there for a few seconds or maybe minutes, completely forgetting everything. Sometimes, I don't know what will happen to me when I am with Dante. Something will take over me and transform me into something else, which is impossible in reality. There is something that I can't point out what it is. Things confuse me when I am with him; it doesn't make sense, and try to pull me in.
"Hi." I knew that voice without turning back. It was velvety and came in a low, timid voice. Rowan and I were in our own small world, and that voice grabbed and brought him back from the trance he was in a few minutes ago.
His face lit up, an extravagant reaction for no reason, and as usual, his smile was brighter than ever. He was speechless for some reason, doing his best to hide his excitement, but it was turning futile. They both stared at each other, their eyes speaking everything. In one flick, I was thrown out of the picture without doing anything. Ignorance is a bitch.
Rowan cleared his throat a few times, trying to come up with something. Probably forming and erasing the sentence until it sounds perfect. "This is the best gift I could ever receive. He was out of words once again. Their eyes were still connected, and the shine in his eyes never faded even a bit. Thanks for coming; thank you so much." Finally, he stopped babbling, and Isabella chuckled in return.
Every word sucked something from me, left me completely drained. I planned for this day for the past month and took unnecessary risks when I knew my dad's reaction, but everything turned pointless with one sentence.
No matter how hard I try, I am not able to acclimate to this side of Rowan. It's fucking painful; the ache always leaves me sore, and the hurt leaves me dry. A sharp pain jolts in me when I rewind the sentence. This is pathetic.
I wasn't this, and I never thought something like this would even exist in me. So many emotions were not in my equation, and I don't know how things amplified with Rowan's existence. This is serious, and things started to get difficult. I don't know about my survival mode if things go out of my reach.
Rowan took baby steps and approached Isabella, who shied in return. He outstretched his hand, and by placing hers with his, together they started walking toward the Rowan family.