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“Hey.” I smile politely and walk inside, allowing him to lead me to the living room.
Once we’re seated, he nods toward the letter in my hands. “What’s that?”
I clear my throat and gently open the paper. “This is why I’m here, actually. I have an idea. A little something for us before the binding ceremony.” I force myself to beam at him while I hand over the invitation.
He looks it over, and as expected excitement flares in his eyes. “This is a great idea, Amelia. Like an informal joining of our families.”
This time my smile is genuine. We really do think alike. “Yeah, exactly. Just what I was thinking.” I stand, starting to feel as though I’m suffocating once again. Now that this is out of the way, I need to get home and decompress. Everything is just too emotional for me right now. “I can’t stay long. I’m going to ask my father to get them distributed so people will have time to mark off their calendars, but I need to get it to him before he leaves for work.” I hesitate briefly before walking over to him and offering a small kiss. “See you later, yeah?”
He runs his fingers through the ends of my hair, adoration clear on his face. “See you.”
I quickly leave his house and make my way back home, finding my father in his study.
He looks up at me when I enter, eyebrow raised.
I swallow and take a seat on the couch across from his desk, handing over the invitation. “I’m sure mother has already told you. I’m putting on a small party, sort of a joining of families before the ceremony,” I say, borrowing Elliot’s words.
My father takes the invitation and looks it over, and then nods at me in approval. “Looks nice. Need me to send it out for you?”
I nod silently, not trusting my voice.
He smiles at me and salutes with two fingers. “Will do, darling.” He goes to make copies of the invitation, but pauses before doing so. He stares down at the piece of paper for a few moments before turning to me, emotion shining in his eyes. I have never seen my father show his affection so blatantly in my life.
I begin to feel sick.
He smiles at me and reaches across the desk to pat my hand. “I just want to say, Amelia…you have shown incredible progress this past month. Not only as a future top official, but as a person. I…I’m proud of you, darling.”
My heart clenches as I blink away tears. Why is he doing this now? I can’t handle much more, at this point. Suddenly, I’m thinking back to all the times I spent with my father. I love him so fiercely in this moment, I almost want to say to hell with everything.
But I can’t. I know that I can’t.
Instead, I swallow my pain and plaster on a teary smile. “Thank you, father.”
I bid him farewell and leave the office, hurrying up to my room so that I can break down in peace.
~ ~·~ ~
The next week goes by quickly. I try to spend as much time with my family and friends as I can without setting off any alarm bells, which isn’t as hard as I imagined it would be. Everyone just assumes that I’m sentimental because of all the ceremony planning.
On the night of the party, I sit on the couch in my living room with Olivia in silence. Only we know the gravity of the situation, of the implications this party has. I’m grateful to have my best friend by my side so that I don’t have to go through this alone. I know that whatever my decision is, she will support me. That’s enough to keep me going.
A knock sounds at the door and my mother goes to answer it. She made me promise to let her and the rest of my family do the heavy lifting. That way, I can just enjoy myself with Elliot.
Of course, Elliot is the first to arrive. He hurries to the living room as soon as he sees me, picking me up for a bear hug. “Hey there, gorgeous. Ready to party it up?”
I roll my eyes playfully, but accept his hug with vigor. If I’m going to make an informed decision, I need to put my all into tonight. “You know me, party animal.”
He winks and then turns his attention to Olivia, greeting her and starting a conversation about her recent developments in official training.
Here we go.
Almost everyone comes, apart from Caleb and his family. I’m disappointed but understand as they have a newborn to take care of.
As we eat and drink and dance, I’m surprised to find myself having fun. It’s amazing how easily my and Elliot’s family and friends mesh. I can truly see us living a long and happy lifetogether. It would be calm and comfortable, sure, but full of love and happiness.
Yet, something is still missing.
This is when I realize. I can be living the best life here and it still wouldn’t be enough.
