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“Then there are the philosophy and other humanities books here, and here are all my fiction books, which is quite a lot. I have categorized them based on genre. As I already told you, Annabeth and I love horror stories, so I’ve got a good bit here. Next to these are my fantasy and science fiction. They are pretty limited, and I haven’t updated them in forever, and here are my classics. I’ve read all of these multiple times,” he finished and looked back at Jessica. She was lost, completely and utterly lost in the myriad of books. She would never have assumed Matt to be a reader. Being a reader herself, she cherished the chance of being able to sit by quietly and read peacefully. Being in nursing school and working full time to cover her expenses meant those chances were hard to come by, but when they did, Jessica relished in them.
“What’s your favorite classic among the ones here?” she asked him.
“Take a guess. You already know my favorite genre by now, so you should be able to guess which one could be my favorite,” Matt said with a grin and watched her carefully. Jessica pouted and thought for a moment. She scanned the shelves.
“I was going to say Dracula, but actually, I think it’s Frankenstein,” said Jessica after some thought.
“How’d you guess?” Matt was genuinely surprised and… impressed, maybe?
“Well, I searched through the classics, looking for anything horror, and the first thing I noticed was Dracula. It’s a masterpiece, but then I saw that the copy of Frankenstein was so battered, it must mean you have read it over and over again,” she replied.
“Wow, I love your analytical thinking ability, and yes, of course, you are right. Frankenstein is indeed my favorite classic.” Matt smiled.
“So, this is the room you grew up in?” Jessica asked, looking around. “It’s really nice.”
“Yeah. Come on, I’ll show you the balcony,” he said and walked over to the far side, which opened out into a large balcony. Jessica followed him and found herself standing on a balcony that overlooked the west side of the mansion. From here, she could see the whole western side of the estate. It was so huge. It was no doubt that Matt came from old money. This mansion had been in their family for multiple generations, and it was amazing that it was in such good condition even until now.
“Oh, hey, you can take a shower if you want. The bathroom is right beside the walk-in closet, and it’s been fully furnished in preparation for our arrival. Help yourself. Your luggage is here too.”
“Ummm, there’s just one problem,” hesitated Jessica.
“What?”
“I don’t have anything more to wear. I wasn’t planning on this trip to be so long, you know. I packed only enough for a few days, and now, I’m down to wearing my last dress.”
“Oh, right! How could I not have thought of that? Shit,” he cursed and looked down at his phone. “It’s still not too late for lunch. There’s a mall right outside the estate. Do you want me to pick something up for you real quick? I would have asked mom or Annabeth to lend you a dress, but I doubt they’d have the right size.”
“No, it’s okay. I’ll just skip the shower for now and just freshen up. We can go shopping after lunch,” Jessica said. Matt didn’t seem convinced for a minute, but then he nodded his head. “Okay. I’ll ask Annabeth to assist you.”
“Oh, no, I don’t want to bother her-” Jessica started.
“Trust me, any excuse Annabeth gets to go shopping, she’ll take it without a thought. You’d be doing her a favor instead.”
Jessica let out a giggle. He was right—that did sound like Annabeth.
“I’ll go down and see to some business,” Matt said.
“Okay. Shall we meet at lunch then?”
“Yes, see you down at the dining hall,” he said and walked out of the room with his phone.
Jessica went over to her luggage, took out her cosmetic bag, and went into the walk-in closet, which led to the bathroom. To say it was large would be an understatement. It was massive. It was like one of those walk-in closets she’d seen in the movies. She went into the bathroom, and it was just as lavishly furnished. She really wanted to take a shower right away, but she guessed she had to wait, so she quickly freshened up, touched up her makeup, and went downstairs.
Reynolds was directing a bunch of servants who had set up the table. It was a long one, with the two head chairs stretching far away from each other, and it was laden with a hearty meal. Looking at the food, Jessica realized she was famished. She had nothing but juice all morning, and now it was late noon. Annabeth, Annalyse, and Joseph were already at the dining hall. She looked around for Matt, who appeared there a few minutes later, and they all sat at the table.
Lunch was lovely. Matt’s family loved dining together whenever they were at the same place. At lunch, Matt told Annabeth about Jessica’s wardrobe crisis. Annabeth practically jumped up upon hearing that she was to assist her to shop for some dresses and whatever else she might need.
After lunch, Matt gave Jessica his credit card, and the two girls went shopping as planned. Jessica got herself a decent amount of clothes to last for the duration of their stay, which she didn’t actually know for how long, but she made a guess. Matt was right. Indeed, Annabeth was over the moon to be shopping with Jessica.
“You know, I’ve always been miserable because I missed out on so much because I didn’t have a sister growing up. Matt would obviously never do such things with me. I am so glad I got to do this with you. I can’t even begin to explain!” Annabeth exclaimed and bobbed up and down, her hands laden with multiple bags. Jessica had a really fun time shopping as well. The day went by quickly because she was enjoying herself, and by the time they got back, it was almost time for dinner.
Jessica came back to Matt’s room or their room, she amended herself and found him lounging on the couch. Seeing her, he sat up and asked her how the day went. She described the day, and Matt laughed and said that he knew this would happen.
“Do you want to go out for dinner? There’s a really good restaurant nearby,” Matt asked.
“Sure. Let me get that shower now, and I’ll be ready,” Jessica replied. Matt nodded and went back to his phone. Jessica took out an evening dress from her bags and went into the shower.
Having showered and changed into new clothes and put on some light makeup, Jessica was ready to head out. She came into the room to find that Matt had cleaned up as well. Suddenly, Jessica remembered that she had been occupying his bathroom, depriving him of the chance to use it.
