"Are you fucking kidding me? That's a fucking tree house," Austin says as he looks up into a huge oak tree at the bottom of the garden with Ophelia by his side. "Wait here," Ophelia says then rushes up the spiral staircase leading to the tree house. Once inside she sticks her head out of the window and looks down at Austin. "You ready? Get ready to have your mind blown," she declares with jazz fingers. No one has ever shown any interest in her tree house so she can't help her excitement. She does a countdown from five then flicks the switch and takes pride in the gasp she hears from Austin. She peeps back out the window and sure enough, Austin is standing with his hands on his hips, mouth dropped open and eyes wide. He is in awe, as he should be. She had spent a lot of time on this tree house and she knows how beautiful it looks especially at this time of day. The sun is starting to set and so in the twilight the warm yellow glow from the millions of tiny twinkling lights that adorn the entire oak tree, spiral staircase, treehouse roof, windows, and doors make her space look like it was plucked right out of a fairytale book with magical creatures and sweet dreams. It's warm and cozy, the smell of warm oak wood would be filling his lungs right about now and she knows any stressors that may have clung to his shoulders would be dropping away. It's how she feels whenever she crawls up here and hides from the world. Inside has more warm soft yellow lights, a nest of pillows and blankets, at least two hundred books that she had read a few times over, and a blanket that she was halfway through knitting.
"Hey, are you going to invite me up there?" Austin shouts from below. She got so lost in here that she forgot to call Austin up. She gives him her best smile and nods, motioning with her hand for him to come up. He wastes no time in pulling off his boots and climbing the staircase. Once at the top he pops his head through the door and grins. He looks like a giant. "Wow. Baby, this is incredible...you did this all on your own?" he asks settling into the blanket nest next to Ophelia. "Yeah. Well, my brother helped a little. But it is mostly me," she says. "Liam right? The twin brother," Austin says picking up a few books and inspecting them. "Yes. How do you know my brother?" she asks. Austin frowns and puts the books back. "Is that a trick question? He is famous...so are you," he answers. Ophelia rolls her eyes at herself, she forgets that there is a whole world of people that know her life even if people are losing interest in her - she was once very famous. Liam still is. "Oh and my father's name is Luke," she says before she forgets. Austin screws up his face and looks at her confused. "I am really happy for him...why would I care though?" he asks.
"You asked me."
"No, I didn't."
"Yes, you did. In the meeting, you asked me who my Daddy was."
Austin stares blankly at her like he is trying to take in and work out what she just said. Then without warning, he bursts out laughing. It's that rippled belly laugh so Ophelia can't help feeling happy but she is also very confused. Why is he laughing at her? She waits patiently for him to stop and then look back at her. "I meant sugar Daddy as in who is looking after you. Not your actual father," he explains. Ophelia feels stupid. How was she meant to know that? People don't usually talk like that to her and Jim was never interested in exploring anything with her. Maybe if she had tried to spice things up more Jim would have stayed. "I...I don't have one of those. I don't have a Sugar Daddy," she says. "Well, you got one now," Austin says winking at her then leans over and takes the lid off a box in the corner. "Fuck yeah!" he cheers and grabs a chocolate bar from the box. Ophelia forgot she had that. He holds up the chocolate bar victoriously. "Miss Ophelia Monroe, would you like one block of my chocolate bar?" he asks. Ophelia laughs and holds up two fingers. "I would like two blocks, please," she says. Austin's mouth forms an O and breaks two blocks off. "Ok, calm down. No need to be so aggressive," he says now grinning as he hands her the chocolate. She immediately wants to say sorry but she stops herself. "Oops," she says instead with a little laugh and a shrug. Austin's eyes go big as he pops a block of chocolate into his mouth, "Oh look at her! Boss bitch, baby," he says trying not to choke on his chocolate as he laughs. Ophelia can't remember the last time she felt like this. Like nothing is a big deal and everything is going to be just fine. She suspects it has something to do with the halo of happiness that seems to surround Austin. She feels like he has invited her into his little bubble and she hopes to stay for a while.
आप पढ़ रहे हैं
Hollywood's Bleeding - Post Malone
फैनफिक्शनShe wakes with an echoed thud coming from downstairs. At first, she feels relief, Jim has come to his senses and come back to her then when her thoughts sink in relief turns to sadness. Jim has come back? She is not sure she actually wants him back...
