“I just feel like you’re hiding something from me. Tell what it is already,” Aliyah whined over the cellphone that was on loudspeaker.
Andrea continued to apply mascara to her eyelashes, sitting behind the vanity dresser in the room she was currently occupying. “Aliyah, I already told you that I’m not hiding anything. I left Charlton because I wanted to,” she lied smoothly, setting the mascara down and picking up a tube of maroon lipstick.
Aliyah sighed. “I can’t believe your parents let you do that, and so close to our end of senior year. You’re so lucky; it sucks balls without you here. Oh, by the way, Rhett Saunders apparently got his ass kicked at a bar a couple of weeks ago. Did your brother tell you about that?”
A shiver went down her spine as Andrea’s spine as she recalled what Rhett had almost done to her that night. Although nothing had happened, sometimes she would dream about what might have occurred if Omar hadn’t shown up in time. “Yeah, I heard about it. He probably deserved it,” she said, and dabbed some color to her lips.
“He probably did. Anyways, what have you done for your birthday? Last year, you threw that bash that made literally envious of you.”
“This time, I’m just keeping it on the DL. Nothing too elaborate,” Andrea replied meekly, even though the fuss that was happening downstairs all in her name was anything but. A knock came to her door. “I’ve got to go now. We will talk more soon.” After that she hung up and stood to go over to the door. When she opened it, Omar was there looking dapper in a burgundy polo neck sweater, black jeans, and white Adidas sneakers.
He smiled gently at her, with both his hands tucked behind his back. “I’ve come to fetch you for dinner. You look lovely, but that’s just every day,” he said, and Andrea blushed. Bringing his arm forward, he handed her a rectangular red velvet box from Tiffany & Co. “Your birthday present.”
Grabbing a hold of it with wobbly hands, she carefully opened it to reveal a stunning necklace with emeralds detailing the entire circumference. She gasped and held her mouth with her hand. “This is absolutely beautiful,” she mumbled, completely mesmerized by the shimmering opulence contained by it.
“May I?” he asked, referring to helping her put on the neckless. She gave him the box; he took it out and put the box aside. Andrea lifted her hair and Omar wrapped the cold metal around her neck, before deftly clutching it. His fingers made contact with her skin, made it ripple with the harmless yet somehow enticing action.
After he’d clipped it, she went over to the mirror and examined it. It perfectly complimented her skin tone and the dress she was wearing. She touched it and smiled faintly. “Thank you, Omar. I don’t think anyone has ever gotten me anything this nice,” she added, blinking back some tears. She wanted to cry, probably due to the hormones…or so she thought.
“It’s no problem, love. Now, let’s head downstairs before people start to get the wrong idea of what it is we’re doing up here,” he decided with a mischievous drawl, and Andrea slapped his chest. Taking her hand in his, he led her down the stairs and to the dinner rooming, where Omar’s mum was, along with his sister and one man who had a striking resemblance to Omar.
Nasim came over to her and gave her a side hug. “You look wonderful, darling,” she gushed with her eyes jubilant. “I’d like you to meet my other son, Navid. He’s the one before Omar in terms of age,” she then said and gestured towards the stoic faced man dressed in a tuxedo.
He barely acknowledged her with a small nod of them head and immediately glanced at his watch. “Can we get this dinner started? I have more important matters to get to,” he uttered in boredom, also sporting a deep voice with a strong London accent.
Omar snorted. “Would those matters involve spying on dad’s competitors? Man, sit your arse down and stop pretending like you’re busy. We all know you’re the most miserable human on this planet,” he mocked mercilessly, and Navid glared at him.
“Sweet. Hakim isn’t even here yet so I can imagine how much more interesting this dinner is going to get. Come on Andrea, you’ll sit right by me…away from all this stinking testosterone,” Marisha sniffed and linked her arm with Andrea, drawing her away from the others.
“Behave yourselves! We have a guest,” Navid scolded both her sons lowly before going to sit at the other head seat of the table.
Shortly afterwards, Amir joined them in the room and took at seat on the empty head seat and popped open the jacket of his tailored coat. “My apologies for being a bit late. I was making sure that everything was well prepared in the kitchen,” he said with not a hint of remorse.
Nasim’s eyebrows shot up. “Since when do you ever care about what happens in the kitchen?” she questioned skeptically, propping her arms on the table. Amir glanced at her warningly, but she was not phased by his ‘shut up right now’ look. She wanted to know, and she would stop at nothing until she truly found out what he was up to.
All the attention was diverted from Amir suspicious act by a two new incomers, walking hand in hand. One of them was a man, who was basically the carbon copy of Amir but with fairer features and a taller frame. He was dressed in a white suit with a black shirt, looking very handsome and he was accompanied by a ravishing dark skinned woman with blonde curls, a black sleeveless dress with a sweetheart neckline, a daringly high slit and six inch stilettos. Omar looked at them in shock, particularly the beautiful woman.
“Sorry I’m late. I got held up picking up my girlfriend,” the unidentified man spoke nonchalantly and pulled a chair back for the woman, right next to Omar. He suddenly went pale and rigid, avoiding looking at her.
Sitting down, the woman smiled at the man who then took a seat on the left side of Andrea. He turned to her with an arctic smile. “How do you do? The name’s Hakim, the oldest of this clan,” he introduced himself to her with his hand stretched in front of her. Hesitantly, she took it and shook it slowly.
“Laura? You’re Hakim’s girlfriend?” Marisha echoed out loud in confusion. “Didn’t you have a thing with Omar?” When Andrea heard those words, she froze in her seat.
Laura gave Omar a sideways glance and smiled broadly. “Good evening, everyone. I’m really happy to be here, and yes, Hakim is my boyfriend. He picked my heart up after Omar stomped on it after a night of passion, and the next day, he ghosted me,” she said without shame or fear.
Nasim and Amir both remained quiet as they looked at each other and around the table. Andrea was trying to capture Omar’s attention, but he had he head low and refused to look up, probably due to pain. How could his own brother show up with his one-night stand? she thought with a silent scoff.
Navid clapped his hands. “Excellent! Shall we get this dinner started?” he spoke dryly. Afterwards the caterers who had been hired to prepare the food rolled in the various dishes which had been prepared for the occasion. It wasn’t long before they each had their plates filled with exotic food from all over the world.
Despite all the extravagance and light chatter going on around the room, Andrea couldn’t help but keep her haze fixated on Laura, who kept ‘accidentally’ brushing Omar’s arm or just blatantly grabbing his bicep as she conversed with him. It was completely strange how she didn’t bother to mask her interest in him, even though her supposed ‘boyfriend’ was seated right in front of her. Hakim seemed to not mind, as he was busy with his food or sharing a light talk with his parents or other siblings.
Andrea felt dwarfed; dining with people she didn’t know, and those that made her feel like she didn’t belong. From the corner of her eye, she could feel Amir’s arctic eyes regarding her stealthily. “Are you enjoying the food, dear?” he asked her, and everyone went silent at his question. Again, they were stunned by him actually seemingly being civil with her, even though they knew deep down he loathed the idea of her being entangled with his son.
She cleared her throat and wiped the corner of her lips with her napkin. “Quite lovely actually. Yo quiero everything here. I don’t know if I can contain it all,” she said with a forced smile. Amir eyed her still full and untouched glass of grape juice.
“You haven’t touched your juice. I heard grape juice is good for your condition,” he added calmly, but with an undertone of force. He wanted her to drink the juice, that much she knew. It seemed that he didn’t want to be too explicit about saying she was pregnant, since Laura was in the room.
So as to not be rude, she picked the glass, held it to her lips and tilted it back. In one gulp, she swallowed most of it and then set it down. It tasted mostly sweet, but there was a certain bitter twist to it. The last time she’d drunk grape juice, she remembered it being very sweet…so what was so different about this one?
Amir smiled in satisfaction before resuming eating, along with everyone. Once they were done with the main meal, they moved on to dessert which consisted of either chocolate ganache toped with chocolate mouse or strawberry and vanilla trifle with whipped cream. Omar had chosen the latter, and when he went in for a bite, he ended up smearing some cream on his upper lip. Laura laughed at this and offered to clean it up with a napkin, leaning in very close to him to the point that her breasts were almost in his face.
I need to get out of here. The sudden surge of jealousy she felt overwhelmed her so much that it made her dizzy. She felt a sharp pain in her belly, and she felt her chest constrict. It wasn’t normal at all, something she had never experienced before. Her vision prickled with black dots as it became increasingly blurry. Okay, this definitely had nothing to do with the jealousy, but something was indeed very wrong. Pushing her seat back, she stood up on wobbling feet. “M-may I be excused?” she croaked, a cold sweat breaking out on the nape of her neck.
Nasim looked at her in worry. “Dear, are you okay? You look quite pale,” she said in slight trepidation. Andrea smiled weakly and waved her off.
“I’m fine, I just need some air,” she responded but her voice wasn’t above a whisper. She took about five steps away from the table when her lower limbs failed her and she crashed to the floor, everything suddenly growing pitch black.
As her consciousness faded, the last thing she heard was the sound of chairs scraping back, loud, and quick footsteps and voices yelling her name.
___________________________________
Hey people! As promised, I have delivered the Friday update.
Was it enjoyable or was it alarming?
What do you think happened to Andrea? Better yet ... Who did it?
Thoughts on the Pedrad dinner? Much more dramatic than the Dos Ramos dinners right?
Guys, I just want to remind you all to be nice to everyone you come across in life. And be careful how you speak to others, the tongue is a dangerous weapon.
I've had a rough week, and let's just say I was treated rather badly by some people. Just be nice; love is the policy.
Anways, I hope you all have a brilliant weekend!
Love,
~Deetronite ❤️