|| Arabella ||
It was around four when Theo and I reached his uncle's house—or should I say mansion?
But I already expected that since Mr. Albert was a business tycoon. It made me feel nervous to meet him. I mean, I didn't know what a businessman would be like. What if he didn't like me because I was too ordinary? Not to mention, he was Theo's official guardian as well, which made me all the more nervous.
I glanced at my outfit one more time. I actually put effort into it to look presentable. I was wearing a black sweater top and cream-colored A-line skirt with knee-high socks and heels.
As soon as Theo and I entered through the big double doors, a preteen blonde girl came running out and hugged Theo. "T-rex, I missed you!" she exclaimed.
"Hey, I missed you too, Shortcake," Theo said and picked her up in his arms.
"I've grown taller," the girl said with a pout.
"And heavier," he huffed in fake exhaustion and set her down while she protested. I smiled at their interaction. "Anyways, Annabelle, this is Susan, my cousin. Shortcake, this is Annabelle, my roommate."
I had already guessed she was Susan since Theo told me almost everything about her on the way here. He also mentioned that she had a passion for dinosaurs, so she often gave people nicknames with dinosaurs.
As I smiled at Susan, her eyes sparkled. "Are you named after Annabelle the doll?"
I shook my head, not letting my smile falter, and said, "Actually, my name is Arabella."
"Don't believe her. She's lying. Her name's really Annabelle," Theo joked, and I slapped his arm lightly.
Susan giggled and took a hold of my hand. "Come on inside, Annabelle."
I sighed as it was decided that I was going to be Annabelle. I shot Theo a playful glare, and he gave me a sheepish grin.
I let Susan drag me inside to the living room. I noticed the whole mansion was decorated in the Christmas theme. A brunette man in his late thirties was working on an iPad. I recognized him from one of the photos in Theo's room.
"Daddy, I told you no working on Christmas!" Susan scolded, and the man looked up with an apologetic smile.
"Sorry, sweetie— Oh, my God, Theo? What are you doing here?"
What?
Theo grinned and exclaimed, "Surprise!"
"You little brat, you said you wouldn't be able to come," Mr. Albert scolded, standing up.
This jerk didn't even tell me that he was coming uninformed. He knew I wouldn't let him do it if he told me. Although, it seemed like everyone except his uncle knew about our arrival.
"Oh, c'mon, I forgave you for not coming on Thanksgiving and came here myself after overcoming so many difficulties only to get scolded? I'm hurt," Theo feigned, wiping a fake sweat bid off his forehead as if we got here after a twenty-one-day boat journey.
"You didn't change at all," Mr. Albert sighed, but soon a smile broke out on his face. "Come here."
Theo ran and gave him a hug.
My chest filled up with warmth as I watched his uncle inquire about his health, asking all the parental questions. It made me miss my dad, which I rarely did since I didn't remember anything about him. At the same time, it made me feel grateful to Mr. Albert for being there for Theo when he needed someone.
When Mr. Albert pulled apart from the hug, he looked at me and twitched his lips. "I want to say that you're Theo's girlfriend, but Wyatt would've told me about it, so I'm guessing you are Ara."
Seems like I had nothing to worry about at all. Mr. Albert was a warm-hearted kind person.
I smiled at him. "Not at all. It's a great pleasure to meet you, Mr. Reeves. Thanks for having me, though you didn't know I was coming."
He laughed shortly and said, "You're more than welcome to come here. There's no need for formality, Ara. Also, just call me Albert."
"Okay. Thank you."
"I hope you don't mind me calling you Ara, I'm just too used to Theo and Wyatt calling you that."
"Oh, not at all."
The three of us exchanged a few more words until Albert informed, "You two should get some rest. There's a Christmas party starting at eight. And Theo, you can invite your middle school friends if you want."
Theo rolled his eyes. "I would rather play with Susie's dinosaurs than invite them."
"You wanna play with my dinosaurs, T-Rex?" Susan quipped.
"No," Theo declined flat-out, and Susan pouted.
I ruffled her hair and said, "I'll play with you."
Susan clapped her hands in excitement. "We will play tomorrow then!"
I nodded since we would be staying here for three days.
"However you see fit, Theo. But don't blame me if you see any of them with their parents. Now get some rest and don't forget to dress up formally for the party," Albert instructed and headed towards the stairs.
"I'll show you to your room—" Susan was interrupted by Theo.
"I'll show her. You can go now," Theo told her.
"Fine," she sulked and sauntered away.
I chuckled and said, "She's very energetic." It was hard to believe that she grew up without a mother. Theo told me that her birth mom left her in an orphanage, and Albert adopted her.
"Yeah." Theo started walking towards the north of the mansion, and I followed him, taking up the stairs from that side.
"Why do you hate your middle school friends?" I asked out of curiosity when we were walking down the hallway.
Theo frowned at the mention of them. "They are all stuck-up assholes who don't know anything except their parents' money and influence."
"Is that why you decided to study in a public high school in Anaheim?"
He nodded and opened a silver door, revealing my luggage placed near the big bed. "This is your room, and that is my room." He pointed at the room at the end of the hallway.
I got the creeps from looking in that corner. "That place looks haunted."
He chuckled. "That's the exact reason I chose that room when I first came to this house."
"I'm going to give you a call if I need anything, instead of going over," I said.
"Sure, scaredy cat."
I was about to enter my room when I remembered. "Speaking of cats, did you get Clover from the airport?"
Theo's eyes widened. "Oh, fuck. I forgot her there."
He was about to make a run when I held him back by his wrist. "It's okay. Send someone else to get her."
He shook his head. "It's already my fault for forgetting Clove. I should get her myself and apologize to her."
I smiled and let go of his hand. "Then go get her."
He smiled back and started walking away.
"Hey," I called out, and he looked over his shoulder. "When you get back, if we have some time left before the party, let's watch an episode of that series we left off."
"You got it."
———
"How do I look?" Theo asked.
"Usually, girls ask that." I gave him a flat look as he appeared at my doorsteps, completely ready for the party while I hadn't even started. He only left my room ten minutes ago after we watched two episodes of a series.
Theo frowned. "Many important people are going to come. I need to make connections and impress them so that they will know I'm capable of working in Uncle Albert's company in the future."
I couldn't help but smile, then I checked his outfit. He was wearing a dark red blazer with a black shirt and slacks.
Undoubtedly, he looked hot. But...
"You might want to untuck your shirt. While being formal is good, you need to keep that teenage vibe to yourself," I told him.
He nodded and started untucking his shirt right in front of me. "Now?"
I don't know why I felt embarrassed. Nonetheless, I nodded and noticed his hair. "Wait," I said and motioned him to lower his head.
I tousled his hair a little, letting a few of his strands fall forward. I backed away afoot to check him. "Now, you look perfect." I smiled with satisfaction.
Theo grinned and leaned forward to kiss my cheek. "Thanks, Ara."
I felt myself blushing at his sudden action. In retaliation, I started pushing him out of the room. "Now shoo. Let me get ready."
Once I closed the door on him, I let out a sigh. I had to look just as perfect as him for my special confession to him. I wanted to look drop-dead gorgeous so that even if he wanted to reject me, he wouldn't be able to resist me.
———
When I came to the ballroom, which was on the other side of the mansion, I found myself fidgeting.
Everyone looked important and influential. The kids were given a separate place to enjoy themselves, so Susan wasn't around. However, I was still pretty confident due to what I was wearing.
I was determined to find Theo right now and pull him to a secluded place to ask him out.
All of a sudden, a hand grabbed mine.
"Hey, I found a new face," said a chestnut-haired boy, smiling at me. "What's your name, beautiful? Who are you with?"
"She's with me," spoke up the familiar voice I had been looking for, slipping an arm around my waist. "Anything else, Ronald?"
"Theo, hey. What a surprise. I thought you wouldn't be able to make it this year," Ronald exclaimed.
"Yeah, I didn't want to see you," Theo responded with a poker face.
"Aww, you hurt my feelings," Ronald feigned.
"Sorry for whatever I did to make you think that I gave a shit about your feelings," Theo deadpanned and turned to me. "Let's go somewhere else, Ara."
I nodded, and we both walked away from Ronald.
As I looked at Theo's displeased face, I wanted to bang Ronald's head in between car doors. Theo was in a bad mood now due to him.
Here goes my confession…
I had to wait out for a few hours until Theo was calm again. He made me sit at the bar counter and got me a drink.
"Don't talk to any of the assholes around our age here," Theo warned.
"Okay." I took a sip of my drink and asked, "Where were you?"
"I was talking to the current statistician of Uncle's company," he answered.
"You are going to snatch his job in the future?"
He laughed lightly and said, "He's going to retire in the next ten years."
Thank goodness, he was already in a better mood. We talked for a little more. Just as I started to see it was a perfect chance to bring up my feelings, Albert called Theo to introduce him to someone.
I frowned.
God, formal parties are so boring and annoying.
I decided to sneak out and join the kids' party.
Susan immediately tried to pull me into judging their self-made beauty pageant. I declined, saying that everyone was beautiful and no one should be judged like this. Then I proposed to play Monopoly with them.
I lost myself in playing with them.
It was around midnight when I realized that I still hadn't confessed to Theo. I scrambled off my feet and dashed back to the ballroom.
On my way, I saw Theo heading inside a room.
This was my chance.
I ran after him and stopped at the door frame. I got nervous all of a sudden, even though I had been so determined earlier. So I squeezed my eyes shut and started to say, "Theo, wait. There's something I have to tell you."
I sucked in a deep breath and started, "I know this is going to come out of nowhere, but I have been wanting to tell you this for a while now. I didn't do it earlier to not cause any distractions during our finals. Now, I want to confess it to you."
My heart was beating so loud, I probably wouldn't even be able to hear Theo if he was saying anything.
I concentrated on letting my words out first, "Theo, I like you. I really like you a lot. I think you're one of the sweetest people I've ever met. Just looking at you makes me smile. I want to be with you so bad. So will you be my boyfriend?" As he didn't reply, I added, "You don't have to reply immediately, and it's okay to reject me as well."
Dead silence.
Why isn't he saying anything? Yes or no, he should say something at least!
"Of course, I'll marry you."
What the fuck? What marry—
That wasn't Theo's voice.
My eyes snapped open to see an old man in his eighties grinning at me.
Holy shit. Did I just confess to an old man?
