I meet my eyes in the mirror, wide green eyes full of hope. Smiling at myself, I inhale and exhale a deep breath.
“Ella, stop admiring yourself and come along.”
“Yes, Mam.” I glance away from the innocent girl in the mirror and follow my mother and Larry outside. All my suitcases are now being stowed into the back of the car.
No one speaks as Larry opens the back door for mother and me. Once everyone is in, Larry starts the engine and I use this final moment to stare up at our two-story family home. It’s perfect, from its white walls to the manicured lawns either side of us. The red shiny front door moves past us and my stomach jerks.
“Remember, there are rules Ella.” My mother speaks like she is on autopilot.
“Mam. I know. I’ve been listening to them for the past nineteen years. Always mind my P’s and Q’s, never eat everything on my plate, always smile. Always be respectful. Don’t befriend the other girls.”
“Don’t slump. You have a tendency to slump and it’s very unattractive.”
My spine straightens once again at her words.
The car slows down and I’m surprised at how quickly we arrived. I knew we lived close by, but it felt too quick. Nineteen years of waiting had boiled down to this moment.
Two large white steel gates face us now. Larry rolls down the window to speak to a man in a small hut. I pull myself forward, trying to see who he’s speaking to. A hand on my shoulder pulls me back.
“Ella, sit back. A lady doesn’t get all excited, only children do.” I sit back and try to contain my excitement.
“He can’t see me right now.” My lippy words have my mother’s eyebrows rising in unison.
But I stay seated as I glance out the window as we are ushered into his estate. It’s just as I pictured. Endless lawns, all freshly cut. Flowers of every color weaved in sync on both sides. Trees are sporadically planted throughout the lawns. I can see me and Lucas having a picnic under one of the trees. A giggle threatens to burst from my lips, but I swallow it.
I keep shifting as we drive up the winding driveway, the house at the end has me looking up and up. My hands smash against the window, ignoring my mother’s earlier warning.
“Wow!” It’s like a castle. Forbidding, intimidating, but marvelous.
My mother’s tut has me leaning back in the seat, as I watch my handprints disappear from the glass.
The large, black, double-front doors open and my heart starts to do a dance. Is it him? Will he greet me? I sit straighter and want to touch my hair, but I don’t. I don’t want him to think I’m a fidget.
My mother’s hand wraps around my upper arm as I reach for the door handle. When I look at her from over my shoulder, I end up fully facing her.
“What’s wrong?”
She looks … odd. Like a captain standing on a sinking ship. I blink the image away and as I do, she lowers her lashes. When she looks at me again, she doesn’t wear that terrified look.
“Nothing.” She pushes a piece of hair back behind my shoulder. Her actions tell me everything.
“Mam?” I question.
“Nothing. Just, I will miss you.”
I let out a relieved laugh. “I will miss you too, mam.” I would, but I was also eager to start this stage of my life. I had waited forever for this. When I reach for the door handle, my mother doesn’t stop me as I step out on the tarmac.
Two men dressed in tailored suits take my bags from Larry, who helps them. I inhale the fresh air, the smell of a new beginning. My mother doesn’t get out of the car.
“This is goodbye, Ella,” she says as I lean back in the door. She won’t look at me. The trunk is closed and has me glancing at Larry through the back window. He circles around and gets into the driver seat.
“Goodbye, Mam,” I say and wait.
She doesn’t turn and when Larry starts the engine, I close the door gently. I watch the car as it leaves, but my mother never looks back at me.
I’m the first girl to have arrived. This gives me the upper hand. I’m led from one enormous room to another. This place is just as I pictured it. I try to contain my excitement as Mark gives me a tour.
“This is the drawing room.”
Something inside me sings. This is a fairytale come to life. I run my hand along the velvet chaise lounge. My hand touches air, before the fabric under my fingers changes as I run them along a high back leather chair. I’m not focused on what I’m touching. My focus is on a large image hung between two bookcases. The image has my cheeks coloring while my heart beats a bit faster.
“That is Master Lucas.”
I glanced over my shoulder to Mark who just spoke. He’s standing close to the door, his hands held in front of him.
I turn back to Master Lucas. “I know,” I say as I stop at the picture. I could draw him with my eyes closed. My mother had given me a picture of him only two years ago. This one he is slightly older. His shoulders are wider. My stomach tightens.
He is so handsome.
He is a prince.
An exhale behind me has me swinging around.
“He’s perfect isn’t he?”
Red hair, so much red hair, that’s what I see when I stare at the girl who’s staring up at my Lucas.
“I’m Hannah, but you can call me Ann.” She reaches out her hand, a wide smile on her face. Her white teeth flash against her plump lips. She’s beautiful.
I take her hand slowly. “Ella.”
“Like Bella?” Hannah bites her lip hiding a smile.
“Just Ella.” I remove my hand from hers and glance up at Mark, who watches us.
“So, are we the first two?” She asks but doesn’t wait for an answer as she glances back up at Lucas. I have the urge to step in front of her and block her view of him.
Instead, I stare up at him. The image captures him perfectly, a small amount of light is cast across half his face, and it showcases his strong jaw, straight nose, and lips. He’s flawless. Inky colored hair reflects in his deep black eyes. The right side of his face is cast in shadows where the light doesn’t touch it, and there is almost something sinister in his right eye.
The high black polo neck stretches across wide shoulders and I can almost see the definition of his chest muscles. His arms hang either side of his perfect body.
“I wonder when we get to meet him?” I say the words but curse myself when Hannah smiles at me. I am here five minutes and I am already breaking my mother’s rules. I’m not to befriend any of these girls.
“Soon I hope.” Hannah doesn’t seem to notice the change in my attitude as I walk away from her. I keep taking peeks at Mark, who lets us roam around the room. He’s watching us with interest.
Hannah stays staring up at Lucas and I want to stay beside her. I ache for friendship as badly as I ache for Lucas. But I can’t have both, I know that. If I befriend one of these girls, I will get distracted.
The horrible thought of not becoming Lucas’s wife has everything in me freezing. I wouldn’t know what to do. He has been everything my entire life. I push the thought away like it is a dirty thing.
Movement beyond the drawing-room has me glancing at Mark, who’s looking out into the hall. I stand a bit straighter, it must be another girl.
My spine straightens as my whole body buzzes and vibrates. He is so much more than any picture or painting could capture. His presence is felt in every cell of my body.