Meeting Sebastian

"Um, I'm sorry everyone, but may I have your attention please?" Once everyone was quiet, Belinda continued, hardly able to hide the tremor or uncertainty in her voice. "I'm sorry, but we would have to have dinner without my daughter, Victoria. I'm afraid that she's indisposed at the moment, but is recuperating. She's asleep now and we do not want to wake her up so that she will be well-rested for the wedding tomorrow."

"Oh. I'm so sorry to hear that. I wish her a speedy recovery." A middle-aged woman said, placing her hand above her chest dramatically. The other people around the table muttered their condolences and wished Victoria well, asking her to give Victoria their best wishes. Carol noticed one man in particular who looked to be in his sixties and was sitting next to Sebastian who was seated across from her. At Belinda's announcement, the man's eyes narrowed, but he did not say anything. He didn't offer any condolences as the others did, but took up his cutlery and began to eat after the well-wishers had had their say. Carol would have pegged the man as Sebastian's father, but they did not look anything alike. While Sebastian looked tall and broad from what she could see, even though she had yet to see him standing, this man looked short and round.

There was no reaction from Sebastian, the groom. In fact, he looked terribly bored, like he could not wait for all of this to be over. For some reason, this really pissed Carol off. The least he could do was to act concerned, after all, his bride-to-be was not feeling too well. 

"But are you sure that she'll be well enough for the wedding tomorrow morning?" The fat man said, his tone suggesting that he did not believe that Victoria was ill for even a moment.

"Oh, sure she will, Mr. James. It's just a little headache and some fever. Nerves, I suppose, but that's pretty normal. Hell, I was ill too the day before my wedding, and it wasn't as though I didn't love my Donald. No, I can assure you that that wasn't the case at all. It was just nerves. Maybe it's a family thing." Belinda said, snapping her mouth shut as she realized that she was babbling and chuckling nervously. 

"Alright then. You may all eat." Mr. James said, and only then did everyone, including her parents start to eat, even though Mr. James had already gone through half of his food.

Carol watched him quietly. She had not said a word since she sat down at the table, something that was easy to do since everyone ignored her anyway. That was the way she liked it though. It gave her the opportunity to just sit and observe everyone without feeling the need or pressure to interact with them. There was something powerful about the man that made one instantly want to obey and fear him. Carol did not know him, neither had she met him before, but she also felt this way about him merely by being in his presence.

The others made chitchat while they ate, except for Carol and Sebastian. In fact, throughout dinner that night, Carol did not hear him utter a word to anyone in the room. She began to wonder if he was deaf-mute or something of that nature but later noticed him whispering something that she could not hear over the loud conversations of the other people into his uncle's ear. As for Carol, she could not wait until this whole thing was over and she could go back to living her life. They still did not know where Victoria was or where they would find her, and to Carol, it was better that way. There was something scary about this family, especially Sebastian's uncle, and now that she had met the man, she could tell why her mother seemed nervous. 

"Alright, everyone. I think we should all get an early rest so that we can prepare for the wedding proper tomorrow." Mr. James said, dropping the glass with which he had been sipping his wine. By this time, everyone had finished eating except for Carol who could not even bring herself to take more than a few bites of her food, even though it tasted delicious. She just didn't have the appetite. Something was going on, and she did not for the life of her know what it was. People nodded their agreement and finished off their drinks and then started to leave one by one, except for Sebastian and his uncle.

"Donald. We need to talk. Let's go into your study." Mr. James told Carol's father, standing up and leading the way as though he was the owner of the house and Donald was the guest. Carol did not miss the way her father gulped at this command. However, he stood up like an obedient puppy and began to follow the man into his study.

"I'll come with you," Belinda said, after some moments and hurried after them, leaving Carol and Sebastian sitting alone at the dining table. They sat in tense silence for what felt like an eternity, although the silence was probably tense only to Carol. As far as she was concerned, it wasn't her job to make small talk with this stranger whom she didn't even know, but she did not want to come off as rude, so she cleared her throat to get his attention. 

"Hello." She said when he finally looked at her.

He did not reply immediately but continued to stare at her as though he did not know what to make of her.

"I hope the food was to your liking." Carol tried again and then mentally kicked herself. What was she doing trying to make conversation with this man who couldn't even be bothered to talk to her? He was a billionaire, after all, and clearly did not appreciate fraternizing with low-class people, if the behavior that he had been exhibiting all evening was anything to go by.

"Yeah." He said shortly and stood up to go outside, leaving her sitting there all by herself.

Carol sat there for some minutes after he left, berating herself for even trying to strike up a conversation with such a stuck-up asshole after which she began to dial her sister's number for the umpteenth time that evening. To her immense surprise and relief, Victoria picked up the phone on the third ring.

"Where the hell are you?" Carol asked without preamble.

"Hey. Hold your horses. I'm almost home." Victoria replied, slurring her words. She sounded as drunk as a skunk.

"You're almost home? That's all you're going to say after being noticeably absent from a dinner that was held for you and making mom and dad look like fools?"

"Well, that's no fault of mine. They brought this on themselves, so don't blame me. I'm actually doing them a huge favor, so pardon me if I decide to drink a little." 

"What on earth do you mean by that? Also, I hope you're not driving in the state you're in."

"I'm not in any state. I'm just a little tipsy. See you later." She said and ended the call.

Carol sighed, wondering what her sister meant, but deciding to wait for her to get back before she questioned her. It was not wise to ask her about something that was clearly upsetting to her while she was driving and drunk at the same time. Sure enough, Victoria drove into their large compound less than fifteen minutes later. Carol flew down the stairs and met her sister halfway.

"Hey," Victoria said coldly, pushing past Carol.

"Really? You had us all worried. Where did you go to?" Carol called after her, noting that Victoria was not as drunk as she had first thought. At these questions, Victoria whirled and turned on her sister angrily.

"Who do you think exactly? You're not my mother and you have no right to ask me all these questions or monitor my life. Even my mother does not have the right to do that. I'm a fucking adult in case you failed to notice and your constant monitoring and whining about how I live my life is really irritating. I've had it up to here."

Carol watched her rant, mouth agape. She hardly saw her sister in this sort of rage and it was clear that something was eating her up.

"Well, I was just worried about the way you disappeared. I didn't mean any harm. I'm sorry."

"Yeah. Whatever. I'll just go to bed so that I can wake up refreshed to begin a life of misery tomorrow. Oh, and I don't want to hear anything from you about how I don't have to do it. I kind of have to, so I'll rather not listen to any judgmental lectures or advice from you. My life sucks enough as it is." Victoria said, and turned to walk up to her bedroom, before stopping short. Standing only a few feet away were their parents, Sebastian, his uncle, and the middle-aged woman from earlier, who happened to be his wife. From their expressions, it was obvious that they heard some of the conversations between the two women.