Narrator's pov
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The long, rectangular table was warm to touch, its caramel honeyed hues flowing as lacy waves upon a summer beach, it was covered in cream silk. Plates lined through with white linen beneath. Beside it rested silver forks and knife. The centerpieces flowed down the table, most of beautiful, fresh orchids and roses in vases
Everyone had already taken their seats and chatted with those nearby and around the table, eagerly asking questions to doctors about their procedures or simple conversations while they awaited dinner to be served
Ember's father sat at the head of the table, looking over the rest of his employees while his wife sat to the right of him
Ember slipped into the chair available to the left, her mood still hadn't changed but she held a small smile
Her mother's glare was evident from across the table but she ignored it since she knew the woman's glare was going to increase soon
Because she was planning on making their lives a living hell all night
The doors busted open and in came the serves carrying trays of their meals
Ember's folded her arms and tapped her feet against the ground as she glared at her father
He was the only good one in her family yet here he came to pull a move like this. It could only leave her to wonder if she was being manipulated all this time through her childhood
A mother who was disgusted by the sight of her because she chose to be independent
And a father who appeared sweet, charming and caring, only to make her change her mind on situations
The thoughts only confused her more and sent her emotions into a spiral again
Her feet tapped faster against the ground as the fire inside her started to build again
"Hey... Hey are you okay?" a voice filled Ember's ear
The same voice that put her to ease when her times were out of hand. The voice that captured her and pull her in, like a man that followed the call of sirens out on the open sea
Ember barely glanced away to see Gabrielle slipping into the seat next to her with Henry on the opposite side of the table so that he could face them both, next to Ember's mother
"Ember?" she whispered
The girl's voice was the sweetest melody on her ears. Ember felt as if she could wrap herself up in Gabrielle's words and sleep more soundly than a baby
She guessed it was always her attraction but it felt so deep, as if it was the start of a song that played on and on, something so soothing to her soul
"I'm fine" she muttered
"Are you sure? You seem... Out of it"
Sure, now she decides to care about what the brunette was feeling
But a lingering question was still in the back of Ember's mind that hadn't been answered yet
"I'm so confused as to why you're here" Ember furrowed her brows
"Um..."
"Ember" the brunette's father caught her attention once again
"What?" she asked
"I'd like to introduce you to our new lawyers we were meeting with yesterday" The man said, motioning with his hands towards the two adults sitting right beside Gabrielle
She hadn't noticed the pair before until her eyes landed on two golden hair adults who smiled sweetly
The woman's eyes were brighter than any honey colour Ember came across, the chandelier lights surely made them even more hypnotizing. Her beach blonde hair had a middle part and flowed over her back, the woman also applied red lipstick to her lips that matched her daughter. Her black dress hugged her body as she smiled sweetly towards Ember. There wasn't an imperfect section of her, exactly like Gabrielle. She could see where the girl got her looks from
"Hi" she said
Ember's eyes then glanced over towards the man, his blonde hair was cut short to a buzzcut but you could still manage to the blonde strands. His eyes were a sparkling light green. A few blonde hairs rested on his lips, freshly shaved. He sat there with his blazer hooked around his chair and a green tie to match his eyes, wrapped around his white button up shirt. Perfect, just like the singer
"Yesterday we had a meeting with your parents in the park" The man started off
"But when we looked around, we saw a familiar face" the woman said
"Our daughter here, Gabrielle was also there. We haven't seen each other in such a while and to our surprise, Henry was there too" the man said, motioning towards the raven hair boy access the table
"We just had to pull our meeting short to see our daughter but we're so happy that we could finally meet you today. It's a pleasure to be working along with the Atkins" The woman smiled
"These are the people we wanted you to meet yesterday, you'll be working alongside them very closely for the next few months" Ember father mumbled, bringing his fork to his mouth
Ember furrowed her brows for many reasons. To the fact that her parents hired new lawyers which happens to be Gabrielle's parents
And to the fact that she knew damn well that Gabrielle's parents seeing her again must have brought up some terrible feelings for the girl
She glanced over to the blonde and saw that her head was down, fidgeting with her plate that was in front of her
"Have you met our daughter, Gabrielle?" the woman asked
"I have" Ember mumbled
"Excellent, maybe you can give her a few words of encouragement about her career path. You might even show her around the business" The man added, making Ember raise a brow
"Yeah. Sure. No problem at all" Ember mumbled, trailing her eyes over the blonde
She couldn't imagine the pressure she must be placed under now, especially by her parents who really didn't seem to like her lifestyle of singing
"Sit up right and stop slouching Gabrielle, you're embarrassing yourself" A small voice hissed at the blonde, it was only loud enough for Gabrielle to hear but Ember caught a whif of it
Gabrielle immediately pressed her back against the chair and tilted her chin up, locking eyes with Henry across the table
"Jill, you must tell us more about this son in law of yours" Ember's mother started off
"Henry? Ah he's not married to our little girl. Yet" Gabrielle's mother chuckled
"Yet? It's about time those two settle down. Didn't you say they were together since they were toddlers?"
By now, Ember started to zone out again. The table was filled with random conversations from every party as they ate. Yet the noise faded away for her
Her fingers slipped into her pocket and pulled out her phone, seeing a few messages from a familiar person
The unknown: Hi, haven't heard from you in a while
Ember bit her bottom lip at the message and hesitated to open it. It's truly been so while since she's texted the short hair girl
Perhaps because things seemed as if it was going to get serious with all the flirting
Or perhaps because she couldn't bring herself to do anything yet, especially when her mind had a blonde running around it rent free
"Who's that?" Gabrielle mumbled, making Ember raise her brow
"Excuse me?"
"Sorry, it was... Just a question"
"It's none of your business either" Ember said
"I know.. I'm sorry, I was just curious"
"Hmm. Really? It seems that you're really curious about alot of things these days" Ember scoffed
"You know, you don't have to be so mean-"
"Oh? Oh I'm being mean? Tell me, how's your relationship going? Or do I have to tell him you've been kissing me on the side?"
"Ember, stop it"
"No Gabrielle, I'm sick and tired of this shit"
"What do you mean?"
"It means. I'm done"