A Quartet of Desire

Chapter 2: An Unpleasant Dinner Party

*Ryan's POV*

"It's about time you boys joined us," our mam stated as we emerged from the hallway into the dining room. She and our father were already seated at the table, along with Claire and Saoirse.

"Sorry, Mam," Sean replied as he made his way to sit next to our father. "Busy day at the office."

The maids had scaled the table down to allow the six of us to sit around comfortably without having to yell down the expansive room towards each other. Our father sat at the head with our mother at the other end. Both Claire and Saoirse sat on either side of our mother, leaving seats next to our father for Sean and myself.

I took my seat next to Claire, only glancing slightly in her direction as I did so. She wore a dark blue dress that narrowed at the waist before flaring out down to her knees. The upper portion had a lace overlay that showed her pale skin from her shoulders down to her elbows where the sleeves stopped. Her long dark hair fell softly around her shoulders.

If only she had a decent personality, then maybe this wouldn't be so bad, I couldn't help but think to myself.

"You come in late, and neither of you say hello to your brides?" our father asked with an underlying annoyed tone.

Putting on a nice fake smile, I turned to give Claire my attention. "Hey, Claire. It's nice to see you again."

She turned her head up to face me, a shy smile of her own reflecting back to me. I noticed the color of the dress matched her bright blue eyes and complimented her dark brown hair. I could see some light makeup around her eyes behind her black framed glasses. If it weren't for her dull personality, I'd say she was quite pretty. Unfortunately, that downside overpowered any physical aspects that could have attracted me to her.

"Hi Ryan. It's nice to see you too," she replied, her voice soft and meek. Her full lips tilted up into a shy smile. Her hands were folded neatly on her lap and returned her gaze back to the place setting in front of her.

I turned my gaze to Sean whose jaw was set, a sure sign that he wasn't planning on greeting Saoirse. I glanced towards my future sister-in-law and noticed her expression wasn't far from his. Her fiery red hair matched the tight fitting, burgundy halter top dress. Her hazel eyes burned with rage as she glanced towards Sean.

Our father cleared his throat, an indication that he was pissed. I picked up my glass of wine and took a sip. The tension in the room was palpable. "Sean," our father warned one last time.

Sean closed his eyes for a moment before glancing towards his fiancée. "Saoirse."

"Sean," she replied just as curtly.

This was going to be a long fucking dinner.

I took another sip of wine and stole another peek at Claire. I noticed her fingers were no longer stationary but were now twisting and fidgeting with the napkin in her lap. I couldn't take the awkward silence in the room and decided to attempt a conversation with her. "How have you been?"

Her head swiveled up at me in surprise, her eyes wide in amazement that I had spoken to her. Her voice was timid and soft as she replied to my question. "Fine, thank you. How about you?"

"Fine. Just been busy with work."

She smiled and nodded, her cheeks a faint pink, before her head dropped back to look at her oh-so-interesting fidgeting fingers.

"Well," our mother spoke into the awkwardness. "I spoke with Justin today. I have some exciting news!" We all turned our heads to look at her beaming smile. "Yesterday was Maria's birthday. She just turned twenty-six, the sweet little thing, and for her birthday he proposed to her!"