Signed & Sealed

S E V E N - A Little Family Reunion

Happy reading, Sade xx

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"CHARLOTTE, is that you?"

At that very moment, she wanted the ground to open up and swallow her in whole just to escape this dreaded situation that was about to unfold.

Hearing that voice sent a shock down her spine, similar to the feeling you get when jumping into a pool of freezing water. Before her stood someone whom she had not seen in probably 4 years.

Her mother.

There she stood dressed to the nines, hair pinned into the perfect chignon, with glittering jewellery across her neck and fingers. When it came to events like these her mother liked to dress like she was about to meet the Queen. Barbara Greyson did not like to be showed up.

It really didn't surprise her that her mother and most likely her father as well would be there, they did attend almost every social event that they could possibly manage to. Talk about trying to climbing the social ladder.

"Mom," she tried to say in an excited voice but she was sure that it came out in an awkward, strained way instead by the way Max and even Nic were trying to hold back their laughs.

"What an absolute surprise to see you here." Her mother replied in that voice she despised, a tone Charlotte dubbed as her mother's 'social voice'. Her pitch was a tad higher, pronunciation more precise but the delivery of the words were slower than usual.

Nic must have noted the way her mother's gaze scanned over her so he inched closer.

The action startled her slightly, she cleared her throat. "Mr. and Mrs. De Luca this is my mother Barbara Greyson," she introduced.

"Oh yes, we've met before," her mother replied excitedly, "We see each other from time to time at events like these." Her mother stated proudly.

Isabelle replied with a smile but anyone could tell that her eyes relayed a different emotion.

Her mother turned towards her, "Charlotte I really didn't know that you were acquainted with the De Luca's."

"Actually, she's my girlfriend," Nicolas stated in a surprisingly proud tone while stepping even closer to her, now standing directly behind her and gently placed his hand on the side of her hip. An action that was not looked over by both of their mothers.

Charlotte let out a nervous giggle, not knowing what else to say. The only thoughts running through her mind was how simply agreeing to be someone's date had now turned into a major cluster f*ck.

The shock on her mother's face was evident, clearly, she did not expect that seemingly simple sentence to leave Nicolas's lips.

The group stood there in extremely awkward silence. She didn't know what to say, no one did. "The program will be starting shortly so we should all probably make our way to our seats," Isabelle swooped in, sensing the uncomfortable tension between the group and saving her.

"You never told me your parents would be here?" He whispered as they sat down.

"Well Nicolas, if I knew they'd be here I wouldn't have agreed to this absurd, spiraling plan of yours,"  Charlotte said through gritted teeth as she tried to keep a pleasant look on her face.

The MC opened the event, welcoming all the guests and announcing the program of the evening; she hardly paid any attention to what was going on around her, her mind congested with what had just occurred.