Mindful Beauty

31) His Family

"Thank you so much for accepting to come to our Thanksgiving dinner, Ella." Romano greeted Ella first, holding the door open for her and his son.

"It's no problem. Thank you for inviting me." Ella entered, grateful to be hidden from the heavy snow that was falling outside. "We brought some dessert and some wine." Ella gestured to Damien's hands.

"She brought it. I didn't do much but carry it in." Damien clarified, letting Ella's generous intentions not be drowned out by her humble actions.

"Oh, well, thank you." Romano took it in, walking them to the kitchen where Celeste was still cooking up a storm even though it was only going to be them and Selena as well as Selena's family.

"Ella!" Celeste's face brightened up as soon as she saw the young women entering. "Oh, you looking stunning with those crystals!" Celeste pointed at Ella's hair that had been decorated with the snowflakes from outside.

"You hair, amore." Damien chuckled when he saw Ella's expression turn curious and cutely confused.

"Oh, regardless. It looked good." Celeste hugged Ella while Damien gently patted Ella's dark hair to rid of the snow that was quickly turning into droplets of water.

"Ella brought this." Romano said to his wife he placed the items away.

"Sure, sure." Celeste nodded to her husband even though she didn't pay attention to a thing. "Have you met Selena?" Celeste gestured to the blonde and beautiful lawyer that sat at the bar, nursing a glass of wine that she had just served herself upon seeing that Ella actually arrived.

"Yes. We met briefly almost a year ago. Hi, how are you?" Ella stretched her hand to shake Selena's.

Damien grounded his jaw when he saw how long it took for Selena to shake Ella's hand.

When he had first found out about Selena coming to dinner, it was too late to back out since he had already invited Ella upon his mother's request, and Ella was already too excited to get to know his parents more. All he could really do was ask that his parents tell Selena to behave and that he would be on alert if anyone tried to make his girlfriend uncomfortable.

"I like your nails." Selena mumbled to Ella, noticing that Ella's manicured nails were just a simple and soft, baby pink that emphasized Ella's innocence and elegance. Selena, actually, was more bold and dominant, and it showed through her longer and sharper, red nails.

"Thank you," Ella smiled, quickly offering Selena a glass of the wine she had brought when the blonde chugged the rest of the alcohol, ignoring Damien's intimidating glare. Selena had had enough of Damien pushing her to the side. No. Tonight, she would make sure her presence wouldn't be ignored.

"So, Ella, I heard you run your own practice." Selena began, swishing the wine in her bottle.

"Yeah. I tend to work better under my own rules." Ella explained, focusing on that conversation rather than the one Damien's parents were focused on having.

"That's interesting."

"Didn't you open up your new firm?" Ella wondered. Damien had mentioned it briefly one night when he had gotten to her house, dead tired from trying to help Selena settle.

"Yeah. I guess I also tend to work better under my own rules." Selena sighed, taking another sip of her wine.

"Would you stop drinking so much? We're just getting started, and that's your third glass." Selena's mom scolded quietly.

Selena only grunted, pushing the glass away for a while, but she couldn't help but to take moderate sips throughout the night every time she saw Damien or Ella whisper something to each other or when they would share secretive glances. All in all, they looked like a beautiful couple that was in love, and she hated that. She hated it because she was promised that future, but here she was, being erased and forgotten as if she wasn't Damien's best friend, as if Damien hadn't promised her that future.