- Six years ago -
[District Six - Ashford's Estate, Late Evening]
She could not believe this is happening. Sage Lee, aged fourteen, is currently having dinner with her future husband and in-laws. Did she have a say in this?
Nope. Absolutely not.
Yet, she was forced to sit here and smile as if she was a willing participant in this mess. Her father, Jeom, told her that this was necessary. The Lee family and the Ashford family were two of the strongest families in the elites' world. If both families can come together as one, they would be stronger as a whole, and strength meant status and control.
Sage with her parents and Nathan with his parents were sitting on a long rectangular wooden table. One family on each side. There was a plethora of dishes between them - From turkey and steak to finger food like mini pastrami sandwiches and bacon-wrapped brussels sprouts.
"Thank you so much for inviting us for dinner." Sage's mother, Camille, beamed, "Smells wonderful!"
"No, not at all. Instead, we would want to thank you for taking the time to come," Eleanor waved her away. She glanced over to Sage as the corners of her lips started to curve up, "Nice to finally meet you, Sage!"
Sage let out a bright smile, and she bowed slightly, "Nice to meet you too, Mrs Ashford." She turned her head a little to the right and bowed once more, "And, Mr Ashford."
William barked out a laugh, "How well mannered! You taught your daughter well, huh, Jeom."
Jeom smiled slightly, "You're giving me too much credit, Will."
He laughed a little more before gesturing to his son, Nathan, "This is my son, Nathan. This must be your first time meeting him, Sage."
"Yes," Sage answered before looking across the table, "Nice to meet you, Nathan."
She put out her hand across the table for a handshake.
As he laid back with his arms crossed, Nathan looked up at her, then down to her hand and back up to her face. He quirked up one corner of his lips and smirked, "...You're really playing the role, huh."
Sage's eyes went wide, "I'm sorry?"
His mother, who sat next to him, nudged his side, "Nat-"
"Alright, fine." He lifted his hands to surrender, "Nice to meet you too, Sage."
He did not shake her hand.
Feeling slightly embarrassed, Sage immediately retracted her hand.
"Nate!" Eleanor yelled discreetly, "Don't be rude."
"I'm not, mom," Nathan groaned, "I'm just starving. Can we just dig straight into the food?"
"Absolutely not! You're acting disrespectful-"
"Mrs Ashford." Sage called out as she continued smiling, "It's okay, let's dig straight in. I really can't wait to try what you've cooked up for us this evening!"
"That's right, Eleanor." Camille charmed in, "This is their first time meeting. Nathan must be shy. That's all."
William bowed down slightly to Jeom as an apology, and Jeom nodded with acknowledgement.
Sighing, Eleanor gestured towards the table, "I'm terribly sorry, let's just dig in."
Sage was eating silently at the table, and she was not complaining. The food was great, and she was glad that her parents were not pushing her to talk.
Her parents and Nathan's parents were chatting among themselves regarding current affairs, future plans, and whatever adults talked about.
Nathan, who sat directly across her, was not talking much. He was so engrossed in the food that he did not bother sparing any glances to her.
Not to mention, the way he was smacking his lips while eating was way too annoying, and he even chewed with his mouth open. It was as if he has not eaten in days. But, Sage knew he was exaggerating the way he ate to scare her away from marrying him.
Well, too bad for him. Sage did not have a say in her dad's decision!
Even though she did not want to marry this rude and arrogant asshat, she needed to, for the future of the Lee family.
However, that did not make her any less upset.
He was absolutely the worst, and she will be stuck with him forever.
Yay.
Annoyed, Sage tried to shake her thoughts away from her. But, it did not work. And, staying irritated was making it hard for her to keep her facade.
"I need a breather." She thought to herself.
She finished chewing her last bite and gently wiped her mouth with a nearby napkin. She then moved back her chair and stood up, "Sorry for disturbing you all, but I'll need to use the restroom."
"Oh!" Eleanor said, "Do you know where is it, darling?"
"No. But, I'll manage." She smiled.
"Alright, just turn to your left, walk down the hallway and t-" Eleanor paused as spun her head to Nathan, "Nevermind, Nate bring Sage to the restroom."
Nathan choked.
William sighed and passed him a glass of water.
Wheezing, Nathan grabbed the cup, chugged it and swallowed hard. He patted his chest for a little before whipping his head towards his mother, "Sorry, what?"
"You heard me, Nathan. Be a gentleman and guide her to the restroom."
"But-"
"No buts, Nathan Ashford."
"Wha- Okay, okay! Fine. Geez." He stood up and walked towards the door, "Come on, let's go."
Oh god. Sage could not believe it. The last person she wanted to be with now is him.
Immediately, she protested, "Mrs Ashford, it's fine. I can go on my own. I'm pretty good at memorising directions, so just let me-"
"Sage," Jeom called out, almost sternly.
She suppressed her urge to flinch.
Without turning his head, her father looked at her from the corner of his eyes, "Just go with Nathan."
"...Yes, father."
Her response was almost automatic.
She stood away from the table and headed towards the door behind Nathan.
All her anger seemingly vanished upon hearing her father. All there was left is fear.
She did not want to upset her father.
She could not upset her father.
She needed to be the perfect daughter.
———
She turned on the faucet and let the water run. With her hands planted on each side of the sink, she stared into the mirror.
"Calm down, Sage," she mumbled under her breath, "You'll be fine."
"It's just a marriage. Nothing serious." She comforted, "It's okay."
It was not okay, and deep down, she knew.
"It's fine." She muttered quietly, trying to fight off the lump in her throat, "It's-"
She could not stand it anymore.
Tears started gushing out of her eye sockets. Her hand flew to her mouth as she attempted to make her crying inaudible as possible.
She wanted to run away. She did not want any of this. She did not want to sit there and smile like nothing was wrong. She did not want to get married, especially not to that guy. She did not want to be an elite in the first place.
And most of all, she did not want to listen to her father.
She wanted to be free.
She took a couple of long deep breaths to calm herself down.
She did not know how long she took to stop crying. Ten minutes, fifteen minutes, twenty minutes or more.
Either way, she needed to come up with a reason why she was in the restroom for too long.
Sighing, Sage washed her face to get rid of the tears and snot. She grabbed a clean towel from a shelf under the basin to dry her face. Once she was done, she threw it in the laundry bin.
She took a final deep breath and stared at the mirror once more.
It was not super obvious that she cried unless someone looked very closely.
"It should be fine." She told herself.
She clicked open the door and was surprised to find Nathan still there.
With his arms across his chest, he leaned up against a wall, waiting for her.
"About time." He grumbled, "Did you get stuck in the toilet bowl or something?"
She ignored him. She was really too exhausted to be dealing with this right now. She brushed past him and started walking back to the dining room.
"Wow, you're ignoring me now. Great." He continued as he followed behind, "I waited for you for twenty minutes, and this is what I receive."
Again, she ignored him.
"Seriously, I don't even know why my parents set me up to this. I don't even want to get married to some goody-two-shoes, who doesn't think or act for herse-"
This was when she flipped.
She came to a halt, swirled her head around and shot him a glare, "You think I WANT to get married to an asshole like you? I have no choice. It's my father's decision, and I have no say in it. I can't change his mind, and it's for the sake of our families. If you don't want to get married, why don't you be a kind soul and tell your parents that you don't want to? It saves both my time and your time."
Sage huffed breathlessly once she finished. When she finally calmed down, she realised what she did, and her eyes widened in dismay.
Nathan stared at her for a moment and blinked a few times.
"I-I..." She averted her eyes, "Please don't-"
Before she could finish, he laughed.
Really. Damn. Hard.
She stood there, baffled.
...
"Ow. Ow. My sides." He said before pursing his lips to stop laughing. Once he was ready, he grinned, "So, you can be yourself if you want to."
"Wha-"
"Nice to finally meet you, Sage. The real Sage." He greeted as he let out a hand, "I'm sorry for what I said earlier and how I behaved at dinner."
Sage stared at his hand and back at him, "I'm sorry for what I said too. I was just too exhausted and tense. But, it's not an excuse."
She then turned around without taking his handshake and continued walking.
"Hey, what the hell." He said as he jogged up to catch up with her, "Are you seriously that petty?"
"It's revenge." She answered, "You didn't know how embarrassed I was."
"I said I'm sorry." He sighed.
"Yeah, and I accept your apology. But that doesn't mean that I can't get back at you."
"Wow, someone's holding grudges."
"I'm not usually like that, but you're a special case."
"Oh...! In a good way or a bad way?" He winked.
"Bad." She replied almost instantaneously with a droll look.
He could not help by to laugh again.
He then got in front of her and stopped her, "Okay, okay. You got your revenge, now can we just shake hands and call a truce."
He put out his hand in front of her once more.
She considered for a while and nodded, "Only if you don't tell your parents or my parents, especially my father, that I lashed out on you."
"I have no intention to, even if you didn't tell me not to."
Relieved, her face lit up a little. However, she put out her hand slowly and hesitantly. It was almost as if she did not trust Nathan.
She did not-
And, he knew that, so he took the initiative to grab her hand in for the shake, "There."
Sage was a little taken aback, but somehow expected something like that from him.
With their conflict settled, they walked side-by-side back to the dining room.
"Soooo, you think I'm an asshole, huh."
"Yup. 100%."
"Eh," He shrugged, "I can see that."
*****
- Character Details -
Name: Sage Lee
Gender: Female
Age: 20
Birthday: 24th December (Capricorn)
Likes: Sleep, instant noodles, waffles
Dislikes: High-pitched voice, annoying people, Nathan Ashford