"Sera, can you please tell us about yourself?" Ethan's Mom asked, I mean Lady Maxwell.
"What would you like to know, Lady Maxwell?" I asked. I had no idea what to say. I'd lived a pretty boring life up to this point. I'm pretty sure they don't want to hear about my poor childhood.
"Why don't you tell her about your educational background and what you currently do." Charles prompted.
"I graduated with my degree in Optometry last year and have been working for the past year. I love being able to help others have better vision." If they wanted any more out of me, they'd have to ask. Although, if they get me on the right topic, I'll never stop talking.
"So you're an eye doctor? That's impressive." Ethan's Dad said.
"Thank you. I enjoy my work." I responded.
Ethan cleared his throat and asked, "You may think me weird but I've always wanted to ask an eye doctor if they have a favorite eye color."
I turned to look at him and stared into his blue eyes. "I can't say for all eye doctors, but my favorite would have to be blue. But there's this one shade of blue I love better than all the rest, I know it when I see it but I don't know how to describe it. I have seen beautiful eyes of every color though." I knew exactly how to describe Ethan's eye color but didn't think it would be a good idea to do so in front of everyone. Of course his eyes were my favorite shade.
"Interesting. I've always been partial to green eyes." Ethan responded and I blushed slightly. He use to tell me how much he loved my green eyes just as I use to tell him how much I loved his blue eyes in their shade of the clear ocean.
"You know, I did see someone with one green eye and one blue eye, and that was pretty amazing." I said, trying to calm down my heart from the fireworks that seemed to be going off inside me.
Mom laughed, "You never told me that."
"Oh it just happened last week, and we've been busy with other things." I said and then turning to the others and explained, "we're leaving to go on a Caribbean cruise on Friday, so we've been busy with getting ready for that."
"A cruise?" Charles asked.
"Yes, Sera wanted to celebrate a year in her job and she loves spoiling me." Mom beamed. "So she's taking me on a two week cruise."
"And you're leaving in two days?" Ethan's dad asked. It seemed that no one was really happy about that development.
"Yes, we're flying to Barbados on Friday and leaving on the cruise on Saturday." Mom answered. "We're returning two weeks later on Sunday."
"So you'll be gone for 16 days?" Ethan asked me.
"That is the plan, yes." I answered.
That made everyone go quiet, and I wondered if they wanted the wedding to continue on the same date, except switch the bride. I wasn't sure how I felt about that, I mean isn't that bad luck? Not that I put much stock in luck, but why would I want to start the biggest commitment of my life with the possibility of bad luck?
"Young Lord Maxwell, what did you study at University?" I changed the subject. Let them stew over the fact that I'm planning on leaving for a few weeks.
"You can call me Ethan, I feel no need for the formalities in this setting." Ethan smiled. "I studied Finance."
For the rest of dinner the conversation was polite and boring. As we finished dessert, I noticed Ethan's Mom catch his eye and motion toward me slightly with her head. He stood up and pulled out my chair for me. "Sera would you like to take a walk around the garden with me?"