ANISHA'S POV
When I saw a huge sign post, sculpted on a shiny black stone and written in a silver-whitish colour: WELCOME TO THE CLEAR OPAL MANOR, I immediately began to regret why I had ever come. The sign post itself looked too extravagant; and I could swear that it must have costed enough to feed one hundred children for two whole months; at Olga Children's Home.
Just the outside of the place was way more beautiful than I could have had ever imagined. Of course I had envisioned it to be beautiful, but not as much as I was seeing at that time.
A huge automatic gate opened and the car slowly drove in. It was already dark, but there were two rows of lights which shone bright, making it appear as if it was broad daylight. Tall beautiful trees lined the driveway, looking so pretty and identical that I asked myself whether or not they were real trees. Identical flower bushes were placed strategically, in huge flower pots, and they were all in the blooming season, displaying pure white flowers whose beauty I had never beheld before. The road was winding up and down, snaking away and with each meter we took forward, the beauty of the place continued to increase. I had seen beautiful places in magazines and on TV, but not one of them had been half as beautiful as what I was seeing before my eyes.
A gigantic white building stood in front of us; perfectly lighted from all angles, and I felt as if heaven stood before me. It looked too perfect to be real, yet the closer the car drove towards it, the more real it became. Men and women, who I assumed to be the staff at the manor, stood on each side of the road, bowing politely to us, or rather to Dylan, while the car passed. They were all dressed in suits, and all the ladies' hair was neatly tied into ponytails, and the gentlemen were well kempt as well. The car went up the road, winding up and then curving, and yet another parade of the staff appeared, all of them dressed immaculately.
The car stopped in front of the huge white building, whose end I could not even see. In my mind I was wondering what it was. Was it the house? The palace? What on earth was it? Were we already at their place of residence; or maybe this place was their own private hospital?
Well trimmed flowers were in the front of the house, circling over a huge shark fountain. The sculptured shark looked very real, like a shark with its mouth wide open, and the crystal water pouring out of it. The floor in front of the mansion was sparkling, as if it were made of glass. The whole fountain was surrounded by clear opals, which were scattered randomly but still looking exceptionally neat and beautiful. Oh OK, so all my life I had thought that the clear opal was some jewel, precious stone to be hidden in the innermost parts of the home, yet some families actually had that same stone scattered outside? And at that moment I understood why the place was called the Clear Opal Manor.
The car drove and parked in the middle of the sparkling floor. I assumed it was time to get off the car, when the shiny floor slowly started to revolt, going down. And what's more; the car was going down with it…on it! Suddenly we were in an immaculate basement, where more of the staff appeared from nowhere to open the doors for us. How many employees did the de Milos need, anyway?
Chris remained in the car as the floor once again revolted and in a few seconds the car disappeared out of our view. I looked behind us and saw sparkling water. Surely some people have mini heavens here on earth. With my mouth open in shock, I could not help but ask, "Is that a swimming pool?," instantly regretting why I had asked, for I feared that I could have made a fool of myself.
"It is" Dylan smiled. "No one ever swims here; except for Arianna of course. Once in a while she does come here," he smiled and took my hand to lead me towards the elevator.
Some staff accompanied us, and the elevator took us to a huge room that was basically empty. On the walls hung five very huge canvas paintings of the de Milos. The portraits looked extremely expensive; and whoever had done them was truly a talented, experienced and good artist. There was a white leather sofa in that room, and nothing else. In its near-emptiness, the room still shouted extravagant.
While I was still mesmerized by the beauty of the room, a lady appeared and held Dylan's hand. "Excuse us", she waved her hand impatiently at the staff.
"Yes Miss Iris," the staff responded before leaving the place immediately.
"Sir Dylan!" the lady named Iris spoke in hurried whispers. "As I have told you, I have a dress here for Anisha! The competition in there is tough! I brought this dress for Anisha. It's not the best of dresses, but they won't look down on her that much, if she wears it!" she giggled in a low voice and then looked over Dylan's shoulder to look in my direction, noticing me for the first time.
"Oh. My. Word!" her eyes remained widely open, and she covered her mouth with her hand. "Is this her? This is Anisha, isn't it? Oh my goodness, doesn't she look like a goddess?"
The woman walked closer and hugged me tight, "you look elegant, my child. I was very worried about the rivalry's dress, but now that I see you, the sequins on Raelynn's dress suddenly look like the scales of a fish," she laughed. "Look, I even brought you a dress. Now my dress looks like a rug compared to what you're wearing! Never in my wildest dreams did I think you would appear like this! Anisha! You are truly the most beautiful of them all ladies under the sun!" She gasped, her eyes never leaving me.
"Thank you," I smiled shyly.
Another lady dressed in the staff uniform appeared and called out, "Miss Iris, the madam is calling for you! Hurry!"
Iris quickly kissed me on the chick and whispered, "just be yourself. You're beautiful. All the best", before she disappeared into an elevator.
"Dylan, who was that? Which rival is she talking about? I am no longer comfortable," I said as I remained rooted to my spot.
"That's Iris, don't mind her. Come on, let's go," Dylan wanted to grab my hand but I quickly withdrew it. I was holding up my dress so that it would not reach the floor.
"What rivalry is she talking about? Is it your girlfriend?", I asked as I felt a mixture of fear, pain and jealous building up from within and overwhelming me.
"Anisha, don't worry about that. Iris talks a lot, she is just overexcited. Did you see that she had even brought you a dress to wear?"
"Why? She thought I wouldn't have a nice dress?"
Dylan pulled me closer to him and whispered, "Anisha, whatever Iris did, she did it out of love. She knows what kind of guests my mum usually invites, so she was just looking out for you, to make sure that you don't feel out of place." Dylan spoke in a soft, gentle voice.
"I understand that part,", I said. "but what about the part where she spoke about a rivalry? Has your mum looked for another lady for you?", the moment I uttered those words, I suddenly realised I had let out my secret feelings.
Another lady? What was I saying? What did I mean? It was as if I was implying that I was Dylan's lady, yet in all the time that we had been talking, he had never spoken about me being his lady. Why did my heart and my mouth love to deceive me; especially at the most crucial times? My mouth always found a way of saying the wrong things, and I could almost slap myself for being so clumsy with my words. And to make it all worse, I did not even understand what we were; Dylan and I. Panicking, I corrected myself,
"No no Dylan I meant, who is the rivalry? What did Iris mean? We're just friends, aren't we?" I did my best to avoid his eyes.
Dylan laughed and slightly shook his head. His laughter was the most beautiful laughter I had ever heard; with a smile so beautiful that I almost asked him to continue smiling and never stop. It made him look even more handsome. As the deep orange lights shone in his face, I realised again, for the millionth time, just how handsome this man was. It seemed like each time I saw him, I rediscovered his handsomeness. The well chiseled jaw line, and those eyes which looked like they would pierce right into my heart. His smile was beautiful; that's all I could say. It showed clearly that he surely was God's masterpiece, for everything about his face was perfect, and just looking at him made my heart melt.
"There is no rivalry," he laughed. "Relax, Anisha. You're here to have dinner. You don't have to stress yourself over anything. Listen Anisha, nothing can change the fact that we are best friends."
"We're best friends?" I beamed with joy, and quickly stopped smiling when I realised that I would make a fool of myself. Again.
"We are. Now come on, best friend, let's go meet my family!. You're here for me. I want you here, so no one can say or do anything to oppose that."
I looped my arm into his, and we walked towards the elevator.