Olivia never liked returning home since her university days. It felt like a strange place, an alien world. She never seemed to fit in with her parent's schedule or way of life, there were always visitors she needed to greet and say "hello" to, and so many events she needed to attend just to 'show your face' according to her parents, presenting their family as a happy family of three.
She never asked for any of it, wanted none of it. The universe just shoved it on her, and now she has to deal. Life was manageable when her dad was just the chairman of a bank. Now that he might run for mayor of New York City, it seems she might never get to live the simple life she craved.
Initially, she had no plans to return home after completing her master's degree. She already got a cat, applied for a job and was eagerly waiting for a response. But then her mother called out of the blue and requested for her to come, saying they missed her so much and wanted to make it up to her. New York wasn't her happy place, but she had David, and it's been 3 years since they'd seen each other. Traveling home couldn't be that bad of a decision.
New York still bustled with its familiar faces, everyone going about their daily affairs. You had to have a direction to avoid getting lost in the crowd and the life here.
"Miss Olivia, Miss Olivia!!!" She heard her name and turned back to see Mr. Israel waving at her.
"Hi Mr. Israel"
"Olivia, dear, welcome back home."
The roads were still the same, and traffic seemed to have doubled, a group of people stood on one side of the road with placards,
"Sir, what is going on?" Olivia asked the driver.
"They are government workers, protesting for an increment in their salary, the standard of living has gone up, and their salary is not meeting."
The estate where her parents resided was heavily guarded by security officials. No one got through the gate unless a phone call was put across to the designated house. It even had its electricity transformer, so it didn't partake in the cries of other New Yorkers whenever there was an electricity situation, though an electricity crisis rarely occurred.
Olivia had grown up in this neighbourhood and spent her entire life here. The neighbouring building belonged to David's parents, they were barely around, just like Olivia's parents, so Olivia and David bonded over their loneliness. David would be at work now, so she would wait until tomorrow being a weekend, show up at his doorstep and scream "Surprise!" and then he would hug her, lift her up and not let go.
It is still a shock that David and Olivia never had anything intimate, there was a time Olivia's mom suspected the both of them, but Olivia assured her there was nothing, David was the shy type and now that she's thinking about it, he had never had a girlfriend, so why had they not dated.
Her parents were not at home when she got home. She was told by the housekeeper that they had gone for a meeting. Olivia unpacked her belongings, and showered, the cold water soothing and relieving her from the stress of her trip. She would not wait up for them. They wouldn't come back on time. She had learned the hard way. But to her surprise, they came as she was almost done with dinner,
"My precious jewel, my queen" her dad beamed with joy when he saw her
"Dad, good evening" She hugged him
"How are you, my baby? How was the trip, did you miss New York?" Her dad answered laughing.
"My trip was fine, and yes, I missed New York, where is mummy? She asked concerned
"She's coming, she got some stuff for you, she's helping the housekeeper offload them." Her dad replied, taking off the buttons of his grey coloured suit.
"Mom, Hi! Olivia greeted her mom as she walked into the room.
"My baby!, the first Black best graduating medical student from Oxford, at age 24, you have made us proud, my baby. Come and hug me." She opened her arms for Olivia to fall in.
"I see you have eaten. Williams, we should get down to business, seeing as tomorrow is a very important day."
"What business mummy?" Olivia looked at them apprehensively.
"The business of marriage, my love" her father replied to her
"Marriage? Who's getting married? You want to take a second wife?"
Her mom burst out laughing
"You are the one getting married, Olivia Williams. You will be getting married to Ethan Brown of Brown Group."
Olivia stared at them in disbelief. This can't be happening.