A visitor woke her some time later with loud thumping on the door, she groaned, pulling herself from the bed and dragged herself past the pile of heart-attack-inducing snacks the previous woman had apparently slipped in for her while she napped. She flung open the door and came face-to-face with one of the men from the car.

“Follow me.” Was all he said before striding away. She pulled a face at his back but did as she was told.

Lucia felt as though she were being led to her execution as she followed silently. When they reached their destination he rapped on the door with his knuckles and waited.

"Come in." A deep voice called. The man opened the door and gave Lucia a not-so-gentle shove into the room.

In the middle of the room was a large wooden desk scattered with papers, files and stationery, behind it sat a pale and broad-shouldered man with green eyes, curly black hair and a kind face. Beside him stood a woman with less meat on her than a Mcnugget, she also had green eyes but her hair was a dark chestnut colour and it hung straight and limp in curtains either side of her pinched face. Lucia could only assume these were her future in-laws despite the woman’s body appearing so young.

They both took her in silently at first, then the woman snapped, "Arthur!" looking at Mr Bonnet accusingly. "What were you thinking?" Lucia sighed with relief, finally someone was thinking straight - an arranged marriage? Ludicrous. "She's far too dark!" Oh. Lucia raised an eyebrow and folded her arms across her chest.

"Does that really m-"

"Yes!" Mrs Bonnet snapped, "Of course it matters! My grandchildren should look like me! Your family has always picked matches that fit the look of the Bonnets for a reason!"

"She's got the black curly hair."

"Because she's- she's-" Don't say Mexican, Lucia thought, if one more old, white lady assumes I'm Mexican... Mrs Bonnet continued to struggle with finding whatever word she was looking for.

"Latina?" Lucia offered, her voice hard. Mrs Bonnet glared at her,

"Get a different one."

"We've already paid for her."

"WE didn't do anything! YOU brought her here and YOU paid for her!"

"It's done." Mr Bonnet spoke with authority and his wife stopped arguing, although that didn't stop her stink face that she was aiming at Lucia.

"My son is working at the moment but I'm sure he will be happy to meet you," Mr Bonnet picked up his phone, "I will call him over now for a quick introduction." he tapped a couple of times on the screen and put it to his ear. "Hello, yes, she's here, yes, okay, see you in a moment, bye." As he placed the phone back down on his desk there was a knock at the door. Lucia blinked and looked over her shoulder, "Come in, Elijah." Mr bonnet called. Elijah? She thought, he can't have got there that quickly, it wasn't possible.

The door opened and a tall, broad-shouldered man stepped into the room. Lucia understood what Mrs Bonnet had meant when she said the Bonnets had a 'look', Elijah had the same teal eyes and dark hair as his parents but cut into an undercut with the curls on top longer. Lucia had been hoping he would be hideous, at least then she could make fun of him for it, but he was annoyingly handsome with a strong jawline, straight nose and not a single blemish on his pale skin.

"Good afternoon." He started to give Lucia a small smile but it was quickly stifled by her furious face. There was an awkward silence as he seemed to be waiting for her to reply, but she continued to stare him down angrily. "Have I managed to make a bad impression already?" He asked, trying to mask his annoyance.

"Forgive me, your Lordship, for not being too fucking flattered at having been tossed into the back of a car, dragged miles from my home, dropped into a stranger's house and then accused, by your mother, of being 'too dark'." Her fists were clenched and her teeth gritted, she could barely contain the fury that had ignited inside of her. Elijah listened to her rant with a look of indifference on his face, when she was finished he gave a soft sigh and simply said,

"Right, lovely to meet you too, dear." and turned and left, disappearing quickly down the corridor. Lucia turned back to Mr and Mrs Bonnet, giving her best ‘I don’t care, fuck you’ face.

“Well, that went well.” Mr Bonnet held a tight smile as he turned his head to look at the man who had brought her in, “I think we are finished here, if you could take her back to her room, please.” the man at her side nodded and stepped out, nodding Lucia out with him.

She followed with an exaggerated sigh, making sure her eye-roll was visible to everyone within a five-mile radius.