Lucie. 

We spent the rest of the evening hanging out in the lounge. Axel had been helping his professor with some final work while he finished his PhD and would graduate in the spring of next year. 

"Well, what have you been doing, Luce?" he asked while the butler brought the takeout we had ordered. We had ordered an array of things, pizza, Chinese food and fries, and burgers from the Shake Shack. The maids had been given the evening off, and my parents were attending a gala dinner. 

"After college, I've been working at my grandmother's foundation, and it's been a while." My mother's mother started a foundation in her sunset years that facilitates Alzheimer's screening for people who couldn't afford it, as well as facilitating access to reproductive health for young women and girls who couldn't afford the costly services offered across the country. 

"Oh, I know your grandmother would have liked that," he said, smiling. Axel took his pizza and ate slowly after that. I kept myself from blushing at the comment. My grandmother always had strict instructions for everything, including the way I was to approach dating. Axel knew that he was her favourite of all my friends. 

Anyways, we continued eating while chatting mindlessly over everything when Ashley said we should watch a movie. 

"Oh, I have a recommendation," Oliver said, "We watch Nosferatu, and whoever gets the most scared has to drink a whole beer." I chuckled, if course he turned it into a drinking game. 

"Ollie, I'm done drinking for the next few business months," Ashley complained. 

"And I'm done being the designated Uber caller for you people once you're passed out drunk," Mia chimed in, placing her plate neatly on the table.

"This is an unofficial sleepover, isn't it?" Oliver said, while looking in my direction. "Your parents don't mind?"

"As long as you don't trash the house like you did the other one, they don't mind," I said. Oliver jumped up in excitement and then started moving the things to the movie room on the other side of the house. 

Mia, Ashley and I moved the snacks while Oliver was scrolling through the massive television in the movie room to the streaming service that hosted the movie. Axel had gone to the balcony that wasn't too far from the movie room. I saw him taking out a cigarette and starting to smoke.

"Since when did you start smoking?" I asked while opening the door to the balcony. Axel turned to me and I saw his blue eyes widen a little. "Just something I picked up at college. You know, stressful college situations and all."

I hummed softly and placed my hands on the rail.

"Luce?"

"Yes?"

"What happened?"

"With what?"

"Why are you doing this thing?  Getting into an arranged marriage." I looked at him. The cigarette was burning slowly, and his gaze was focused on me.

"I have always known that I'd get into an arranged marriage. It was always a matter of to whom and when."

"You don't have to."

"I do though. Chad offered my father political clout and so much investment, it was practically an offer he couldn't refuse."

Axel then asked, "What about you? Do you want to get married to him?"

"That's why I asked that we get to know each other first. I want to know him better, and I want him to know me better."

"What about love?" He asked, leveling his gaze to me.

"If I fall in love with him, then that's better, don't you think? But whether or not I will is dependent on so many things that frankly I don't have the time for, but I want to fall in love with him."

He looked back on the horizon, dragging a smoke. Axel was tall, with a pretty lean figure, but I'd noticed that he'd put on some muscle. His jawline was pretty defined, and his angular face only seemed to be shaped better with his long pitch black hair.

"What about you?"

"What about me?"

"Anything that's happened in your life of note?"

"Not much really. Finished my PhD, got a job in a publishing company, and my dad's been begging me to come back home."

"No one struck your fancy?" Axel laughed.

"It's funny when you use such words you know. But no, no one struck my fancy."

The wind blew softly, making goosebumps rise in my arms. "Let's go watch the movie before Oliver loses his mind."

"Are you cold?" He's already taking off his jacket while saying that.

"No." He placed his jacket on my shoulders anyway. I rolled my eyes softly.

We went back in time to see Oliver seated on the floor, nearly spilling soda on the carpet, with Ashley and Mia scolding  him to place the soda down first before sitting.

"Axel, there you are! Come hold my soda for me cause these two," he stared and pointed at the two girls accusingly, " don't trust me to sit down while holding it."

"You almost spilled the drink on the carpet, and your drink reeks of alcohol." Axel immediately put the glass near his nose to smell it.

"There's vodka in here. And a bunch of other stuff I can't smell." Ashley looked in the direction of one of the tables that's covered in an array of alcohols. I turned in that direction and made a face at Oliver. 

 "Well, that's mine," he said as he took back the alcohol. Ashley's face morphed with worry while Mia kept her gaze on him. "It's fine, guys, I'm fine okay?" he added, after scanning their faces.

"Let's get back to the movie," Axel said, in a bid to break the awkwardness that was already starting to take shape.

We all settled in, watching the movie as we slowly went back to normal.