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I hurry to reach his side, soaking in the moment of just having his company for a time without any strings attached. But we can’t be quiet forever and I must talk to him about the more serious things that have been on my mind.
I’m going to apologize to my brother. I have to. After all, no matter who he is marrying, we’re still family, and being as estranged from him as our parents currently are isn’t something I want for us. With Roxanne, Patricia, and Karl all coming between us, there were a lot of issues to bridge. With that in mind, I decide that I might as well start.
“Sooo… how was Paris? Did you enjoy it?”
The happiness at the memory of his trip flickers across his face, but he closes it off quickly, not wanting to share it with me. I can’t exactly blame him. Taking the trip was idiotic, just like trying to make a life with an escort is idiotic, but my brother will never be one to admit that he is wrong.
“It was wonderful,” he says, keeping it simple. “It felt like a new chapter of our lives started when Roxanne became my fiancée.”
I try hard not to puff at the wordfiancée. “…That’s nice.”
He snorts. “You don’t have to pretend to be interested.”
“I am, though!” I protest as we walk side by side. “I’m interested in your life, what you’ve been doing…you just know how I feel about that woman.”
“Elise,” Andries’s voice is icy, and he shoots me a glare. “The moment you say something negative about my fiancée, I’m leaving.”
“I wasn’t trying to,” I interpose straight away. “It was just my opinion, nothing more.”
Andries shakes his head in disbelief. “Yeah, right…”
“Hey,” I say quietly, but it gets his attention, nonetheless. “I want to say I’m sorry for the fight we got in last time. Now, before you get all smug, I think you’re somewhat at fault too, but I don’t want all of that to make you think that I hate you or something.”
“Don’t you?” he replies, sounding genuinely surprised, and he even stops in his tracks to face me. “Everyone else at home does. There’s a reason why I’m disowned after all.”
I flinch, but he isn’t wrong. At least not when it comes to Mom and Dad, who refuse to have anything to do with Andries’s relationship. My brother is so loyal to Roxanne that there is no way he’d consider attending family functions alone and justleaving her behind. They are a single unit now. There isn’t really any other way to put it but “disowned.”
“That’s a harsh way to put it,” I hedge, and we resume sauntering on the concourse of the campus. “They’re really pissed off though, I won’t sugarcoat it. Especially Pops.”
“You know what’s funny,” he says, the hurt evident in his voice even if he won’t acknowledge it. “No one outside of the house really seems to care, family-wise. I won’t say names, but multiple other family members have encouraged me to be with Roxie, and Oma is entirely supportive, somewhat surprisingly.”
I frown, turning my head to look up at him. “What do you mean? How do you know she isn't just being polite?”
“Because she agreed to let us have the wedding on her property.”
Andries drops this little tidbit of information like a bomb, and my step falters. I knew they were engaged, but not that they were already in the wedding planning stage of it all. That bothers me so much that I let the information about Oma being supportive fall to the wayside and focus on the time frame.
“Isn’t it a little early to be choosing venues and all that?” I manage to choke out.
“Not at all,” Andries says with confidence. “We’re planning for August, when the weather is good.”
My steps falter immediately and I can’t help but let my mouth hang open. “ThisAugust!?”
“See, I knew you’d behave this way, Elise,” he scoffs. “Yes, this August. There’s no point in waiting. I don’t have any illusions that the idea of the relationship will become more bearable for our parents over time, so it is what it is. I want to be her husband, and she wants to be my wife. The sooner the better.”
I want to snap back at him and make him wake up once and for all from his naiveté, but alas, I didn’t come here to startanother argument, so instead, I just swallow the curses I have for him and say, “Don’t you want to live as an engaged couple for a while? That’s what most people do. To make sure they’re compatible or whatever.”
“We are already living together. We are very compatible.”
Flustered, I sputter, “You’ve been living together for a month or so, that’s not enough.”
“It’s more than enough.” Andries snorts. “Anyway, yes, we’re getting married this August, toward the end of the month. It will be a small ceremony with just friends and… family. What family will be able to stomach attending, that is.”
His tone becomes sarcastic toward the end of his statement, and I can see why. I just don’t ever think he will be able to convince our parents to go to his wedding to an older ex-escort. It’ll be a scandal that they want no part of.
Am I okay being a part of it, though?
“I mean… if you’re sure,” I offer, unable to take the disappointment out of my tone. “And happy.”
