2 First Marriage Meeting

Irene left her daughter's room and went downstairs to prepare the tea. 'She's such a strong young lady.' She looks at the different teas and chooses the Sakura blossom tea.

Edward walks up behind his wife. "Do not fret, dear. Everything will go smoothly."

"I trust you, Darling. It's just a big step to see one's child move forward with their life." Irene smiles and finishes preparing the tea.

Amelia dries herself off after the bath and gets dressed in the yukata. 'I wish that this wasn't wasted on such a fool but there was nothing that I can do at this time.' She lets out a sigh and then goes to the vanity and sits down. She does her hair and then puts on a little makeup but mostly neutral colors. She heads down to the kitchen and sees her parents and smiles. "I am ready to go. I just need to get my shoes on so when the driver is ready to take me there I will leave." She sits down at the door and puts on the sandals. Amelia stays seated at the door waiting for the driver to come and take her to the location.

Irene brought her daughter the tea she prepared, "here have some tea."

Amelia takes the teacup and slowly sips on the tea while waiting. "Thank you, Mother." She places the teacup down as the door opens.

Seiji came to the door, knocked and then opened the door. "Amelia, I have the carriage waiting and ready to take you to the location."

"Thank you, I will be out in a moment." She gets up and slowly walks out to the carriage. 'I wish this meeting wasn't so soon but I do not get to be that lucky.' She gets to the carriage and sits down slowly. She smiles as he closes the door. The carriage ride was slow but steady.

Seiji looked at the road and drove to the location when they arrived, he opened the door and held out his hand to help her out. "I will be waiting for you here, young misses."

"Thank you, I do not know how long this will be but I hope not too long. I do not want to have to deal with this but I know that I have to do this for my family. Feel free to go to the waiting area inside and I will get someone to call you to drive me home." She slightly bows and walks inside.

"Good afternoon." She kneels in front of the door and opens the door slowly. Once she opens the door she slowly but gracefully stands up and heads into the room. "Thank you for this meeting." She goes and seats herself across from the boy she despises. 'Do not think that your parents can make this happen. I will let it go as you want.' She can see his parents whispering back and forth.

"Thank you for coming here today. I must say your beauty and grace was more than I expected and fit your matchmaking picture perfectly," the mother says.

"Thank you, for your flattery. I see no point in altering the picture to make it look different than how one looks in real life. Is it not the point to show how you truly look than to alter how you look? I only came today to reject the offer. I am not looking to get married at this time. I am still studying and would like to continue to do so at my leisure. Plus I do not think that we would make a good pair." Amelia smiled and sat at the table.

"I understand I would not like to force you to do something that you want, it's just that Ken has taken a liking to you and wanted this. I understand if you would like to study but I would love to have a daughter in law like you." The mother says.

"Yes, our son is near the top of his class and is not a bad catch." The father says this.

"Sir, I am the number one overall for all the classes in our grade. If I wanted someone from the middle of the pack I would have my choice of who to choose from. I do not mean any harm but if this is how you try to force your son on an unwilling person then you will find that no one will want to marry into your family." She slowly stands up and goes out towards the garden. "I will not stand for this type of behaviour. Just because I came here does not mean that I would like to marry your son. It is in fact the opposite." With that she leaves the room and it's quite quiet in the room that she walks away. Amelia walked over a little bridge and along a path until she found a bench in the middle of the garden. She sits down and breathes in the fresh air. She closes her eyes and finally relaxes a little. She can hear birds chirping and can hear someone approaching from the opposite path that she has taken to get here.

Gabriel walked down the path away from the chaos he created in his marriage interview. "Why are parents so insistent that the oldest son marries at a young age?"

Amelia hears his voice, looks up at him and decides to answer his rhetorical question, "is it not so that the bloodline can continue to be strong?" She sees him jump, "I am sorry for startling you. I didn't mean to jump into your personal thoughts."

Gabriel looks up at the girl sitting on the bench. 'She is in a beautiful pale blue yukata. She must be from another wealthy family. She looks so delicate.' He walks over to the bench, "Do you mind if I sit down?"

Amelia watches his actions carefully. 'He doesn't seem like that he will do any harm. He looks tender and his hair is slightly longer than I am used to seeing but it suits him really well. He looks taller than me but looks can be deceiving. He is rather handsome. Why could my meeting not be with someone like this? He must be here for a marriage interview as he is dressed for one.' She glances down at the ground blushing, "you may sit with me."