Uncle

The Hill family and Aiden just finished lunch when old butler came in the family room.

"Mr. Owen arrived", he announced.

The friendly atmosphere in the room became heavy.

"Hello, my beautiful and only sister!", voice with an Eastern European accent came from the hallway. A man entered family room. He is about 5'6" tall and has a short brown hair neatly combed back, with obvious large amount of hair product. His overall appearance is not striking in any way. His right arm is hooked around a waist of a young woman who looks to be in her early twenties. With model-like body, she is few inches taller than he is, with long blonde hair and a heavy makeup on her face. Owen let go of her waist and stepped forward to give a big hug to Stella, his sister.

"Merry Christmas, everyone! This is Lexi" Owen pointed at the young woman that came with him. She lightly nodded and glanced at Stella, then at three sisters. Her gaze stayed a bit longer on Edward and then rested on Aiden checking him out.

"Hi Lexi!" Stella pulled her hand. "I'm Stella, Owen's sister." Stella didn't show any warmth in her expression. She didn't like any of the young women that her brother brought over so far. But this one especially gave her a bad impression right from the start.

Lexi looked at Stella. "Nice to meet you."

Stella proceeded to be a good host and introduce everyone to Lexi.

Owen looked at Aiden. "And this young man is?"

"This is Aiden, Sarah's classmate from University. He is our guest while airports are closed." Edward responded.

"I see, nice to meet you." Owen extended his arm for a handshake.

Aiden nodded as they shook hands.

Lexi approached Aiden and she looked at him seductively. "I'm Lexi, nice to meet you."

Aiden nodded without responding.

Sarah frowned. 'This Lexi is trouble'.

"How long do you plan to stay?" Stella asked Owen.

"I just arrived, and you are sending me away?" Owen laughed it off.

Stella frowned. "Not sending you away. I'm asking so that we can make appropriate arrangements. Will you need two rooms or one?"

"One room." Owen immediately responded. "Not sure how long we will stay. Few days maybe?"

Stella exhaled. "OK." She turned to the old butler. "Please make sure that guest bedroom is ready for Owen and Miss Lexi."

"Yes, Madam", Mr. Joe responded and left the room.

Lexi sat next to Owen on the sofa. She stuck her chest out and pouted her lips. Lexi held Owen's hand and kept staring around the room while throwing glances at Aiden. All three sisters were looking at Lexi with unpleasant expressions, and Sarah's patience was running short.

Sarah stood up and walked towards Aiden, while tilting her head gesturing him to follow her outside. He stood up and followed her.

"You are leaving?" Edward was disappointed that Aiden is leaving.

"I will show him project I'm working on. I believe that he can help me optimize my solution. We talked about this earlier, and he agreed to give me some time, after lunch today." Sarah made up a story on the spot, and they left the room.

She led him to her room without a word. After the doors closed behind them, Sarah let out a sigh of frustration.

Aiden hugged her from behind. "I'm here", he whispered.

Sarah turned around and looked at him pouting. "She was looking at you like she wants to eat you up."

He raised his eyebrows, obviously amused. "Jealous?"

Sarah squinted her eyes. "Do I have a reason to be jealous?"

He shook his head vigorously. "No."

Sarah looked at his body like she wants to find something. "But I have a feeling she dirtied you with her eyes. You should wash up."

He looked at her suggestively. "How about we wash up together?"

At that moment, door opened and JoAnna entered ignoring that Aiden is in the room. She closed the door behind her. "Of all the hussies uncle brought here so far, this one is the worst. I'm going back to my place first thing tomorrow.", she complained.

"Nothing much we can do. It's his choice." Sarah sighed. "We can leave, but mom is stuck with him."

"How I wish that she finds the strength to kick him out and cuts him off. Only then he might learn his lesson", JoAnna was angry.

Doors opened again, and Sophia got inside with a frown on her face.

"Hey, both of you should learn to knock first!" Sarah was irritated.

"If you want privacy, lock the doors.", Sophia said with a flat voice.

"When are you going back to your apartment?" Sophia was talking to JoAnna.

"Tomorrow after breakfast. You?" JoAnna returned question to Sophia.

"Let's leave at the same time", Sophia responded. "I was planning to stay few more days, maybe even until New Year's but as things are now, I will rather enjoy peace in my own home."

"It's that bad?" Aiden asked Sarah.

"Every time he comes it's with a different girlfriend. It's obvious they are with him for the money. Uncle is a good man, and these women are taking advantage of him. It's difficult for us to watch.", Sarah explained. "If we don't have plans to leave tomorrow, I would make up something."

"I would leave now if it's not for the party tonight and Christmas tomorrow", JoAnna added.

Aiden looked at Sarah's face and noticed her creased eyebrows. He put his index finger between her eyebrows to get them to relax. It's the same gesture she does to him when he is upset. Sarah relaxed and smiled at him.

"Hey, we are right here! Do we need to look at you two getting all affectionate?", JoAnna pouted.

"If you don't want to watch, go to your room." Sarah responded with a smirk on her face.

JoAnna wanted to respond, but Sophia pulled her hand. "Let's go". JoAnna protested, but still followed Sophia. As they were leaving the room, Sarah heard Sophia's voice, "Lock your doors."

"Knock next time instead of barging in!" Sarah responded.

Two of them closed the doors behind them.

"Eve, lock the doors!" Sarah pulled Aiden toward the sofa. There was a sound of the doors being locked. He observed her room. They are on a sofa with two chairs on each side and a coffee table in between. Behind them is a wall filled with books. There is a work desk with a PC, king size bed with one door on each side. Aiden assumes that one is for closet and other for the bathroom. Guest bedroom he is using has a similar arrangement. Right wall is covered with large windows overlooking the property at the back of the house.

"You three are getting along well." Aiden observed.

"Yes. Yes, we are." Sarah confirmed. After few seconds she continued, "Oh, update from my side. My mom also knows about us. Now it's only my dad left in the dark, he is not easy to deal with. Even my mom said not to tell him now. I guess she does not want him to ruin the Christmas."

Aiden frowned. "I think he likes me."

"What is there not to like?" Sarah laughed. "He likes you, but as my friend. If he sees you as a boyfriend, his attitude will change."

"You care what your family thinks."

"Yes, we are close, and I would like their support. But even if he does not accept us, that will not change my feelings." After some thought Sarah observed, "It seems that you don't care if my father knows about us or not."

Aiden carefully chose his words. "At this point I don't think that it's important for him to know. But I see that you care about this, so I will play along."

"Thank you." Sarah checked time, "We have three hours before we need to show up for the party. Is there something you would like to do?"

He looked at her with a smirk on his face. "How about we wash up together?"

Sarah blushed, "You are shameless!"

Aiden looked disappointed, "You don't want to?"

"That...", even her ears got red, "it's not that I don't want to...", she was not able to finish. His lips covered hers.