The Season of Camellias

CHAPTER 3

2023.

The Matisses held a small cocktail party in their home, to celebrate the twins' 21st birthday.

According to tradition, a man's 21st birthday is an important transition marking his entry into adulthood. But instead of hosting a lavish party, the Matisses preferred to have a more intimate affair for the twins. There were no more than thirty guests at the party, most of whom were relatives and neighbors. They wanted the guests to have fun and get to know each other in a relaxed environment. No suits, no formal dresses.

It was a particularly sultry evening, and the party was held in the verdant garden of the Matisse household. The color scheme for the night were rose gold and beige.

Cocktail tables were spread across the yard, adding a touch of friendliness and informality. Food and refreshments were spread out on long tables under white canopies. Guests helped themselves to colorful cocktails. Both alcoholic and virgin were served. Scrumptious delicacies from sausages to cakes and mini pastries, were passed continually to guests.

At 6 PM, the party commenced with a brief speech from the twins.  At first, Saliou was too reluctant to speak in front of a crowd. He feared public speaking, of trying to deal with an audience. But with a bit of prodding from Milou, he managed to utter a short message: "Thank you for coming to our party and I hope you'll have a great time". The rest was taken care of by the older twin, whose special talent is to talk and get a party started faster than any other people knew.

Obviously, the entire Dumont family were present in the party. While the parents were busy accommodating and chatting with guests, the three Dumont brothers had gathered around a cocktail table, talking among each other. Mason, the eldest among the three, was smoking a cigarette; while Wren and Noah, the second eldest, were busy sipping mixed drinks, speaking in hushed tones.

"Wren, you do know you're drinking pina colada, right?" Noah asked after a while. "It's your third cocktail and you're drinking it like it's lemonade. We're just a couple of hours into the party."

Wren fiddled restlessly with the little paper umbrella in his pina colada; eyes fixed on Saliou who was immersed in a conversation with some cousins, under one of the canopies.

The twins were dressed in silk twill shirts in contrasting colors – Milou in beige while Saliou in rose gold. Of course, the young Dumont paid special attention to the latter. Saliou tucked his shirt tightly into a pair of tan pleated pants, which perfectly highlighted his slim waist.  And as he sat back and crossed his legs, Wren caught a glimpse of his exposed ankles over a well-fitted pair of brown suede shoes.

He took another swig of his pina colada, drumming his fingers restlessly against the tabletop. There wasn't a chance to talk to Saliou in private, which got him more and more frustrated by the minute.

He snapped out of his daze when Mason placed a hand on his shoulder and squeezed. "... nothing compared to our lucky baby brother here, who's snagged himself two exceptionally beautiful Omegas."

Wren groaned as his two elder brothers each wrapped an arm around him. "Tell us, baby bro," teased the other brother Noah, "how can you even sleep at night, knowing you can only choose one or the other?"

"Are you stupid?" Mason jeered. "Whoever said he can only choose one? He can legally marry both."

Part of Wren was getting more livid by the second. "Get off my case," he snapped as he took another sip of his pina colada and put the glass down hard on the table.

"Oh! Don't tell us you've already picked a bias." Mason chuckled, prodding an elbow in Wren's ribs.

"Stop it," hissed the young Dumont.

"Once you've made your pick, you better have a good talk with the leftover and warn them about Mason," Noah jested. "This fool's gonna' go after his ass!"

Wren's face wore a look of absolute disgust. "Stop making crass jokes. What do you mean by 'leftover'?"

"Well, if you're planning to marry only one of them, how do you expect the other one would feel? You can't expect them to stay single forever, can you?" Noah reasoned as he jabbed an elbow into Mason's arm. "This one here has zero luck with Omegas. Maybe you can hand over the other twin and –"

Wren gnashed his teeth and clenched his fists tightly. "Stop talking about them like they're some f*****g hunting prey," he seethed, which stunned his brothers into silence.

If there's anything Wren hates about his brothers, it would be their backward, Retrogression-era mentality towards Omegas. And it's precisely because of this, that the Matisse twins have avoided mingling with them. Saliou in particular, has a special hatred for them. Wren figured it's best not to tell him about their conversation and just keep it to himself. Otherwise his hatred might just grow worse.

The elder brothers were quick to pick up Wren's display of aggression, and so they decided to steer the conversation toward something safer.

Mason cleared his throat. "So anyway... how can you even tell those two apart?" he asked as he took a long drag on his cigarette and pointed a finger at the twins.

Eyebrows still creased together, Wren replied crisply: "The one in rose pink is Saliou, so obviously the other one's Milou."

Noah gave the twins an intense stare. "Yeah, but how can you tell? They look practically the same to me."

Wren huffed in exasperation as his eyes were once again fixed on the twins. "Milou is shorter by a few centimeters. His hair and eyes are a shade lighter than Saliou's. And... Saliou has two moles right here," He pointed to a spot right under his left collarbone, "like, over here."

The twins snickered as they gave each other a knowing look.

"And you know that how...?" Noah asked tauntingly.

Wren froze and his face flushed a shade of pink. His mouth twisted in a smirk as he grabbed his glass and drained his pina colada. "Pricks." He slammed his glass onto the table and turned to walk away.

"Go get 'em, tiger!" Mason cheered, punching his fist up into the air.

Wren stuck his middle finger in the air without turning around.