I Still Love You

Party

LEENA'S POINT OF VIEW

"I missed you too princess."Dad said giving me a light kiss on my forehead. I smiled staring at my Dad's face gratefully.

"Jeez, that favoritism is absurd."Larry sneakily scoffed beside me and I turned to look at him.

"Can you not start?"I rolled my eyes at him. He was always saying how my Dad favoured me and while I thought that was true, he was annoyingly shoving it to my throat as if I was supposed to be sad that my Dad loved me more. He was my Dad. Well, he was hus Dad too but he was my Dad.

"She's my princess."Dad stated and I smirked. Larry rolled his eyes at me. "I get to treat her the best."he added.

"Whatever."Larry said trying to act nonchalant. "Happy belated birthday or whatever. And welcome home I guess. And congratulations on completing your studies."he said and my smile turned sweet. He was saying all this awkwardly but I know he was being honest. He was shy when he was trying to be nice to me. I found that adorable.

"Thank you Larry."I said and I suddenly hugged him and he tried to act annoyed while pushing me away.

"Would you look at that?"Mom said amused as she stared at Larry and me. "Talk about favoritism when we all know who is everyone's favorite."she added laughing.

"She's not my favorite. She's annoying and dumb. I'm even surprised that she managed to finish college. I had no hopes for her."Larry said and I smiled wider.

"I am happy to prove you wrong dummy. I managed to live on my own in a foreign country for four years and I actually finished college. I have my degree. I did it."I said but for some reason my eyes found themselves looking for that face to see if he heard that. But he wasn't where he was standing earlier and looking around, he wasn't in the room anymore. When did he leave? Where did he go? Jeez, why did I even care. He wasn't even welcomed here. He wasn't family.

Then I suddenly locked eyes with my mom's sister's daughter. She was my cousin. She gave me a smirk, the kind that wasn't too friendly. Yeah, I expected that. She and I were nothing close. I'm sure she hated me.

But instead of reciprocating her attitude, I actually gave her a sweet friendly smile. There was no use being hostile. "Hey Claire?"I greeted her softly. Her expression turned into a surprise first before she composed herself. She expected my hostility huh?

She cleared her voice first. "H-hey Leena. Welcome back."she told me and I nodded.

"Thank you."I told her and then there was just awkwardness that followed. Jeez, the silence was too loud I could feel suffocated somehow.

"Okay,"Mom broke the silence. "Leena why don't you say hi to everyone else then you get changed. There is an actual birthday cake and party for you. You can't possibly celebrate your birthday wearing airport sweatpants."Mom said.

"Mom, I don't think that's really necessary."I tried objecting to it. I found that too much work. I just wanted to relax for heaven's sake. I was jet lagged.

"Darling, everyone is here for you to celebrate you. Do everyone a favour and don't let their efforts get wasted."Mom was trying to guilt trip me and it worked.

I sighed. "Fine, I'll change."I agreed and she smiled. I smiled too seeing her happy.

I walked up to my aunt and gave her a gentle hug. "Welcome back Leena."she told me lovingly. I always liked her even though I didn't get along with her daughter. She was the kind and quiet person who was just so genuine and pure. I'm surprised her daughter didn't take after her.

"Thank you aunt Aurora. I'm grateful for you taking your time to be here."I told her .

"You are very welcome Leena. I'm happy to be here."she told me staring at me fondly.

Soon, I said hi to the Butler and since I had already greeted Claire, I didn't greet her again. I just awkwardly grazed my fingers on her arm. Chase was not back from wherever he went.

"ohh... princess. I might have to step away for a minute. My friend, you remember him right? Chase Westbrook?"Dad asked me smiling. Seeing him smile like that so clueless, hurt me a little. I would never want him to find out about my recklessness to confess to his best friend. He would feel so betrayed. God, I would die if he found out about it.

I nodded anyway to acknowledge I remembered Chase Westbrook. "He and I had a business which is an emergency. He just appeared with a problem that was an emergency and it needs my attention as soon as possible. So while you get ready, I need to step away for a second. I'll be back before you can blow your birthday candle."he promised me and I smiled nodding.

"It's okay Dad. Take all the time you need."I said like an understanding daughter but deep inside I wanted to know why Chase chose this day to be here? I get that it was an emergency or whatever but I didn't want to see him, especially not when I just came back home after I tried to avoid seeing him for four good years.

"Claire, why don't you join your cousin as she gets ready for her birthday. You both can catch up on...."Aurora tried to tell Claire but she cut her off.

"I'll pass on that. I have a call to make. Maybe we can catch up later."she sternly said and I pursed my lips. I understood what she meant. She didn't want to be in a room with just her and me. Why did she hate me though? I have always wondered.