Double Booked

Why my parents had insisted on my attendence at my sister's wedding I didn't know. Both my parents, my only sibling...and my sister's husbands family had made it perfectly clear that I was a disgrace to the 'Witch' name. I had barely any control over my elemental powers back when I had last spoken to them years ago, and I hated spell casting and potion studying...I had pretty much failed chemistry at school, which was unheard of for a 'witch'.

Apparently, choosing not to embrace my abilities was a 'insult' to my heritage and therefore I had been basically kicked out of the family and ignored for the past decade. Why they wanted me here...who knew, perhaps it was just to keep up appearences. Although the fact that they kicked their youngest and second child out of the family 10 years ago...they had pretty much blown their 'nice and normal' family image. 

Why I had agreed in the first place...I could not even begin to explain as I didn't know myself. Perhaps some deep down part of me still cared for them, yet this part must have been so deep down that not even my conscious mind could find it. After my family had kicked me out, I had hitchhiked across the continent to where I found myself working odd jobs so I could earn myself enough money to live comfortably in a small yet cosy cottage near the coast. 

10 years later and I was pretty proud of the 'Witch' I had become. When I had just turned 17 and had been living on my own for a few years, I had picked up a job cleaning after hours at one of the 'prestigious witch' universities that I had thought at that time that I would never attend...ever. The witches that attended these educational instituions were much like my family back home...arrogant, posh and proper. They were all as shallow as the small duck pond I had built in my yard a few months ago for the local wildlife.

I had been using my elemental powers, particularly my abilities over air and water to aid in my cleaning...it certainly sped up the process when you didn't need a ladder to dust off cobwebs or a high pressure cleaner to whiten the already practically glowing sidewalks. It had been a particularly tiring shift thanks to ridiculous amounts of rubbish widespread across the quite expansive grounds thanks to the universities gala day. 

I had been using both my prowess over the air and water element to direct a high pressure beam of water at the slightly glowing goo that was currently plastered across the ceiling of the main tower's main foyer....I seriously hated egotistical witches who thought of nothing but themselves. Yet my laziness at this point in time turned out to be my saving grace, one of the senior professors had caught me and next thing you know my unique elemental abilities were being mentored. 

7 years later and I was now a assosciate professor of elemental science at the Royal University of Avalea...who was the odd one out now? For the first time in my life being the weird one was a good thing...and I couldn't wait to see the look on their faces if my career choices came up. Yes, I know it was very childish and petty of me, but I couldn't help but feel somewhat satisfied at the thought of showing them what had become of the child they had kicked out a decade ago. 

Whilst the circumstances of my little trip down memory lane sucked, I was determined to make the best of it. Not only could I show my family that I made it on my own, but I also had gotten the best deal on a hotel just close enough to the wedding reception venue so that I could make a quick escape but far enough away that I could hide away from various family members at the majestic like beaches this side of Avalea was known for. 

I had booked out the hotel room several days before the wedding, just so I would be able to properly psych myself up before the family reunion...and also to be able to get in several beach days of proper rest and relaxation if things went badly and I wasn't able to spend a couple of days after the wedding taking in the sights of the coastal metrapolis. 

The only reason I was able to get such a good room at the incredibly popular resort was because my best friend's mother's brother in law's golf buddy...or something to that affect found my situation amusing and had taken pity on me. I even had a free pass to the hotel's nationwide famous buffet which was something I was looking forward to immensely...I was a sucker for anything containing chocolate and I had heard that their brownies lived up to their stellar reputation. 

If I was going to come face to face with my parents that had kicked me out years before as I didn't ' fit their mold of a perfect' child. I definetly was going to need those brownies sooner rather than later, especially if my melodramatic and self obsessed only sibling was going to be marrying that outspoken yet simple-minded twat of a boyfriend she had been dating back then.

I had just been studying the hotel's daily events schedule, chucking my suitcase on the room's spacious looking double bed as I tried to determine how I would spend my evening. Was I in the mood for entertainment and socialising? Did I want to spend the first evening of my vacation chilling on the beach? Or did I want to spend the evening checking out the hotel's ' Comedy Spectatular'? To be honest, some deep down hidden part of me just wanted to do what I did every other evening and spend the night chilling by myself reading or watching some documentary or cliche comedy. 

Yet I also knew that I needed to get out and experience the world. I hadn't become an associate professor at one of the most prestegious universities in the world through simply rejecting my elemental gifts and giving up like my family had wanted me to...I wasn't some pathetic witch like they thought I was. In fact, my incompetence at potions and spell casting was because I didn't need magical rhymes and poetry...or even to meticously follow a recipe to get the elements to obey me. Nature spoke to me all by itself, I had a direction connection to the universe...that's what being an elemental witch was all about. 

Rubbbing roughly at my head, as if I could simply shove these thoughts away I looked back down at the glitter covered schedule in my hand just as I heard the loud click of the room's door. Looking up in surprise, I took in my disheveled appearence in one of the several ornate mirrors adorning the teal glossy walls...all I can say is it's very obvious that I need a vacation, or perhaps my body is just revolting at the idea of seeing my awful family members because afterall, I love my job.

As the door started to swing open I took one last glimpse at my appearence and sighed softly as I looked towards the hallway...only for my mouth to hang open in blatant shock as one of the most good looking guys I have ever seen walk in the front door. Here he was...a modern day Hercules look a like with his lean yet toned physqiue, sunkissed skin and his piercing periwinke eyes. Yet here I was...a short 24 year old female with the body of a pre pubescent male, a mane of frizzy abnormally black hair and bug like eyes that changed colour depending on the element I was communicating with. 

At the moment, they were an intense mauve as my ears focused on anything and everything they could detect coming from the stranger's direction. Fast forward about an hour of confusion, several calls to my best friend and a couple of trips to the front desk and the answer to our predicament was clear...the room had been double booked and we were stuck together for 5 days, if we chose to be that was. 

I know I have a lot of flaws, I have weaknesses to work on like anyone else...for me one of these things was my borderline ridiculous introvert levels. The arrival of a good looking stranger at my door when I had been travelling for over 24 hours was strange enough. Let alone the fact that I was here to see my estranged family and was therefore not in the best of moods in the first place. 

After several hours of arguing, excessive sighing and backtracking our booking details...it became pretty apparent that we had been set up by our well meaning yet annoying best friend in my case and older brother in his . By my very nature I was different, I was an elemental witch for goodness sakes...and one of the youngest professors in recorded history.

For someone that good looking, Daniel sure was annoying...he is living proof that looks are deceiving. You can be as god like as you want yet still have the personality of a windows update. Well at least that's what I thought at the beginning of the 5 days...too be honest I still do yet now it's more of a love-hate, more love relationship rather than anything else. 

5 days after I had met Daniel...and we were each others dates for the wedding. I was more than happy at pissing off my family and Daniel was just glad to not have to deal with his work colleague's wedding alone...a work colleague he didn't even like but felt obligated to come to anyway as my sister's new husband was kind of his superior. 

The universe sure does work in pecuilar ways, even if that way is a double booked hotel suite.