Flower Girl

Petra

Freshly cleaned linen napkins along with a perfectly ironed tablecloth...check.

Jasmine and Eucalyptus scented candles...check.

Crystal chalices and freshly polished cutery...check.

Althought it was cliche I know to have a first date at my family's restaurant, I couldn't get more than a couple of hours off work...and besides, there was a reason why my parents restaurant was the most famous vegetarian restaurant in all of Fae.

Thankfully, this blind date that had been set up through mutual friends...seemed to understand crazy work schedules and had been more than obliging to have our initial meeting here. It wasn't going to be too awkward though, my parents finished work at sunset and none of my siblings were scheduled on for this evening so hopefully the staff would leave us alone.

I had picked the most romantic...well what I thought was the most intimate table in the place. Located right near the large open hearth directly underneath a breathtaking view of Fae's capital city, the corner table was private enough to create cosy atmosphere...yet also positioned within eyesight of the stage where the best artists in the land would perform into the early hours of the morning. Tonight, one of my best mate's brothers band would be entertaining us with the latest tracks off their soft rock albumn...perfect first date atmosphere material.

The moment she walked in and laid her brilliant violet eyes on mine...I knew I was in trouble. I had told myself that I would play it cool on this date, to keep my emotions in check...yet this was going to be a struggle. I normally had pretty good control over my emotions...so the immediate heart pounding, hand shaking cliche nerves I felt had me feeling practically nauesous and the date hadn't even started yet.

Rilea

I had only agreed to the date on my friend's insistence that I needed to get out of my head and stop studying for a moment...yet this was going surprisingly well. I didn't socialise much...and I didn't date at all, at least not frequently. Yet as soon as I had walked into the well known restaurant and taken in the lively yet surprisingly intimate atmosphere...I knew that I was going to enjoy my time here, regardless of whether I liked my date or not.

My date in question was the most surprising element of all. I knew he was vaguely familiar...in the faintest, bleary childhood memory kind of way. Who knew that the photographs adorning the mantle would have helped me make the connection.

Petra

Flash forward an hour...and I knew that this girl was dangerous for me...dangerous in the way that my promise to not get heavily emotionally involved with anyone whilst I was focused on my studies was about to be broken, and there was nothing I could do to stop it. The date went well...more than well, it was fantastic. The only odd moment was towards the end...right after our icecream cake slices when we were about to say goodbye. 

As we stood up her something on the mantlepiece behind me caught her attention and her vivid eyes widened in shock. Of course my interest was piqued, and I followed her gaze towards the fireplace's mantlepiece where my parents had a dozen framed photos depicting various family events showcased proudly. With a curious...almost questioning glance at me, she reached towards the last photograph...pausing for a moment as I allowed her to pick up the small wooden frame.

The contents of the picture depicted my eldest brother's wedding, an event that had occured almost 20 years ago...when I had been barely 6 years old. In the photograph, the entire wedding party was smiling happily as they posed near the sparkling waters of Noroju, Fae's most famous coastal metropolis. Although I couldn't remember the day, the photos and family member recollections alone all indiciated that it had been magical...which was pretty ironic considering it was a Fae wedding. 

Pointing a perfectly manicured finger towards the image, I followed her gesture towards the photograph where a beaming dark haired girl dressed in the vibrant pink flower girl dress was happily looking at the beautiful bride.

" That, that was me...I was the flower girl at my sister's wedding a long time ago...probably when.."

" When you were about six?"

I asked hoarsely as my mind scrambled to come to terms with this new information. 

" So...so you are my sister...sister in law?..."

I trailed off as the charm of the evening started to wear off remarkably quickly.

" No...no she is my step sister. We aren't related."

She chimed in quickly as her pale cheeks blushed a light rose under the soft golden lighting of the eatery. As she wiped her hands on the bronze shaded off the shoulder dress she was wearing, the tiny rings adorning her hands caught the atmospheric lighting sending tiny sparkles dancing all over her. She was truly magical...even in the land of supernatural beings known for our enchantments...Rilea still blew us all out of the water.

Rilea

After realising that I was related to Petra only through marriage...and a step siblings marriage at that, my heartbeat had finally returned to a normal level...well somewhat normal level considering my flirtatious attraction towards him. I knew I was going to go out with him again and explore where the connection we had was going to go...but first of all I needed to sleep on it. The best decisions were never made after 12am afterall. Kissing him on the cheek, I thanked him for the night and gave him my address and home phone number...hopefully I would be hearing from him soon.

Petra

After she had wished me goodnight and left, I couldn't help but sit back down on the plush, lounge like seats of the restaurant and smile at the photograph of my brother's wedding...in particular the young flowergirl grinning cheekily out of the image. Who would've thought that fate would intervene in this way? Who could have seen destiny's strange plan 20 years in the making? Whatever fate's plan was...I wasn't about to stand in the way of it...I was along for the ride, 100%.