Oxford Open Day


    Elena


    It was the Oxford Open Day, and I was a ball of unrepressed nerves. Thest month has been


    extremely hectic in terms of my mental health and I finally realise now that what happened to me was


    not my fault. Nichs has been a sexual predator since high school, and after my story hits the news


    and media outlets, so many other girls havee forward with their own stories, some even with


    stories that yed out while I was still with him.


    It seems I started a #MeToo movement among the wealthy upper ss.


    As it turns out, there was no video footage of what urred between Nichs and I. It had been


    erased but Sebastian and Elijah’s statements coupled with my torn dress and photos of my bruises


    were enough to prosecute him. But Anabelle’s statement was what surprised us all; what she had to


    say cemented Nichs’ fate, and the Addington''s became pariahs in the social circles. Sebastian


    financially crippled them by causing their stocks to drop. I would like to say that I was sorry for them,


    but I was not; Mr Addington knew what his son was capable of because they were so much alike.


    Yes, that is exactly what I mean.


    My phone was ringing somewhere on my desk and the caller ID told me it was Anabelle calling.


    Yes, you read that right. We have be quite close over thest month or so, especially after we


    found out how alike we are. To top it off, she was enrolled in Oxford at Exeter College in the same


    course I was thinking of applying for! That I could rte to someone on such a deep level astounded


    me; Sebastian calls us soul sisters because of how alike we were. But, where I’m brte, she’s a


    perky blonde with bright green eyes, with a tall, waif-like body. Also, she admitted to me that she was


    actually a lesbian who had to hide what she was from her family as she needed to produce an heir to


    continue the line; she was an only child.


    “Hey, Belle,” I answered my cell phone and perched it in the crook of my neck as I continued to get


    my things together. “You’rete, babe. The alumni are trickling in and I think you will be most impressed


    at the oue.” She says and I mentally curse my tardiness this morning. I was on light anti-anxiety


    medication and my mind was all over the ce now.


    “I am leaving as we speak! Down the stairs and out the door!” I exim and she giggles. I will most


    definitely bete; it takes about an hour to get to Oxford Uni’s main campus from Kensington, and


    again I reprimand myself. My scattered mind will have to be brought up at my next appointment with my


    doctor.


    “Good, because I am rather lonely here all by myself,” she says.


    “You shouldn’t even be there, you tart, you’re already enrolled in the course!” I say with augh as


    I get into the Maybach and we leave the estate. Anabelle giggles, “I couldn’t help it! You want to catch


    the attention of at least one alumnus and I will get nowhere on the Thompson name alone; I need good


    backing if I want to be a published author. These guys will be brutally honest in their review of me and


    ignore my family name, that’s all I want.” She says, and this made me smile; Anabelle was as


    ambitious as I was and really well-read in ssic literature; she truly was my soul sister and was


    steadily bing my best friend. After the thing with Nichs, no one wanted to be associated with


    her, so I approached her and apologized for my role in her loneliness. But she wasn’t bitter at all. She


    was just relieved that our stories were heard and believed.


    “Just leave an alumnus for me, please I will be there soon!” I ask her in jest, and we say our


    goodbyes after that.


    Thest month has been hard, but also enlightening. The two girls I thought were my best friends


    havepletely cut me out of their lives because of the scandal with Nichs. I thought we were


    closer than that, but they revealed that they were friends with me because of my name alone. This hurt


    me deeply, but Sebastian says that it was for the best; actual situations often revealed people’s true


    intentions.


    Speaking of Sebastian, our marriage has been steadily improving in all aspects. We still make love


    almost every evening (and morning if I must be terribly honest) and his mother’s queries of children


    have been on the increase.


    I am terribly sorry, but I do not think it wise to bring a child into a world where their mother was


    trying to improve herself for the better. Our marriage was still new, and we needed to get to know one


    another properly first; Sebastian agrees with this wholeheartedly. The whole arranged marriage and


    popping out heirs for the family was extremely medieval, and I refuse to conform to their expectations


    of me.


    They didn’t call me The Rebellious Heiress because I liked conformity.


    Fifty-five minutester, we arrived at Exeter College. I told the driver that I would be there for a


    while so he could take a break as he waited for me. I make my way over the lushwns and I look


    down to pull out my phone, but as I do so I bump smack bang into someone. I faltered and brace


    myself for the fall, but it never came as the other person grabbed my wrist and I steady my feet.


    “Oh, my gosh! I am so sorry-” I start to apologize, but as I look up I find myself staring straight into


    the clear blue eyes of Elijah Somersett. My mouth goes dry as I notice the slight smile ying on his


    lips and he lets go of my wrist. “Elena?” He asks with a curiosity to his eyes and I nod and return his


    smile. “Hello, Elijah,” I responded, and suddenly felt incredibly awkward.


    Why was I always running into this man? He may have saved me from a horrendous fate, but


    being around him makes me nervous. After my ordeal, he came to see me at the vi, with Sebastian’s


    permission, of course. He apologised for seeing me naked when Nichs was assaulting me, a


    gesture I thought was incredibly sweet. He and Sebastian have made ns to open safe houses for


    abused women and are calling them Daisy’s Home a secret homage to me. The two are getting along


    so much better now, and I thought his attraction to me would have ceased, but it has not. He still looks


    at me with longing, so I tried to stay clear of him.


    Elijah gives me a warm look. “And what might you be doing here, Jane?” he asks, referring to me


    by the character of my favourite book; a nickname he started calling me recently. I cross my arms in


    front of me. “I could ask you the same question, Mr Somersett. Here to brush up on your ssic Lit?” I


    ask, but all he does is chuckle.


    “Something like that,” he says before cocking his head towards the entrance. “Join me, the lecture


    is about to start.”


    I follow Elijah inside and I marvel at the beauty of the old building; it is visually stunning! “Wow!” I


    remarked out loud and heard Elijah chuckle at my awe of the building. “I wasn’t aware that you were


    interested in applying to Oxford. Is this a recent development?” he asks me as we make our way down


    the halls. I shake my head. “No, it has been on my mind since my shadowing of Sebastian; I decided


    the business world was not for me,” I say and I am taken back to his words in Dumont Industries’ board


    room:


    “I don’t know what you’re doing in the corporate world when literature is your first love. This is not


    the environment where you would prosper in Elena.”


    He gives me a dimpled smile and a slight nod, “I knew that already,” he says before wee to a


    stop outside the lecture hall. He opens the door for me and we enter the room together. This was when


    I noticed all the eyes in the room that were trained on me, especially Anabelle’s in the back row.


    “I will speak with youter, Elena. Enjoy the Open Day.” Elijah says his goodbye with a smile and


    touches my upper arms. I return his goodbye with a nod before heading over to Anabelle. She gawked


    at me as I sit down. “How the hell do you know Elijah Somersett?!” she exims in a hushed tone and I


    shrug as a frown ys over my brows. “He’s Sebastian’s business partner and the one who saved me


    that night from Nichs,” I say and her eyes widen at my response.


    “Well, he’s also a top alumnus here and currently the one who will be giving us this lecture.” She


    says and now it was my turn for my eyes to widen. Was that why everyone’s eyes were trained on me


    as we walked in?


    “Good morning, everyone.” Elijah starts. Could I possibly ask him to be my mentor? This thought


    runs through my mind as he delivers his 2-hour lecture and by the end, I was more impressed by this


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    man than ever before.