Important: My MC is Viktoria Petit, and my King Liam is called King Istvan
Rating: Maybe 15?
Disclaimer: Characters are Pixelberry’s, not mine, this is just for fun & I don’t make any money from it.
This fic has been written as part of the April Challenge set by @laniquelove : April 13th: Exes – this is the first one I’ve managed to do for the challenge as I’ve had the worst writing block ever over the past couple of weeks!
So, thank you for your support friends, as always appreciate any comments or constructive feedback – I hope that you enjoy this little one-shot x
Enjoy – VP 💖
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Viktoria squinted at the envelope with the USA postmark. Who was sending her post from the US? It was so last century! ‘Hell how much do stamps cost nowadays?!’ she wondered. Istvan glanced across the coffee table at her,
“Well you’ll never know who it’s from if you don’t open it…”
she rolled her eyes and stuck her tongue out at him.
She substituted a letter opener with her manicured pink nails, pulling out the multi-colour printed note inside,
“You are invited to the Pacific High “Class of 2004” School Reunion,”
she snorted ,
“Umm, no thanks…”
She scrunched the paper and the envelope, dropping them on the table and picking up the Trend Magazine from the sofa beside her. Istvan looked at her, a little bemused,
“Why not?”
She absentmindedly looked up from the pages at him,
“Hmmmm?”
He chuckled,
“I said ‘why not?’ Why don’t you want to go?”
Viktoria sat the magazine down again,
“Because it’s stupid? And I’m not flying us to New York to hang around with a bunch of people who I haven’t seen in over a decade? Who, at 30 years old, wants to have to make small talk with the guy from maths class who smelled like soup?”
Istvan practically spat his coffee out laughing,
“Mmmmm, soup…! But seriously, is there no one you’d like to reconnect with? Nobody that you’re wondering how they turned out? I’ve seen the movies, I know the drill…”
Viktoria rolled her eyes in fake annoyance, teasing him,
“Sheesh, you watch Romy and Michelle once and think you’re an expert on American High School culture… “
He picked up the invite and tossed it at her head playfully.
She let out a squeak,
“Ok, there’s a couple of people I’d be interested to know what they’re up to, mildly, that’s about it… I could find out on Facebook if I really wanted to I’m sure…”
Istvan sipped at his coffee and tilted his head, smiling,
“You know, I never seen any of your yearbooks, or pictures from your prom or anything?”
Viktoria scrunched her nose,
“I have a nice picture of mom and I when I was wearing my prom dress… I’ll see if I can find it for you. And I’m sure there was a yearbook amongst the stuff that came in the shipment when I gave up my apartment.”
Istvan smiled at her,
“I don’t have any appointments until the French delegation arrive at 2, why don’t you see if you can find it? I’d love to see.”
Viktoria ran her hand through his hair softly as she walked past him towards her huge closet in their bedroom. She climbed onto the dressing table stool to reach the hatbox on the top shelf. Lifting it down and removing the lid, she shouted to Istvan,
“Found it!”
She picked up the coffee pot for a refill before she sat back down beside him on the sofa. He slung one arm around her shoulder as she thumbed through the book. Istvan kissed her cheek,
“So tell me some stories?”
Viktoria pointed to a smiling blonde girl,
“Margot Donetti. She was the most popular girl in school. She was Prom Queen actually-”
her fingers traced across the page,
“-that guy, Peter Rice, he was her boyfriend Of course he was the star of the hockey team.” She groaned, “This all sounds so completely clichéd!”
Istvan squeezed her tightly and laughed,
“I love it, it’s a completely different school experience from mine. Please go on!”
Her fingers stopped on the image of herself,
“Oh god Ist, whyyyyy are you making me do this…?”
He giggled,
“Let me see! ‘Voted Most Organised’ – so not a lot has changed then? Aww Vik. Look at you, baby, you’re so… Cute.”
She lightly punched his arm,
“I think the word you’re looking for is ‘awkward’! Look at my hair, I had bangs, with my face, what was I thinking? They aren’t even straight! And soooo much eyeliner…”
He rubbed where she punched, laughing,
“You’re not any more awkward than the rest of them. You definitely found your style after High School though…”
Vik thumped him again, smiling and grumbling,
“How rude!! It’s called a Glow Up you know…”
She snapped the book shut and pulled out a wallet of old pictures. He took it from her, thumbing through the snaps, stopping at the one she’d mentioned in the prom dress with her mom. She looked so young in the pictures, he’d have guessed she was about thirteen if she hadn’t been at prom!
“Look how happy your mom is Vik, she’s so proud of you…“
he kissed his wife’s forehead, knowing, and understanding all too well, how much she missed her mom,
“You should frame this one, my love.”
He flipped through the photos, roaring with laughter as she cringed at some of the poses and outfits, explaining the who’s and the where’s, then he stopped on a group shot. There were two girls and three boys at what looked like a house party. Viktoria had her arm around one of the boys. He had over-styled dark hair and looked moody, holding a cigarette in one hand. The other hand possessively snaked around Viktoria’s hip. Istvan felt himself bristle slightly, which he knew was ridiculous, because the photo was taken years before he even knew her… Keeping his tone light, he quizzed,
“Looks like fun, I know the girl is Maria from the other photos, who is this guy…?”
Her face coloured slightly,
“Him? Oh that was Jason. Haven’t seen him since school ended.”
Istvan couldn’t help himself; it was like picking a scab,
“You look close? Was he your high school boyfriend? I’ve never heard you mention a ‘Jason‘?”
She shrugged,
“He was in a band. I thought he was really cool. He was my first real boyfriend, but he wasn’t all that.”
He pushed,
“What happened?”
Sighing she told him about Jason,
“Well I couldn’t actually believe that he was remotely interested in me first of all… Coz all the girls in our year thought he was so hot, he was the year above us. Looking back at him now… I’m not too sure why we all thought that! But anyway, he asked me out, we dated for a few months… Then he went off and slept with some girl from his weekend job behind my back. So when the homeroom gossip reached me, that was the end of that…”
He frowned. He suddenly really hated the sullen looking teenager with the leather jacket in the photo.
“Did you love him Vik?”
he asked quietly. Her mouth opened and closed a couple of times, taken aback by the directness of his question,
“When I was seventeen I thought I did… Istvan why do you care? It’s not like I’m still hung up on him or something? It’s a lifetime ago…”
He pulled her close to him,
“It’s not that. I mean, yes, I hate the idea of some nasty little creep with his hands all over you… But the reason I care is because I really love you and he hurt you. He didn’t treat you the way he should have. You’re so beautiful and special and kind, and he was a fucking idiot not to see it!”
Her eyes glistened, surprised at how he’d turned what she thought was jealously into such a sweet statement. She cupped his face in her hands and pressed a soft kiss to his lips,
“I love you Istvan. I’m so glad he hooked up with Candice Black. Just think, if Jason hadn’t been such an ass-hat, we might still have been together, and then I would never have met my handsome prince would I?”
Istvan laughed and shook his head,
“Yes… I guess we should be grateful… Vik, are you sure you don’t want to go to the reunion? Show them your ‘Glow… Thing…’ And how much you’ve achieved? I’d come with you if you would like?”
She took the photos from him and put them back in the box on the coffee table, climbing to his lap,
“Glow Up sweetheart. And the only person I am remotely interested in impressing is you. I don’t care what any of those random people in New York think about me, I’ve got everything I need right here in Cordonia, with you Istvan.”
—
End – VP 💖
