Samuel Allister-

Well, my life was truly fucked, now, wasn't it?

I had wanted just one thing- to not be shackled by these stupid myths and all this 'soulmates' talk. All I had wanted, was to be able to live peacefully for a few more years, 'live life king size' if you know what I mean, and then find my soulmate, once my hedonistic years were behind me.

The universe had to be fucking with me on purpose at this point. 

As if finding my soulmate wasn't enough, it turned out to be the scary lady who wasn't supposed to have a match, if her rambles, at the moment, were to be believed, anyway.

She paced up and down the hallway, waiting for her parents to get out of their meeting, all the while muttering to herself, "How is this happening? We don't get matched! That was the deal!"

Why wasn't I offered such a deal? I mean, I did want to get matched eventually, and her situation made it look like nobody in her family had ever been matched, but I could have bargained and negotiated.

In all fairness, I could've done a lot worse than Evangeline Hale. 

She looked incredibly smart and beautiful from where I was looking. Her brown hair was held up in a tight, professional pony-tail, which swung from side-to-side as she clicked around on her white stilettos. Her white, hip-hugging skirt stopped at her knees, accentuating her figure in a manner that let me know that she liked to maintain herself. This was a part I really liked, because I understood what it meant to maintain your figure.

I went to the gym daily.

"Hey," I called out to her, unsure of how long I was supposed to wait for this circus to begin, "Can I leave? Everyone seems a little preoccupied, right now. How about we rendezvous-vous in, you know, a few years?"

She was not impressed. "You will wait."

Evangeline could be pretty intimidating when she wanted. Her hazel eyes were always alert and aware, analysing her surroundings. It had originally taken me the better part of an entire day to build up the courage to approach her about my soulmate confirmation idea. Her skeptical nature had reminded me of my father's habits, and helped me make today a bigger deal than I had previously planned.

It had been a brilliant plan until my father figured it all out (okay, so, maybe I overdid it). What was funnier was that I suspected that Evangeline had understood the situation faster than my family had, and they had known Estelle and I for years.

The girl genuinely intimidated me, more and more.

It took her parents eons to come outside, but they finally did and I got to my feet.

I figured that she wanted to make the introductions with their universe-approved future son-in-law, and once she talked to them she'd let me leave. 

I tried to hurry the process along, "Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Hale." I shook their hands in turns, as they stared curiously at first me and then their daughter. 

Evangeline looked ready to shoot me in the groin.

Wasn't I being helpful?

I chose to ignore her stare, an admittedly hard task, and continued, "I am Samuel Allister the third, Evangeline's soulmate."

Their blank looks reminded me of the ones my father's company's shareholders saved for my jokes during their annual meetings. 

I figured they were waiting for the 'Haha, you're being recorded!' moment, but that was not coming.

Evangeline rolled her eyes and sighed, pulling her wrist forward and putting it in front of them. 

Ah yes, the entire family was creepy.

Their faces went under a barrage of emotions- from confusion to worry to concern. I'm pretty sure one of those was horror, and I tired not to be too offended.

Matching with me couldn't truly be a horror, now. This was just too much. I wasn't so bad.

"You need to go to Mama Hale," her mother finally said, after a few minutes of opening and closing her mouth like a fish.

Another person we needed to meet? Why is her family so big?

Evangeline, however, nodded in agreement, "I was going to ask you the same thing."

Then why didn't we just go to her in the first place? I wanted to scream.

Her father nodded back (there was a lot of nodding) and patted her on the shoulder, "We'll figure this out. It's obviously a mistake and we'll take it up with Cupid Services soon enough."

The three of them talked some more about 'Mama Hale' or something, but I excused myself when I felt my phone buzz in my pocket.

My father was calling.

"Did you sort everything out?"

Well, hello to you too, father.

"She's talking to her parents. They're saying it's a mistake, and that they'll take it up with Cupid Services," I narrated, already wishing this conversation ended. 

Every conversation was far too long that I would like when it concerned my father. I had a feeling he shared the sentiment, and that I was a loose end that he needed to come tie up every few days.

"I like the girl," he spoke gruffly, "After the stunt you tried to pull today, she is exactly the type of woman you should associate yourself with."

Of course, he liked her. She was everything he wanted his children to be; smart, serious, successful, and some other adjectives that did not begin with the letter 's'. She seemed just as devoted and dedicated to her work as I had seen my father become over time, as he built his own diamonds empire. 

The Diamond Monger did not like to be kept waiting. 

I suddenly decided that I personally wanted to meet every single person in Evangeline's ever increasing family.

"I'll let you know what happens, later."