The King's Girl

chapter two

All I can think about for the last hour that I've been 7.5 miles in the air is the note I left on the kitchen table. In another few hours both of my parents will be home and reading that note.

Dear mom and dad,

In wake of recent events I find it hard to stay in the house that I grew up in. I'm going to visit Jackson and Lucas for awhile up in New York. I'm only telling you this so that you know where I am and don't report me as missing. Don't come after me, knowing you guys though you probably won't respect my wishes. So as a safety-net, I'm not only more than willing to just tell the cops but all of the people you work with about what kinds of lives you've been leading for the last 18 years. All of the lying to Jackson, Lucas, and I the hiding us from relatives, but mostly the threats to all of the people around us, to keep them away. And believe me, there are plenty of witnesses I could bring forward. Now I know that the most you would get from this is a court case, some community service, maybe, just maybe a month or a few more of jail time, but after that, after what you've been doing gets out. You won't be able to find a job, a place to live, a single restaurant to eat at, you'll be blackballed from everyone and everything. In the end though, it's really your decision.

    Love, Bella

Signing the letter from Bella was my last little hoorah. They always hated it when my brothers called me by my nickname, calling it informal and unpleasant.

Despite the elation and feeling as though a ton of bricks have been lifted from my chest, the feeling of anxiety is slowly creeping in on me. I'm going to a new place, granted, I will have my brothers there, that is if they remember who I am. I didn't exactly tell them I was coming because I was afraid of how they would react. What if they told me they didn't want me there after not seeing each other for all these years? I figured if I just showed up they would at least let me stay for a day or two while I get on my feet.

My eyes start to burn and eventually droop shut, blaming it on the lack of sleep from the night before, I let myself slip into oblivion.

I'm startled awake by the louder rumble of the engine on the plane as we begin to land. 5 hours went by way too fast, I'm not so sure I'm ready for this. What if they don't want me there and throw me out on my butt? I have no more time to think about it as the plane is starting to be unloaded into the JFK International airport.

Grabbing the one backpack I brought with me, I head out to the street side to meet my Uber that I called the second I got off the plane. As I'm standing there waiting I notice all of the people around me are just hailing cabs. I'm going to have to learn how to do that if I'm going to survive at all here.

My Uber pulls up at the curb and jumps out, "Hello I'm Brian and I'll be your Uber driver for today. Let me help you with that."

"Oh, thank you," I smile and let him take the backpack from my hands and situate myself in the passenger seat of the car.

"And where are you headed on this beautiful Thursday afternoon?" I give Brian the address I took off of the internet for Jackson and Lucas's penthouse. I was in luck, there was an abundance of information on the 'young and dashing business tycoons worth billions'. Everything from their address and phone numbers to their food dislikes and likes. "Here we are pretty lady." I jump out of the car in time to take my backpack from Brian.

"Thank you," I smile and hand him the last $25 of my money. He salutes me then gets back in his car and drives off. All I can do is stand and stare at the enormous building looming in front of me. It's absolutely beautiful, the outside is mostly stone but the front windows are what I'm amazed by. With pretty patterns of gold bars over the windows and a gold finish on the door it's breathtaking.