"It's a nice, cosy little shindig you got going on here!" Paul says, taking a step into the room as he puts his hands in his pockets. "Our invites must have got lost in the mail!" He says, his voice so over-the-top that I know he's about to burst – I was right, he heard too much. He stops right in front of me, looking me right in the eye, waiting for a reply.
"They were just trying to cheer me up, Paul...they were just being good friends...that's all..." I reply, quietly, folding my arms as a result of not really knowing what to do with them. The rest of the guys just sit there quietly, not really knowing what to say. Why is everyone so scared of Paul?
"Why would you need cheering up, little sis?" He asks, trying to sound like he doesn't already know.
"Don't start, Paul –" I shake my head, looking down at the floor so that my own anger doesn't flare up. I don't want to cause a scene in front of everyone. But if he doesn't quit while he's ahead, then causing a scene is going to be unavoidable.
"No, talk to me about it, little sis! Tell big brother what's bugging you? " He reaches his arm, trying to put it around me.
"Don't talk down to me, Paul –" I say sternly.
"I mean, you don't seem to have any difficulty telling everyone else about your problems! And it seems to be that I'm the root of all your problems!" He starts to raise his voice, reaching his arms out to the sides and into the air. "So at least have some courtesy and talk to 'The Problem'!"
"Paul, don't try to turn this back on me and make me seem like the bad guy here!" My own voice starts to raise too. I turn and walk towards the window, biting the skin on my fingers in the rage that's starting to build. And I know that whether we want to have an argument or not, we are going to have one, right here, right now.
"No-one is calling you the bad guy! You're over-reacting, like always!" He yells.
"Over-reacting?!" I scream, jumping back around to face him. "Have you been here this last week?! Or are you just completely oblivious to anyone but yourself?!"
"Oh! I'm oblivious?!" He shouts back in frustration. "I'm not the one that stomped off to my bedroom because things weren't going my way! If you had done your research on the case, then it wouldn't have come as such a shock to you! This isn't kids' stuff anymore, Sarah! Now it actually means something!"
"PAUL! You didn't give me anything to research! You led me in blind! You refused to tell me a single thing about this case! I wasn't even supposed to be on this case! Are you really so incompetent and lazy that you need your little sister to pick up the slack on your case?!"
"Nice..." I hear Johnny whisper, nodding his head slowly with an amused look on his face, snapping me out of the argument for a millisecond.
"Incompetent and lazy?! That's a new one!" He mock gasps. "But I'm not so lazy that I get huffy and throw a tantrum just because I don't feel like going undercover when I'm asked to!" He points at me.
"But you didn't ask me! I had to find out through an earpiece! You could have at least asked me first! We're a team – you're supposed to com-mun-i-cate!" I say, stretching out the last word, hoping that it would register in his brain for once.
"You're an Agent! You're supposed to do your job!" He comes back at me.
"Let's not go there, Paul... my job was supposed to be behind a desk in D.C..." I respond sharply and quietly. He doesn't respond. There's complete silence in the room. You could hear a pin-drop, the only thing you can hear being the heavy breathing coming from me and Paul, reeling from the shouting-match we've just had. The others sit and stand with baited breath, tension lingering in the air with the echoes of our yelling and screaming still ringing in our ears. "You promised me it wouldn't happen again – that you wouldn't go behind my back, or spring something on me without telling me in advance..." I break the silence in an almost-whisper. "You promised..." My eyes start to prick with tears. I'm miles away from home, in a place I wasn't meant to be, and I'm miserable. A stray tear starts to escape from my eye, trickling down my face, marking its path down my cheek. I turn toward the window, staring out at the ocean, wishing I was at home with my family as I wipe away my tear with the sleeve of my jumper.
"...I know..." He replies quietly and more gently than before, almost as if he's thinking out loud. "...I'm sorry...I'm sorry that I brought you here without telling you beforehand, I'm sorry I didn't tell you what you were coming into, I'm sorry I didn't tell you about what was going on with me, I'm sorry I didn't tell you about Mendoza, and I'm sorry I didn't discuss the options with you first...I should have been looking out for you...because not only are you a rookie Agent...but you're also my little sister – my only sister – and that means more than having the title of 'Agent' before your name. You're my sister, first and foremost, and that should be most important...that should take precedence...and that will take priority from now on..." He pauses and looks at me. "Does that about cover everything?" He half-smiles nervously as he takes a step towards me.
"...I guess it'll have to do..." I joke, smiling a small smile at him.
"...So, do you forgive me? Are we good?" I look at him, trying to get my answer out, but the lump that has formed in my throat stops the words from coming. I run into his, burying my face into his chest and hugging him tightly. He stands for a second, taken aback by my response, until he exhales and slowly and gently places his arms around me. "I'll take that as a 'yes' then..." He whispers quietly, and I can hear the contented and relieved smile in his voice. I nod, not lifting my head from his chest in fear that everyone will see my red and tear-stained face.
"Oh...you guys!" I hear Johnny's voice as he fans himself like guys do when they're taking off girls crying. "So emotional and heart-warming! I wanna join the hug!" He leaps from the bed and towards us, wrapping his arms around me and Paul.
"Me too! If there's a group hug...I wanna be in it!" Charlie pushes herself off the bed and snuggles herself into Paul's shoulder.
"Come on, Mikeeeey!" Johnny chants. Mike rolls his eyes in an amused fashion and joins us, placing a tender hand on my back. We stand there for a few seconds, waiting to see if Dale, who hates group displays of love and affection, will join in.
"Well...now I'm feeling left out..." Dale mutters, and trudges over to the huddle that has formed in the middle of my bedroom.
"We're sorry you had to see and hear all that..." Paul says, an embarrassed tone in his voice. "You gotta love the old family dynamics..." He laughs.
"Well...we are a family...win or lose together...love and fight together...through the good times and the hard ones...we're in it together!" Charlie says, sounding like the wise Mother hen that we all know her to be. The hug lasts a silent minute, until Johnny breaks the silence.
"So...what do we do now?"
أنت تقرأ
Graceland: Family Affair
قصص الهواةAgent Sarah Parker has always been close to her half-brother Paul Briggs. Fresh out of Quantico, Sarah dreams of climbing her way to the top in D.C. But when her plans go awry, she finds herself far from the D.C. job she'd planned for...she finds he...
