Graceland: Family Affair

Chapter Thirty-Six

"Alright? Are you ready for this?" I stand in front of Paul who has taken his seat on the sofa. I clear my throat. "Okay...condition number one!...wait...are you taking notes?"

"No!" Paul answers, stating the obvious.

"Well you should be!" I speed walk back to the dining room table and lift a couple of sheets of paper and a pen and hand them to Paul. He rolls his eyes and tuts as he reluctantly takes the paper and pen from me. He gives me another eye roll as he removes the lid from the pen and poises his hand so that he's ready to write.

"Okay..." I ruffle the paper in my hand like a news-reader. I turn to Mike and Johnny, cringing with excitement, telling them, "I'm so excited!" I turn back to Paul in full composure and start again. "Okay...number one: I get to choose my character. Number two: no skin-tight dresses. Number three: no skin-tight blouses. Number four: no skin-tight –"

"How many 'no skin-tight' rules are there?" He tries to steal my page from me so he can read it, but I whip it away from his grasp. "Because...I get it! No tight clothes! Not that I would want to see my sister in those anyway..." He rolls his eyes again. "Skip past the rest of them, because I get the picture, alright?" I give him a death stare over the top of my page before re-directing my gaze back to the paper.

"Fine then, I'll skip past the rest of those conditions..." I mutter. "Okay! Condition number nine –"

"You had eight 'skin tight' conditions?" Paul's voice goes high-pitched in disbelief.

"...Yes..." I say, quietly. "It needed to be said!"

"You go, girl!" Charlie shouts from across the room. "Preach it!"

"Number nine: no making me flirt with other men so that they'll like you more. And this one is important because, technically, I'm meant to be married to Mike...and when I'm married to someone, I'm in for the long-haul...so no infidelity for me, thank you!" I explain. "Number ten: I get to drive your car whenever I want –"

"What has that got to do with tonight?" He stretches out his hands as he asks the question. I continue, ignoring his interruptions.

"Number eleven: you buy me ice-cream whenever I want it –"

"This is getting stupid now!"

"Do you want me to go tonight or not?" I eyeball him, leaning over my page to talk to him. I then go back to looking at the page. "Number twelve: you do my chores on the chore wheel for the next three months..." I smile.

"That is so not fair!" He exclaims, but I stare him down until he gives in. "...Fine..." He surrenders quietly.

"Number thirteen: if and when I come up with any more conditions, they get added to this list without discussion, and you have to abide by them..." I smile, pleased with myself. "And finally...number fourteen –"

"Finally!" He says loudly in a sigh of relief.

"– admit that I'm your favourite person on the planet, that I'm a better Agent than you...and that I'm the Queen...and admit that you're a whiny little girl..." I giggle.

"You can't be serious?" His face drops.

"Totally serious...see!" I point to the list to let him see. "It's on the list!" I beam. He throws his head back and rubs his eyes with his hands as he groans. "...I'm waiting..." I smirk. "Stand up so that everyone can hear you!" I pull him up of the sofa. "And...action!"

"...You're my favourite person on the –" He mutters quickly and almost inaudibly.

"Speak up!" Jakes shouts from across the room. "I can't hear you!" He laughs.

"Sarah is my favourite person on the entire planet, she's the Queen...and she's a better Agent than I am...because...because...I can't say it..."

"Say it!" I demand playfully. He sighs and then shouts in a loud voice.

"...Because I'm a whiny little girl!!!!!" The room erupts with laughter, and I hug my brother in elation.

Two hours later, I'm bounding down the stairs in a classy and sophisticated dress, with my hair styled by my mother.

"Mum, you guys feel free to stay here for as long as you need too", I say to her as we walk down the stairs.

"I think we're going to stay in a motel tonight, and spend the day here tomorrow, if that's okay?" I nod. "But we'll wait here tonight and keep Charlie company until you get home...just to make sure you're safe..." She smiles as she places a hand on my shoulder.

"I'll be fine, Mum..."

"A Mother never stops worrying about her children, whether they're trained Agents or not..." She laughs. Mike stands at the bottom of the stairs waiting on me, dressed in a suit and tie.

"He's very handsome...very caring too...I can see why you like him..." Mum whispers.

"I don't –" I try to protest.

"Sarah, I'm your Mother and I know everything", she smirks.

"Please don't tell Paul...we haven't told him yet..." I say quietly.

"I wouldn't dream of it..." She squeezes my shoulder as she winks at me. Mike turns his head and sees us walking down the stairs. He smiles at me and starts to go a little red. He opens his mouth to say something, but nothing comes out.

"See...you've taken his breath away..." Mum whispers again, but this time, Mike hears it.

"...Yes, she has..." He answers lightly as he stares at me. "Oh! I have something for you..." He starts to fish in the inside pocket of his jacket. He removes a ring from his pocket and holds it out to me. Mum instinctively gasps and her hands rise to her cheeks in surprise. Mike's eyes widen in panic as he realises what my Mum thinks is happening.

"Mum, hold your horses!" I place a hand on her arm to calm her in an attempt to banish the premature reaction that she was about to have. "We're playing a married couple...it's not real, see?" She exhales as she laughs at herself. "Don't get ahead of yourself..." I say quietly to her as she nods.

"Warren! Tutturo! Jakes! Queen Sarah!" Paul shouts as he walks through from the kitchen. "Are we ready to hit the road?" We all nod and say our goodbyes to Charlie, my parents and my brothers.

"Stay safe, honey! You look beautiful! I love you, sweetheart..." Dad whispers to me as he kisses me goodbye.

"I will, Daddy. And thank you. I love you, too!"

We leave the house, locking the door behind us. I slip the wedding ring onto my finger, and Mike takes my hand, giving it a supportive squeeze. There couldn't have been a better time for it, as I'm sure that Mike could sense the flip that my stomach just did. I'm terrified. Johnny and Jakes head for their car, arranging to meet the rest of the back-up team there. Paul climbs into the front seat of his car, and Mike and I take the backseat. Mike opens the door for me as I step in. Before we set off, Paul turns back to face us. He takes one look at my pale, colour-drained face and a look of concern appears on his own.

"Sarah, are you okay?" He asks gently.

"...I'll be fine..." I gulp. "Just nerves...that's all..." I try to smile. Mike takes my hand in his again, which calms me a little. As long as Mike stays by my side tonight, I should be okay.

"Just...keep talking to me, Sarah...the second you want out, all you have to do is say the word...okay?" Paul says protectively. I nod. Finally I'm starting to see traces of the brother that I knew making an appearance again. The old Paul is starting to come back. "Okay, let's just run through our cover story once more..."

"Michael and Sarah Jones, married for three years, high school sweethearts, we have two children – a boy, Daniel, aged two, and a girl, Sophie, nine months. Michael is a business man, and I'm a teacher. My maiden name is Harrison, you are my brother, Paul Harrison, and you are in business with my husband..." I breathe out after repeating all this at lightning speed. "...Piece of cake, right?" I gulp, and Paul turns the engine on and pulls out of the driveway. There's no going back now. Mendoza and I are going to come face to face.