Anna
My biggest pet peeve had always been tardiness. I hated running late, I hated others running late and I absolutely despised getting stood up. It happened more times than I care too admit, and it has become something that came with having the surname Taylor. To most people, Taylor was a common last name, you could probably name about twenty people off the top of your head with that name - but not around here. The surname Taylor wasn't something you mumbled lightly or threatened by any means. My family had made their reputation quite known around the city- and not in a good way.
We owned a few bars and nightclubs scattered around the city, hidden in the corners where only certain, exclusive people could find them. The nightclubs were always on the news, threatening to be shutdown for not meeting the certain requirements of safety. There had been a handful of deaths, getting shaken off for suspected drug overdoses or a fight gone wrong - but anyone who had common sense knew there was more to it. There were too many deaths in a short period of time for that to always be the reason. I'll be the first to admit my family wasn't perfect, there was more to our family then meets the eye and things that happened within those clubs that I didn't agree with, but they were my family and blood will forever be thicker than water.
And given that, you'd understand why it was so hard to get a guy to even glance in my direction. I came from a large family, and being the only girl, apart from my mother, with three older brothers, you'd understand the fear they gave to potential dates when I did get them. I had never been on more than one date with a guy because of my family. Whether that was because they would scare him off or if the guy found out who my brothers were. They were overprotective to say the least, but I tried my best to accomodate my taste to theirs. I went to the fighters to the good boys, from the gang members to the business men, but nope. They never gave anyone the time of day, leaving me dateless and lonely.
I tapped my foot lightly against the pavement of the sidewalk impatiently, glancing down at my phone every few minutes, confirming that yes, it was in fact twelve AM, and yes, he was in fact very late. I had just finished my shift at the Queens Bar - despite all my protests to my mother. You'd assume having your family own it, you'd be able to pick and choose your shifts and not make your date pick you up at twelve AM like some street hooker - but no. To be fair, I didn't even need to work there. My family had enough money to support me through every day life, but I had insisted at a young age that I was to make my own money. Unfortunately, nobody in my family agreed with that and had set out to make my work life as difficult as possible in hopes I would quit. It hadn't happened yet, and I refused to back down. I was at stubborn as they all were.
In saying that, my mother wouldn't let me change my shift around when I had asked, and now I was waiting on the side of the street, as drunk people past me, waiting like an idiot for Timothy Brady. He was late though, very late. By my standards at least.
Despite hating when I, or anyone else, was late, I decided it was in my best interest to give Timothy Brady a break. He has the only guy in months to actually acknowledge me and had enough balls to ask me out on a date, and I felt like that was enough points to earn him a bit of leeway when it came to his time management. Who cares if he was fifteen minutes late? At least he was coming. I didn't have a lot of friends due to the infamous reputation of my family, and I actually liked getting out of the house, even if it meant that I was going on a date. Whatever got me that social interaction, you know.
I pulled out my phone once again, trying my best to ignore the time ticking away, and pulled up my camera to examine my face. I rubbed my ruby red lips a little, wiping away the smudged lipstick from the corner of my mouth. If I had known he was going to be this late, I wouldn't of forced myself to get ready in the disgusting bathroom of the bar within five minutes.
I groaned quietly to myself, glancing around me before I swiped my finger underneath my eye, trying my best to clear any traces of mascara which I had mistakenly gotten on my cheek. My dark eyes seemed to glow underneath the light of the street lamp, and I didn't look as zombie like as I usually did. With my brown hair and hazel eyes, it didn't take much for me to look a little dead. I was looking pretty good tonight though, I must admit. I had made sure that I wore my favourite red mini dress underneath my coat on the way to work, it hugged my curves and accentuated my assists, if you know what I mean. I had to triple check to see if my brothers were going to be coming into the bar tonight. I wanted everything to go smoothly for Timothy and I. No interruptions. No disturbances. No threats or near death experiences.
I sighed again, looking down at my phone, a sudden notification catching my attention. My eyes narrowed.
Tim: Hi Anna, I'm sorry I can't make it tonight. I don't think I'll be able to see you again either....best wishes, Tim.
Sudden anger bubbled inside me and I almost had the impulse to through my phone against the ground and stomp on it repeatedly. I knew for a fact that that wasn't Tim talking. I knew it would of had to of been my brothers, the meddling fucking assholes. They would of given him some stupid warning about taking me on a date, scaring Timothy into bailing on me last minute. It had happened to Mark and Will and fucking Bryce and every other boy before them.
I had made sure not to open my mouth about Tim though, or our plans. I hadn't even told my mother about him, just in case the word slipped out. I was trying to avoid exactly this happening. How they would of known about this, was beyond me, but I was sure as hell going to give them a piece of my mind about it.
Wrapping my coat around me tighter, I glanced down at my heels and mumbled a bunch of profanities underneath my breath, earning a judgmental look from a passing elderly couple and I glared at them in response. I should be judging them for being out so late.
"Mind your business," I growled at them, taking a step forward to wave my hand for a cab. If my brothers had made Timothy cancel, they could of at least made him cancel half an hour ago, and not have me stand around in fucking heels like an idiot.
I was going to kill them. They did it on fucking purpose.
**
I made the cab driver pull up in front of the nightclub, throwing a note at him and mumbling for him to keep change before storming towards the front doors of the nightclub. There was already a line going down the street, despite it being relatively early.
HIDDEN was our most popular nightclub, situated down the dodger end of the city where the rent was cheaper and the people who came in seemed to be from another planet. It was were my brothers were every weekend, hidden in one of the back rooms, out of sight from the club goers. They handled a lot of business here, and people were oblivious to what went on behind closed doors.
I wasn't allowed down these parts though. The streets were darker, more corrupted. The police didn't like coming down here after dark. My family had police on their payroll, and any incidents that happened down these parts, were usually something my family was well aware of, and didn't need external forces getting involved in. That's why they hated me coming here, and what they hated even more, was me coming unannounced.
They couldn't protect me here. It was full of strangers, drunken and drugged. People who didn't know how to keep their hands to themselves. People could get away with a lot more in the dark corners of the nightclub.
The bar I worked at was different though, full of locals, who knew who owned it, knew who my family was and who knew I was out of bounds and nobody was allowed to ever touch me. They couldn't protect me at this club, it was too big for them to always have an eye on me.
Well fuck them, I usually obeyed their rules, and didn't ever come down these parts unless I was with my brothers, but if they wanted to mess with my love life, they can deal with their little sister screaming at them in front of all their business pals. I might be the youngest, but my anger matched theirs. I didn't like being controlled and I didn't like when they stuck their nose into my business. I worked like a good fucking girl, I kept my mouth shut and I adverted my eyes when I saw them breaking the law. I pretended I didn't know anything every time the police questioned me about something, and yet, they have the fucking audacity to try and have a say in who I go on a date with.
Not anymore.
Storming up to the front of the door, I ignored the abuse that was shouted at me from people who thought I was cutting in. I barely looked at the bouncer who was at the door, clipboard in his hand and frown plastered on his face.
There were three other security guards around him, arms all crossed, staring down at the night, eyes watchful. I wondered how easily I could sneak past them if I pretended that I was suppose to be here. I recognised all of them, which means that all recognised me - and knew I was never allowed in the club alone unless they wanted to be fired and shot in the foot. My dads words, not mine.
Here goes nothing, I thought numbly to myself.
I was almost at the door, before a large arm pushed me back, and I stumbled back into the arms of another. I glared up at Jerry, who was looking flatly down at me, not seeming amused by my attempt to walk in.
They might work for my family, but they had been given orders to be firm and physical with me if I ever misbehaved and it caused for it. I had found out that the hard way, too many times, as they either dragged me out or threw me over their shoulder when I wasn't listening or was too drunk to make a coherent sentence.
Jerry has too be at least 6'4, towering over me like a giant. Arms looks like he injected way too many steroids into them. I was surprised he found a top to even fix across his chest. He stared me while I glared back, and he waved his hand to the person who was gripping my upper arms tightly to let me go.
"Nice try," I heard the deep voice grumble from behind me. I didn't need to turn around to know it was Sam. Another giant, long ass ponytail, not as buff though. They all were like family to me, but tonight, I wasn't in the mood to play nicely. I wanted to see my brothers.
"Fuck you," I muttered, shaking off Sam's arms. I barely looked at him, as he dropped his arms, laughing loudly. He always seemed to be amused by my attitude.
"What are you doing here, Anna?" Jerry asked, ignoring my rudeness. "You know you aren't allowed to be here without one of the boys."
Jerry's voice was flat as he spoke, his eyes daring me to challenge him. He clearly wasn't in the mood tonight, because he was usually as light hearted as Sam. He dealt with too many dickheads at the door, he was probably over the night already. I didn't blame him though, getting one look at the line, I could tell everyone went a little too hard at their pre drinks. People swayed and laughed loudly, slurring their words as they spoke to their friends. I spotted a few people glaring at me from the front, but I matched their glare.
"What are you looking at?" I hissed at them, causing a few girls to look away quickly. "Fuck off."
Sam laughed again, and I crossed my arms, my eyes darting between Sam and Jerry, wondering what the best plan was to get inside.
"Didn't Trent tell you?" I asked, my glare dropping. I stared at Jerry like I was confused and he eyed me carefully. He knew how I worked though. This may be harder than I originally thought.
"What was he suppose to tell me?" Jerry grunted, caving into my little game. I almost smirked at the triumph but I held my cool.
Trent was my oldest brother, and the most protective one. He was also a control freak. He liked everything done his way, and trust me, you wouldn't want to be in his way when he didn't get it. He was Jerry's main point of contact when it came to his job, and I knew despite Trent barely reaching Jerry's chest, that he was intimidated by my brother. It would cost him his job if he missed any of his instructions, and from as far as I knew, Jerry had a family at home he needed to support.
"I'm meeting him here, he was suppose to take me home," I lied, flashing him a bright smile. "I just finished my shift, I needed to drop him off...something."
Jerry's eyes narrowed, and it looked like he was debating on whether or not I was telling the truth. He crossed his big arms over his chest and I smiled again, hoping that I looked convincing and not like a psychopath that was about to rip off my brothers heads.
"Trent isn't here, he left an hour ago," Jerry said, lips twitching up as my smile faltered slightly. "Michael and Johnny are inside."
Now it was my turn to see it he was bluffing. Trent was always here, unless our father pulled him away to check something out at one of the other clubs. Michael and Johnny usually went with him. My brothers did everything together, especially business. I frowned at the thought of Trent leaving by himself, trying to rack through my brain to see if I remembered anyone saying anything about Trent doing something like that today.
"That's alright," I shrugged casually. "I'll wait, he said to wait for him."
"I don't think so, Anna. Go home."
I humphed like a small child who didn't get her way. I almost contemplated stomping my foot. "You don't know that, do you really want to risk not following an order from Trent?"
Jerry didn't say anything. We had a stare off for a a few minutes, and I raised my eyebrow at him. "Well?"
He rubbed his forehead, and sighed. "Greg, take her in. Don't let her out of your sight or it'll be both our heads on the chopping block."
I grinned. Greg, who had been watching the line, looked over at us and groaned. He was one of the youngest who worked here. He was only a couple of years older than me, I think about twenty-three. He had a mop of red hair, and he was as white as a ghost. I'm sure he had Irish roots, but he always dismissed me when I called him a leprechaun. He was also very very scared of my siblings, and he liked to avoid me as much as possible. His lanky ass walked up to me, the security tag dangling against his chest. "I'll pass."
"It wasn't up for debate," Jerry retorted. He opened the doors, the bass of the music exploding from the club. It was some techno bullshit I had no interest in, but from what I could make out, everyone else seemed to be loving it. Jerry nodded his head, a silent sign to Greg to hurry up. I could hear him sigh as he walked up to me.
"No funny business," he muttered to me. I rolled my eyes at him, my heels clicking against the pavement as I walked ahead of him, pushing past Jerry and Sam without another word.