"Annie, what are you getting?" My fathers irritation was already getting the better of him. I wasn't too sure how long everyone ha been here for, though he was already glancing down at his watch, sighing as if he had been here for hours.
I had only just gotten to the diner, Harry hot on my tail as I squeezed myself into the small overcrowded booth beside Trent. He gave me a side glance of annoyance, clearly irritated that I hadn't chosen to sit in the available space besides my mother in the booth.
If I had done that, I would of had to sit next to Harry as well, given the space was big enough for another three people. The car ride was enough for me, and I didn't feel the need to sit next to him as well. I nudged Trent with my elbow, causing him to roll his eyes and shove himself further into Michaels side. My father had dragged a near by chair to the booth, sitting in front of everyone with a stern expression. We sat around him, because of course, no matter where we were, he needed to be seated at the head of table. He sometimes thought he was some sort of King.
"Isn't this lovely," my mother said, her glossy eyes flickering over to my brothers. A tight smile was plastered on her lips. Here we fucking go. "Family together for dinner."
The sarcasm rolled off her tongue like acid and it made me wince. It wasn't often we went out for dinner these days. My mother was a very big reason as to why. Her tendency to get too drunk was a common occurrence, and it often bled out into a fight.
"Would be better if you put the bottle down." Johnny didn't miss a beat, grinning at her like the devil himself. Trent glared at him, but didn't bother say anything to shut him up. He agreed, but he didn't agree with saying something while we were out in public. Johnny on the other hand, had a love for causing scenes out in public. He was definitely our mothers child, even if he hated to admit it.
"Do we need to get your eyes tested?" My mother asked sweetly, glaring at Johnny. "I'm drinking from a glass."
"Enough," my dad growled, before glancing down at his watch. "One night. I don't want to hear anyone arguing."
Johnny scoffed, but did what he was told. He slouched back in his suit, creasing it as he did. His jaw clenched in annoyance. Despite the suit he wore, a backwards cap sat on his head, making him look youthful, despite the murder in his eyes. My mother just reached for the bottle in response, her dainty fingers wrapping around the neck as she poured herself another glass. My dad, who was a pro at ignoring the bad habits of my mother, turned his attention back down to his phone as if his family wasn't falling apart right in front of his eyes.
"Hello to you too," my mother slurred, raising her glass at me. She ignored Harry, as she tended to do with most of our employees. I was glad I didn't inherent her sense of being greater than everyone else around her. She had a knack for making people feel below her.
I rolled my eyes at her lack of table manners, choosing to keep my mouth shut and ignore her. It was better for everyone this way. I still annoyed at everyone at the table given no one had informed me of this dinner but felt the need to contact Harry instead. Giving into my mothers snappy behavior was like rewarding a disobedient child. It would get you no where. I learnt that the hard way.
Harry had slipped into the booth besides my mother, though he sat with half his body out, almost as if he didn't want to touch her. I stifled a laugh at his sour expression. He laced his hands in front of him, pressing them down on the table as he nodded at all the men in my family in greeting before looking away. Guess he wasn't a fan of actually talking.
"If you give me a second to sit down, I might be able to tell you," I muttered under my breath, though I clearly wasn't quiet enough.
My father sent me a warning look, his eyes narrowing. Guess he wasn't in a good moment tonight, because he usually let my snarky comments slip. I was his precious baby daughter after all.
"Doesn't matter, don't order anything," he said, waving his hand, the multiple gold rings on his fingers catching the light of the diner. "I can't be here long anyway."
Johnny, who was squished on the other side of my mother and the wall, let out a classy snort. "What's the point in calling a dinner if we aren't going to eat?"
For a second, I was glad he only gave me a warning with his eyes, because the glare he shot at Johnny was bad enough to make hell freeze over, not that Johnny was too phased by it. He slouched against the worn out leather seats, raising an eyebrow at my father, boredom stretched over his features.
"Business," my dad said curtly. "I'm out for the rest of the week, this is the only time I had available."
"Well we were in the middle of a meeting for the shipment," Johnny retorted, and I saw his fingers ball on the table.
My father and Johnny didn't get along, though I was yet to meet another person that did get along with Johnny. Other than my brothers, he didn't seem to care for another human soul. Around company, my father and Johnny were usually good at keeping their tempers locked down, so I was surprised to see Johnny firing up around Harry.
I made a subtle glance over at him, seemingly surprised by his blank expression as my family argued over each other, their usual demand for dominance unwavering in his presence.
Harry seemed like he was busy scanning the empty diner, his eyes watching the windows to really care about the drama of my family. I wanted to turn around to see if there was anything there, but doing that would mean making it obvious that I was watching him watch them. My pride wouldn't allow me to do such thing, so I just forced myself to tune back into the bickering of my family.
"What business is so important that we needed to be called in so late?" Trent asked, his tone flat and businesslike. He crossed his arms over his chest, staring at my father in boredom.
Someday I wished I could be as cold and statuette as him. He sat straight, like he had a poll pressed against his back keeping him upright. His eyes were dull, mouth set in a flat line.
Though I wished I could have his authoritative vibe, given that he was the oldest, at twenty-six, he endured a lot more childhood trauma from the family business. I think that was what made him so monotone with life. He had seen so much that any spark of happiness had dissolved from his eyes long ago.
Tonight, all my brothers seemed to have coordinated their clothing, and I would of made fun of them if they all didn't look like they wanted to bite someone's head off. They were all dressed in matching suits. Dark blue ties, white shirts and navy blazers. I wasn't about to tell them all that their fashion sense was fairly delayed. Not that they'd care anyway. Their suits probably cost more than what most people made in a month.
Harry looked so out of place sitting besides my family, with his pale complexion and brooding tattooed body. He stuck out like a sore thumb against us, and I was having difficulty looking away from him for exactly that reason. He was too fucking pretty, and I hated how much it grabbed my attention.
If he felt my eyes watching him, he didn't make it known. He continued to do his sweep of the small diner, eyes glued to our surroundings like we were under direct attack. I couldn't help but roll my eyes. Someone needed to tell him that we weren't the Royal Family and we didn't have a hitman after us.
"It's come to my attention that we're heading into the month of August, and Annie's birthday is next week."
I blinked in surprise, turning to my father with an eyebrow raised. My birthday wasn't something that called for a business meeting. It usually went unannounced, getting planned by Maria and whatever staff she had hired for the event. It was sad to say that we all just got emails about it, myself included. I didn't have a lot of friends to invite, therefore distant family members and associates of the family were usually the attendees of such events. You could imagine what my twenty-first birthday looked like. Instead of partying like a lot of young adults did, I was wrapped in what felt like a ball gown, sitting on a long table of people, bored out of my mind as people approached and talked to be about stupid things like the weather, the crashing stock market and the family business.
I had ended up sneaking away at three am to to a club we didn't own with a few rowdy people I had met during my school years. They were known at the stoners, and were more than happy to accompany me when I had contacted them via Facebook. I think the idea of free alcohol sparked their interest more than anything, not that I was complaining. I just wanted to feel like everyone else my age. It was fun while it lasted. I had managed to get plastered within the hour of being there, only to be dragged back home by my brothers when they realized what I had done. Talk about party poopers.
"That doesn't really seem like a valid reason to drag us out," Johnny muttered.
"Nor does it sound like a good idea," Trent continued, glaring at our parents.
I scoffed, offended. "Excuse me," I snapped, turning to glare at him. "Why wouldn't my birthday be a good idea?"
The entire table was silent, and I filtered my gaze around everyone to catch any sort of reaction. Johnny and Trent continued to have a stare off with our father, Michael stared at my mother as she stared at her drink.
Nobody seemed to pay any attention to me. Well, except for Harry but he didn't count. His eyes had stopped scanning the restaurant to glance over at me, his own eyebrows furrowing in what seemed to be confusion. It was gone a second later when he caught the gaze of Trent. They seemed to have a conversation of their own with their eyes before Harry went back to minding his own business.
Strange. Very strange.
"Well?" I prompted, though I turned my attention to my father. If anyone was going to give me some sort of answer, it would be him.
"Birthdays are meant to be celebrated," my father insisted, plastering a wide grin on his face. One that looked strangely out of place on him. "Besides, we're all under such stress, I think a party is just what we needed."
"I couldn't agree more," I interjected, much to my brothers' dismay. They all shot me the same look, one that told me to shut my mouth. I sneered back, annoyed that they were all wanting to take away the celebrations of my birthday.
It was bad enough that I already was in the shadows of this family, and here they were, trying to keep me away from the only day I ever got some form of attention from my parents. I'd never admit how much I looked forward to the speeches of the night, even if they were pre-written by someone else. I always ignored that part and focused on the kind words instead.
"One other thing," my father said, glancing down at his watch again. He sighed before looking up at us all. "I've assigned Harry to be your personal bodyguard until the party."
I blinked multiple times, staring at my father like he had lost his mind. I glanced over at my brothers, hoping I had heard wrong and that my father was talking to them. Since they were all staring at me, I guessed not.
I cleared my throat, urging myself to be calm, though I was having trouble doing so. "Excuse me?"
"Here we go," Johnny muttered under his breath.
I didn't bother giving him a reaction, though the annoyance I had for him was growing in my body rapidly. He just loved to commentate on everything. If I could, I would sow his mouth shut.
My father didn't look at me as he stood, waving a dismissive hand above his head as he pulled himself out of the booth, his way of closing the conversation. My mother, who had been silent, threw back the remaining contents of her drink like it was a shot, and followed my fathers movements. Harry stood, allowing her to get out before he sat back down. He kept his gaze locked on me, though I chose to look anywhere else. Maybe if I ignored him, he'd just disappear.
"You know how much attention your birthdays get," my father said, straightening his blazer. "I want Harry around you in case anyone gets too close."
"That's absurd," I scoffed, shaking my head like a toddler who didn't get their way. I pushed myself out of the booth, suddenly panicked. I couldn't have Harry follow me around for the next week, I had things to do, things that I would rather not have people see me do.
I could possibly change those things around, but it would cause more complications. Panic flared in me like a bad rash.
My birthdays caused attention only because people saw it like as the event of the year and wanted to be invited. There had been a few incidents were I had been stopped on the street by people who knew my family and wanted to be pristine enough to be invited. I had shut them down on the spot though, and my father knew that.
I wasn't reckless enough to invite total strangers into our home, and he knew that. I was capable enough not to dose our family name in petrol and set it on fire. I had never done anything stupid enough to earn a personal fucking bodyguard. I wasn't Johnny, I didn't make rash decisions and landed our family in the newspaper. I was the golden fucking child of this family.
"I don't need a bodyguard!" I all but shouted at my father as he collected his things, wrapping his arm around my mother who was having trouble standing. My usual calm and collected attitude had apparently left the fucking building, and I felt like I needed to grab my father and shake some sense into him.
He didn't look at me as he ushered her out of the door, looking fed up and annoyed as he did.
"Trent," he called from the door, glancing around the near empty diner. No one was here apart from a few staff members, and they looked tired as hell. I could only assume my father paid them to stay open past their closing time. "Explain this to your sister, would you? She doesn't seem to have an understanding of why I'm doing this."
With that, he was gone. No goodbye, no 'be safe, I love you all.' Not that I expected anything that sincere to fall from my fathers lips, though it was nice to imagine.
I turned to my brothers, throwing my hands up in frustration.. I ignored Harry, who was still staring at me blankly.
I didn't really stop to think about how offensive I was being to him. To be fair, it didn't have anything to do with him, it was more about the fact that my family didn't have any trust in me to hold myself. I was a fucking Taylor as well, and that itself was something. I had as much fight in me as the rest of them. They just never let me prove it.
"Please tell me one of you feel the same way," I said, my eyes wide. "This is crazy. I thought Harry was suppose to be a live in guard, not my guard. Since when do I need a fucking babysitter?"
Michael, who had unsurprisingly been silent the entire time, let out a sigh. "It's for your own benefit, Annie. Harry's job is going to be to protect you."
I balled my fists together, ignoring the stinging pain it brought as my nails dug into my skin. "I do not need protecting," I said through gritted teeth. "I'm not a child."
"You're acting like one," Johnny snapped, shuffling closer into the booth until he was shoulder to shoulder with Harry. "Get over it, it's only for a week."
"Shut the fuck-,"
"Enough!" Trent slammed his fist down against the table, causing the silverware to clink together and me to jump. "We spoke about this last night, Anna. You need to listen to Harry, you need to make sure he's with you wherever you go. I don't want to get a call from him saying that you've left somewhere without him. It's only for a week, suck it up."
I shut my mouth after that, my cheeks burning red. I was Annie to my brothers and my father, Annabeth to my mother and I was only ever Anna if I was in trouble or if someone had finally had enough of my shit. Trent didn't call me that often, but I knew it was safe to say that the conversation had officially hit a dead end.
Biting the inside of my cheek, I reluctantly nodded. He gave me a satisfied nod in return, motioning to my brothers to stand. He then turned to Harry, who followed suit, and reached out to shake his hand.
"You'll tell me if anything happens?" Trent asked, an eyebrow raised.
Harry didn't bother looking over at my face as he nodded at my brother, face as flat as his. He shook his hand with a tight grip. "Of course, you have my word," he murmured.
Trent thanked him, as did Johnny and Michael, before they strolled out of the diner, without so much of a goodbye in my direction.
I was embarrassed that I always seemed to be the one that didn't need a goodbye or a hello from my family. I was always just the little sister, the one who was thrown into the arms of someone else to be taken care of.
As I watched my brothers disappear into Trent's SUV, I felt Harry move to stand beside me, watching as they drove off as well.
"Are you ready to leave?" he asked me.
I didn't bother to answer, though I felt rude ignoring him. I tucked myself into my coat, wrapping it tightly around my waist as I stormed out of the diner. I could of sworn I heard Harry chuckle at my behavior, though he followed, not bothering to make any sort of conversation as we drove back to pick up my car. That I was thankful for.
My brain rattled with thoughts as we drove, my mind racing with a million different ways to get Harry fired. It wasn't anything personal, and I felt bad that he would soon be out of a job, but I refused to have this man babysit me for the next week. I had a life that my family didn't know about, and Harry was the last person I would invite into it. I had my own secrets to keep, and I refused to allow Harry to be the person who found them all out.