Chapter 4 - Yara
YARA
Sweat gathered at the back of my neck as I hauled a tray with the new round of drinks for a table not too far away from the bar in the Exclusive Members Lounge.
My mother threw a fit when I said that I wanted to work, but William didn't even bat an eye.
As a matter of fact, he was the one who helped me get this job at the Clear View Country Club, his eyes shining with pride because I even asked about it.
He did say I didn't have to work, that he would cover everything, but I wanted my own money.
Not that I could tell him that without exposing my mother for the gold-digging bitch she was.
I also couldn't tell him that the bride he was so enamored with was actually the kind of person who withheld money from her only daughter as a means to control her.
So, yeah, she didn't like the fact that she couldn't control me that way, at least not fully, but one look from William and she put the mask back on, beaming at me when I announced I would be starting in less than a week after that initial conversation.
My mother liked pretending that she was someone who was born with a silver spoon in her mouth, when in reality she actually came from nothing, cheating and lying to people to get where she was today.
There was absolutely nothing wrong with coming from a family that didn't have enough money to pay for expensive trips and clothes that cost more than some people's rent, but she didn't want to accept that.
She was so ashamed of her family that I only got to see my grandparents two times in my entire life, before they passed away, leaving me all alone with the monster who gave birth to me.
But I didn't want to be like her. I didn't want to depend on other people or to use them to get what I wanted.
She managed to marry my father almost twenty years ago, got pregnant and then destroyed the relationship.
He was no saint either, so in a way I think they deserved each other.
Bad people attract bad people, or some shit like that, and the only thing I regretted was being the product of that fucked up marriage.
To say that they hated each other would be the understatement of the year, but they were very good at pretending. If she wasn't an arm candy for rich men, my mother should have been an actress.
I wouldn't say this job was something I absolutely loved, but it paid well, and people weren't absolute assholes—at least most of the time.
The rich and powerful of St. Bipal's frequented Clear View Country Club, and with its two levels, private pool, sauna, several other rooms I saw on the first day here and the private suites, I could see the appeal.
It was the place to run away to when you wanted to hide from the real world, at least for a little while.
Most of the members of this club were influential members of the community, and if it wasn't for some of their spoiled kids, this would be a perfect place to work at.
The tips were higher than my hourly pay, and that said a lot considering I was already getting paid more than I thought I should.
I worked here mainly during weekends and two more days during the week in the evenings when I didn't have late classes.
I hoped today would be another one of those easy-going days, where I'd be able to do my shit, finish my shift, and keep my head down.
But it would seem that the Universe had other plans for me, and instead of granting me a quiet day, it decided that every single person who attended my college, every single spoiled guy and girl, would be sitting in my section.
Rhett, Ezra and Ryder — Xavier's friends — were sitting at the table next to the massive floor to ceiling windows, overlooking the landscaping outside, and I it was hard to miss the sneers directed at me the moment I came to take their orders.
Ryder, for the most part, ignored me. Ezra pretty much looked at me as if I was an insignificant peasant but Rhett.
.. Rhett made it his mission in life to emulate what Xavier was doing to me, and as I walked toward them, I repeated to myself to keep my mouth shut.
I was told on the first day here that members were always right and we had to do everything in our power to exceed their expectations.
We shouldn't talk back.
Just smile and look pretty, was what most of the girls repeated on a daily basis. Just. Fucking. Smile.
But I didn't have it in me to smile today. I actually barely had it in me to come to work today.
I had no idea what was wrong with me, what had me walking around like a zombie, but I blamed my less than stellar mood on the bane of my existence—my stepbrother.
It's been a week since he snuck inside my room, made me cum, carved his fucking initials in my skin, held me through the night as if I mattered, only to completely disappear for the next three days.
I had no idea where he went. I had no idea what was happening, and even when he came back, I could only see the traces of him in the house with him leaving his half empty cup of coffee in the kitchen and hearing him closing the doors of his room.
The man was a ghost, and that put me on edge.
He was planning something, he had to be and if there was one thing I hated it was uncertainty. Not knowing what was about to happen had my anxiety spiking and my blood boiling. I didn't want to think that there was possibly another reason why I felt this way. No, not possible.
I liked living in the world of denial, trying to erase the night we had spent together, focusing on other things.
Violet and Noah tried asking me what happened at the party, but I brushed them off, not even remotely ready to mention Xavier's name.
Thankfully they didn't push, which only made me feel shittier.
So I told Violet and Noah just a couple of details, mainly what happened while we were ar the ground floor of the house.
They wouldn't understand what happened later.
They would look at me as if I was a freak, especially since they saw how Xavier behaved toward me, which also had all of his little minions thinking they could bully me even when he wasn't there.
I just wished I could also ignore the tightening of my skin on my thigh every time I took a step, because then I could completely forget he even existed. The cuts he made weren’t deep enough to require stitches, but they still annoyed the shit out of me.
Primarily because I didn’t want to think about them. Especially right now when I had to serve his fucking friends.
I shook my head as I passed a couple of tables in the center of the lounge, heading toward the table from hell.
Ezra was laughing at something Rhett had said, and I just hoped they would ignore me this time and continue talking between themselves.
I didn't want their attention on me. I didn't want them to have any more ammunition against me.
It was bad enough that most of the people at college ignored me, with only a brave few willingly talking to me.
Violet and Noah didn't care because they also came from highly powerful families, but unlike Xavier's friends, they weren't assholes who messed with people just because they were new or because they had a different background.
Truth to be told, I knew Xavier was behind all of the bullying, because I never saw any of them targeting anyone else. They also didn't behave like an entitled bunch of pricks toward other students, so yeah, I guess I was the lucky one who got all their attention.
Rhett looked up just as I came less than a couple of feet away from their table, the greens of his eyes blazing with mischief I didn't want to know about.
The conversation stopped between them the moment I stepped right next to the table, balancing the tray on my left hand, and taking the drinks they ordered with my right.
"One Budweiser," I said as I placed the bottle of beer in front of Ryder. He nodded as I put the glass right next to the bottle as well, focusing on something behind my back. His eyes narrowed before he looked back at me and then at whatever was behind there.
Weird.
Extremely fucking weird.
"Whiskey neat," I murmured next, ignoring Ryder, and placed the glass in front of Ezra. Okay, this was going well. All three of them kept their mouths shut and they didn't try to mess with me.
It was really, really great.
I bent down a bit as I took the third glass, filled with Jack Daniels, for Rhett, "And—"
"Had I known the service here now included bent down whores, I would've come sooner," the voice behind me announced, loud enough for everyone to hear.
Rhett grinned, snatching the glass from my hand before I was able to place it in front of him.
"It's just too bad that the only thing they're apparently good for is being on their knees," Rhett added.
"The service here really went downhill. I might need to talk to my father about it.
" My cheeks burned, my eyes filled with tears I didn't want to acknowledge, but being stuck between Xavier at my back and Rhett in front of me, I couldn't stop myself from getting embarrassed.
This wasn't happening, I told myself.
My hand shook as I took the bottle of Coke from the tray and placed it in front of Rhett.
Do not react. Do not fucking react, no matter what.
"She has a nice ass though," Xavier added, whistling.
"Is there anything else I can get you?" I asked the table, completely ignoring the man behind me. I fucking hated standing here, in their world, getting humiliated over and over again. But it wasn't like I had much choice.
They were the kings of this town, and I was just the insignificant daughter of a woman who married a powerful man. This wouldn't be happening if it wasn't for Xavier. None of them would even bat an eye at me if the man in question didn't turn everyone against me.