Avion #2
“Good morning,” he said, casting Anton and I each a passing glance like we were his staff and not his children. “Vincent, can you pull out your notes from the Anker meeting yesterday. I was thinking about something he said regarding the tolls downtown, and I think I may have a better solution.”
“Of course,” Vincent replied, flicking through his tablet and handing the device over to my father.
“Hey,” I started, but Anton reached out and put a hand on my leg, almost like he was comforting me, but I knew that he wasn’t.
“Don’t forget that the tolls situation falls under Mayor Countenance’s jurisdiction as well,” he said, directing attention away from the concern I was about to raise. “If you’re going to change what you discussed yesterday, you’re going to need to loop her in.”
My father nodded. “Of course. Thank you, Anton.”
I glared over at Anton, but he just shook his head at me as if to say now wasn’t the time.
How nice it must be for the three of them to not have an existence hinged upon the whims of one person.
I didn’t think it was so unfair for me to demand answers, but apparently, that was too much to ask, so I planned to just keep my mouth shut for the rest of the day.
At least as long as I was outside of a camera’s lens.
We arrived at the children’s hospital for the first leg of our tour a little before the designated time.
Though I planned to hop right out of the limo and go check in with the coordinators of the event, Vincent shoved himself in front of me so that he could climb out first. He took his initial smiles and waves to the camera and then held a hand back for me to grab.
It felt like I was reaching my hand into sludge to grab it, but I played my role, letting him “help” me out of the limo before pulling me into a big, sideways hug.
The camera people that were already posted around the hospital’s entrance started going wild, cheering as they snapped tons of photos of Vince and me like we were your regular, old, big-bro/baby-sis combo.
“Vincent!” one of the journalists yelled out. “How is it having your little sister along for the ride now?”
“Are you kidding?” Vincent said with a huge smile, then he looked down at me with a warm expression that I knew was as fake as my nails.
“This woman worked her behind off getting her master’s degree in just two years!
She graduated top of her class and fought harder than my brother, my father, and I combined to get here.
She honestly inspires me to work harder every single day, which is truly the only downside.
She’s my baby sis, but she often makes me feel like I need to be doing more. ”
I smiled up at Vincent, pulling into another hug as if I were truly touched by his comments, and Anton and my father were out of the limo moments later. Vincent kept a hold on me as Anton moved to my other side and my dad stood behind me, setting a hand on my head.
“What about you, Avion?” a journalist called out. “What’s it like taking your seat in the family business?”
“I would say I’m the lucky one,” I said. “Between getting to work side-by-side with these goofballs,” I elbowed both Anton and Vincent, “and work for my dad,” I tossed him a warm smile, “who I truly believe is the best Governor New York has ever seen, it hardly feels like I have a job.”
Vincent rigidified next to me, but I kept my smile on, this time a truthful one. Throw jabs at me and I’ll throw jabs back. I may be the only non-politician among us, but I was still a Narzand. Being cutthroat was in our blood.
“If you’ll excuse us,” my father called out, “we have got some very important people to see!”
The cameras continued to flash as we walked into the children’s hospital.
“That was cute,” Vincent hissed next to me, under his breath enough that no one would catch it.
“Thanks, Big Bro,” I responded with as much snark as I could muster, “I thought so too.”
If there were master mechanics stuck working as cashiers at auto-part stores, and culinary artists flipping burgers at fast food joints, there are Oscar-worthy actors stuck pretending their family doesn't bring them immeasurable pain. It wasn’t even the harsh insults or blatant disregard that hurt me the most, it was the fact that when we had to spend full days pretending we loved one another, I actually wished it was that way.
I couldn’t imagine how nice it must be to have a father that always liked to keep a protective hold over you or older brothers who thought the world of you and just wanted you to be successful.
The most my father and brothers cared about me was the fact that I had the feminine wiles that they didn’t sway their counterparts in their direction.
That was what our day was like. Turning it on and off all across the city of New York, posturing as the happy family the citizens of the state believed us to be.
Tomorrow morning, the media would all be awash with pictures and kind words and I’d be forced to relive how awful my family was the second day in a row.
At least it was Saturday, and my plans with Lorie would help.
Just as the sun was setting, we all clamored back into the limo and took it over to the CosmoCo Hotel, a glistening, glamorous resort hotel that was typically the host to tons of high-profile parties and engagements in the city.
It was directly next to, and now connected to, the brand-new Apex Founders Technology building, the new headquarters of the security company that the entire state of New York had a standing contract with.
Due in part to the fact that it was my dad’s signature on that contract, and in part to the fact that the company owner and my dad were old frat buds, my dad and brothers were close to being the stars of the show.
Fortunately, because everyone would be hanging on their every word, I would finally be able to slip away and just let them do whatever they were going to do.
I was already dreaming of a drink at the bar as we got checked into the exclusive suite that had been reserved at CosmoCo for us to change and relax in before heading over to the party.
There was a nice basket of snacks and drinks sitting on the table, along with gift cards for several things we could do together as a family.
The latter of these things was totally ignored, but Anton did pop open a bottle of champagne and poured four, hefty glasses.
We took turns using the suite’s two provided bathrooms to get changed, and those who weren’t changing were drinking.
Once we were all in our evening attire and ready to go, my dad tossed back what was left of his champagne and then led the way out of the room, not even saying anything, just walking out and knowing we’d follow because we had no choice.
We stuck close to one another, laughing at my father’s stupid dad jokes as we walked across the skyline and to the elevator that would take us to the rooftop of the Apex Founders Technology building for the party.
We were all smiles until the doors closed, but by the time the reflective, silver doors met, we were back to looks of disdain.
We stayed that way until the elevator pinged on the top floor.
My dad wrapped his arms around us and threw on a cheesy grin. “Smile one last time for the cameras, kids.” His words were hissed in an ominous tone. “Everything changes after today.”
“Wait, why?” I asked.
But before he could answer, the doors opened, and there were a dozen people waiting to greet us.
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