My brothers have a habit of creating a scene wherever they go. Finn would start to reorganize everything, Henry and Sam would talk at full volume, Ryan would ask people personal questions that made them uncomfortable, Jack would pick up random heavy items to prove he was strong enough to pick them up, and Will would pull things apart to see how they worked before putting them back togetherâ more times than not, incorrectly.
Normally, those attributes and details that made up the collective of the Autumns boys were more funny and quirky than embarrassing, but right now, they were on the verge of getting me fired, and nothing about that was quirky or funny.
The icing on the mortifying cake that was my embarrassment was Laurence sticking his head out of his office. "Is... everything okay?" he asked, taking in my mortified expression.
"Yep!" I said, moving toward one of my brothers, determined to usher them out of the building before they could make things worse.
"Is this Boss Man?" Jack asked Dash, who he was still lifting like a set of weights. "Yep," Dash replied before he continued counting the reps.
"My family," I said gesturing to all of them before I made a beeline for Will. "They were just leaving."
Will dropped a skrew driver that he had been about to use to pry open Bex's hard drive and bounded over to Laurence before I could stop him. "Royal, right? Hi! I'm Will, IT expert, coder and Lily's favorite brother!"
Before I could stop him, Will shook Laurence's hand, shooting me a large grin that shouted 'this is the guy you've liked for forever right?' before he began to introduce my siblings.
"Jack, the one currently using your assistant as a dumbbell, is an architect. Ryan, the one playing twenty question with your boss, owns a few AirBnB's and is a jack of all trades. My parents really should have named him Jack." Will laughed at his own joke and the sound of the loud boisterous kidish laugh, brought a surprIsed smile to Laurence's face.
Will pointed over to Finn. "The one reorganizing Lily's desk is Finn. He's a chocolatier. He makes the most amazing things out of chocolate. But we aren't allowed around them anymore because we them all before he can sell them."
Sam stood next to the elevator, taking in the entire room, glancing from me to the chaos that my brothers were causing. "That's Sam. Leader of the Autumns pack. Not only because he's the oldest, but because he's a police officer and could kill us all."
Sam pulled his eyes from my brothers and gave Laurence a nod, uncomfortable with the sudden spotlight, the only family member that wasn't wreaking havoc in the office. He looked back at Laurence, waiting to see what he would do, how he would respond to our family, how he would respond to a mere nod as a 'hello.'
Sam spent so much time interacting with people from all walks of life, that he claimed the first moment when meeting someone new told him everything he needed to know about someone. I held my breath, waiting to see what Laurence would do.
Laurence nodded back at Sam, not offering any words, greeting him the same way he was greeted.
Sam relaxed visibly and I let out a breath. He had passed the greeting test. Laurence had always been good at greeting people, mirroring their wants. Sam seemed somewhat surprised by how quickly Laurence picked up on that.
"Henry is the one who can't seem to wrap his head around the idea of glass walls," Will said with a laugh. Sure enough, Henry had moved on to tapping on Allie's office glass wall, eyes wide. "He's a real estate agent... I guess he has never sold a house with glass walls."
Will held up his arms gesturing to everyone. "So that's pretty much everyone." His smile grew wider, and I could practically see my brother's mischievous intent before the words were out of his mouth. "We've heard a whoooooole lot about you. Is it true thatâ"
"Okay... let's go!" I said, grabbing Will by the back of his shirt collar and yanking him away from Laurence. Then I wrapped a second arm around Ryan's neck and pulled him away from Allie before he could say more wrong things about clothes.
"Jack! Put Dash down! Finn, leave my stuff alone. I like my organization system!"
"It can be improved!" Finn insisted, ignoring me as he worked faster, determined to complete his vision.
Jack reluctantly put Dash down. Dash shot me an irritated expression. "But he was nearly to one hundred!"
Sam, seeing the look of pleading panic on my face, walked over, grabbed Finn and shoved him after me before walking over to the glass wall to Allie's office, grabbed Henry who was still tapping on that set of glass, and shoved him after me too. "Listen to Lily and stop horsing around," Sam muttered, rolling up his shirt sleeves, his arm tattoos flashing like hard won war marks as he walked over toward the corralled Autumns boys by the elevator.
I started hitting the elevator button in a near panic. "You were supposed to wait for me in the lobby!" I hissed at my brothers, face red.
"And miss out on seeing you at work! Not a chance!" Henry shouted, eyeing the office floor with fascination. "What's the square footage of this place?"
"Don't know," I said, wanting to melt into the floor and die.
"Awww we love that angry face," Will said with a grin, poking me in the ribs before I pried his hand off, bending it backward and getting a yelp out of him.
"You are not my favorite sibling," I said darkly. "You are my soon to be dead sibling."
"That is a lot of siblings," I heard Allie say. "I'm surprised she hasn't killed them."
I heard Dash laughing from his desk and my face burned brighter, hitting the elevator button again.
Hurry up elevator!
I could hear Bex muttering as she adjusted her hard drive after Will's attempt to pry it open. "She'd be doing me a favor if she killed Will."
The elevator finally arrived, and I began to shove them all inside, whisper shouting orders as they went. "Please stop talking until we reach the ground floor," I begged. "And don't pick up anything," I said as I shoved Jack into the elevator. Then I smacked Will's hand. "Don't touch the elevator control panel! You'll trap us in the elevator again!"
Will smirked back through the elevator doors. "Calm down. I'll leave the elevator alone. Bex's hard drive on the other hand..."
The elevator doors began to close, but not before Bex shouted. "TOUCH IT AND I'LL KILL YOU!"
"Until next time!" my tech genius brother shouted back as the doors closed all the way, a pleased smirk on his face. He loved messing with Bex, a long standing crush ever since they met when Will helped me move in with Bex several years ago.
They both worked in tech and were constantly pranking each other from long distance, hacking into each other's accounts and leaving harmless pranks in code form. They were always fighting and attempting to steal each other's clients.
Dash may have competition there.
Closing my eyes, I leaned against the closed doors, already exhausted. And they only got here five seconds ago...
A moment later, Will wrapped his arms around me. "It's good to see you, Lil." The rest of my brother's joined in, wrapping me in a perfect Autumns Boys sandwich, melting away my frustration and anger.
The Autumns Boys Sandwich Hug was the best thing in the world. It made all the chaos worth it. It was a shield against the universe. A physical barrier of love.
"You're trying to make me not mad," I said, voice muffled by all the limbs.
"Is it working?" Will asked, his voice, also muffled.
"A little," I admitted. "I've missed this."
"We did too, lil' sis," Henry said, using his favorite nickname. Shortening my name and also calling me small. Which was fair. Compared to all of themâ who were all above six footâ I was tiny.
"So..." Will said as he leaned back from the hug, shooting me a nervous expression, unsure of how I would respond. "We planned the whole day. Starting with a tour here. Don't get mad," he added quickly. "We will behave."
Better than upstairs? I highly doubt that.
Finn nodded. "I have an organized schedule laid out." He proceeded to pull out an actual list, pressing it flat against his knee before holding it up. "First, a tour of your office building. Second, we get lunch."
Henry picked up where Finn left off, plucking the list from his hand, and nearly giving Finn a heart attack when he added several wrinkles to it in his tight hold. "Yep. Dashâ nice guy by the wayâ is inviting your Lady Boss, the Suit Boss and Bex to join us."
OH MY GOSH.
"WHAT!?!"
"Then we are going to find Liam," Ryan said, grabbing the list, fingers balling into fists and completely destroying the list in his hand. Finn audibly groaned, his color coded list destroyed.
"I knew I should have laminated it," he said.
"And kick his ass," Ryan finished.
"Language," Henry said, falling into single dad mode without a thought. He seemed to remember that his two year old wasn't with him, and cleared his throat. "Sorry."
I glared at Will. "YOU TOLD THEM?!?"
Will had the good sense to look guilty. "They... are very good at getting information out of me."
Jack snorted, his silent demeanor until now a very normal thing. "Accidentally leaving your phone on speaker mode instead of connecting it to your wireless headphones doesn't count as 'us getting it out of you.'"
"Again?!?" I shouted. My brothers always seemed to bring out the louder decibel in me. "WHY DO I TELL YOU ANYTHING?!?"
Will blushed, embarrassed. "I'll work on it," he promised.
"I am going to kill you," I vowed launching for him, furious. I managed to grab him before Sam pulled us apart.
The doors to the elevator opened on the ground floor and we all stumbled out, Sam still keeping us separated as I tried to grab Will again.
"This is a place of work," Sam hissed. "Lead by example Lil!"
I shot Will a warning glare but complied, remembering that I was no longer ten, attempting to pummel my twelve year old brother after he had read my diary.
No killing him in public...
Finn looked at me, waiting expectantly. "Tour?"
"Fine," I said reluctantly. "But I have rules." I glared at all of my brothers, hoping that for once in our entire relationship I looked intimidating instead of 'adorably feisty.'
"Rule number one... no one from work is joining us for lunch."
"That's not a rule," Finn pointed out. "That's an unrealistic demand."
I pointed to Will, Finn and Jack in quick succession. "Rule number two... none of you are allowed to touch anything, or anyone. No lifting people. No breaking into computers or offices."
I pointed at Ryan. "No interrogating. Better yet, no talking to anyone and if someone talks to you, you can make idle chit chat. But it can't include words like 'what are your biggest fears.' I'm tired of seeing you make people cry like you are their therapist."
I pointed at Henry and Sam. "No exclaiming things loudly either."
Will held up his hand in vow. "We'll behave."
"I'm not done," I said. "Rule number three... no one is kicking Liam's butt."
The Autumns Boys all looked at each other, sharing a conspiratorial look before Sam spoke for them, crossing his arms and showcasing his tattoos like a war banner, his police officer voice all business. "We will agree to not embarrass you. But we can't agree to not kick his ass, and we will not uninvite your bosses, Bex or Dash. That would be rude."
The others all nodded in unison, making it clear that they had expected my reaction and had planned to stand as a united front against it.
I knew better than to argue. When they all agreed to something, it was impossible to change their minds.
Sam held out his arm, gesturing for me to lead the way. "Now, how about that tour?"
After several failed attempts to stall, I reluctantly took them on a tour of Royal Winters, starting with the design floor, where piles of material were being turned into clothes. I could practically see Finn itching to organize the material scraps that hadn't been tended to yet, but he kept his promise, and didn't touch anything.
When large crates were being brought onto the shooting stage, full of photo shoot supplies, Jack purposefully turned away, keeping himself busy with staring at anything and everything else other than the very heavy crates that he really wanted to try lifting.
When several people came up and started talking to my brothers, Ryan kept things light, talking about the whether and how fascinating the light fixtures were. I could practically see him internally screaming to ask for everyone's life stories.
By the time we made it back up to the top floor, and Will had managed not to break into any light fixtures or swivel chairs to see how the mechanisms worked, I was starting to allow myself to believe that things were going to be okay.
That was until the elevator doors opened and I found Dash standing there with Allie and Bex. "Lunch?" he asked hopefully. "Lunch time?"
"Yep!" Henry said loudly, before he cleared his throat and tried again at a normal volume. "Yep."
"Should we wait for Boss man?" Dash asked pushing his way into the elevator. Bex and Allie followed.
I glanced past them and saw Laurence in his office. He was still talking to the mysterious blond. He was smiling softly to himself, a shy expression on his face. The look of open affection was more than I wanted to deal with while juggling my brothers.
I swallowed. "No. Let's go."
Hitting the elevator button for the ground floor, the doors closed, leaving Laurence and his smiles for someone else behind.
...
"How many waffle sandwiches are your brothers going to eat?" Dash asked, wide eyed as he helped me carry sixteen sandwiches, sixteen sets of fries, and ten milkshakes to a patio table at a chain restaurant called Bruxie that was famous for its waffle sandwiches.
Finn had done extensive research on interesting places to eat in Southern California and had added eating at Bruxie's to a long list of things to do while they were visiting.
I shrugged, hands full of waffle sandwiches on trays as I explained. "The six of them eat enough for twelve people. It's a miracle that we had enough food in our house growing up."
Dash balanced the other sets of trays, filled with milkshakes and fries. As we squeezed past the line of people waiting for their food we made our way out onto the patio, my brothers and the others from the office taking up every single table outside. The tables had all been smooshed together, making a giant super tableâ no doubt Henry's doing.
As we sat down and passed around the food, I discovered two new additions sitting at our super table that hadn't been there when Dash and I had left to grab the food.
"Um... those two don't look like your brothers," Dash said, brow going up. "They're far too beautiful to be your brothers."
"You can't flirt with three girls at the same time," I murmured to Dash. "You need to focus on one or you'll get zero dates out of this."
Dash shot me a grin. "Challenge accepted."
"Not a challenge. A warning. You literally picked the three most independent women I know. They don't put up with games." I sighed, frustrated. "Besides, you don't need games, Dash. You are a great person. And if you keep messing around you are going to miss out on some great things."
A conflicted look crossed his face. "I know... I just. Serious things have burned me before. I'm not used to being open to them anymore."
I gave his arm a squeeze. "You have to try sometime Dash. Promise me you will."
"I promise," he said after a moment. "Just give me some time to figure out how to do that... I'll start after lunch. There's too many pretty people at this table for me pull it off now."
I snorted. "Fine." Then I turned to the rest the table. "Prism? Lavender? Not that I'm not happy that you are here but, what are you two doing here?"
Bex grinned. "I invited them. The testosterone levels were atrocious." She glanced at Will, who sat across the table from her. "Even if he hardly counts."
Will, who had taken a large sip of his milkshake, spat it back out with a cough. Bex managed to dodge, still grinning.
"We haven't met your brothers before," Prism said, her platinum blond hair pulled into a pristine side braid, bright pink blouse a sharp contrast to the dark tones that Finn wore, seated across from her. "I had no idea that your brother, Finn, was a chocolatier!"
Finn offered a somewhat flustered half smile, the rare dimple showing in his cheek. The attention had left him speechless. Especially attention from a beautiful, bright, sparkly pink florist.
"He's very good," I said, watching him look away, wanting to hide from my praise.
"You'll have to show me your work," Prism said with a smile. "So many people ask me for chocolate shop recommendations when they pick up their flowers at my shop during the holiday season. I'd love to add you to the list."
Finn looked up at her and smiled, seeming to relax when he realized it was a chance to network with a fellow artist, a topic he was comfortable with.
A moment later, they were in a deep conversation about carving works of art out of chocolate, and the particulars of flower arrangements and how they were both preparing for the holiday season. Christmas was a time of year where business was good and deeply stressful for both flower and chocolate shops.
Lavender was seated across from Jack, both who seemed far less comfortable with striking up a conversation with a complete stranger. Lavender wore her classic color, a purple knitted sweater, black slacks and black leather boots, her long black hair in casual waves down her shoulders. She spent her days making movies, and carried herself with a similar confidence to Jack, an architect who designed and then built houses.
They were both honest to a fault, and were currently uninterested in making idle chit chat, seeming to have fallen into a staring contest. Neither felt the need to prove themselves or attempt to make new friends.
Great. Now there are two scary starers.
Everyone else dove into their food while Dash attempted to strike up a conversation with Bex, who continued to ignore him.
Allie had finally given in and was telling Ryan her life story, while he listened, fascinated.
Will nudged me with his elbow. "This isn't too terrible, right?"
I laughed. "No. It's nice. It'sâ"
I trailed off the same moment that Allie did, both of our eyes catching on the same person across the street. Allie was on her feet a moment later but I yanked her back down. "Don't. He'll see you."
"So?" she asked, irritated. "I don't need the element of surprise to kick his ass."
"I don't want my brothers toâ"
"They don't know who Carter is," Allie whispered. "I can beat him up without them ever finding out he harassed you."
"OH MY GOSH!" Dash shouted, eyes going wide as he followed Allie's narrowed eyed gaze. "Isn't that the jerk face who harassed you at the speakeasy, Lil?"
It was like a magic trick. One second all of my brothers were happily enjoying their meal, and the next, they had narrowed in on Carter, eyes screaming murder.
"NO!" I shouted, trying to cover up Dash's words. "Different person. A look alike. That's not him."
"You went to a Speakeasy?" Will asked.
"SOMEONE HARASSED YOU?!?" Henry shouted.
"No..." Dash shook his head, not understanding what he had done. "That's him. That's Carter. Allie showed us all a picture when we were going through our fake performance reviews."
"STOP TALKING DASH!" I shouted before turning to my brothers. "Don't do anything."
But it was too late. Sam was shouting orders, while the others all moved in unison to comply, shoving the rest of their food into their mouths.
Allie wasn't helping the situation, and was instead, assisting clean up, moving them faster. Dash looked at me from across the chaos and offered an apologetic smile.
"Oops?"
---
Thank you for reading chapter twenty seven! I hope you are enjoying the story! Or are at least curious to see where it goes! Add this story to your reading list to know when the next chapter drops!
UPDATE DAYS - A NEW CHAPTER EVERY FRIDAY!
What do you think of Lily's brothers?
Do you think Finn and Prism will become friends?
What about Jack and Lavender?
What does Laurence think of Lily's brothers?
Will Laurence see them again?
What will the Autumns Boys do now that they've spotted Carter?
Will Dash ever win Bex over, or will Will beat him to it?
What will happen next?
CHAPTER QUESTION - If you saw someone that hurt someone you care about, what would you do about it?