Lesson Thirty-Five - Patience Is Power.
Holly sat in front of us at the restaurant and it took everything in me not to glare at her as she eyed Riker up and down. Judging from his face though he was loving the attention. Whore.
Her blonde hair fell down around her shoulders in waves and her baby blue eyes took in the rest of us. Her smile was quickly removed from her face when her eyes landed on my harsh glare. I felt my brother elbow me in the ribs and I quickly put a fake smile on my face making the woman relax slightly. She was still quick to look away from me though.
"Where is your mom?" She asked looking at my brother more than me. It was clear she loved getting attention from the guys.
"Rachael will be here soon my dad is dropping her off." Riker had answered for us it was clear he was trying to keep her attention away from me and Damon and so far he was doing a good job.
I watched as the waiter placed the drinks down in front of us. Holly though never took her eyes of Riker as they had a conversation between the two of them.
"Look at me I'm Holly and I sleep around to get the answers for you. Tune in at 9 to see who I had to sleep with to get this report." I had said everything under my breath but my brother must have overheard and he started to choke on his drink.
He started to cough really loudly beating his chest trying to get the drink to go down the right way. As for support, I patted his back half heartily. That's what he gets for getting us in this situation in the first place.
"Is he ok?" Asked Holly slightly worried. I put on my best fake smile and spoke for the two of us.
"Of course."
"My babies!!"
I groaned out in annoyance as I heard my mothers voice from across the room. Everyone in the restaurant was looking at us as my mother ran over to us. I stood up and let her give me a hug. I could see Holly was looking at Damon carefully when he didn't get up to do the same. In fact his face held nothing but annoyance for our mother. So I did what any sister would do. I dragged him to and shoved him into our mother embrace. My mother couldn't be anymore happier as Damon couldn't get out of it without looking cruel.
"Rachael it's so nice to finally met you." Said Holly as she stood up and held out her hand for my mother to shake. Which she did so with a big smile on her face.
"You too Holly. It's being so long since I have had an interview." Responded my mother as she took a seat between me and Damon.
"I'm surprised after your marriage to Riker's father here it was a big deal in the news world." Holly had a big bright smile on her face a pen in her hand and paper on the table. She was ready for every detail of our lives and I hated it.
My mother laughed and had a grin on her face. She was clearly loving the spotlight. "I wanted a low-key wedding. Not something over the top." I wanted to scoff at my mothers comment but played it safe and said nothing. Plus I could feel Riker's eyes on me telling me to shut it.
"I'm sure you looked beautiful though. Will you ever release the wedding photos to the public." Asked Holly.
"Of course." My mother beamed. "They are in the middle of being processed."
"And what about you three?" Asked Holly turning her attention to the rest of us. "What do you think of Rachael's wedding to Xavier?"
She looked at Riker first and just as well. I needed a moment to think of how to speak if it nicely.
"I'm happy for them. My dad deserves to be happy and I'm happy that Rachael can help him with that. Plus." He threw his arm over my shoulders and pulled me closer. "I have five new step brothers and a step sister. What more could I want?"
I wanted to be sick and I think I was in my mouth. I hated when he called us step siblings it brought in the reality that our parents were married to close for comfort.
"What about you Damon?" Asked Holly. I watched she looked my brother up and down. This woman clearly didn't have any shame.
Damon just shrugged his shoulders but I stamped on his foot hard under the table. Watching him winch he quickly straightened himself.
"As long as my parents are happy, then I'm happy too."
Due to the fact that I knew my brother so well I could see the great struggle it took him to get those words out. He looked at me and gave me a small smile showing me he was ok. He hates being put on the spot like that and it pulled at my heart. I hated seeing my brother go through something he didn't want to be doing.
So in that moment I took the attention away from my brother. He didn't need this shit.
"Me and all my older brothers are happy for our mom including my dad. We are happy that she has found Xavier. With everything we have been through as a family and everything this family has put her through she deserves this. She deserves someone like him."
I could see that Holly's full attention was on me and that's what I wanted. It was time for the side of me that my dad had trained for years to come out. The face of an Empire.
"Speaking of your brothers how are they? After turning down your families company I'm interested in knowing what has come of them."
I smiled at her a fake smile but a smile that looked as real as a proper one. I was in my element now. Show them no weakness. One of the key rules of playing these games.
"My brothers are living the lives they wanted and that's all my dad ever wanted for us, including my mom. Alex is one of the biggest Lawyer in the country earning six figures for some of the biggest clients in the world. He worked from the bottom and earned everything he has today. Not one part of it came with the name of my family. He did it all himself and I couldn't admire him anymore for it. He taught me that you don't need a name in order to make one for yourself with hard work."
I could feel Damon looking at me in shock with how smoothly I was handling this. I could even feel Riker's gaze on me. Looking at him from the corner of my eye I could see something there, something like pride. I watched as he relaxed back in his seat. Almost like he knew I didn't need his help anymore. I knew what I needed to do.
Holly was soaking all this up and I could see that the camera man had it set squarely on me. I was the one they would get the information from.
"What about Chase? Not much is none about his career path?"
"I can't tell you much about Chase's career because of the safety risk but I can tell you this. Chase brings great pride to my family with what he is doing. My dad is extremely proud of what my older brother has done in his life. My dad had always wished to do what he has done and through my brother he gets to do that. Chase was a troublemaker growing up, kind of like the rest of us I guess." Damon laughed and nodded from beside me and I gave him a grin.
"In fact." I continued turning back to look at Holly. "Me and Damon probably got all of our bad habits from him and Hayden. My dad though and the rest of us are so proud of him because we watched him go from this troublemaker of a brat to man that would risk his life. He taught me that you should always act like the bravest person in the room even if you don't feel it. Fake it until you feel it."
"Hayden?"
I let out a laugh as I thought about my loud and hot headed older brother. "Hayden? I don't really think I need to speak of Hayden. Out of us all he's the one that's always in the spot light with being the star quarter back and winning title after title. Hayden would be quick to tell you he's the best of the best but let me tell you, he wasn't a natural. My brother took years of practice to get to where he is now. I would always see him outside practicing in sun, rain or snow. Nothing would stop him from making his dream a reality and he's done it. He taught me that you don't always have to be gifted in order to be the best at something. When you work hard at something you can conquer the world."
Holly was loving this I could see it in her eyes. She had completely forgot about Damon, Riker and my mother. Even my mother sat their speechless has a spoke.
"And what of you and Damon?" Asked Holly glancing at my brother once but I had her attention so much her eyes snapped back to me.
I leaned forward on the table rest my hands on it. A grin had overcame my face and I didn't even look at her. I looked straight at the camera.
"Me and my twin brother? Well I guess you just have to watch this space with what we do. I'll tell you this though with older brothers like ours we can't fail. Not when we have role models like them."
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Twenty minutes later the interview was over and I went over to Holly to say good bye. I didn't really want to but my professional head was still on and I knew it was the right thing to do.
"Thank you for that very insightful interview Lyra." She was grinning from ear to ear. I had given her enough to keep the eyes off my family for another while. That's what I was hoping for.
"No problem. I hope to see you again." I lied but I didn't care, what ever to get her out of here quicker.
I watched as she nodded and started to walk out with her camera man. I was glad to see the back of that bitch.
Turning around and letting the smile drop from my face I rubbed my checks in annoyance.
"I thought my face was going to crack with all that smiling." I complained.
Damon let out a laugh and rolled his eyes. "It's clear dad has been teaching you a thing or two."
I shrugged and let a grin come over me. "What can I say brother one of us has to be ten steps ahead."
"Yes Lyra, I see that your father has taught you much in the last few years." My mother looked at me carefully like she was trying to work something out.
"One of us had to."
She gave me one more questioning look before picking her handbag off the table behind her. "Well I must get going kids, Xavier will be picking me up about now."
She held out her hands and I rolled my eyes but let her give me a hug. Damon on the other hand just glared at her so she didn't even try. Getting one from him earlier was clearly enough.
Watching our mother leave I turned to Damon. "Did you get it?"
My twin brother pulled out a phone from him pocket and I could clearly see that it was our mothers.
"The plan worked little sister." He said smirking at me. That evil glim in his eyes that told me the plan was coming together.
"Just as well. I sacrificed my face for that."