53"You go through life wondering what is it all about but at the end of the day it's all about family."
-Rod Stewart
The Sova Estate
The Pool House
The Kitchen
Thursday, September 5th
7:58 P.M.
Monica had just logged into the school's website at the kitchen bar when the front door opened followed by the sound of shoes being kicked off. She swiveled around in her stool to see Ethan flop down on the couch next to Leesi and turn on the TV.
"That took you a while." She noted, trying to make her voice as even as possible. The delicious lobster thermidor the chef had prepared been thrown out after she and the staff knew for sure that he wouldn't be home anytime soon.
She should have expected as much when she crashed his little party…
"We went to Slice of Heaven before I dropped them off." Ethan flicked through his options, not even bothering to look at her.
Her nerves spiked dangerously high. Her day had been full unpleasantries and she wasn't in the mood for another one.
First, she had found out that the new feisty brunette Pretty Committee member had joined the equestrian team, and from the few jumps Monica had watched, she was pretty good. Secondly, she had dealt with Jenny Morgan's horse crushing her foot, forcing practice to be canceled while the coaching staff took her to the hospital. Then, she had come home, ready to remove her makeup and slip into the spa room for a steam and a facial when she had heard screaming and a blaring stereo. Much to her surprise (and dismay), her brother and Cayden had been hanging out with Alicia Rivera and Claire Lyons.
"And since when did you start hanging out with sophomores?" She finally snapped.
"They were here for an Animal Advocates meeting," Even though she couldn't see it, she knew he was rolling his eyes.
She had heard that Claire had been voted into her old position and Alicia had snatched up the VP spot. She knew the underclassmen hadn't been there for an off-campus club meeting without the other high ranking members.
Just how dumb and gullible did he think she was?
"Oh, really?" She snapped, "How much work did you get done in the pool?"
Finally, he turned and looked up at her with a hard defensive furrow at his brows. "We were waiting for-"
There was certainly something going on between them, she just couldn't put her finger on it yet. She was desperate to interrogate him over why Alicia had been there, but she would have to handle it delicately…
The last time she had questioned him about her was when she had landed from Paris after receiving the dreadful news that they had hooked up at Clayton Plovert's younger brother's St. Patrick's Day party. It hadn't gone well then, and most likely wouldn't now. Ethan loathed when she meddled in his love life, even if it was to protect him.
"The kitten?" Monica interrupted her voice harder than before. Instantly, Ethan's face paled. "It's in the main house, terrorizing the dogs and the staff. You would know that if you charged your phone once in a while!"
While Ethan had been gone dropping off Alicia and Claire, one of Ethan's older friends had dropped off a kitten he had found abandoned on the side of a road.
When their butler, Grant, had set sights on the adorable baby version of Mr. Jinx from Meet the Parents he had let out a heavy sigh before exclaiming that he wasn't running an animal shelter. But he might as well have been with how many animals were lodged in Ethan's room. A turtle, a snake (yuck), two mice (eek), a talkative Cockatoo, a tarantula (double yuck), and a massive fish tank that featured live corals and bright fish. Ethan took care of them most of the time, but when the family jetted off somewhere he was the one stuck babysitting all of the little creatures.
Monica and even her parents had been fine with Ethan's pets, until Zurry, his corn snake, had escaped. No one had seen it in over a week, and just when Monica had thought the snake was long gone it had magically appeared…
In a Manolo bootie that she had been about to slip on.
After that, she had started spending most of her time in the pool house, practically living in there since they returned from the Hamptons in August. She probably would live in there full time if it weren't for her two-story closet (and the septate closet for her shoes) in the main house, and so Ethan wouldn't feel so lonely in the empty mansion.
He stood up, running his hands through his hair. "Are mom and dad coming home tonight?"
"Doubt it," She said after double-checking the time on her phone.
No, their parents wouldn't be home that night and likely wouldn't be until the next week. There was a chance their dad could come home while she and her mom were rushed from show after show for fashion week over the weekend… it was one of the rare times Monica enjoyed spending time with her mom. Not to mention she loved being photographed sitting next to her mom in the first row at all of the best shows.
Ethan let out a huge sigh of relief, sitting back down and petting Khaleesi's head.
"You know you're already skating on thin ice with them…" She warned. They were still mad that he had somehow convinced their uncle to go to a local animal shelter and adopt his other dog, Moe, in his name because Ethan was still a minor.
But what made them fume in fury was that their only son had informed them that he was planning on applying to Cornell to fulfill his dreams of becoming a vet. Naturally, this had upset their parents. Members of their families went off to school to study business, law, communications, and maybe med school followed by specializing in a respectable high paying field like plastics or cardiology.
In their parents' minds, their son was too well-bred and high born to be working with animal stool samples.
"They can't just ship me off," Ethan groaned. "It's my junior year."
"You know that won't stop them," She kept her hard gaze on him until he finally looked up at her.
What they used to think was an empty intimidation tactic to keep them out of trouble had turned out to be a very real one. When Monica had just graduated elementary school she had walked in on her mom and a guy she had never seen before making out and ripping each other's clothes off. At the time she didn't know what they had been about to do, but had known that it wasn't her dad and that it was wrong…
Her mom had her bags packed that night and Monica boarded the Sova private jet for Switzerland the next day.
But ever since she returned the constant threat of being shipped off to boarding school hung over them like the fake rain cloud in The Truman Show. She was doubtful that they would send her anywhere because it was her last year of high school, but there was still a chance for Ethan.
"You just need to lay low for the year," She said softly at the sight of his body tensing up with unease. "They can't do much when you're a senior."
His bright blue, the same as their mom's but much warmer, met hers tinged with melancholy. "It's gonna suck without you around here."
They had had conversations about her leaving next fall dozens of times, but he had always said how jealous he was of her for turning eighteen and going off to college, finally free to do whatever she wanted. She had known that he was a little sad to see her graduate and leave alone in their giant gilded cage, which was why she had chosen Yale over Harvard to stay close, but he had never shown just how deep his grief was in the situation.
It felt like her horse had kicked her in the stomach and her voice cracked when she said, "You know there will always be a place for you in my dorm." And even though he looked like he was going to be uncomfortable when he saw her come at him for a hug, he held onto her tightly.
Now was certainly not the time to bring up Alicia Rivera…
