Cecelia Everhart was a raven haired beauty who was quite dull and vain. Seated next to her was her husband, Charles, a rather tiny fellow. Weak and unintimidating, he gave off the feeling of a rather poor man; however he was rather malapert and therefore quite rude. Their daughter was an exact replica of her mother, sitting on the edge of her chair and drinking tea with her pinky extended. The entire family looked up as the Osborns entered and Cecelia stood up with a supercilious smile plastered on her face. “Welcome to our humble home,” she declared, spreading her arms out wide to showcase the wealth of the room. Thank you for inviting us to tea,” his mother replied with the same magniloquent tone.
They all were seated. The same maid that had opened the door for them earlier poured hot tea into each of their cups while the women socialized. “Talk to Victoria,” his mother muttered through clenched teeth at Eli and he turned to the Everhart daughter. “So Victoria, how was your morning? ” he inquired. “Quite lovely,” she replied. “How was yours? ” “Fine. ” Eli took a long slurp from his teacup to annoy his mother. She glared at him and he smirked back before continuing to speak. “So… What are your interests? “I like to go dancing and take walks in the garden. ” Her voice was light and airy like a spring breeze. “Taking walks sounds like a wonderful thing to do,” his mother butted in. “Why don’t you to go walk around the garden while the adults talk? ” Eli gave his mother an incredulous look. First of all he was the one who had wanted to walk this morning, not her. Second of all they were all adults at this table. She discreetly stamped on his foot, digging the heel in until he leapt up with a short gasp of pain. Victoria gracefully glided to stand next to him and slipped her arm through his.
He escorted her to the garden with great annoyance (an emotion he seemed to feel most around his impossible family) and they walked in silence for a short while before someone spoke. “So I suppose you’re about as sick of your parents as I am of mine? ” Victoria asked. Eli glanced at her appraisingly. Perhaps he had found a fellow in the fight against the rich. He gave a short nod. “Sometimes I wish I was born poor,” she said. He raised an eyebrow, but still didn’t utter a word. “Well you’re chatty. ” He merely looked at her and smirked. “Fine then. I’ll talk. Do you hear the birds singing? Sometimes | wish I was a bird.
The freedom would be incredible. ” Victoria stopped by a marble bench and perched on the edge of it, face tilted up the grey sky. Eli slowly backed away from her and walked towards the house, ready to leave this world of the wealthy. He stopped at the open backdoor to prepare for the torture he would have to endure inside. “-you believe it? ” his mother was saying, “He wants to run a company by himself. ” Eli rolled his eyes as Cecilia gave a high tinkling laugh. “Absurd,” she said through her laughter.
“He believes he’s all grown up now that he’s turned twenty one,” came the gruff voice of his father. I cannot in any right mind turn over my company to a child. We of course will be sending him to finishing school at the earliest possible time. He will be a member of high society and soon we will have a son that we can actually hold some pride in. ” The anger Eli was feeling was beyond that of anything he had ever felt before. The resentment for his family had grown to a level that the couldn’t control; his fists were clenched, red spots danced in his eyes, and he wanted to simultaneously hit something and explode. Why did they still think they could command his life? Why was he still here and not in Brazil?
He stormed back into the house. “HOW DARE YOU? ” Eli screeched at his father. Turning his back on their stunned faces he stomped out of the Everhart house, making sure to break as many things as he could. Jumping into the Porsche, he drove at breakneck speed back to his parent’s awful marble tomb they called a house. He sprinted up to Autumn’s room and ran about mell pell, throwing clothes and brushes and anything else he touched into a few suitcases he placed on the bed. Autumn walked into the middle of the maelstrom and was almost hit in the face by a flying toothbrush.
“What is going on? she yelled. Eli paused his frantic packing for a minute, staring into her hazel eyes. “We’re leaving,” he finally said. “Why? To go where? ” she asked, eyes squinted. “Brazil,” he said, finally feeling that full wave of pity for her he had been holding back all day. —— They were in the airport within twenty minutes, harassing the ticket woman to give them tickets. “I’m sorry sir. We have no planes leaving to Brazil today. Can I interest you in a plane tomorrow? ” the woman politely asked. “I have a ticket for tomorrow,” Eli explained, voice shaking with frustration. There’s nothing I can do,” the woman once again said, “Is there anything else I can help you with? ” Autumn pushed Eli away from the counter, ignoring his huff of indignation. “We’ll take one more ticket on tomorrow’s flight,” Autumn answered, giving the woman a slight smile. “Of course. ”
The woman tapped some keys on her keyboard, slid the credit card Autumn handed her through a credit card reader, then handed Autumn a ticket. “Enjoy your flight. ” “Thank you,” Autumn called over her shoulder as she dragged Eli to a bench by a leafy planter. “Now can you please explain to me what’s going on? she asked. “And none of your usual answers either. I need a serious answer. ” “My parents tried to send me to finishing school and trap me here for the rest of my life,” Eli mumbled. “So I’m leaving for Brazil a day early. ” “Fine. But why am I here? ” “Because my parents hate you and asked me to take you with me. ” Eli explained, rushing his words together. ” Although I guess they didn’t really hold up their end of the bargain. Idiots. “Oh. ” Autumn sounded almost hurt by this. “Don’t take it personally,” Eli said. “They hate pretty much everyone. “
