At least until she saw me.
“Celine, I still don't understand how I can call you the day before, reminding you to look your best, and yet this dribble is what you come up with.” In confusion, I looked down at my sleeved white blouse, the rose gold pencil skirt I squeezed myself into, and my gold strappy heels. Is this not dressy enough? I put more effort into this outfit than when I go on a damn date. And the goal was to get laid.
The boatman held out his hand to help me get onto the platform. I mumbled my thanks to him as I maneuvered my legs to try and get out of this boat with grace. I think pencil skirts were made to make sure women couldn't move in them. The definition of ‘sit still and look pretty.’
“For heaven's sake, Celine, get out of the damn boat. We are wasting time.” She turned and walked away in an angry haste. Even her heels clicked at me to hurry up. I quickly jumped off the boat and ran after her.
She was already mid-rant by the time I caught up, “and you seem to have forgotten your duty as a princess of this island. You still have obligations even without a siren mate, a continuation of our dynasty's legacy. They are just as important, if not more important, than you prancing around on the mainland with all your guns and policing.” She waved her hand in the air like it was a nothing job. She always hated that I went into this job, but it was the only good thing she actually did for me.
She told me when she was younger that, she had a run-in with a bad vampire, and she enlisted the help of the CIA since she was a royal herself, and they sent her to Glenn. He was younger then, just taking over the position of Director of his department, when they sent my mom. After the issue was resolved, the vampire was caught and imprisoned. She said he was very nice, for a human. I remember thinking that he must’ve done something spectacular because that was high praise from my mother. I guess he gave her his number and said that if she ever needed any help again, to give him a call. As soon as my coming-of-age ceremony was done, she called him asking for help, asking what to do with me.
That was when I went to visit him for coffee, and he gave me my options. It was a lot of normal working options, but I asked him for something dangerous. Something that would put my life in danger. He refused, and I followed him one day to his work. I ended up helping him with a case and fell in love with the work. It gave me a sense of purpose and a way to contribute to society without having a siren mate as the main ingredient. I had a shred of happiness, and I promised myself a long time ago that I wouldn't let her ruin it. Especially when I send her money every paycheck.
"It's not policing, Mother. I work for the Supernatural unit of the CIA." I held my back straight, proud of my job, as she stopped and looked back at me.
"Do you put people in jail?"
I paused, "Sometimes." I never told her that most of my job was killing the bad guys, but that was just semantics.
She rolled her eyes at me and turned back around. "Then it's policing. It doesn't matter what colorful bow you put on a pig, it's still a pig.” Her head tilted to the sky like she was praying to the heavens, but I knew that was more out of frustration with me than any prayers she would offer up. "Anyways, this ceremony is more special than all the others. Gweneth is singing today, and everything has to be big and perfect."
I could hear the smile in her voice at being there to witness her protégé, my uncle's daughter, getting mated. I could practically hear her sayfinally,even without her lips opening.
"Oh, and that brings me to your role today, Celine. You will be assisting your cousin." I felt my face pull tight, and a familiar heat filled my veins. "Make sure she has everything she could possibly need or want. We want her to be absolutely pampered today. Have her feeling like the queen she is designed to be."
I clenched my teeth, remembering to count to ten to calm myself down. My mother must've taken that as I didn't understand her wishes because she turned back on one heel, her shoes the only sound I could hear on her way over to me.
Her hand lifted, and she cupped my cheek softly, surprising me as I worked to shove all my negative feelings down. "You failed us eight years ago. This is your chance to make some of that up." Her nails suddenly dug into my cheek. "Don't fail me again, Celine."
I yanked my head out of her perfectly manicured nails grasp, feeling the pain of her nails making their marks, but I didn't care. She was the one that always cared what I looked like. Her lips pinched as she looked at the red marks she left, examining them like they were another stain on my dirty record.
“Go to the seashellcasita. That is where she’s getting ready.” She looked over my clothes again, eyeing them with disgust. “And I will send over some appropriate clothes for you to wear.” She swirled away from me, her blonde tresses smacking me in the face, marking that she was done with me. Her dutiful guards not giving me a second look before they turned and followed her up to the main house.
God, I can't wait to get out of here. I shucked my bag over my shoulder and made my way down the narrow rocky road to the seashellcasita.
I got to the casita just as Gwen woke up. She exclaimed how she lost track of time, even though we had about five hours to get her ready. She jumped in the shower and demanded that I make her something to eat.
“It's got to be light and, yet, filling. Make sure it's sweet but not too sweet because I need to watch my figure. If I don't fit in my dress today, then I am blaming you.” She had just woken up, and she was already making my life difficult.
As soon as she slammed the door, I went to make her some oatmeal. I felt like that was the best option out of everything she demanded.
I left it out on the table, steaming hot, with some berries I found in the fridge, honey, and brown sugar. This way, she could make it however sweet she wanted, too. I should’ve known that anything I touched would just make her mad.
As soon as she came out, she stuck her nose up into the air. “Oatmeal? Really, Cel? That's what poor people eat.”
Instead of doing what I knew I should’ve and kept my mouth shut and endured, I spoke up. “A lot of athletes and healthy people wake up with oatmeal because it's a good source of fiber, protein, amino acids, and other natural minerals for a good and healthy day.”
She huffed and shoved the bowl away. “I don't need help to poop, so I guess I'll just starve like you want.” I took a deep breath, reminding myself that I won't have to be here for long. I just needed to survive this event and my horrible family, and then I was free.
I got up and acted like I didn’t hear a word she said. “Would you like me to start on your hair or makeup?” She perked up a bit. She always liked to be pampered, and she will get it, now that she was next in line to be the siren queen.
“I guess you can work on my makeup first, but know that if you mess up, I will just need you to do it all over again. Everything needs to be perfect, okay, Celine?” Her pearly white, heart-shaped face looked up at me. Her normally big blue sparkling eyes held a fog of doubt and fear in them, and because I was a sucker around this time of the year, I sighed as I decided to rise above the pettiness.
“You are going to look gorgeous, Gwen. You are going to get up on that stage and sing. One lucky guy is going to sway to your song and be compelled to walk up to you. His eyes are looking at you like you are the sun and the moon, and the stars all in one. Everything will be perfect, I promise.”
Her eyes shined with gratitude, and I thought for once that my cousin and I were going to have a moment, have an understanding between us. Maybe it’ll be the start of a new kind of relationship between us. At least that's what I thought before she opened her mouth, “So, Cel, you need to make sure that you don't make my hair all scruffy and unkempt like yours. I'm not really going for the ‘I don't care’ look today, okay?”
I should’ve known better.
