With a groan, I left my bed and started getting ready for lunch with the donor and his sparkly new family.Knowing the type of clothes people wore to the high-end restaurant my father selected, I chose the opposite.Jeans, a nice but bargain budget top, and flats that had visible miles on them.
After fluffing my hair and putting on the bare minimum makeup, I left the house quietly.
Although I wanted to be indifferent to the upcoming introduction, I wasn’t.My stomach danced with nervous energy and anger as I drove downtown.
“Don’t let it get to you, Soph,” I coached myself as I pulled up to the restaurant.“Be the person who reads the people in the room, not the person being read.”
The valet opened my door, and I pretended not to notice his glance at my clothes as we switched places.
As he pulled away, I faced a restaurant I vaguely remembered.
The old building with its giant marble columns and arched windows screamed money even with its antique facade.And that same old-world charm extended inside, but with a lot more polish and expense.
The marble floors gleamed under the soft lights.Gold and crystal fixtures hung overhead, showing both money and taste, making me painfully aware that I only had one of those things, not the other.Dusky reds and twilight blues warmed the cream walls and whispered elegance.
I walked up to the reception desk, and the hostess smiled at me.
“Welcome to Seventeen Twenty-One.Can I help you?”
“I’m meeting Denis Elmantas at twelve-thirty.He reserved a room.”
“Ah.Yes.This way.”
She led me down the wide hallway to the right, where closely spaced doors numbered like a hotel dotted the length.Stopping at the third door, she knocked, waited a few seconds, then opened the door for me.
Inside, I saw Dad, a woman around my mom’s age, who dripped with high-end clothes, jewelry, and flawless blonde hair, and a boy young enough to be in primary school, who looked like a carbon copy of Dad.
“Sophia,” Dad said, standing.“Come in.”
As I entered, I considered him.Standing showed deference.He would only do that for someone important to him.
He gestured to the seat beside him at the round table.
As I took the seat, I glanced at the healthy-looking kid playing a game on his phone.His apparent health didn’t reassure me.People could appear healthy on the outside and still require an organ.Though I’d been kidding with Mom about selling kidneys, I wouldn’t put it past Dad to seek me out if his other kid needed one.
I looked at Dad expectantly.
“Sophia, this is your stepmother, Charlotte Hildcrask?—”
“Mrs.Denis Elmantas now,” she interrupted.
“Yes,” Dad said, “and your half-brother, Charles.”
Charlotte watched me, assessing me, and Charles didn’t bother looking up.I glanced at Dad, not bothering to acknowledge them either.
“Why don’t you tell me what you really want?”I said.
“I just want to have a nice lunch with you, Sophia,” he said.“We’re family.”
“Only when it’s convenient for you.If there’s nothing else, I’ll go.”I started to stand, but he motioned for me to stay.
“All right.All right.I have a business proposal for you.You would be set for life and never have to work again.”
“That sounds like a boring life,” I said.
“Not at all.You could shop, golf, mingle at social gatherings that you can’t even imagine now.”
I didn’t react to any of that, but waited.
