"Charlie, stop that."

The five-year old simply laughed gleefully, poking my cheek yet again.

"Enough!" I burst loudly full of anger, grabbing his finger before he could try another time. I looked deep into his dark brown eyes. "Charlie, please. What did I say about doing that? I'm very busy."

"B-b-b-but," he stuttered, his lip quivering slightly and I could tell this was the beginning of a soon to be crying scene.

I sighed, "I love you. Can you be a good boy and sit here and color until I'm done? I promise it won't be long and afterwards we can get burgers!"

He squealed with apparent delight and slid off the chair scrambling over towards his pile of coloring books of assorted superheros and crayons in disarray on the floor.

"Are you done yet?"

I automatically rolled my eyes upon hearing that voice before turning to face him.

"Every day, Harper, every day that little brat-"

"Don't you EVER call him that, you got that?" I quickly got to my feet and stepped directly in front of the boy towering over me, not caring that if anyone could intimidate, it was him. "I don't care if he's annoying you. You have no right calling him ANYTHING like that. Only I do."

He held up his hands in defense and laughed, "Whoa, sweetheart, calm down there. I'm sorry. I just wasn't thinking, okay?" Before I knew what was going on, he had me wrapped in his arms in a half tight hug. I made a face in his chest at the use of his pet name.

"Luke, you know I-"

But I was cut off by a heavy thud, followed by quick little footsteps heading down steps and laughter. Screams reached my ears shortly afterwards. I backed free of Luke's hold and bolted after the little tyrant I call my brother on his way into the upperclass deck level.

"Charlie, get back here! This isn't a game!" I warned, but to no avail. He was faster than I ever thought, weaving around deck chairs crawling underneath and jumping over them all while giggling like mad. Men and woman left and right stared in horror, screaming when he neared with outstretched arms, his grubby, dirty fingers clawing as he felt around for something to hold to keep his balance.

I noticed as he rounded a corner rushing across the underpass that held the dining deck onto the opposite side of the ship that his shoelace was untied. A small half-smirk snuck it's way onto my face as I closed in on him fast. And just as I swooped in behind him, his left foot curved as he stepped onto the loose shoestring, his arms flailing about him as he begin his fall. But I managed to wrap my arms around him, lifting him in a swift swing of my arms into the air and sat him on the deck behind me.

"Charlie Mason Finkle. This was not acceptable. You know better than this."

I watched as his lips began the formation of a pout he has perfected over the years; a pout that no matter how upset with him anyone was no one could resist especially me, and he knew that.

"Excuse me, miss."

"I'll be with you in a moment, sir."

"I don't think so. I need to speak with you now."

"I'm kind of in the middle of something here, in case you couldn't tell. Just give me a minute and I'll be happy to help you," I replied, the fakeness of my voice just bursting through.

"Listen here, I didn't pay out of my ass for this cruise to have this kind of service. So you better quit playing house and get back to doing your job. That's what you're here for. I expect 5 star quality service from a 5 star cruise line."

I bit down on my lip hard, refraining from yelling a long list of profanities at this inconsiderate man. I waited a couple seconds before slowly turning around and meeting his gaze. He looked awfully young to be this rude but I suppose that's just the way parents brought up their kids these days. I mean, look at mine...they were terrible.

"Look, I'm only going to say this once so you better listen closely. I don't like you. You're a brat, got that? A brat. I'm sorry that you feel like I should cater to your every need but I'm sorry to break it to you but that's NOT my job. I'm a maid. And I help out when needed with passengers affairs. But that does not mean that I am going to drop what I'm dealing with to get whatever your selfish first-class ass wants."

"Oh is that right?"

"Yes, it is. Is there a problem, sir?"

"Is there a problem? I think you know very well there is a problem. And you know what? It's you, honey," he gave me a disturbingly sweet smile and reached out to stroke my cheek with his finger.

I angrily swatted his hand away. "Don't call me honey."

"Oh, does that upset you? I'm sorry, dear. I didn't mean to-"

"Cut the act, Romeo. I'm going to take a guess and say that you don't care about anything other than yourself, including your family. But unlike you, I DO. And that little boy over there," I pointed over at Charlie, "is my brother. And he is the most important thing in my life right now. Therefore, sir, in case I'm going too fast for you, that means his needs will come before anyones, especially yours for that matter. Are we clear?"

"Oh, crystal," he sneered. I shot him a look and turned back to Charlie. I held out my hand for him and pulled him to his feet, taking him back towards the main deck for non-upperclass passengers. "Oh darling, just for the record, I'm reporting you. And that little kid better not ever be found on this deck of the ship again or you'll be getting severe consequences."

I could hear murmurs throughout the crowd and a couple distant snickers from his little group of little socialites, and scowled.

Hi, I'm Harper Finkle. Welcome to my life.