"I told you we would be late." Amanda sighed.

Michael's grip tightened on the wheel for a moment. "Since when did I care about what you said?"

"Okay, can you both shut up," Tracy called from the back seat with her eyes glued to her phone. "I'm trying to focus here."

Michael glanced back at his two children in the review mirror, a pang of irritation went through him as he saw both of them mindlessly tapping away on their phones. His eyes then traveled over to his wife who was staring out the window, arms crossed over her chest.

This wasn't how he had pictured things nine years ago. He had pictured something in those old Vinewood movies, where at the end the misunderstood hero made it off with his lover and lived a life of bliss and happiness. But no. Real life just had to be a bitch. Amanda and he could barely share a bed anymore let alone have a civil conversation, and his kids were wasting their adult lives away at this point. Everything he had worked for was crumbling around him from his very eyes. It made him question if it was worth fighting for anymore.

"Dad! You're passing it!"

Coming back to his senses Michael swerved quickly around, barely missing a car as he sped to the valet.

"Smooth." Amanda sneered as they climbed out of the car.

"Oh, if I'm so bad why don't you drive next time?" He retorted, flinging the keys to the valet.

Inside the restaurant, the air was filled with the smell of overpriced food and small talk of customers too rich to give a damn if the portion sizes didn't match the price. In the large, elegant reception area sat Elanor and her parents, all three's nerves on edge as the receptionist walked over to them once more asking with a tone of annoyance if their party was ready yet.

"No." Wilson said bluntly.

"They should be here soon!" Cassandra jumped in as the man turned away from them. She seemed to deflate as she realized how late the De Santas were.

Elanor sat stiffly next to her mother on a red velvet sofa, playing with the buttons on her favorite jacket that covered up any minor cleavage her dress would show. She was trying to tune out the soft piano music floating in from the dining room and how awkward she felt being in a place like this, let alone being in a dress in the first time in years. She was pulled from her thoughts as she felt a hand on her knee. Looking up she met her mother's deep green eyes.

"I know this...Well, this isn't your thing." She said. "But I want to know that I'm glad you decided to come with us."

It took a moment for Elanor to react, attempting to give a twitch of a smile she patted her mother's hand. "No problem." She said softly, removing the hand from her.

As soon as her mother looked away, with a rather hopeful look on her face, Elanor grimaced. She hadn't wanted to come but after the other morning when she had come back from Trevor's, her mother had reacted like Elanor had returned after years of being declared dead. After fussing and interrogating her for more than an hour she had brought up the dinner with the De Santas. Of course, like normal, Elanor refused at first saying she didn't really care to meet her mother's "friends". But her mother begged and eventually began to nag her with any chance she got until Elanor broke. To top it all off she agreed to wear a dress her mother bought her years ago for graduation that she never wore before now.

Elanor began to slump back into the sofa when Wilson quick hissed over to her to close her legs.

As she snapped her legs shut and yanked the hem of her dress over her legs, her phone suddenly blared out, disrupting the calmness of the room earning some sour looks from some of the waiters passing by. Elanor sank back into the sofa as she answered the call.

"What do you want?" She growled under her breath.

"I can see that you've missed me." Trevor replied.

Elanor pressed the phone closer to her ear, in the background of Trevor's call there was loud music in the background making his voice-somehow-unhearable.

"Can you speak up?" She hissed, looking around to make sure no one was watching her. She quickly got up and went off to the side towards the restrooms.

"I might do that if you say the magic word."

"Fuck you."

"That's two words, princess."

Elanor closed her eyes and took a sharp breath in. "Please, speak up."

"See? I knew I could teach you some manners!" Trevor yelled back, this time nearly making her drop the phone. "Now listen, kid. I'm in town right now doing some...Um, business. I figured now would be a good time to swing by and get your ass up to speed with what we're dealing with tomorrow."

'Just my fucking luck.'

"Trevor, listen." She began. "Can we talk about this in an hour or two-"

"Did you forget I'm your fucking boss?" Trevor said sharply. "If I say we're going to get shit done we're going to get shit done right fucking-"

"Elanor!" The girl quickly turned and saw her mother waving her over as a group of people entered the restaurant.

"Gotta go, boss."

"Don't you dare-"

She dared.

Elanor shoved the phone into her jacket and went over to meet their guests. She watched them shake hands with her mother and Wilson; the woman seemed to be putting on a show, acting overly happy while her husband seemed tense if not irritated by her. Then there were their two others who Elanor assumed to be their kids from what her mother told her. They were around her own age, the girl was a fake blonde in a short sundress while her brother looked like an overweight, wannabe rapper.

"So glad you made it." Cassandra said to Amanda.

"Me too," The other agreed. "I've been looking for an excuse to get the family out together and this-"

She was cut off by Elanor's phone. Everyone glanced over at her as she fumbled to pull it out, quickly shutting hitting the ignore button. She looked back and tried her best to laugh it off as her mother, and Wilson gave her questioning looks.

"My boss." She explained quickly. "He doesn't really take no for an answer."

"A working girl, huh?" Micheal suddenly spoke, drawing attention away from Elanor-to her utter relief. He looked over at Jimmy and Tracy, the two still absorbed in their own little worlds. "Maybe you can teach these two how to fill out a resume."

Wilson and Cassandra looked at each other from the corner of their eyes, both silently asking the same question. 'What have we gotten ourselves into?'

"Alright!" Wilson announced slapping his hands together. "Who's ready to eat?"

"That little...Urgh!" Trevor snapped, slamming on the gas to his truck as the call was ignored. At first, this ballsy thing was cute to him. He thought it was funny for a minute and now it was just fucking annoying.

Flipping through contacts he pulled up Ron, it only took one ring before the other man was on the line.

"Wh-what do you need, boss?"

"Ron," Trevor spoke as he drove hazard through the thick traffic of the downtown area. "I need a favor. Can you trace our sweet little intern's phone down?"

There was a pause before the calculated response came. "I can try, but-but Trevor, this r-really isn't my thing. I don't really know that much about-"

"I don't fucking care!" Trevor hollered over a car screeching its horn at him for speeding through a red light. "I need to teach this princess some damn respect and I ain't waiting another damn minute! So, if you want to keep what's left of your balls I suggest you get on it."

Ron didn't argue, he knew well enough by the tone Trevor was using that this was far from negotiating. If he wanted to be safe from his boss's anger he had to figure out something quick.

"Give...Give me five minutes." Ron answered.

Trevor grunted. "That's better." As he hung up a fash of red and blue caught his eye in his review mirror. "You've got to be shitting me."

Elanor shifted around in the chair, trying her best to look interested in whatever the others were talking about. At the moment Amanda and her mother were talking about random things such as yoga to cooking to their favorite actors. Wilson and Michael were attempting to talk to each other to pass the time, mostly talking about their jobs since neither of them seemed that comfortable. As for Elanor, she had made the unfortunate decision to try to be social with Jimmy and she was paying the consequences for it...

"And this retard had the balls to sneak up on me," Jimmy went on, explaining his latest exploits in a video game he was playing. "I shot his head clean off and man, you wouldn't believe the gun I took from him!"

Elanor barely understood a word the guy was saying but for the sake of being civil, she acted impressed.

"Wow, that's sooo cool." She said, failing miserably at hiding her sarcasm. Lucky for her Jimmy didn't have that many brain cells left to comprehend it.

He had a proud smirk on his face as he accepted her "compliment". "I know. It takes a lot of skill to do something like that."

As soon as his attention was brought back to his phone, Elanor took a deep breath in and muttered how people like him are the reason she refuses to breed...

"Did you say something?" He asked.

"Did you hear about the new Assassins Creed?" She blurted out.

Tracy took a minute away from her LifeInvader's feed to comment on the topic. "God, please don't tell me you're one of those weird gamer girls."

Before Elanor could response Jimmy jumped in. This was going to be delightful.

"So what if she is?" He retorted. "At least it's a better past time then what you and your stripper friends do."

At those last few words, Michael turned his attention on his daughter. "Excuse me, what was that?"

Amanda covered her face and groaned. "God, not now."

Michael was ready to retaliate against her when their waitress swooped in and delivered their drinks.

"Thank God." Wilson muttered, taking a large gulp of his wine.

Elanor did the same with hers. She hoped the bitter liquid would be enough to cool her nerve before she lost her temper on the two brats next to her. As she was close to finishing her glass she felt her phone vibrate. She was puzzled for a moment as she pulled it out to see a text message from Trevor.

You're in deep shit.

That's all it said and it was enough to make her stomach drop. Elanor knew blowing off Trevor would have its consequences, it'd be stupid of her if she didn't, but she was worried about what he was planning.

Michael was drinking his whiskey when he happened to glance over at Elanor. The kid's face seemed paler than he remembered it to be. She must be a light drinker, he thought.

"Hey kid," He said making her look at him. "You okay? You look like you're gonna be sick."

"I'm...I'm fine." Elanor muttered, waving a hand as she put the phone back. "Thanks."

Michael didn't say anything. He didn't fully believe her but it wasn't his place to parent someone else's kids when he could barely deal with his. He got up and patted Amanda's shoulder.

"I'm gonna have a smoke."

Amanda wrinkled her nose and shrugged his hand off like he was a bug. "Whatever."

"I think I'll come with you." Wilson said suddenly.

"But you don't smoke." Cassandra objected quickly, not ready to be alone with Amanda and the kids.

Wilson leaned over to her and smiled. "There are somethings you don't know about me, darling." Leaving her speechless he kissed her cheek and the two men made their escape to the smoking lounge.

Once they left, things were quiet for the most part. Elanor was idly playing with her hair band between her fingers when Amanda said; "Tell me about your family therapist. Michael has one of his own but he's God awful and cost's a fortune, hell, I'm not even sure if he does family meetings or any of that crap."

Cassandra shrugged. "I can give you the number. He's been pretty helpful for El and me."

Amanda quirked up an eyebrow, she sensed there was a juicy story behind this and she would be damned if she didn't hear it. "Oh really?" She said, acting surprised. "You guys don't seem like you have any problems."

Cassandra hesitated. She glanced over at her daughter and knew this wasn't a conversation she wanted to have, especially in front of others. "It's nothing. Really. Just some issues revolving around her father-"

She was cut off when Elanor abruptly got up. "I need the bathroom." She said quickly, walking away before her mother could say anything.

Amanda watched the girl storm pass a waiter, almost making him drop his tray. She chuckled dryly. "She and Tracy might get along."

It took every ounce of willpower for Cassandra to hold back a couple unpleasant phrases she had for Amanda.

The smoking lounge was located on the far back of the restaurant. It was a decent sized room for the location with leather furniture and a soft light to it, along with a bar that would serve hard liquor.

When Michael and Wilson walked in they went straight to the bar. Michael glanced over to the other man to see if he wanted something but he turned him down.

"Suit yourself," He sighed turning to the bartender. "Vodka on the rocks." While they were waiting Michael handed Wilson a cigarette, putting one in his own mouth as well. "So...Is your wife as much of a bitch as mine?"

Wilson was taken back by the bluntness of the comment, his mouth was gapped open slightly as he searched for a response. "N-no. I mean...We're fine." He stammered as Michael lit his cigarette for him.

The other man nodded. "Okay, don't get it twisted. I just didn't think Amanda would be friends with someone who had a stable marriage. She lives for drama." Michael laughed bitterly as his drink was served to him. "Hell, our lives could be one twisted soap opera."

Wilson didn't comment on that, he already had the feeling things weren't well in the De Santa household just by seeing how the couple interacted with each other. "Well, nobody really has an easy life," Wilson commented. "Everyone has at least one demon in their closet."

'You have no idea, pal.' The other thought as he puffed on his smoke.

"I mean, Elanor isn't easy." Wilson went on, not really noticing Michael didn't give a damn. " She and her mother have...Serious issues and they are trying to work on it but El...She's just very guarded."

Michael laughed at this. "I know. I have two spoil shits of my own to deal with."

Wilson shook his head and walked off to another corner of the room, leaving Michael alone at the bar to his own thoughts. It wasn't a moment later when a voice rang out towards the front of the restaurant making Michael think he had just entered a nightmare.

"What the fuck do you mean you won't let me in?!"

In the bathroom Elanor was standing by the mirror, leaning up against the sink. She had probably been staring at her own reflection for a solid five minutes trying to calm herself down. She couldn't believe her mother had the nerve to bring up their personal lives in front of these strangers, especially bringing up her father. If there was one thing that really got to her it was always to the topic of that man.

During those last few moments of self-pity Elanor could hear some commotion going on in the reception area, at first she thought it was some dissatisfied customers who were fighting for a refund. But that theory was soon blown out of the water.

"What the fuck do you mean you won't let me in?!"

Her eyes widen, her heart was about to book it as she recognized that annoying voice. She ran out of the bathroom, shoving past some stunned bystanders to see Trevor nose to nose with the receptionist from earlier.

Trevor loomed over the man by a few inches but that was enough to make him look like a beast in comparison as the receptionist began to tremble in fear.

"You...You need a reservation." The man stammered. It was clear that any facade of bravery he was trying hold on to was about to crumble away as Trevor bared his teeth.

"Listen here, Richard." He sneered. "I have a friend I need to talk to and if you don't let me in I'm going to-"

"Trevor!" Elanor snapped.

The man slowly turned around, eyeing her from across the room with a predatory look. "You." He said slowly as he stalked over to her. Common sense told her to run, but her pride made her stand her ground as her boss reached her. Trevor glared down at her, a vein ready to burst out of his neck. "You know how rude it is to ignore someone's calls. Especially mine."

Elanor placed her hands on her hips, her own temper beginning to flare up. "You could have waited a fucking hour."

"You could have answered your fucking phone!"

"I was busy pretending to be a normal, okay asshole!"

"Don't you dare talk dirty to me, woman. Not now."

As she was about to smack Trevor into the next week another problem walked in. Her mother.

"Elanor!" Cassandra cried, rushing to the scene. Elanor was ready to rip her hair out at that moment, Trevor on the other hand flipped his switch real quick when he saw her.

"Well, helloooo." He whistled looking up and down the older woman's "full" figure.

Cassandra gaped at him in disgust. "El...Who is this?"

Trevor turned on Elanor, giving her a look of hurt. "You didn't tell her about us, princess? Are you ashamed of me?"

"Don't you dare." She growled, her hands beginning to twitch. Before she knew it though, Trevor had wrapped an arm around her waist and slammed her into his chest. She ended up getting a good whiff of his disgusting body order mixed with cheap perfume.

"Ma'am," He went on dramatically. "Me and your daughter have known each other for a short time-but Goddammit! She drives me absolutely fucking crazy and I love every second of it."

Elanor's mother didn't have a clue what was going on, like everyone else in the room they just looked at Trevor like he was an alien who knew how to speak Russian.

"I promise you, I'll take good care of-"

"Shove it!" Elanor snapped, pushing him off of her. She walked over to her mother and gripped her by the shoulders. "Mom, this is my boss."

"B-boss?" She repeated, still looking at Trevor who waved cheekily at her.

"Yeah...From the bar." Her daughter lied. "Look I need to go-"

Just like that Cassandra had snapped out of her daze and grabbed hold of Elanor's arm. "No! God no! You are not working for a man like...That!"

Trevor raised his eyebrows, looking Cassandra up and down. "Well you ain't that good looking yourself, porky."

Elanor couldn't take it. She tore her mother's hand off and turned her back on her, ready to drag Trevor out the door with her when Cassandra tried reaching for her again.

"I'm you're mother and you'll listen to me-"

"Mother?!" The young woman barked back with bitterness. "You call yourself a mother? Then where were you for twelve years of my life? Huh?"

Cassandra didn't respond, her face flooded with remorse. "Elanor, please-"

Elanor didn't listen. She spun around and grabbed Trevor by the forearm. "Come on."

As they went for the door Trevor suddenly stopped as a waitress passed by with a tray of bread. "I'll be taking this." He said, grabbing the tray from the bewildered woman and shoving a roll into his mouth before following Elanor out the door.

Cassandra was frozen in place, to her it seemed like the world had stopped once the words her daughter had so brutally spat at her sunk in. Moments later Wilson had come running into the room, embracing her.

"Thank God, you're okay." He said. Taking a minute to look around he then asked her where Elanor was?

Cassandra felt tears prick her eyes as she answered: "She's gone."

Back at the table, Amanda had told Tracy and Jimmy to stay where they were, they didn't argue. She ran off to the smoking lounge to find Michael sitting at the bar like a statue.

"Michael!" Her voice was shaking as she ran to him. She gripped his shoulder tightly and began to shake it. "Michael, it was him. I know it was. He's finally found us-"

"It wasn't him." He said. His voice was flat, almost like he was lost in a dream.

Amanda would let up. She kept insisting it was him and that their family was in danger. "He's crazy! We're not safe anymore, we need to leave!"

"It's not him!" Michael shouted, startling everyone in the room. He got up and shoved Amanda to the side, leaving her by the bar in a panic state.

"Where are you going?!" She yelled after him.

"Home!" He responded without looking at her. "If you don't want to take the bus, I suggest you hurry up!"