Hey guys! I'm back! Hope you all had an amazing New Years and Christmas. I've updated my profile, so my updating schedule is on there if you want to go over there and check it out. On with the story!
"Rissa! Riiii-ssaaaa!" Max was dragging out her name and Clary opened one eye to look at the little boy, who was staring at her from behind the frames of his glasses, his wavy, brown hair adorably tousled from sleep. "We're going to the movies today!" Clary groaned and tried to bury her head back under her pillow, but now that he had seen she was awake, he wasn't giving up. "Aunty Rissa!" Max gripped her forearm and shook her lightly. "You gotta wake up!"
"Little dude," Clary said, her voice muffled by the fact her face was pushed into her mattress. "I want to sleep."
"But mama says we can't go until you're awake! And you're awake now!" Max sounded petulant, and Clary couldn't stop the smile that spread over her face as she imagined the boy beside her bed with an angelic pout on his face. Max started to jab his little fingers into her arms and she let out a long moan. She turned her head to the side to look at him, and then made a face.
"You're still wearing your pyjamas! You can't go see the new Star Wars movie when you're in pjyamas! What kind of Jedi Knight are ya?" She teased him. Max's eyes lit up as she realized what she was getting at, and ran from the room. Clary smiled after him before letting out another moan and stretching her arms above her head. After she stretched her legs as well, she pushed her blankets off her and rolled out of bed. Isabelle appeared in the doorway, wearing a hoodie and a pair of skinny jeans with a mug of coffee in her hand. "That better be for me," Clary croaked out.
"And if it isn't?" Isabelle taunted back.
"Then I'm taking it anyway," Clary shot at her and Isabelle grinned, holding out the cup. Clary walked over to her and took a sip, letting out an almost orgasmic groan. Isabelle looked a little nervous, moving from foot to foot and opening her mouth a couple of times to say something but the words never coming out. Clary turned around and walked over to wardrobe, flicking through the clothes inside. "What is it, Izzy?"
"I invited Simon to come to the movies with us," she blurted out. Clary froze for a moment, and then let out a laugh. "What?" Isabelle huffed.
"Nothing," Clary replied as she pulled out a long sleeved, mid-thigh length dress and held it up in front of her.
"No. What?" Isabelle pushed.
"So Simon is coming to the movies with us? And?" Clary put down the coffee cup on her drawers and pulled off the over-sized shirt that she slept in and dropped it to the ground. She pulled the dress on and then turned to look at herself in the mirror. She made a face and then scavenged around in the bottom of her closet for some shoes.
"Well, I was kind of hoping that maybe it would lead to dinner afterward," Isabelle admitted, her voice quiet, shuffling her feet again. Clary let out another laugh and Isabelle narrowed her eyes.
"You know I'm absolutely fine with looking after Max while you get it on with my brother," Clary sung out to her.
"That's not what I was getting at!" Isabelle gasped. "And besides, he's your foster brother. You're always saying that, and it makes it feel a little less incestuous if you don't call him your brother."
"How's it incest, you fucking weirdo?" Clary made a face at her. "It's not like we're related."
"Well, you feel you like my sister," Isabelle muttered. Clary grinned at her as she finally found the shoes she was looking for and slipped them on. "Anyway, it's not about me getting laid. It's just dinner." Clary rolled her eyes as she folded her arms over her chest and gave her a pointed look. "Maybe a drink or so after..." Clary smirk deepened and Isabelle's cheeks went red.
"Can we go now?!" Max whined out, suddenly appearing back in the doorway. He looked between Clary and his mother and frowned. "What's going on here?"
"Simon's coming to the movies with us," Clary said.
"Yay! But can we go now?" Max repeated.
"Yeah, just let me..." Clary picked up the coffee cup and gulped back the hot liquid. She winced but finished it off and swiped a hand over her mouth. "I'll brush my teeth and then do my make up. Give me two seconds." She darted between the two of them and over to the bathroom. Max rolled his eyes up to his mother and huffed.
"It takes her so much longer than two seconds to do her make up," he sighed.
"I know, buddy," Isabelle sympathized with him. "Why don't we head downstairs, aye?"
The new Star Wars movie was good, nowhere near as good as the originals but far better than the prequels. Simon and Clary were the most passionate about it, while Isabelle just shrugged and said she found them all mediocre, and Max just said he liked the lightsabers. Isabelle and Simon fell all awkward and silent when they went to go their separate ways. Simon was driving Isabelle out to a restaurant for dinner, while Max and Clary were taking a taxi back to their walk up.
"Now, be good guys," Clary was taking far too much pleasure at their uncomfortable state. "And just remember, when all the fun stuff starts..." she put her hands over Max's ears. "Just remember to wrap it, aye, Simon?" Simon's cheeks flamed red and Isabelle glared at her. "We'll see you tonight," Clary sung out as she walked toward the curb to half down a taxi.
"Bye, mama," Max gave Isabelle a hug. "Bye, Simon," he waved at the man next to his mother and then walked over to Clary and took her hand. "Can we stay up late tonight, Aunty Rissa?" He asked her in a loud whisper. Clary laughed and looked over her shoulder, to where Isabelle and Simon were still within ear reach.
"Of course we can stay up late, babes," Clary grinned. "I'm the cool one, remember?"
"I heard that!" Isabelle called.
"Get lost! You're officially on a date now!" Clary shouted back. A taxi pulled up next to the curb and Clary ushered Max inside, waving one last time to Isabelle and Simon before the taxi steered it's way into the night time traffic and began driving them back home. Max was settling back against the seat, completely absorbed in some comic book that Simon had brought him, and Clary threw her arm around his shoulder.
She had never thought in her wildest dreams that she would end up partially responsible for raising a child. There had always been the fear that she would get pregnant, given how she had acted through her teenage years, but it seemed that once her and Isabelle had found each other, she had calmed down. She had only been sixteen, and living with two other girls who lived similar life styles to hers. It had been a while since she had been in a foster home, and it had been easy to fall through the cracks in the social welfare system. Isabelle was pregnant, with no money, and definitely no street smarts, and for some completely insane reason, Clary had actually wanted to be a part of this girls life. This girl and her child.
It had been a struggle, and there had been nights when they had gone without eating. Clary was used to it, but Isabelle wasn't. Simon had helped out as much as he could, but he was still only a kid himself.
Things got better when Clary got a fake ID and managed to get a job at a liquor store. It was the graveyard shift, which meant she could look after Max through the day so that Isabelle could look for work. Isabelle got a job at a grocery store. They were both on minimum wage, but it wasn't like they lived in the expensive part of town, and when they turned eighteen, they were able to afford a small place, just for the three of them.
Looking back, it was incredible they had actually survived.
Especially since the first time Clary had left Isabelle in charge of washing clothes, she had put them all through a cycle that had turned everything white the color red. The girl had never even scrubbed dishes before in life.
"Rissa?" Max's voice filtered through and interrupted her trip down memory lane.
"Yeah?" She blinked at him.
"Can we watch Star Wars tonight?" He asked.
"We just saw it!"
"No, the old ones!" Max grinned at her.
"Sure thing, babes," Clary smiled at him and ruffled his hair. "And you want to order in Chinese for dinner?" He nodded furiously at her, his glasses bouncing up and down on the bridge of his nose. She laughed and then looked out the window. They were almost at their place, so she looked through her wallet, finding cash for the fare and handing it over to the driver as he pulled over and they got out. Max skipped off in front of her, and Clary quickened her pace to catch up with the little boy. He waited impatiently at the front door before she unlocked it and let themselves inside. "You wanna get the movie ready and I'll ring up for Chinese?"
"Okay!" Max nodded excitedly, disappearing into the lounge. Clary couldn't help but smile after him as she shrugged out of her jacket and put it on the hook behind the door. Her mind went back to her earlier thoughts as she went into the kitchen to have a look for the pamphlet for the Chinese takeaways a couple of blocks away.
The small place they had lived in until Max was four had been big enough when he was a baby, but as he grew up, it just got more and more cramped. But the two girls weren't going to be able to afford anything more if they just stayed at the two minimum wage jobs that they were at, which was when Clary had ended up finding a job at the strip club. She was good at it, she had been using her looks to get things since she was a teenager, and she didn't mind doing it to get paid. She got on well with the other girls, and after making it clear to the boss that she wasn't going to be doing any of the 'extras' for clients with the boss, he respected her for it. Isabelle had been hesitant to leave her job at the supermarket, but then when one of the bartenders had gotten married and moved away, she was more than happy to take that job, as long as she didn't need to get on stage and dance around a pole. And despite what people said about people who worked in a strip club, the pay was good. Far better than any other job that was going on around them.
Simon helped out a lot, baby sitting Max when they had shifts that overlapped. And once he got a job at his families law firm, he started helping them out financially as well. Not too much, because both girls were too proud to accept money for themselves, but he would sometimes bring over milk or bread, or when it was a winter and Max kept getting a cold, and he had brought the boy medicine and warm clothes and thick blankets. Whenever the girls tried to repay him, he kept saying that they were family, and this was what family did for each other.
Clary loved him for it.
He had been the first person to make her feel like she was worth something, and he had been just as incredible with Isabelle and Max. She knew her foster brother was completely head over heels in love with Isabelle—and that was the proper kind of love, not the sibling love she felt for him—and she was damn happy for them if they had finally decided to give it a go.
"I'm ready, Rissa!" Max shouted and Clary quickly pulled out her phone and dialed the number for the takeaways.
"Won't be a sec!" She called back to him as she put her phone to her ear.
"I can't believe you're going to go through with this, bro," Alec exhaled heavily, his eyebrows raised as he reached forward to tap his shot of bourbon against Jace's. Jace nodded his agreement, clinking his shot glass against Alec's and then throwing it back, wincing at the burn.
"I'm going to need another one of these before going to speak with Stephen," Jace stated, holding up two fingers to the bartender and indicating that they wanted another round.
"You're going to speak to your father first?"
"Yeah, well, who do you think the first person that she's going to call is going to be?" Jace muttered.
"Her lawyer?" Alec snorted. Jace gave him a long, narrow look and Alec shrugged. "Her father."
"Yup, that's it," Jace gave a jerk of his head. "And her father is instantly going to call my father, and a shit storm is going to blow up. I mean," he let out a growl as the shots were pushed over to them. "I mean a shit storm is going to happen anyway, but it would probably be best if I talk to Stephen first, give him a heads up."
"How polite of you," Alec shook his head.
"Hey!" Jace glared at him. "A little more support here? I'm about to break up with my fiancée."
"Hey, I got your back, man. You know that," Alec told him, looking a whole lot more serious this time. He ignored the shot that was in front of him and put a hand on Jace's shoulder. "Look, I've never been a big fan of Kaelie, but you did actually have a thing for her, right back at the beginning, before this turned into some big business transaction. Are you sure that you want to actually break it off? You don't just want to, I don't know...Cool things down for a little bit?"
"No," Jace drew in a long breath through his nose. "No, I never liked her to the point where I was going to marry her. Things just got out of hand once our dads got involved. Like...We weren't even dating one second, we were just—hanging out. Sleeping together. Whatever. And then all of sudden, we were getting fucking engaged!" Alec nodded slowly, and then picked up his shot and held it out to Jace.
"Okay, then," Alec waited for Jace to pick up his own shot glass. "Here's to being a free man." Jace's expression was grim as he tapped his glass against his friends and then threw it back.
"Alright, I'm off. I'll text you once it's done. I will possibly be coming over to yours later on to get completely sloppy drunk," he forced a half smile and Alec gave him another comforting slap on his shoulder.
"You got this," he said. Jace nodded and got off the booth of the expensive bar they had been sitting at for the past few hours, while he mulled over the decision he had finally come to. He handed his ticket stub over to the valet and waited for his car to be brought to the curb. It didn't take him long to get to his fathers apartment building, but once he got there and parked in the underground lot, he sat there for a good few minutes, staring at the steering wheel of his car.
"I got this," he repeated back Alec's previous words as he finally took off his seat belt and stepped out of his car. He locked the door and headed toward the elevator, his footsteps a little jerky. It was getting late, almost eight, and his fathers maid would probably be gone by now, so rather than paging ahead, he just swiped his override key card. He pressed the button to take him to the penthouse and took a couple of deep breaths. "Okay, just...Okay." He was regretting this already.
He should have come back after he put more thought into this.
He should have written a fuckin' speech and rehearsed it before coming.
He should have never let his father talk him into this to begin with.
But then Jace kicked himself inwardly. He was a grown man, and he shouldn't be blaming anyone except himself for the mess he was in. He had liked Kaelie to begin with, and then after they had slept together a couple of times and gone out in public, he had gone along with his fathers plan because he had always just accepted that that was what was gonna happen.
The company comes first, alongside the public image.
He should have said no and put his foot down.
But better late than never.
The elevator slid open and there was no one in the main hall, so Jace knew he was right; the maid had gone home. He looked in the lounge first and then carried down the hall toward his office.
"Dad?" He called out. There was no answer, so he opened the study door. There was a glass of brandy on the desk, still half filled, so he had probably only just got up and gone to another room. Jace noted that there was another pair of panties strewn on the floor and he rolled his eyes.
Sounds about right.
Stephen was probably banging one of his new secretary's.
"Fuck it," he muttered. He would just talk to Kaelie first, and then deal with the fall out. He knew that breaking it off was the right thing to do, but it was still going to be hard, and if he didn't do it now, he didn't know when he was going to be psyched up enough to do it again. And it wasn't fair on her either; leading her own, making her think that everything between them was okay. He was turning back down the hall, ready to head toward the door when he heard a breathy moan. He would have ignored it, except it was a very familiar breathy moan.
His frown deepened as he tried the next door, opening it an inch.
He didn't see anything at first, until he had opened the door enough so that he could see the bed, and his body flushed boiling hot and then freezing cold. His hand was frozen on the door knob, and it felt as though he couldn't move.
His father.
And Kaelie.
She was stretched out on the bed, her legs wide open for him and her pelvis tilted upward. She was smirking up at Stephen, his eyes glued to her tight body, his hands on her hips. He was grunting as he plunged deep into her ass, his eyes staring down to where her fingers were rubbing at her cunt.
"What the fuck?" Jace finally managed to spit out, drawing two sets of eyes toward the door.
OMG, by the way; has every seen the new Wonder Woman clips that have been released? Does Gal Gadot look like a complete babe, or what? And the new Suicide Squad trailer? Margot Robbie is incredible ;)
Oh, and how do we feel about Miley and Liam being back together? Yes, I'm completely aware she's a crazy bitch, but I fucking love her, and I was totally rooting for that couple ;)
So so so? Bit of a dramatic ending there. There's lot of you guys following—please review and let me know what you think, don't just follow in the background. It makes all the hard work worth it! Anyway, leave a review, and I'll send a preview :) x