Gilded Apples; Chapter 5

Mom lounges on the sofa, reading off her tablet. A half-drunk glass of wine sits on the coffee table next to her. I glance around. No sign of Dad or any of the boys. Casually, I cross over to the sofa.

"Hey Mom," I say as I lean over the sofa.

Mom looks up smiling. "Hi, amore. How was the mall? Buy anything?"

I shake my head. "It was fun though."

"Good. Don't forget to get some homework done." She's turning back to the tablet.

"Could I go out with Nadia and Celine Saturday?" I ask as innocently as I can. There really wasn't any harm in going. As they had pointed out, there was no guarantee of an offer and I didn't even have to say yes if they did make an offer. Not like Mom or Dad would ever let me work for Fairest, especially as a model.

"Amore," Mom lightly chides, "We're having dinner guests."

Right. I had forgotten about that, but, "It'll just be in the morning a little of the afternoon. I'll be back in time for dinner."

Mom bobs her head lightly in consideration. A sigh of resignation. I can't believe this had worked. "Fine, as long as you get your homework done."

I lean further over so I can give her a hug. "Thanks, Mom. Love you."

She hugs me back. "Love you, too, amore."

I haven't even reached the doorway of the living room when Mom speaks again. "Where are you girls planning on going?" I don't miss the slight change in her tone.

I turn back toward her, offering a light shrug. "The mall." That much was mostly true. The event was going to be held in the commons outside the mall. Mom's lips slowly purse and I realize my mistake. She knew about the event. Of course, she did. "We're going to catch a movie."

Her lips remain pursed. She hasn't decided if she believes me or not. "Which movie?"

A dangerous question. I didn't know what was playing when. She could easily check and see if I was lying. Unless, "We haven't decided yet."

An eyebrow arches up into the air. "Really?"

So many holes in this lie. No easy way out. "Celine wasn't too sold on any of the options, so we might not actually go out at all. Or we'll end up doing something else. I suggested we go mini-golfing, but Nadia really wants to go to the movies and Celine isn't too keen on that idea either. I just didn't want to be asking last minute if we do decide to do something."

Mom studies me for a moment. I'm sure her finger is tapping at the tablet. She can't decide if this is a setup or not. "And if I told you no?"

I shrug, doing my best to play it off. "Not like I could sneak out," I point out. Celine obviously couldn't sneak out of the dorms or off campus at night and Nadia may be able to get away with better to beg forgiveness than ask permission, but that wasn't an option for me. That would require being able to actually get past my brothers, father, and the security systems mom had set in place. I may have figured out how to get past security, but there was no getting past Dad or my brothers.

Bingo.

Mom nods, looking back at her tablet. "Alright. Just keep me updated on what you plan to do."

"Yes, ma'am," I call as I make my exit.

xXxXx

I stare the business card, aimlessly spinning it between my fingers. Now that I had the green light for Saturday, I was even more sure about going. Why shouldn't I have a small taste of the life I could be living? What was the harm in it? A small voice whispers if there wasn't any harm, I wouldn't have lied to Mom.

There's a knock at my door. "Busy?" Harv calls through the door.

I quickly slip the card under the paper I started my math homework on before spinning around in my chair. "You can come in."

As the door swings open, Cookies pokes her head out from under my bed then making a beeline for the door. She's not faster than Harv though. He drops to his heels to scratch her head as she sits up on her hind legs.

"Hey, Cookies," he says. Cookies drops back to her front feet, blinking. Issuing a loud thump, she races back under the bed. "Alright then."

"What's up?" I ask.

Harv rises easily with a shrug. "Nothing really, just came to see if you were busy."

I wave my hand back towards the textbook I had been ignoring. "Kind of."

He nods absently, crossing the room toward me. "Anyway, I actually wanted to ask you something."

"Shoot."

Reaching my desk, he turns easily so he's leaning against it, looking down and over at me. He waves his hand around. "You wouldn't have happened to, by chance, have seen a. . . strange looking remote about yea big," he holds his hands about two inches apart, "Laying around the house?" He lets his hands fall, one knocking twice on my desk. "Most likely in the garage?"

I think for a second and shake my head. "I don't really go in the workshop though," I point out.

He nods. "Yeah, already checked there." He looks down at his hands, studying them. He suddenly looks up at me. "You can't seriously think this is a good idea."

I blink, confused and caught off guard. "What?"

Harv lifts his hand. It's no longer empty. He's holding the card. My eyes dart down to the paper on my desk. It doesn't even look like it moved. Slowly, I look back at Harv. He watches me calmly, waiting for a response.

"I wasn't planning on. . . going." He's so not buying it.

"You do know you're the worst liar in this family?" He asks.

I can feel my cheeks burning. "Please don't tell Mom." Harv doesn't say anything. That's when it clicks. She sent him up here.

"Eira," he finally sighs, "You can't go."

"I wasn't going to!"

He gives me a look, hand and card slipping into his pocket. "Sure. You're just going to the same mall the event is being held out with your best friends who love and adore the brand and defiantly weren't already planning on going."

Harv pushes off the desk. I'm quickly on my feet, annoyance and frustration bubbling to the surface.

"So, what if I go? It's not like all of you never did something you weren't supposed to."

Harv turns on me, eyes dark. "The difference is we never did something that was obviously going to put us at risk." I give him a look. He rolls his eyes, sighing in annoyance. "Working a job is different, Eira. And a lot of planning goes into that to eliminate as much risk as possible. We don't take pointless risks if we don't have to."

I can't come up with a counterpoint fast enough. He's gone before I do. I slump back down in my chair.

Cookies pokes her head out from under the bed, blinking at me. A moment later, she pulls back. I sigh. Glumly, I spin back to my desk. Even if Mom didn't revoke my right to go out, one of the boys was sure to follow me to make sure I didn't go.

There's a soft knock at my door. I have a good feeling I know who it is.

Grabbing my pencil I focus my eyes on my textbook. "I'm busy."

The door clicks open anyway. I refuse to turn. I can hear the soft scurrying of Cookies' paws. I still don't turn. Silence hangs in the air a moment longer.

"I know you're upset, amore," Mom says lightly.

"Yep," I respond without turning around.

"Eira, I know you're smart enough to see why going is a bad idea."

I set my pencil down, finally turning to face her. She perches lightly on my bed, Cookies on her lap, eyes closed in contentment as Mom gently scratches her head.

"If she's there," I counter. "And she's not supposed to be there."

"And if she sees your pictures?"

I shrug. "She probably won't recognize me. She hasn't seen me in years, and she thinks I'm dead, so there is that in my favor."

"And a girl that shares a striking resemblance to a dead one, having the same name and age, wouldn't raise suspicions?" Mom counters. "Being dead only works to your advantage as long as you don't go poking sleeping bears, amore." I look away. She has a valid point. "I don't want you living in fear of her coming after you again, but you have to be smart. We would all obviously do everything we can to keep you safe, but accidents do happen and I don't want you to be one of them."

I nod.

"Come here," Mom orders gently.

Slowly, I rise from my chair and cross over to her. She pats the bed beside her and once again, I silently comply. Mom wraps an arm around me, pulling me tightly against her.

"You know I love you, amore."

I lean into her. "I know. I love you too."