Tory’s POV
Today is a big day. Brian’s family will be coming over to our house for lunch and my mom was very ready to ensure that everything was ” above their proud standards” as she put it.
I had already done my part in assisting my mom with the table setting – which she chose to handle by herself. Now, she’s telling my sisters and I how to ” behave”.
” This is just outrageous mom. You expect me to act like I’m some Barbie princess just because Brian’s parents are British? They’re not even royalty!” Toni whined.
” What’s the point of meeting us if we have to pretend to be them?” I whined.
” Great point Tory!” Toni said, nodding her head vigorously while Tia just smiled.
” Enough! Whatever, be yourselves but don’t embarrass me. I’m not going to let them feel like they’re helping us by marrying us – neither will I let them think they’re better than us.”
” Mom, whatever you do isn’t gonna be enough. They’re just here to let you know that they’re in support of Brian and I getting married.” Tia said, finally she spoke!
” Ugh honey, must you marry him? Did they didn’t threaten you to do so because they were obsessed with heirs?”
” Mom I’ve told you a thousand times, marrying Brian will make me happy.”
” Fine!” Mom said with a sigh of defeat before she grinned and clapped her hands as she looked at our house, spotless and clean.
” Let’s get ready for our in-laws! Tory, I love your choice of dress”
” I didn’t really have a choice mom, you put it on my bed this morning,” I said and Toni burst out laughing.
” That’s the character I don’t like Toni, don’t laugh so ungracefully!”
” Mom really?” Toni said rolling her eyes.
” Just laugh a little less… Wild” mom said looking at Toni sternly.
We heard our gate open and the sound of a car driving in. Our mom quickly ran in her heels to peep through the window, I have no idea how she ran with that.
” They’re here! Look majestic girls” she said as she arranged her hair and beckoned on us to sit on the couch while she sat on the single couch.
Trudy came down the stairs the minute the doorbell was rung and she sat on the floor by my feet as Mrs. Arnold went to get the door, she smiled at Brian who just entered the house, and returned her smile.
Damn, he sure was hot. He wore a black suit as well as trousers and I had the feeling he would be going to work right after this lunch. We all got up to go welcome him, Tia beating us to it.
As I stood behind Toni as she gave Brian a warm hug, my jaws dropped when I saw the lady behind him. Who the hell is she? She looked like a model in her forties. Her black hair long and silky as it fell gracefully below her waist, her skin flawless and shiny, her blue eyes were glowing.
” Hey Tobi” he teased and I snapped out of gawking at the lady and hugged him.
” Just so you know, I didn’t punch you because I’m gonna be nice today” I whispered to him and he chuckled and used his hand to put the small strand of her falling on his forehead back to it’s slicked back position.
” Hello,” the lady said with a faint smile and my mom immediately swung into action. She was about to speak when a boy moved past the lady – he was about our age and looked very much like Brian.
” Woah, is this your crib?” He said in a British accent quite similar to Nate’s and my mom laughed.
” Yes it is, come in.” She said and they entered, the atmosphere kind of tensed immediately a man walked in, he too was putting on a suit like Brian and he held a walking stick in one hand and a cigar in the other.
” Your dad?” I whispered to him and he rolled his eyes and nodded.
” Come in, let’s start with lunch! Mrs. Arnold has made something amazing for us.”
” That would be lovely, I suppose you are Mrs. Williams,” the man said in his surprisingly thin voice, though the room still seemed tense. The lady he’d come with must’ve been Brian’s older sister, I was starting to wonder where his mom was.
” Honey, did you see the flowers outside? I told you they’d fit a house like ours” said a woman in her sixties, her hair was black but some of it was starting to look gray. She had to be Brian’s mother.
” I’m so sorry you guys, I’m a little bit obsessed with flowers,” she said as she walked inside the house. She was dressed elegantly in a white gown and her neck adorned with pearls and golden chains that I’m pretty sure costs a fortune.
” And obsessed with jewelry,” the young boy said as she made her way to the dining room and sat down beside her husband.
” Great, everyone is here!” Mom said excitedly as Mrs. Arnold shut the door and went to her room possibly.
” So, Mrs. Williams this is my family,” Brian said with a smile before he went on to formally introduce them. ” This is Dean, my mischievous, youngest brother, April my eldest sister, this is my Dad and then my Mom,” he said with a smile, they all smiled and said “hi”
I was starting to wonder what all the fuss was about, they seemed nice.
” It’s an honor to get to meet you guys,” Mr. Tremblay said.
” It’s an honor to meet you guys, I’m Valora Williams”
” And I’m Toni Williams”
“Hi I’m Tory Williams”
” And you all know Tia” my mom said and the Tremblays smiled broadly, it felt kinda creepy – especially Dean’s smile.
They all nodded and smiled at Tia, she and Brian seemed to share a knowing look before she smiled one of her fake smiles.
” Can we eat now?”
” Not yet Dean, Mrs. Williams, we’d like to apologize for the rest of the family that isn’t here. I’m sure you’ll get to meet them on the wedding day ”
” Of course Mrs. Tremblay you don’t have to apologize, it’s okay.”
” Well, we’ve only got about five minutes to spend here so let’s eat,” Mr. Tremblay said and Dean immediately started doing justice to his food. My sisters and I went straight to eating, all except Tia and Brian who were giving his dad pointed looks.
” Look kid, you know we’ve got work to do. We’ve met her mom so what’s the big deal?”
” The big deal is that this isn’t us meeting them if we don’t know anything about them” his wife cautioned and I looked at her suspiciously.
” Fine, let me call my secretary.”
” I already did that for you dad” Brian quipped and his father stared at him.
” Since when did you start giving my secretary orders?!”
” Uh-oh,” Dean said as he smiled mischievously obviously hoping for a fight.
” Dad please not now!” Brian said as he rubbed his brows, he seemed stressed out.
Mr. Tremblay was about to say something when the doorbell rang.
” Expecting someone?” He asked and my mom shook her head as Mrs. Arnold went to get the door.
” Detective Mason? What are you-”
” – I’m here to see the wonderful guests,” He said with a very grim look on his face.
” Well, I think we should get going.” Mr. Tremblay said getting on his feet, surprisingly Brian got up as well.
” Yeah, we should get going,” Brian said as he smiled at Tia who was beyond confused. I too couldn’t get it.
” Don’t even think about it” detective Mason said pointing his gun at Mr… Tremblay as four other policemen came in doing the same.
” Oh come on Mason, do you really have to do this?” Mr. Tremblay said with a smirk.
” Put your hands behind your head, both of you!” Detective Mason said shooting them a murderous glare.
” What’s the meaning of this, Mason?”
” Valora, let’s just say I’ve found Big D’s biggest accomplice and with the evidence, I have against them, this lunch is over.”
” You’re making a big mistake”
” No Mr. Tremblay, you made the mistake when you refused to tell me that you know where big D is.”
Brian stammered before he suddenly slammed his fist on the table.
” That platinum blond man is big D isn’t he dad?”
” I was protecting you.” Mr. Tremblay simply said before he turned to face Mason.
” Fine, I’ll tell you what you need to know.” Mr Tremblay conceded after a long sigh.
” We want to get rid of Big D, do you know how to do that?” Mason asked, obviously not expecting him to know about that.
” Actually I do. I just need your assurance that you will keep my family safe from him. He’s got very few men left but they’re very deadly – like his son Damien.”
” Are you being serious right now? Don’t fuck with me” Mason said gravely.
” I’ll be serious with you if you’re serious with me. I never said anything to the police because he threatened to have my family killed, but something tells me…. we have a shot at stopping big D.”
” Come with us then.” Detective Mason said before he left.
” But Brian!” Tia started to say before Brian cut her off, “Babe, I’ll see you soon,” he said before he kissed Tia passionately and left with the police, his mom, brother, and sister going along with them.
” Mom, are you okay?” I asked when I saw that she just sat there looking dazed.
” I don’t know, our in-laws aren’t very clean and I don’t like that.”
” Me too,” Tia said with a frown as mom gave her the ” we need to talk ” look.
” But you girls still have to go for prom though. No matter what happened.” Mom said, trying to smile.
” We’re not gonna leave you here”
” Yes, you are. It’s prom and I want you to have a normal life so make sure you go tonight” she said and went upstairs without another word.