Backstreet Boy

|Chapter 02: The Driver and the Pawn|

Isabella

"Where on earth have you been, young lady?" Mother screeched at me. An endeavour was implemented to keep her voice somewhat quiet to eavesdroppers, but she disastrously failed. "No, never mind. I don't want to hear it. Just go into the bathroom and sort out your appearance. Your hair looks ghastly."

Slumping my shoulders, I bowed my head and began to meander to wherever the bathroom was in this extravagant hotel – most business meetings were held in places like these. However, Marble Valley was in a scarce supply of hotels as all of them occupying The Valley are rather large that can accommodate a heck of a lot of people. On my amble, my trek was ceased short. I looked up to Father with disappointment swimming in his soil eyes.

"Today was not the time to be late because you were busy designing, Isabella," Father articulated sternly, slipping his hands together in front of his slim stomach and interlocking his fingers. "You have plenty of time in the world to do that. You're touring in the summer, remember."

Abigail and Felix stood behind Father looking equally as jaded and indifferent in tonight's business proposal. Both were hovering in front of the wall. Felix in his grey suit, and Abigail in her periwinkle dress (evidently another I had produced from hand with only a sewing machine and masses amount of stress accumulated) stood out like two sore thumbs.

Felix and Abigail couldn't look anymore dissimilar. And if humanly possible, I actually manage to appear like the both of them. This was something everyone remarked on, despite whether they were strangers or close acquaintances.

Today's business proposal consisted of Father's plan for Marble Valley: There's a rather large lake on the border which is shared with The Distract, too and he hopes to add a small pier on it for more tourists. Marble Valley thrived off income from tourists. It was quite a hot spot, believe it or not.

Most business meetings were about either Felix's, Abigail's or my ordained future occupations which we're working towards now. With Felix in college already, having nearly concluded his first year, he is majoring in culinary and business (exclusively entrepreneurship) because one day, he's going to own an upmarket, high-class restaurant and open chains of them all across the state. Father hopes it will be all across America, but that's a high ambition.

Even though Abigail is only a sophomore, she already knows that she wants to be an interior designer for new homes across The Valley. Needlessly, Father had his objectives with Abigail, too and desires that she will have her own brand of home decorations colour schemes/designs that will work across the country, too.

And then, making it to the middle child, it was I. I had already expressed my aspiration and yearning to become a fashion designer. Innumerable sketches have been produced that are all stuffed inside my notepads and portfolios which are strewn all across my princess-sized bedroom. My enthrallment stretched from clothing to undergarments to accessories like belts and handbags to even shoes. A whole clothing collection was something I had a thirst for. Ultimately, I was no exception; Father hoped I would have my collection spread across the country – if not expanding to other countries like the U.K.

"Sorry, Father," I mumbled. It's not like I almost died tragically in a car accident from a manic driver – oh, that would be myself.

Rising above it, I marched straight into the ladies' toilets and stood directly in front of a floor-length mirror. The bathroom was quite vacant so as I began straightening out my buttermilk dress and fluffing up my long, wavy blonde hair. I had a few gems in it – another of Mother's uncompromising promises. But you could barely distinguish them with my sun-bleached hair colour.

Deeming my façade as acceptable, I ambled right back out into the hotel room with my clutch and stood next to Felix. "How long until the speeches begin so we don't have to mingle with the guests any longer?"