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"Okaaayyy and I'm a fairy princess." I laugh, "Lacey, Hudson's twenty-seven, do you really think they let men at that age be bosses of organized crime?"
She claps her hands, "See, that's exactly what I said. Most of those bosses are like old, in their sixties or something like that."
"We watch way too many crime dramas, but yeah, I think Greg's full of shit. Anyway, we'll meet him tomorrow morning, he won't be attending dinner." I'm intrigued, I want to find out more about him. Mom's not really told me much other than he's twenty-seven and he lives in San Francisco whereas Mom and Harrison live in the Hidden Hills. A far cry from where we used to live in Oakland. It’s been a while since I’ve been back to Cali, so much has changed since I’ve been there. Hell, I’m not even going to Oakland.
"He's probably out killing people." Lacey laughs at her own joke, "Are we staying at your mom's the entire evening?"
I shake my head, she loves a good party, "I'm not sure, I'm not real hip with the Hidden Hills people and where they like to party. If things go south at dinner, we can always go to Oakland."
"We'll see where the night takes us." She replies, you'd think she was a hippy with the
crap she comes out with sometimes, but she's not, she's just happy to get her buzz on wherever and whenever she can.
"Oh look, an IHOP, fancy a late breakfast?" I ask her, wanting pancakes. We're ten hours away from Cali, and we’re only an hour into our trip. No doubt we’ll stop at least twice more. But it’s the fun of having a road trip.
Lacey moans, "Pancakes." We're both crap cooks, so we usually eat Ramen noodles or PB and J sandwiches. We rarely eat take-out either, so when we do we eat loads.
I pull into the parking lot and Lacey’s climbing out of the car before I’ve even turned the ignition off. I shake my head, she loves her food, or she needs to pee again.
"This can't be right?" I say to Lacey as we pull up outside a fancy house, I knew the Hidden Hills was full of huge houses, but damn this is something else. It's huge. When Mom told me she'd moved into a new house, this isn't what I had envisioned. This must-have cost a bomb.
"The directions your mom gave say this is the right place." Her eyes are wide and full of awe, I'd say much like mine are. "Mia, God, this house is freaking huge!"
"Huge? It's humongous.” It's bigger than any house I've ever seen before. It has black iron gates that hide it away from the outside world, so much glass. The windows look as if they go floor to ceiling. It's beautiful. My mouth's open wide as I just stare at it, this place must have cost a fortune, money that I know my mom doesn't have. I feel very uncomfortable with the fact I'll be staying somewhere so extravagant.
The gates begin to open, and I turn my gaze to Lacey, "Ready?" My pulse racing, I'm nervous and yet excited to see what this place is like but also to see my mom.
Her face breaks out into an enormous smile, "Am I ever, my heart’s pounding with anticipation. I'm so glad that you invited me to come with you."
I laugh as I pull into the driveway, "You shouldn't thank me just yet, we've only just got here. This could end disastrously."
"I must make sure I have popcorn if it does."
I park my car in the driveway and get out of the car, hearing the gates closing, peering down, I gasp. The view is amazingly beautiful. We’re so far up in the hills that we can see for miles. Mom must love it here.
"Mia." I hear the softness of my mom's voice, and I glance to the door to see her standing there with a beautiful smile on her face. She's decked head to toe in black. She looks stunning, yet expensive. Before Harrison, Mom would dress in whatever she could afford, right now she looks like she walked straight off a runway.
"Hey, Mom." I say as she wraps her arms around me, "You look beautiful."
Her arms tighten around me, "Thank you, Mia, it must be where you get it from." We both laugh, "It's good to have you home." She whispers as she releases me,
"Lacey," Mom says as Lacey walks up to us, she doesn't hesitate to also pull Lacey into her arms to give her a hug.
"Hey, Mrs. Brady." Lacey says returning the hug, "Mia's right, you look beautiful."
Mom steps back and smirks at us both, "So how much crap did you eat on the way here?"
Lacey and I glance at each other, "I have no idea what you're talking about." I tell her with a straight face, if anyone looked in my car they'd know we stopped off at most gas stations along the way and refueled with anything and everything.
"Mrs. Brady, we're having a wonderful dinner this evening, would we ruin that by eating crap?" Lacey goes overboard with the lie, her lips twitch with a barely concealed smile.
Mom laughs as she shakes her head, "You two are as bad as each other, I don't know which one of you is the bad influence."
"She is." We both say as we point at each other.
Mom just shakes her head, "You two." She says, before turning to walk into the house, "Come on, let's get you inside, and I can show you to your rooms."
I gasp when I reach the front door and catch a glimpse of the inside. Classy. It's the only way that I can describe it. The floor to ceiling windows add so much light to the hall, and it's a huge hall at that, dominated by a marble staircase. The walls are white, and the tiled floor is white with a few black lines per tile, it looks amazing, and I'm worried about staying here in case I break something.
