“Don’t block the entrance, Cassidy. Only the guests who actually matter will be allowed in this section.”
My brother Jeffrey told me that on his wedding day with the same cold indifference he used when asking someone to move a piece of furniture. He adjusted his silk tie in front of a massive gilded mirror inside the ballroom of a private estate in the Blue Ridge Mountains as if belittling me was just another task on his checklist.
I was twenty-eight years old, wearing a peach-colored silk dress he had pressured me to buy and holding a heavy Italian espresso machine that had cost me two months of my rent. The ballroom looked like a scene from a luxury travel magazine where crystal chandeliers sparkled like diamonds and massive clusters of white orchids decorated every corner.
Waiters moved through the crowd in white gloves while a string quartet played soft melodies for the rows of executives and wealthy partners who walked through the doors. Jeffrey lived for this kind of display and had spent his entire life treating every conversation like a speech and every social interaction like a rung on a ladder.
I was trying to stay balanced in my heels when he approached me with that familiar expression of disgust he always wore when he thought my presence was ruining his perfect aesthetic. “Why are you standing here?” he asked without bothering to lower his voice in front of the other guests.
“I came to celebrate your wedding,” I told him while trying to figure out if he was actually being serious. “You are cluttering up the entrance, Cassidy,” he replied as he sighed with deep annoyance.
“The entrance?” I asked while a sharp heat began to rise in my chest. He checked his watch and explained that high-level investors and the board of directors from Vanguard Tech would be arriving any minute.
“I cannot have any distractions in the background of the professional photography,” he added while looking at my outfit with a critical eye. I looked down at my dress and my hair which had both been chosen according to his very specific and demanding instructions.
“I am your sister,” I said as I tried to keep my voice steady. “And that is exactly why I found a much more appropriate place for you to sit,” he answered while pulling a seating chart from his pocket.
He pointed to Table Nineteen which was tucked away in the furthest corner of the room right next to the swinging doors of the kitchen. The table was marked with a small drawing of a balloon and was clearly designated for the youngest guests at the party.
“Jeffrey, that is the children’s table,” I pointed out with a look of disbelief. “Great-Aunt Maude will be there too and since she is mostly deaf, you two will be very comfortable together,” he replied as if he were doing me a favor.
“You want me to sit with toddlers?” I asked. His patience finally snapped and he told me that I simply did not fit in with the people who came here to network and close major deals.
“You are not on their level, so just sit in the back, eat your meal, and please try not to embarrass me,” he muttered. My throat tightened with anger as I reminded him that I worked just as hard as anyone else in the room.
He let out a short and mocking laugh before telling me that my little freelance blog did not count as a real career. “I do not have time for this, so stay at Table Nineteen and do not even think about approaching Xavier Thorne when he arrives,” he commanded.
