Destined

Four

Evelyn

I was asked to help with making dinner tonight and the time was moving by painfully slow. Now as a teenager it almost seems mandatory for me to spend endless hours on my phone mindlessly scrolling through i********: but, I can honestly say, I don't do that as much as anyone else I can name. I have more important things to do even if I have nothing to do at that moment. So that is why I sit staring at my phones black screen waiting patiently for something to happen, or for something to be said.

"Are you okay? You seem a little bit bored." My mom asks me.

"I am but I don't want to be sucked into the Gen Z world of spending all my time on a phone," I respond honestly through a sigh.

"Okay, well then how about this," she begins, "Evelyn, can you tell me what you're most excited for this summer? It is coming up in a few months so we do need to get some plans going."

"Perfect! I'm just ready to spend the days with you and daddy. I don't really have anything in mind as far as plans go but I bet we'll think of something!" I say optimistically.

"Well, please let me know if anything changes."

"You know I will." I get up from the stool at the island and am about to leave when I'm called back.

"Please take your medicine before you exit the kitchen. It's supposed to help you so you need to start remembering to take it." I fill up a glass of water, take out a pill and down it quickly to please her. I know it's supposed to help me but I honestly don't think it's doing anything. If it was, it should've already started working. "Love you, baby, I'll call you back in when I need your help with dinner."

"Love you!" I exclaimed, running out of the kitchen and to the living room so I could sit on the couch beside daddy. "What are we watching?" I ask excitedly, gazing up at him.

"Well, it's all up to you. I have to go print something off in the office but I'll be back to join you soon." He hands me the remote and I immediately change it to MasterChef. I love Gordon Ramsay.

A few minutes into the show there's a loud knock at the front door. I don't hear any shuffling to go open it so that's what I do. "I got it," I call out on my way to the door, opening it wide.

The man at the door appeared to be around my dad's age but was so absolutely gorgeous that he left me completely stunned and without words. "Little Evelyn?" I'm sorry, what? I felt my entire expression go from oh my god to I beg your pardon. "You're all grown up now." He took one look at me then peered inside, "couper le souffle."

"Do I know you?" I ask, completely ignoring his knowledge of one of my favorite languages.

"You used to. How about you let me in and then we can talk some more." He suggests, the smug look spread across his face set a fire in me and it wasn't a good one.

"Oh, so you're bilingual now?" Daddy says behind me. The man smirked, releasing a little chuckle.

"Hey man, I had to be." I move aside so the man can come in, assuming that's what daddy would want. My dad and the man move more in the foyer and open their arms for an embrace. I close the door but keep my eyes settled on the action.

"It's been too long, my friend," daddy says into the shoulder of the taller man. I don't think I've ever seen him hug anyone that tight before. It leaves me to wonder, who exactly is this man and what has he done for my dad. Why is he so important that he's capable of sending chills down spines and creating a quiet home without knowing. "Alex where have you been?" He asks, removing himself from the man now known as Alexander.

"Can't tell you, Andy. Where's Jo?" He holds my dad's arms, hardly taking his eyes away from dad for more than ten seconds at a time. His hands remove themselves after dad pats his back.

"Kitchen, where she will continue to spend most of her time."

"She still cooks like crazy?"

"Never stopped."

"Good to know."

Daddy faces me and smiles, "I told you you'd find out soon enough. This, my dear, is Alex, my best friend since childhood." Alexander turns to me to nod.

"You hid an entire person from me. A person you think is so beyond greatness, but all I see is a man of arrogance and disloyalty."

"Evelyn," daddy starts but is soon cut off by his friend.

"No, its fine Andrew, I can handle this. Arrogant?" He questioned while fixing his suit jacket cuff. I nod, keeping my eyes attached to his every move. "Well, little darling, how do you get that?"

"I'm sorry, have you not seen yourself?" I challenge him.

"What does my look have to do with anything?"

"Do I actually need to spell it out for you?" He gestures for me to continue, "The suit you're wearing probably costs a few thousands. The watch, a Cartier Rotonde de Cartier Astrotourbillon which are placed around almost one hundred thousand two hundred dollars. The shoes are about seven hundred. Your nails have been buffed, hands are smooth and don't even get me started on the hairstyle." He waits for me to finish, somehow knowing I'm far from done. "All of this screams you're ranked highly at whatever large company you work for in which is most likely killing the environment, yet you don't seem to care. The crease on your nose signifies that you scrunch a lot which could mean that you act tough during working hours and your aggression with the people below you is indescribably terrifying to them because they know that if they even have a slight mishap that means they're fired." He looks astonished, "now tell me, did I hit it on the nose or did I hit it smack dab on the nose?"

"Evelyn, I think that is quite enough." dad interjects. I glance over at him then back to his friend and see a not incredibly impressed expression. "Your mom is waiting for you in the kitchen, she wants to start dinner but not without you."

"Thank you, daddy." As I head to the kitchen, I hear my father and the man begin to laugh along with the closing of the door. "Ready mom?"

"Been waiting a solid five minutes, hun." She smiles so I know she's joking. "Grab the bowl for the vegetables."

"Who's the man that's here?" I ask, reaching into the cupboard and grabbing hold of the bowl.

She didn't need to look, she already knew. She knew that daddy was right the other night. "Just an old friend of mine and your dads. I heard you say he's arrogant, yeah?" I knew that much already, but I needed more information on him.

"Oh come on, have you seen him? He's the walking billboard representative for an environmental killer."

"Well, he's always been one for high-quality companies. Always said he'd be working for one of them someday and I suppose he made it."

"Momma, why would someone willingly kill the planet that's keeping them here?"

"Honey, some people don't do it to hurt the planet, some only work to make a living and companies like those are the best way to make the big bucks. We work for ourselves, to keep up a sustainable living for our own lives, homes, and families. Sometimes people choose not necessarily what they know will help the future but what will help their future. Do you understand?"

"Yes."

"Good, now let's hurry up. I'm starving." Almost on cue, her stomach growls causing both of us to laugh over the impeccable timing.

The meal my mother and I made looked delicious and we couldn't wait for my dad to see it. We set it out on the table, mother got a bottle of red wine and I poured it into the glasses for the three adults, pouring myself some water.

With my daddy at one end of the table and my mom at the other, that leaves Mr. Planet Killer and I sitting across from each other. A sight I wish would've been a little more disappointing. "How do you like the food daddy?" I ask with a hopeful smile as his plate is almost empty.

"I love it Pumpkin, the salad is my favorite part." He says as he swallows a forkful.

"You're only saying that because you know I always make the salads." He smiles at me and shakes his head.

"I can't help my taste buds. Whats favored is favored." I giggle at him to which his grin only grows in size.

"Alex, what do you think of Evelyn's salad?" My mother asks we all look at him awaiting his answer.

"I mean, its just salad." He replies. None of us felt the need to add onto that, at least not for the time being.

It took a couple more minutes before everyone's plates were entirely empty. Mom and dad offered to clean up the plates, probably going to talk about how I haven't been the most thrilled little girl since Alexander showed up here. Once they were out of ears reach, I spoke, "Wow, I love the praise. Not like I need it from a pretentious man who enjoys killing the environment."

"Where did you get your lip? Because your parents-" I cut Alexander off, not wanting to hear another word come from his mouth.

"My parents have nothing to do with my lip but they do have something to do with the fact that they chose a pompous, contemptuous, egotistical man like yourself to be their friend."

"Now you listen here, little girl. You have no idea-"

"Never speak to me like that again. You're being demeaning and I will not have a conversation with anyone who demeans me because my parents taught me to respect myself and others around me. You will not speak down to me, I don't care if you're the adult here, treat me with some respect." As I spoke he had slowly stood up and gripped onto the edge of the table. He was about to lose his s**t and I was the cause of that.

"Treat you with respect. Treat you with respect. You know that's very funny. You haven't given me an ounce of respect since you opened the door this evening. You must give respect to be given in return. You're a grown girl, I don't need to praise you over some stupid salad that even you know is just regular. There's nothing special to it, I'm not going to pretend to be proud of some plain salad you made. When you do something worth praising, I will praise the hell out of you and you can count on that." He was trying not to yell at me with my parents in the next room but I know they heard us arguing with each other, I wasn't exactly being quiet. I looked him in the eyes and gave a dry chuckle.

"No one cared about the salad, it was just a joke. I make one once a week and my daddy just tries to make me feel better because he knows how much I love putting together a healthy salad. I enjoy putting together a plate of f*****g lettuce for my dad because he enjoys eating it. He saves it for last every week and tells me he saves the best for last just to see me smile. He doesn't know I've caught on but I know he does it to make me feel better. Not like it matters," I shake my head and look him dead in the eyes for my last words. "It's just a plate of f*****g lettuce," I mutter, standing from my chair and storming off into the kitchen then up to my room.

Sitting on the bay window cushions was normal for me when I'm in my room. I close my door and sit here looking out the window as the night comes and the stars appear. I love the colors of the sky as it transitions into the dark. The blues, the yellows, and the oranges, the pinks and purples, then to black. The shade of space before seeing the different galaxies and their light. The promise they hold for something beautiful.

A knock on my door takes me out of the other worlds and their possibilities and this is when I realize how late it's gotten, the sky is almost black. "Come in." The words leave my lips before I can even think to ask who's on the other side of the door. My disappointment from earlier continues on when Alexander walks into my bedroom and shuts the door behind him. "What do you want Alexander?"

"It's Alex." He tries to correct but is nowhere close to getting what he wants.

"Whatever."

"I remember changing your diaper when you were just a small baby. I was excited about your parents, creating a family, creating a life, that's big. However, not once did I think you were going to grow up and sass me at the dinner table." I watch him stroll on over to sit down on my bed.

"Well, whose fault is that?"

"Ooh, and it continues." I roll my eyes at his attempt to either be funny or sassy.

"Is there something you're wanting or are you in here purely to get on my nerves?" I ask.

"Is there a reason you're so judgemental and hypocritical?" He retorts.

"I'm not judgemental, I'm observant."

"And being a hypocrite just goes hand in hand with that or what." I look at him but it doesn't last long, my eyes don't hold and fall as the thoughts go through my mind.

"No."

"Then what is it?" He's getting to me, I need to stop this conversation before I say something I might regret. I just met this man, I can't let him in like I've spent every day of my life with him.

"Look, I don't know. It's not like I do it on purpose and for you to think I do is assuming things." My voice goes hard.

"I know what I'm doing, my question is why do you act the way you do."

"Can you leave, I don't want you in here." I request.

"I didn't come in here to stay. Your parents want to know if you're coming down to watch a film."

"And be near you? No thanks, you know where the exit is."

"I was only asking-"

"Quite frankly, I don't care what you were doing. I just want to be alone and you being in here is kind of ruining that for me so if you could scoot that'd be fantastic." He opens the door but opens his mouth again.

"If you want to act like a brat, that's fine with me. Brats get timeouts, they don't get to enjoy a nice film, so you can sit in here and sulk all you want, I'm not going to stop you."

"Would you just get lost." I make my way over to him and point towards the door in a dramatic way like they do in the movies.

He leans down closer to my face, "have a good night, brat." I push him into the hallway and slam the door in his face. I then throw myself onto my bed and scream into a pillow.

After hours and hours and doing absolutely nothing but texting my best friend about this obnoxious man that found his way into my sturdy home, I finally gave it a rest. I couldn't believe just how much I couldn't stand him already and I had a feeling that she wasn't exactly having fun listening to me bad mouth a man I barely know. She had given me a word of advice to just trying to get to know him and get along but I couldn't give in so easily. I wasn't about to let him waltz up in here and act like some big shot and that's when it hit me. If he wants to see a brat, I'll show him just how much of a brat I can be.