The Bouquet

Chapter 1

You were feeling dramatic today, more so than usual.

Your head was pressed delicately to the cool glass of the window in the backseat of your parents' car. Your pristine and manicured fingers were drumming against the back of your phone as you gazed out at the passing trees powdered white with a fresh coat of snow. Your eyes were glazed over, a faraway look evident in their depths as you only focused on the feeling of your earbuds settled in your ears and the soft bass that thrummed from them.

You hissed in annoyance as the car struck a bump in the road, the side of your head knocking harshly against the cool glass. You hear your mother's gentle giggle as her hand settled on your father's shoulder.

"Speed bump." She laughed.

"Hm, something must have been under the snow." Your father mused, the corners of his eyes crinkling with the smile that spread across his face from your mother's touch. "Better slow down." He hummed to himself.

Right, the snowfall had begun to thicken. You wouldn't be surprised if in a few short minutes the once gentle precipitation would evolve into a total whiteout.

You fucking hated when it snowed.

As a newly turned eighteen year old, fresh out of high school and ready to move on with your life, the last thing you wanted to do was pile into the car with your parents and little sister and spend hours cramped in there on your way to the mountains. She knew you hated the cold, and you were sure she had requested this just to spite you. This whole event was so beneath you, beneath all of you in fact. You weren't one to trifle with such plebeian matters. You came from a well-off family, your mother a brilliant neurosurgeon descending from a line of talented physicians before her, and your father the heir of a million dollar business that had been growing in your family for generations.

You didn't take road trips, you took private jets for fucks sake. But no, not this time around. Your sweet yet evil and naive little sister had decided to become friends with a middle-class child that had filled her head with the ideas of a simple life. All it took was one temper tantrum and a flood of tears to convince your parents to do as she wished.

Your parents were brilliant individuals, but they were weak for their youngest child.

You huffed in annoyance as sweat began to prick at the back of your neck, the car was insulating far too much heat for your liking. Even you could admit you were a picky bitch. You unclipped your seatbelt and unzipped your jacket, ripping it free from your arms, throwing it down to the floor of the car in a clear show of annoyance and frustration.

You then tilted your head back against the headrest, your arms coming up to stubbornly cross over your chest. You could see from your peripherals the look your mother was giving you from the passenger seat of the car. It was concern as well as empathy, she knew you didn't want to do this but she forced you to go anyway, for the sake of the "family."

You were sure your upbringing had attributed to your current attitude today, your sister had been privileged enough to experience a much different childhood than you had. You were perfectly healthy at birth, a sweet and plump baby that cried when the time was right and was quick to feed. The only issue was the fact that your parents' careers never stopped for you. They were at the height of their work lives at the moment you were born, your mother was a prodigy and had just started making a name for herself and your father had finally inherited the business from your grandfather.

For the greater part of your life, your days were spent with a live-in nanny and the sight of your parents for perhaps around two hours a day. They didn't know you and you didn't know them, you were practically strangers living in one another's home. The only way they knew to show you affection, to make up for the lost hours of the day, was to buy your love. You received everything you ever wanted, never knew the meaning of a hard day's work, and you were never fully satisfied.