Family Money

"The ding isn't always a good thing"

"So tell me where it all started" The judge said with a skeptical look.

Chapter One "The ding isnt always a good thing"

"Incoming!" the wedding staff yelled while carrying trays upon trays of fancy looking food i've never heard of. "What the heck is a crab cake?" i asked myself while preparing for the rehearsal dinner. My soon to be wife walked up to me from the other side of the banquet hall and gave me a warm smile, i can never get enough of her smile, when we first met she had long dirty blonde hair that she would almost hide behind, i hated it but didn't say anything. but about a year ago she cut it short and you can finally see her face, her brown eyes, her perfect nose, and her gorgeous smile.

"You know james, as much as i love catching you stare at me, i think you should probably help out a bit" i was caught a bit off guard, especially considering i wasn't staring, but i would never make her get off of her high horse just to prove her wrong. "What can i do without bothering someone Grace?" i asked. It probably sounded sarcastic or snarky to her even though i was being sincere but it was too late, i had already blurted it out. "Take this to the bridesmaids room, just knock, allison will probably be there making sure everything looks good for tomorrow" she handed me a box, i hadn't even noticed she was holding anything until just then, i must have just been out of it today.

I started walking to the other side of the banquet hall where she had been standing before, passing tables and stressed out looking servers and planners who were running the events so smoothly (well i wouldn't say smoothly, but they did a better job than i could have ever done). I felt so out of place just running around and helping people that didn't need me there to assist them, but im not one to deny a favor. There was another building where everyone was staying until the big day, it was just across the street from the banquet hall and it housed my entire family plus my fiance's family, i had no clue what room the bridesmaids were staying in, so i just decided to wing it.

The building looked old, not nearly old enough to be from some horror movie or something, but it definitely wasn't new. It was just a plain hotel that the owners rented out to people having weddings, since there was a banquet hall just across the street they made buckets. Especially with the fake wedding deals they put on, i did the math. There was only a 3 dollar difference between simply booking the rooms yourself and the wedding package (which by the way had no special perks at all).

I tried to not draw any attention to myself as i walked through the door of the hotel, i had lots of distant family members staying there and i didnt know who could be around the corner waiting to give me the "look how much you've changed! I cant believe you are getting married already!" talk, that would undoubtedly last for what felt like hours.

The receptionist at the front desk gave me an inviting but clearly fake smile as she saw me walk up to her. "Do you know what floor the Carter family's wedding guests are staying on?" i asked, knowing that she probably wouldn't give me the answer due to confidentiality. I had been staying in a different hotel with Grace since i don't like large groups of people, in fact it was originally supposed to be a small wedding until my sister Allison helped her plan it, she persuaded me to compromise since in her words "it should be the brides choice" even though me and Grace had made the agreement to have equal say in everything when it came to the wedding.

"Im sorry sir, i cant help you unless you have some form of identification." she said with a genuine look in her eyes. I knew that the rooms were under my fiance's name, but before i gave up i tried one more thing. I pulled my ID out of my pocket and showed it to her, it read

James Carter

Date of Birth: August 26, 1994

City: Cleveland, Ohio

She gave me a look, i couldn't quite place what kind of look it was, but it seemed promising. "James Carter you say?" she said in a hushed tone. "That would be me" i stated. "Of the carter family?" she asked. "Yes, again thats me" i said getting annoyed. She probably knew me because of my family, they were extremely wealthy (even though it was all family money) but i hate people knowing. Everyone treats you differently when they know you have money. Money equals power in their eyes, and who wouldn't want connections in power? I hate having to use my name for things that i want, but sometimes its necessary to get by.

"Im sorry sir, i had just assumed that they weren't THE Carters, the wedding guests are staying on the fourth floor" she said whilst her eyes trailed away. "Thank you, thank you very much" i slipped her a twenty under the desk without even thinking, out of habit i suppose.

The elevator seemed to be normal, i was happy about that. Not much in the world had been normal for me in the past few months, or ever for a matter of fact. It may seem odd but even just an elevator can get my hopes up, even if its just for a few seconds.

I walked over to the elevator that i had spotted before and pressed the ¨up¨ button on the wall next to the door. I then took a second to scan the room, since i still had the mystery box Grace had given me i decided to give myself a break, i put the box on the ground next to the elevator and stood there waiting to hear that fabled ¨ding¨ i knew so well. I guess growing up in places with Elevators my whole life could have influenced the familiarity of it all, but contrary to popular belief the ding wasn't always a good thing.

All of a sudden i looked up and the shiny silver doors opened up, a woman who i had never seen before stood in front of me, trying as hard as i've ever seen someone try to avoid making eye contact, which by all means was fine by me. She had long brown hair, looked to be about forty, maybe forty five, thats the first thing i noticed. She was also dressed quite odd, she had a long green skirt on, something that you would see a fortune teller wear, and a lot of layers, scarfs, and red boots, which was especially odd considering it was perfectly sunny june day.

I stepped into the elevator and walked to the corner where the buttons where and when i went to press floor 4, i noticed it had already been pressed. That felt strange to me, considering Grace said she reserved the entire floor for the wedding guests only. But maybe i was just confused.

The lady in the corner tried to do what seemed like scanning me, looking me up and down as if she was checking for a bomb or something, i didnt think much of it at the time but it started to click in my head that maybe she was ill, mentally or something.

The elevator ride was short and quite frankly awkward, but soon enough we got to the 4th floor and the woman gave me a glance and stepped out before me, she started walking down the hall pretty fast when i stepped out behind her..and soon enough i realized she was headed to the end of the hall.

The woman ended up stopping abruptly at one door, she knocked three time then it opened fast and a head peeked out. I didn't realize it until i squinted because i was still at the start of the hallway...but it was Alison's room.