Help

twenty-five

F L O R E N C E

When I woke up things changed.

The night before, I went from asking Massimo to get me a therapist, to now, waking up, with the house in chaos's purest form. I woke up to the sound of loud footsteps outside my door, so I walked out of my room. People I have never seen before stormed up and down the halls, carrying black sealed cases containing something not visible to my eye. They hurried past me like I was invisible.

The amount of people who I do not know in my home right now makes me queasy with nerves. An unsettling feeling in my belly that something is very very wrong. My armpits, boobs, and legs are sweating lakes, and my hands tremble with every man that walks past me. My heartbeat drums in my ear.

I cannot tell if it's my anxiety or if my blood sugar is low.

All I know is that I need to find someone I know. I hurry down the bedroom corridor, making sure to open each of my brothers doors to see if they are in their rooms. They all were empty.

I pick up my pace down the hallway, swerving past each man and woman that walks past me and ignores my existence. When I reach the main floor the air is knocked out of my lungs when I see the amount of people in all black swarming the main foyer. Tears well up in my eyes with every body that bumps into mine as I try to get to the kitchen.

If they aren't in the kitchen I will have a full blown breakdown.

Pushing the swinging doors open, I see the kitchen empty, minus four bodies casually sitting around the counter. I breathe a sigh of relief when I see Lucien, Emilio, and Dominic. The fourth person isn't Massimo though.

"Hey Florence!" Emilio greets me, acting as if a million men and women are not moving about the house. The others turn to look at me but I can only stare at this new man. "How was your sleep?" Emilio asks as he traps me in a suffocating hug.

I don't answer.

He pulls away with a small understanding smile and gestures to the unnamed man. "Flo, this is August Young, he's our cousin."

August smiles at me and stands from the barstool he was sitting on. He walks over to me and bends down to around my height. Sticking out his hand he speaks, "you have grown so much since I last saw you Florence. It is so good to see you again." His voice is smooth and calm. It puts me at ease.

I still don't say anything.

I shake his hand back.

Lucien then beckons me over to the empty barstool in between him and Dominic. He kisses my head and wraps his arm around my shoulder.

"How was your sleep princess?" Dominic asks me after he kisses my forehead. I shake my head. "It was bad?" I nod.

"Bad dreams or did something wake you?" Lucien chimes in. I point to the foyer outside of the kitchen.

"Dammit were they being loud?" Emilio says as he sets the boy's coffee's down. He acts like they aren't causing pure chaos in the other room.

"Massimo told them to be quiet so they wouldn't wake you up." August says shaking his head in disapproval. "Figures they don't listen."

"Sorry about them Florence. Something came up at work and our house seems to be Massimo's meeting place of choice." Lucien says bitterly. Clearly he is just as happy about this as I am. "We don't know what's happening. Massimo hasn't told us yet."