Cerberus

4. Resentment

    Lydia sat in the backseat with Isaac while Osman drove and the new prick, Kassidy, sat in the front passenger seat. Never in her life had her father embarrassed her like that. He had laughed and sided with the prick, assigning him to be her personal security detail. She'd raged at him for it but he refused to be reasonable. And worst of all, he was sending her off to Nevada because of some ridiculous fluff piece article sent to him by an associate about her and the Freeman boys almost wrecking a yacht in the Puget Sound over the weekend. It wasn't true... entirely... they had been hosting a small party that sort of turned into a much bigger party and suddenly there was another boat that was supposedly right in front of them. Not that she could remember, she had blacked out by that point. But everyone was fine in the end, no damage done. And no one could really prove that she'd convinced the captain to let her take the helm when it all happened. Her charm was a curse, really.
    Now she was doomed to be miserable for however long her father chose to keep her locked up in the Macdonald Highlands house. She was sure he'd sent Isaac and the prick off with orders to keep her locked up tight. No flights and no Vegas. She was to be a prisoner in a golden cage until her father pitied her enough to let her back out.
    Technically, her father couldn't really force her to do anything. She was twenty-six and could do whatever she wanted. However, she lived a very illustrious life style that didn't come cheap, and he could cancel every credit card in her Birkin bag with the snap of his fingers. She didn't really think he'd do it, but she would only push so hard.
    Traffic was surprisingly light and it didn't take long to reach the private entrance at SEA-TAC. Osman drove them to her father and his associates hanger and parked the car. The men stepped out and began unloading bags onto the trolly brought out by the hangers staff. She let out an exasperated sigh before stepping out of the car and onto the tarmac. An overly energetic flight attendant was on her like a shark with blood in the water pestering her if she needed anything while assisting her to the stairs leading up to the plane. Lydia asked for a glass of Cabernet and waved the woman off as she found her seat.
    The interior of the jet consisted of four lounge chairs, two on each side facing each other, a modern divan to be used for seating or sleeping in the case of an over night flight, and a fully stocked bar. The flight attendant had just finished pouring her glass as she sat and set it before her on the small credenza between her seat and the one facing her. Lydia lifted the glass to her lips and drank half of it as her gaze shifted to look out the window.  Osman was standing by the car with Isaac and the prick. They both shook hands with him before he got back in the black SUV and pulled out towards the exit gate. The two remaining men turned and walked towards the jet. Bastards, the lot of them.
    Just then, her phone pinged and she looked down to see a text from Alaina. She wouldn't call Alaina a friend, more of an acquaintance. She was a social climber, as many liked to remind her, and she had unfortunately been present that weekend on the Freeman boys yacht.
    The text read, "Missing you already 🥂💕"
    Lydia rolled her eyes and simply replied with a black heart emoji before silencing her phone. The sound of approaching footsteps made her look up as Isaac and the ass himself made their way into the cabin. She averted her gaze back to the window but was shocked when one of them actually had the audacity to pick the seat directly in front of her. She looked ahead, expecting to see Isaac, but was jarred to see Kassidy making himself at home. To her even further horror, he picked up her wine glass and sniffed it. The bastard was smelling her wine.
    "Cabernet?" He asked.
    "Get fucked" was all she said. Either her eyes were playing tricks on her, or the asshole was smirking.
    "Nervous flyer?" He shot another question at her.  She just stared blankly at him.  If she didn't hate him so much, she would probably consider him attractive. He was tall and obviously muscled in all the right ways. She hadn't noticed it yesterday when he was in a sweatshirt and sweatpants, but in his suit she could see the press of his biceps against his sleeves as he swirled the wine around in its glass. He was broad chested too, in fact, all of him was broad. He took up the entire chair he was sitting in. His hair was a sandy blond, the kind she saw when she visited friends in California, as if he spent long days in the sun and sand and ocean, but it was close cropped around the sides, slowly tapering to where it was longer at the top and swept back. And his eyes. If she thought his hair was like the sand, then his eyes were like the bluest ocean. Piercing, like he could see so much more than anyone else. It was infuriating.
    "Looking at you gives me a headache." She spat.  His smirk turned into a full grin.
    "It's mutual, princess."  He put the wine back down where it had been then leaned back in his chair as the jet began its slow journey to the runway.
    Lydia rolled her eyes, then downed the last of her wine before the flight attendant whisked the glass away and asked everyone to prepare for take off. Lydia pulled her Birkin onto her lap and dug out a small bottle of pills. She popped the cap off, shook it until one came out onto her palm, then popped it into her mouth.
    "What the fuck was that?" Kassidy asked, an annoyed look and... something else, in his eyes. Concern?
    "Get off your high horse, it was just an ambien." Lydia rolled her eyes at him and looked out the window again. "It's a low dose, I'll be awake when we get there."
    "You just drank a glass of wine like it was a cheap shooter and took an ambien like it was the chaser."  He sounded genuinely pissed.
    "I've had worse." Was all she replied. She didn't have the fight in her this morning. She just wanted to sleep.
    "Lydia, that's not safe. There are seriously dangerous side effects to taking that and drinking."
    "Bite me."  Was all she said as the jet picked up speed and left the runway. It wasn't long before her eyes grew heavy. Kassidy's concerned face was the last thing she saw before drifting off into the black nothingness of sleep. He looked so... genuine, in that moment. Present. Almost like he was really actually worried about her. Then nothing.

                                               ~                                                   

Do not EVER be like Lydia and go against a doctors recommendations for prescription pills. This is solely for dramatic purposes. Drinking and taking prescription pills is NOT condoned.
~Megz🖤