⌞ long live ⌝

⌞ fourteen : dinner party ⌝

"I'm sorry, I am so sorry. Please- please forgive me." 

___

Everything always came back to this.  

"I cannot believe you! Leaving Jules alone to handle your brothers while you did, what? Fuck around?" 

I just nodded, looking at the ground. It was easier to just let him yell. Fighting it, trying to argue back. It did nothing. Only got me in more trouble. And to make sure that I got the full scope of the punishment, he had held us back from the dinner that Dani was taking us out to. 

"You know that you have to help." 

"Oui, père." 

"I shouldn't even let you go to this fucking dinner." He shook his head. "But I am not about to cause a scene. So go fix your make-up, cover up the fact that you've been crying. You get five minutes." 

I nodded, standing and walking into the bathroom. This wasn't the worst I had dealt with and the only reason I was getting off easy was because there was no way to hide any of this. We had somewhere to be and there was no way I could cover any marks. I got lucky. 

Not that I would call it lucky. Luck wasn't a real thing. I just happened to have parts of a situation lean in my favor. And it was easier to fix a bit of make-up than to deal with whatever punishment he could have come up with. So I did what I was told to do and walked back into the living room. 

"Get in the car." 

I grabbed my phone and walked down to the car. The restaurant was on the other side of the city and I had to spend the entire ride with him. I prayed that it would just be silence. As suffocating as it was, I could handle the silence. And he needed it to look like we were perfect, so he wouldn't yell again. Not after I just fixed everything. 

I sat in the passenger seat of the Ferrari that Jules let Father borrow for this moment. It was a car I had sat in many times before, so I wasn't surprised by anything. Father got in the car after me, pulling out and starting to drive us to the place. 

It was a small little place on the coast. Family owned. It felt like you were going to visit your grandmother or something when you walked in. That's why Dani loved it. He always wanted everyone to feel like family. 

"You're not going to qualify since you decided you wanted to act out today. And if you cause another scene at this dinner, I will make sure you don't make it to the race as well." 

"Yes sir." 

___

"There's my girl!" 

I froze when I realized that a majority of the grid was sitting at this long table. Dani had rented out the entire restaurant. I tried to muster a smile but I could feel my anxiety building. I think Jules noticed because he stood, linking his arm with mine. 

"I saved you a seat next to me." 

I signed a thank you and he winked at me. Jules pulled out the chair for me and I took it, feeling a tad bit overdressed. I had gone with a soft green polo and a black skirt with my boots and everyone else was dressed in jeans and loose shirts.