Self-Seeker

28

Sunday

As Emily pulled up outside Damon's house, the last thing on Genesis's mind was planning the twins' birthday party. The only reason she had agreed to come was because the twins had pleaded for her help. As well as Emily, whom had already met Dimitri while he was pretending to be her sister Melissa's boyfriend. She then met Dominic when he had taken Dimitri's place as Melissa's boyfriend at a family dinner - and immediately became friends with him. Other than them, everyone else that would be in the room despised Genesis. This would be fun, she thought, note the sarcasm.

All the while, as they exited the car Genesis could only think about the night before, and the fact that she hadn't reacted severely to murdering Deana in cold blood. In fact - she didn't have any reaction at all. She had been perfectly content with taking someone's life, and it petrified her. She wondered if it was possible that she had developed some sort of immunity to manslaughter. If she didn't even feel the slightest bit of remorse - only God knew the extent of her capabilities to inflict torment onto others.

The front door peeled open to reveal the twins waiting in anticipation for the two of them to come inside. Dimitri looked Genesis up and down and his smile morphed into an expression of concern. Emily had gotten Genesis used to wearing casual clothing on her days off, so they were currently sporting Nike tracksuits, messy buns and no makeup. But Genesis knew that wasn't the reason he was frowning. It was the sight of her bruised face and broken arm that had caused his reaction.

"Tell me what happened." Dimitri demanded rather than asked, his voice laced with anger at the thought of someone hurting her. Genesis rolled her eyes, she hadn't even been given the chance to say hello.

"Non adesso, Dimitri." She quickly dismissed him, she would have to tell him the same lie that she told Emily.

"Genesis, I am not aski--"

"I'll tell you later, lo giuro. For now, just leave it be." Genesis interrupted.

He sighed reluctantly as he offered her his arm and Dominic reciprocated the action with Emily. The twins escorted them to the kitchen, a place where so far Genesis had only had negative experiences - today was bound to make the list. They entered to find everybody she had expected to be there stop talking once they had lain eyes on her. Forever the elephant in the room, she thought with a sigh. Her eyes worked their way around the space.

"Good afternoon Jazzy, Tyler, Damon and A-" She paused, "Apparently no Audrey." Genesis said surprised as she stood on the opposite side of the island to them, Emily took her place beside her.

"She went back to London." Damon explained, eyeing her warily. Genesis could tell that he felt the urge to ask why she looked so battered and broken, but he knew he had no right to.

"Oh, right." She replied, lost in thought. Genesis felt her heart sink; she and Audrey hadn't left things between them in a pleasant state.

"She didn't tell you?" He questioned.

No, she didn't. "Yes, she did. It simply slipped my mind, that's all." Genesis lied. A scoff came from the mouth of Satan's spawn herself - it took a lot of restraint from Genesis to refrain from leaping over the island and punching her in it. "Something stuck in your throat, sis?"

"Something stuck on your face, bitch?" Jazmine snapped back, referring to the several bruises and cuts scattered across her sister's skin. Genesis held her tongue, she released a deep breath and counted down from five - a technique she used to calm herself down whenever she got heated at the wrong occasion. This wasn't the time nor place.

"To avoid any more disagreements, how about we all just try to be civil for the sake of the twins. It is a happy celebration after all. There's no need for any snide remarks or unnecessary conflict. Okay?" Genesis reasoned, deciding to be the bigger person.

Everyone nodded in reply, reluctantly or otherwise, so they could finally get on with the planning. Dimitri stood at one end of the island whilst his twin took the other. Dominic began handing out sheets of paper to everyone as Dimitri spoke.

"So, as you already know this is going to be one of our wildest parties yet. However, it is also one of the most meaningful as we usually don't have this many close friends and family around with us. Which is why we've decided that you guys should be the ones to arrange it." Dimitri started, that sexy Italian accent that all the Soldatis seemed to come with was prominent.

"We have appointed all of your individual roles which you'll be in charge of organizing, as well as ensuring that they're running smoothly on the night. The press is going to be there so everything needs to go according to plan." He continued.

The manner in which he was laying out instructions reminded Genesis of, well herself really. At least he was a man that wasn't afraid to take charge, unlike Tyler whom had been at Jazmine's every beck and call since they began seeing each other. Or Damon who was too fearful of confronting his real feelings to seek what he surely desired.

Dominic then began to speak. "As you will find in your files, Jazmine you are in charge of finding our venue. I'm talking big, expensive and open to instalments of stripper poles." He told her cheekily. Genesis chuckled at that and shook her head, typical Dominic, she thought.

"That won't be a problem, Dominic." Jazmine replied.

"Good. Next, we have Tyler - I've put you on catering. We want posh, rich people food. Think flashy trays with appetizers and tall glasses of champagne."

"Got it. I have people in the catering business that owe me a favour or two." Tyler said.

"Moving on to Damon. Dear brother. You get the privilege of contacting all our friends, close family, business associates, peers and pretty much the whole of New York City. To cut down your workload we've already had the invitations created. It's just your job to ensure they get sent out to all the right people. Have fun." He teased, passing his older brother a large stack of laminated cards.

"Anything for my baby brothers." Damon teased back. He then pulled his phone out of his pocket and began typing at an incredible speed - apparently he was in a hurry to make a start.

"Emily, if there is anybody in here that defines the word stylish - aside from our fashion guru Genesis here - it's you. That's why you're in charge of decorating. We need a ballroom theme, the type of atmosphere people dress in a tuxedo and ball gowns to, get to it Little Em."

"Still with the 'Little Em'? You do realize I'm older than you, right?" She asked.

"You'll always be Little Em to me." He answered with a wink, then turned his attention to the final person. "Lastly, we've got Genesis. You come across as the type of gal who behind that cold, introverted, nonchalant exterior, is secretly down for anything. For that reason, you are organizing our entertainment for the night. I'm not even going to hint to you what I want, surprise me baby."

"Consider it done." She responded, choosing to let him off with that detailed description of her as it was almost his birthday. She already had a few ideas about what the twins would want at their party.

Dimitri then took over again. "We won't keep you any longer. I just wanted to thank you all in advance for helping us out with this, we are both deeply grateful for it. I'd prefer if you all started working on this as soon as possible and keep either Dominic or myself updated so we are aware that everything is in place. Oh, and this is a black-tie event by the way, so bring a date. Dismissed." He spoke with authority. She could picture him using that same tone in a conference room at work.

Everyone began toleave in separate directions, chattering lightly amongst themselves. Genesiswas just about to exit the kitchen behind Emily when someone grabbed her arm.She turned expecting to find Dimitri but was presented with another Soldati.