Days With Zion Dawsey

10. Worry

"Who is this cutie?" As soon as the pair stepped into the garden with River squealing on Bonnie's hip, the other guests gathered around them. To say it was uncomfortable for both, was an understatement.

"Finally, I see your little man in person." Lord Asher said as he walked up to Bonnie and squeezed the baby's cheek. River let out an angry cry and shook his head out of the man's hold.

"He hates that." Bonnie laughed, making Maddox chuckle.
"I've never met a baby that loves it. Let me hold him." Zion took this as his cue to leave the scene without notice.

He watched from afar as all his relatives had their turn to swoon over River. River... he tried mouthing the boy's name and shook his head. River... he should've known Ebony Stewart would name him River. He wondered if the name had any special meaning to her, seeing that her company was also named RiverTech. He guessed he'd never know and just shrugged.

"He is the cutest thing I have ever set my eyes on." He heard his assistant Michael say and frowned. He has never heard the man that excited and it slightly scared him. Why people always make such a big scene when they see a cute baby, he didn't know. Sure, the kid was cute, but nobody would see him fawning over River.

River... There he was again, thinking about the name. He ought to distract himself, he thought as he stood up and passed the crowd in order to see how long the food would take. As soon as he stepped into the kitchen, everybody stopped what they were doing and stared at him. Zion refrained from rolling his eyes as he took a step towards Margarine, who was stiring the potatoes whilst watching his every step.

"How is everything coming together?" He heard himself ask. From the looks of it, he wasn't the only one surprised by that. Margarine blinked several times before clearing her throat and straightening her back.

"Everything is fine. It will be done in just a few minutes, Sir." Margarine slowly looked back at her pot of potatoes and continued cooking as if he wasn't in the room. The servants slowly began following her actions as they continued their job. Zion nodded, even though Margarine wasn't looking at him anymore. He sat down by the kitchen island and sighed.

Sitting there and watching the servants work reminded him of his teenage years, when he used to make their lives hell. All of his mother's servants were new, except for Margarine, who has been with his family for decades. She was in her late thirties back then and he remembered always telling her what to do and to be quicker. He was a brat and let all his anger out on other people. Not much has changed, now that he thought about it.

But now that he was working as well and always had people's expectations high, he felt bad for the now older woman. He remembered his childhood, in contrast to his teenage years. Everything was easier back then. He believed he could even remember Margarine being nice to him and ruffling his hair. She'd often let him sneak candy into his room late at night. They had a really nice bond, he remembered. It all went downhill in high school. Ever since then, she's kind of just been another victim of his rage.

Now she was doing her best to ignore him. She was probably afraid if she looked at him, he was going to snap at her again... He wanted to apologize, he really did. For everything he's ever said or done that was rude, mean or even remotely disrespctful. But he was not very good with apologies. Besides that, he knew it would never make her like him again. She'd always hate him for how he's treated her and he would have to accept that.

"Sir, I'm sorry but we need all the space we can get and your elbows are just-"
"Oh, of course. Do you need any help carrying the food?" Zion did a double take. Did he really just offer to help her? Margarine blinked again and almost dropped her spatula.

"I mean- because you're old and- I mean not that old. Just that your bones might crack or your back- old people always have back issues. Not that you're old, but-" He stopped talking, knowing he's already done enough damage for both of them. What the hell was wrong with him?

"I'll just leave." He quickly said and then almost ran out of the kitchen.
"What the fuck?!" He cursed when he was out of hearing range. He needed a short break from all the people in his house as he ran upstairs and sat down in the hallway, putting his face in his hands.

"Why am I like this?" He asked himself and then stopped breathing for a second. He heard a crash and immediately jumped to his feet. It sounded like it was in his father's office. Zion took fast steps towards the closed double doors. But when he opened them, there was no one. He could've sworn there was a loud crash, like something falling down.

His thoughts were verified as soon as he saw the broken picture frame of his parent's wedding photo on the ground. The window was open right above the work desk that had the picture on it. Of course, Zion didn't think it was the wind that blew the picture over, especially because the frame was made out of silver.

He ran towards the window and saw something laying in the grass under the window. It could've been a guest, but he highly doubted any guest of him would just climb up to the window to- do what exactly? Was anything gone? He looked around and saw everything was still in place. What the hell happened in here?

He quickly ran down the stairs and walked past the still awed crowd and into the other side of his backyard, that was completly abandonded. There he saw a bracelet of some leather sort. It looked old and worn out but he knew it wasn't coincident that he found it right under the window of his father's office. Someone broke in and lost his bracelet.

He walked around the house and even further towards the gates, trying to find any type of evidence that his theory was correct. But he couldn't find more than the bracelet in his hand and after half an hour of searching, he made his way back to his party.

"Where in the world have you been?" He heard his mother's voice as soon as he entered the lit tent. He frowned when the food was already on the huge table but no guests were around except for the kids, Bonnie, River and his mother.

"Where is everybody?" He asked, approaching the two women that were seated on the head of the table. His mother stood up and neared him with her hands on her hips.
"Everybody is out looking for you. We thought something happened, you didn't pick up your phone and Margarine said you were acting weird when she last saw you. Where were you?"

"I'm sorry, mother. I heard a-" Zion didn't know whether it was a good or a bad idea to tell his mother about the break in. He didn't want to unnecessarily worry her in case he was worng. Even though his gut told him he was right.

"I got a little lost in my thoughts, I didn't realize how long it was." He answered his mother and watched her take a deep breath. She hugged him and he immediately swung his hands around her shoulders.

"Don't do this to me again." She murmured against his chest and Zion nodded, resting his cheek on his mother's head. When they separated, he cleared his throat and Sheryl called the rest of the relatives to tell them the dinner could finally start.

And so it started.