The Middle - Volume Two ✔️

Chapter 30 (Shaun)

Shaun

I pull up in the valet style driveway outside my dad's house, and abandon my car right in the middle, effectively blocking any other vehicles from driving through. I have a habit of doing this when I come over here, because it pisses my dad off, and I love pissing him off. Safe to say I do not have the best of relationships with my dad. He's a jackass, and if it weren't for the obscene amount of money he tosses at me, I probably wouldn't bother with him at all. 

I head up the marble steps to the huge double doors at the front of the house and ring the doorbell. Another habit of mine which my dad despises. I should let myself in, I'm his son. But I never do. This mansion isn't my home, never has been.

"Oh, Shaun, it's you." Mary, one of the house maids, greets me. I walk past her and leave her to close the door behind me. God forbid depriving the staff of one of their beloved duties, like opening and closing doors. Bullshit, if you ask me. My dad is a fucking snob, and I'll thank my mom every day for not letting him play any part in raising me. 

I walk through the foyer, towards the 'servants' kitchen. It's one of the only places in this house that actually has a homely feel, so it's where I like to spend most of my time. Don't get me wrong, I do like the finer things in life, but only because my deadbeat dad pays for them for me. If not, I'd be perfectly happy with a shitty apartment downtown and a second hand, rusty car. My dad's willing to pay for pretty much everything I own, though, so I exploit that to the fullest. 

"You actually came. Thank fuck." My sister Zara smiles at me from where she's sitting sipping coffee on the kitchen counter. She hops down and walks over to give me a hug. 

"I always do." I reply to her. "I'm surprised you're here, though? Starting to change your mind about exploiting the Bank of Dad?" 

"Maybe." She admits sheepishly. "I wanna get my own apartment for Second Year, so I better start laying the groundwork for that now." 

"Love it." I say with a laugh. She's doing exactly what I did when I was a Freshman. "You know you're more than welcome to move in with me, though, right?"

"I know, but if he's willing to buy me my own apartment, I'm going with Option A." Zara replies with a wicked grin. I like her style. 

We leave the kitchen, because we know we need to head to the dining room. He's probably in there with his first course already, impatiently wondering where the fuck we are. We're here for a nice family dinner. Me, Zara, our dad, and his smartphone. Always a good time. 

I walk into the dining room ahead of Zara, because I know she's apprehensive about this. I've been doing dinner with dad for almost four years now, so I'm used to it, but it's still new for Zara. She hates our dad just as much as I do, so I totally appreciate how hard this is for her. Sitting down with him, plastering a smile across her face, maybe even doing the unthinkable and talking to him. It's all awful, but it needs to be done. We don't do this, he doesn't write us cheques. Simple as that.

The dining room door closes behind Zara, and I go through the usual last minute motion of mentally preparing myself for the next two hours of my life. Because two hours spent in the company of Mitchell Campbell is two hours too long. He's the devil. I try to stop myself from grimacing as I walk around the enormous dining room table, every step taking me closer to the man who almost ruined my mom's life. He's sitting at the top of the table, and as expected, he's already eating. We're late (I was late on purpose, and I guess Zara just wanted to wait for me to arrive before setting foot into the same room as him) and punctuality is very important to Mitchell Campbell. 

"You're late." He doesn't even look up at us. Nice to see you too, pops. 

"Sorry, bad traffic." I lie, since when was there ever traffic on snob hill? He knows I'm lying, so he doesn't bother responding.