[ 14 ] 2014

-

"My fingers are aching with anger at the fact that I didn't get to punch him."

-

Harley immediately rolled her eyes at Claire's comment.

She had found Claire's words to be both selfish and heartless, as well as completely unnecessary. Claire Feeney had a boyfriend who was nothing but devoted to her, and on top of that she was seeing his best friend behind his back. And yet, she was speaking of Bobby and Hayley like Bobby was her property. Like she was the only person good enough for him. Harley wouldn't find it surprising if Claire was spending her time around the house blatantly flirting and throwing herself at Bobby. Though Bobby was faithful to Hayley, the heiress had a way of getting under Hayley's skin. The same was happening to Harley at the moment. The fact that Claire was her grandmother was doing nothing to earn points in her favor. Claire was a horrible person over all.

A deep breath escaped Harley's lips and she closed her eyes as she tried to calm herself before formulating a response. "I think that the only thing that matters is that they make each other happy. If you really appreciate my brother, you would agree."

Claire rolled her eyes at Harley's words, but Harley did not see it, as her grandmother was facing the clothes in the closet. She immediately went back to being a try-hard, attempting to win over Bobby's supposed sister, and she pulled a pink Chanel suit with black trim, complete with the pink pillbox hat to match. She walked over toward where Harley was sitting on the bed, face beaming with excitement. On the other hand, Harley could feel the blood draining from her face when she saw the outfit. For one, it was pink. Then there was the fact that it was a skirt. It was the complete opposite of anything Harley would wear. 

"I think this would look so cute on you." She said to Harley, dragging out the o's in so.

Harley looked on, horrified. 

Claire continued, putting in more of her unnecessary comments. "Its much classier than that nightmare you're wearing. The fashion industry must not be very advanced in Perth right now." This one almost found a way to trigger Harley, since she thought the clothes she was wearing was just fine, but she remained silent. She knew that it was better to stay on Claire's good side, at least for a couple more days. In two more days, Ashton would be murdered and she Harley was there to stop that from happening. She would be better off if she had a place to stay and not have to sleep on some park bench like she did the previous night.

Forcing a smile onto her face, Harley stood up from where she was on the bed. Taking the outfit from Claire a bit too harshly, she went into the spacious walk in closet and closed the door. Inside were what looked like hundreds of outfits, in the back was a whole wall with cubby like spaces for her dozens of shoes. There was also a full length mirror and a chair for her to sit at. Harley stripped down to her undergarments, which she knew would become a problem already if she didn't get new ones to wear. Then she put the pink suit on. As she looked in the mirror, she felt completely out of place. But she looked like she could fit in Ashton's world. It was what she saw in history books about important people in the sixties. Her grandmother even dressed a bit similar, but with less expensive clothing.

Harley tugged at the neck of the pink blazer. She felt like she was suffocating in it.

As she walked out, into Claire's view, the heiress grinned wide. "Look at that, we're pretty much the same size. You can keep that and take whatever else you like from my closet. I'm going to Paris and Italy over the summer anyway and will probably get a whole new wardrobe." As she mentioned that, her hand waves dismissively at the open door to the closet where Harley had just emerged from.

Both girls turned their heads toward the door as they heard a knock that interrupted the newly found silence. Claire gave her permission for the person to come in and a maid was outside with an announcement for them. The maid started to speak, shyly and quietly like a little mouse. It was evident that all the other employees, other than Bobby Vega, were not treated very nicely by the eighteen year old heiress to the Feeney family fortune. "Miss Claire. Mr. Conrad Hood is here to see you."

At this, Harley could once again feel her blood boil. She was about to come face to face with Ashton's killer, and she was about to be in the same room with both Claire and Con. They were two of the most horrible people on the planet. She was really trying not to ruin her mission. But things were getting very difficult. She wasn't sure in that moment if she would be able to hold her tongue at all the horrible things they were likely about to say.

"Let him in!" Claire demanded harshly.

The maid scurried out the door and moments later the door opened wide to reveal Calum's grandfather. Harley had only seen him in pictures, but in the flesh she was astonished at the way his grandson Calum resembled him so much. Though, there were only a couple of minuscule differences between them. It wasn't enough for her to be able to tell that they were related. For one, Conrad had a lighter skin complexion. His eyes weren't nearly as dark as Calum's, they had more of a light brown glow to them. Then there was the fact that Calum had a few Kiwi features which he had gotten from his mother, like the slanted almond shaped eyes, the tanned skin, and the jet black hair. 

As soon as he entered the room, he took one look at Harley and licked his lips. "Well, who is this?"

Claire once again rolled her eyes and walked past Harley to give Con a hard nudge in the chest. It was a strange sight for Harley, since Claire was so much smaller than him, almost a foot smaller. All he did was wince, but he did not retaliate, probably because of the fact that there was a witness present. 

"That's Bobby's sister. Her name is..." She looked to Harley, realizing she did not even remember her guest's name. "What was your name again?" 

"Harley." Harley offered in something of a bored tone.

At the moment she just wanted to find her grandfather and get out of there. She would much rather spend her time crowded in a security booth, than in a room with both Claire and Con. 

"This is my childhood friend Conrad." Claire offered, gesturing to the boy next to her who was over six feet tall. '

At the introduction, Con stuck his hand out for her to shake, and Harley took it reluctantly. She almost wanted to puke right then and there when he brought her hand to his lips and kissed it. He was putting up an act for her, and she could not understand why, other than the fact that maybe he didn't want to show his true colors in front of a stranger. But Harley knew from the stories that Con didn't even like Bobby, which meant he had no reason to even be nice to his supposed sister. It all clicked in Harley's mind with the words that came out of Claire's mouth next.

"He's married." Claire blurted out, and Con immediately shot her a glare.

That's why he was being so nice. He seemed to have taken a liking for Harley, and Claire noticed it. With her statement, she was hoping to nip it in the bud. Not that she had anything to worry about. Con may have looked slightly like Calum, but he was nothing like her boyfriend. Harley knew she would never fall in love with someone like Conrad Hood. 

"How can she be Bobby's sister though?" Con asked, raising an eyebrow at her in confusion. "She looks more like a combination of you and his girlfriend Hayley." As he looked at her more closely, he concluded, "I guess she kinda looked a little like him too. Maybe she's related to all of you in a way."

Harley let out a nervous laugh. With the shifter abilities Conrad had, she couldn't tell if he was just joking, or if he was beginning to catch on about her. 

"I'll just leave you two alone to talk." Harley said, trying to walk out of the room.

But Claire stopped her by linking arms with her. "Why don't I talk to my father..." She started suggestively, looking from one to the other. As far as Harley was concerned, every word that left Claire's mouth was a horrible comment about someone else. She just assumed the same would be the case on this particular occasion. "I'll ask him to let Bobby escort us, and we can go have breakfast at Iggy's. How's that sound?" A big grin spread across her lips and Harley couldn't find it in her heart to protest.

She was too hungry. Her stomach growled with a painful reminder. To her surprise, Conrad seemed to be on board with the idea as well. 

"Why don't we make this a group outing?" Harley announced her idea. "You can invite your boyfriend, and he can invite his wife."

At that, Con gave a shake of his head, vehemently refusing the offer. "Anne's on bed rest due to her fragile condition. Wouldn't want her to have a miscarriage when the baby she's carrying will be the heir to two family fortunes." 

"And Ashton said he was going to help his parents with something." Claire made up a quick excuse.

And so, Harley found herself at Iggy's Diner with Claire, Con, and Bobby. They sat in one of the booths, Claire practically shoved Harley out of the way so that she could sit next to Bobby. She had also strategically sat down where she could be next to Bobby, while also being across from Con. Harley didn't want to be there, and she could tell from the look on Bobby's face that he did not want to be there either. 

Harley felt herself tense up in surprise when she felt a hand on her knee. His hand slowly moved up her leg and he only stopped when she grabbed his index finger and bent it back the opposite way sharply. At the same time, Bobby shot daggers at Con, keeping up the protective brother act. "Get your hands off my sister." He warned through gritted teeth, shooting up from his seat and going to reach over the table to grip the material of Con's shirt. But he was stopped by Claire who threw her arms in the way to pacify him. Though they were in no way related, his actions and behaviors reminded her of Billy. 

It was the type of older brother behavior she presumed had prevailed over the years. Bobby had two sisters, she could only imagine he would be equally as willing to protect them. He probably had done so before. 

"Thanks Bobby, but I can handle this." Harley said to her supposed older brother calmly, before turning towards Con whose finger she was still bending and who was silently wincing in pain. "You ever so much as look at me again and you'll be collecting your teeth on the street."

Con chuckled, not even feeling the least bit threatened by her words. "Relax, kitten."

Harley took a deep breath. "Can we go before I knock this guy's smug smirk right off his face?"

She got up from her seat at the booth and walked past Bobby, heading towards the exit. She was a bit relieved that he followed her without a second thought. He was also relieved that they had arrived in separate cars. Bobby and Harley had taken one of the Feeney family cars. Con and Claire had arrived in his car--a brand new, black, 1963 Mercedes Benz. It had been a christmas present from his parents. 

As they got in the car, Bobby scolded her. "You should have let me teach him a lesson. You may not be my sister for real, but a woman should never be degraded like that."

His words reminded her of something Ashton would probably say. They were more similar than anything. It was clear to her in that moment that Ashton's real best friend had always been Bobby and not Con. 

"My fingers are aching with anger at the fact that I didn't get to punch him." He told her, his hands gripping the steering wheel tightly. His anger was manifested in the way that there was a red glowing aura surrounding his clenched hands. She wondered exactly what his special ability was and she wondered if he was able to control it in front of others. It seemed that at the moment he was failing to do so. But she would pretend to ignore it.

-

some more filler. but now we have harley interacting with bobby and claire. these are her grandparents, the parents of her father. that's insane that she's even in the same time period as them. then we have con being a jerkwad as always. and we have claire wanting all the attention to herself.

i hope you're all enjoying the story. there is more drama and more chapters to come. we are only about a fourth of the way done with this story. 

but i am already making plans for the sequel series. so please do not fret. keep reading and stay tuned for what is coming next. i have once again changed the name of the main character. but i think this is the final time i will be changing it. so please bear with me. 

-clary