24. Zack

Third-person POV

Zack woke up to the loud shrill of his alarm tone.

Picking his phone up, he turned off the alarm before sitting up and wiping his face with his hands.

Today, Monday has finally come. When Zack will be reintroduced by his grandmother to the company where he will be working in once again.

Zack remembered Chris' words when he told him he was planning to resume work. Since then, they hadn't talked much, and in front of the family, the two would pretend as if everything was normal between them.

Getting up from his bed, Zack went straight to the bathroom to do his morning routine, after which he brushed his teeth and took a shower.

Coming out, Zack walked to his closet and came out wearing a black suit. He was about to start wearing his tie when a knock came on his door.

Zack thought without a doubt that it would be his mother, but when he opened the door, he found his sister, Sawyer, instead.

"Sawyer, hey," Zack said awkwardly.

"Hi," the girl replied shyly. She was in her school uniform, and Zack wondered which grade she would be in.

"So, uhm, do you want to come in?" Zack asked, when she wouldn't stop staring at him through her thick-rimmed eye glasses, her dark hair in two ponytails.

"You are my big brother, right?" Sawyer said instead.

"Yes. That is correct. Do you need help with something?"

"Can you give me some cash?" Sawyer asked straightforwardly.

"Sure, but what do you need money for?" Zack asked, reaching inside his suit pocket for his wallet.

"Just some girl stuff I need to buy," Sawyer shrugged. Zack took out his wallet and went through it, only to see that there wasn't much cash.

He took out a few bills and extended them towards his sister, then looked at her suspicious, gleaming eyes as she held the money.

"Don't you, like anyone else, get a credit card and a monthly allowance?" Zack refused to let go of the money as Sawyer tugged at it.

"Wow!" Sawyer gasped. "I can't believe I am receiving the first gift from my older brother in years," Sawyer said, making cute puppy eyes.

"Thank you brother," she said with a huge smile, and Zack let go of the money feeling guilty. "I will make good use of the money," Sawyer winked at her brother, safely hiding her money in her front shirt pocket.

"Sawyer! What do you think you are doing disturbing your brother this early morning?" Marissa's voice came from behind and Sawyer's eyes widened. She quickly put her finger against her lips, gesturing for her brother to keep it a secret, her eyes pleading with him, but when she turned around, her whole attitude changed.

"Come on mom, I can't even say hi to my big brother?" Sawyer raises her arms in disbelief while walking away.

"Better get back to preparing for school young lady," Marissa stated.

"On it!"

Marissa turned towards Zack and let out a sigh. "Your sister can be a handful sometimes. She is the total opposite of you."

"I guess she grew up quickly," Zack stated. "With an attitude at that," Marissa shook her head before taking a good look at her son.

"Let me help you with that," Marissa walked in and took hold of his neck tie, securing it carefully. "Now this reminds me of when you first started working at the company. It feels like such a long time ago," Marissa said, reminiscing over the past.

"It was," Zack agreed. "You must be happy now that I am finally back," he added softly. Marissa's eyes teared up. "I know it must be suffocating the way I treat you sometimes. I just can't help but see your father in you sometimes," she patted him on the shoulder as she finished adjusting his tie. She then took a step back to appreciate her work.

"I hope he is at least happy where he is now." "He has to be," Zack said firmly, thinking about the way his father led his life. "I wonder if he ever..."

"Uhm, excuse me," Sawyer poked her head inside the room. "Grandma is waiting for everyone at the table to have breakfast, but it looks like you are having a deep moment and I would love to join but I am starving," Sawyer said in one breath dramatically and then disappeared.

"Oh god. This girl," Marissa said, wiping her eyes while Zack let out a chuckle, finding his sister's antiques funny.

*

At the table this time, the arrangement was a bit different with Chris included. While grandma sat at the head of the table, on her right was uncle Elliot dressed in formal wear, which consisted of a blue dress shirt with a red neck tie and brown slacks.

Next to him was his son, Chris, Irene, then Mckenzie, who was dressed up for college and finally Levi, who wore the same uniform type as Sawyer.

On the left was Zack, Marissa and then Sawyer, who sat there quietly having her breakfast. The table was quiet until Levi and Sawyer finished their food. Erin and Sawyer were the first to finish. They kissed their grandma on the cheek, who smiled cheerfully at them as they waved bye to everyone, picked up their backpacks and started going on their way.

Levi's phone rang, and he stopped to take a look. "Come on Lev. You don't have to pick it up when you are going to see her soon anyway. I am going to be late for art class," Sawyer whined.

"Don't act like you know me again when we come across in the hallways," Levi said to Sawyer as he put his phone back in his pocket.

"Be nice to your cousin Lev," Irene warned her son.

"Yeah, sure. Bye." Levi said and soon, the two were gone.

"I guess it's my turn to leave now," Uncle Elliot said, standing up.

"I will go get your white coat and briefcase," Irene stood up and followed after him.

The dining hall was quiet after that, with everyone else turning their leftover breakfast around on the plate.

"I will go take care of some things," Marissa said as she stood up and left. Now it was the three of them left, grandma, Chris and Zack.

"You do know that you are starting all over again from scratch, right?" Grandma said, looking at Zack, and he nodded in response. "You should know that after what happened last time, you can't have the same privileges as before, so I will expect you, work your hardest to find your place."

"Grandma, after waiting tables for too long, I'm not sure Zack still remembers how to use a computer. You will have to grab his hand and show him the way," Chris chuckled at his own joke.

"I expect that you treat your cousin better than this," Grandma reprimanded him. "And I want you to help Zack whenever he needs it. I can't do that since I don't have that kind of strength anymore," grandma said, grabbing her walking stick and standing up. "I will see you two at the meeting. Zack, you will carpool with Chris and ask him if you need anything else."

With that, grandma turned and left, leaving the two behind.

Chris took something out from the pocket of his tan suit and threw it towards Zack, who caught it effortlessly.

"I hope you ride safely. And don't be late on your first day," Chris whistled as he walked out of the dining hall. Zack took his phone out and right on time, a message came.

After some minutes, Chris arrived at the company feeling happy with his own idea of a prank. Just as Chris was handing his keys to the valet, he heard a car stop behind, and he turned around to find Zack coming out of a taxi.