Katherine King was bored. More bored than...she couldn't even think of a word that could do her boredom justice. She thumbed through the crappy teen mag in front of her, which her father had given to her a few hours ago to make her stop complaining. He didn't have a clue what she liked. Did the man seriously believe that articles about lip gloss and tampons would entertain her, even for a moment?
Sighing, the blonde pushed the magazine across the desk a little, sliding it away from her as she gazed out of the window. It was summer, for God's sake! Her last summer in high school, and she was forced to come to work with her father at his poxy law firm. Sure, Carter & King was a hugely successful company, who practically ran the city and were paying Katherine insane amounts of money to help out; but it was just so... boring!
The name of the Firm was misleading, though. Simon King's partner had actually been killed by a hit man before Katherine had even been born, and her father had been linked to the death; though there was no proof he was behind it. The Carter family had quickly become "outcasts", and when Mrs Zara Carter had tried to step into her husband's role, Simon had simply flat-out refused. It had found the firm some enemies, that was for sure. The name had stayed the same though, just because Simon didn't think that "King's" had quite the same ring to it.
Everyone seemed to hate all of the Carter family, Zara in particular. The others were her eldest son, Nathan, her daughter Vitani, and her younger son, Aiden. Katherine had never met any of them, not really. She could vaguely remember a time, when she was little, that she'd spoken to Aiden...
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
A 5-year-old Katherine crawled slowly through the bushes at the corner of the playground, giggling quietly to herself as she imagined herself being an "explorererer" in the jungle. In her mind, she was just coming up to a huge lake filled with...angry crocodiles! (In real-life, it was a puddle with some leaves in it).
"What are you doing?" A confused voice asked her, peering at the through the bush as she rolled around on her belly, wrestling with an invisible monster.
"I'm trying to get across the river, but it's full of crocerdillys." She shot back, rolling her eyes at him. "Duh."
The boy had laughed and asked: "Can I play?". That had been all the encouragement Katherine had needed to elect him as her "bestest friend ever". The excitement was short lived, though.
Zara walked into the playground, head held high and long coat wrapped tight around herself, looking for her youngest son. That stupid little boy was always sneaking off to play in the park. As she started toward Aiden and Katherine, Simon King came around the corner, wanting to pick up his little princesses so he could take her home.
Each parent had gotten angry, telling the two children that they were not allowed to see each other ever again, because they were "bad", before dragging their respective kids home to continue telling them off.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Katherine sighed again at the memory, feeling the same way she had done back then. Confused. What was so terrible about them being friends?
A crash and an angry shout out in the hall cut into her thoughts, and Katherine hurried out of the stuffy office with the excuse of wanting to see what was going on.
She was greeted by the sight of and angry teenage boy flailing around in the grasp of one of the security guys her dad had recently hired. He was tall and skinny, with a grubby t-shirt, ripped jeans and a very battered pair of shoes, and his dark brown eyes were glaring daggers at anything that moved. It was his skin that amazed her the most though. Naturally tanned and almost the colour of caramel, it was completely clear of any spots and it just looked so soft.
As the desperate, annoyed boy yelled again for the security guy to "GET YOUR FUCKING HANDS OFFA ME!!", Katherine realised how familiar his voice sounded. It had that same tone as the little boy she'd met in the playground all those years ago, albeit older-sounding, and now that she looked closer at him she could see he looked a lot like him too.
"...Aiden?"
Sighing, the blonde pushed the magazine across the desk a little, sliding it away from her as she gazed out of the window. It was summer, for God's sake! Her last summer in high school, and she was forced to come to work with her father at his poxy law firm. Sure, Carter & King was a hugely successful company, who practically ran the city and were paying Katherine insane amounts of money to help out; but it was just so... boring!
The name of the Firm was misleading, though. Simon King's partner had actually been killed by a hit man before Katherine had even been born, and her father had been linked to the death; though there was no proof he was behind it. The Carter family had quickly become "outcasts", and when Mrs Zara Carter had tried to step into her husband's role, Simon had simply flat-out refused. It had found the firm some enemies, that was for sure. The name had stayed the same though, just because Simon didn't think that "King's" had quite the same ring to it.
Everyone seemed to hate all of the Carter family, Zara in particular. The others were her eldest son, Nathan, her daughter Vitani, and her younger son, Aiden. Katherine had never met any of them, not really. She could vaguely remember a time, when she was little, that she'd spoken to Aiden...
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
A 5-year-old Katherine crawled slowly through the bushes at the corner of the playground, giggling quietly to herself as she imagined herself being an "explorererer" in the jungle. In her mind, she was just coming up to a huge lake filled with...angry crocodiles! (In real-life, it was a puddle with some leaves in it).
"What are you doing?" A confused voice asked her, peering at the through the bush as she rolled around on her belly, wrestling with an invisible monster.
"I'm trying to get across the river, but it's full of crocerdillys." She shot back, rolling her eyes at him. "Duh."
The boy had laughed and asked: "Can I play?". That had been all the encouragement Katherine had needed to elect him as her "bestest friend ever". The excitement was short lived, though.
Zara walked into the playground, head held high and long coat wrapped tight around herself, looking for her youngest son. That stupid little boy was always sneaking off to play in the park. As she started toward Aiden and Katherine, Simon King came around the corner, wanting to pick up his little princesses so he could take her home.
Each parent had gotten angry, telling the two children that they were not allowed to see each other ever again, because they were "bad", before dragging their respective kids home to continue telling them off.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Katherine sighed again at the memory, feeling the same way she had done back then. Confused. What was so terrible about them being friends?
A crash and an angry shout out in the hall cut into her thoughts, and Katherine hurried out of the stuffy office with the excuse of wanting to see what was going on.
She was greeted by the sight of and angry teenage boy flailing around in the grasp of one of the security guys her dad had recently hired. He was tall and skinny, with a grubby t-shirt, ripped jeans and a very battered pair of shoes, and his dark brown eyes were glaring daggers at anything that moved. It was his skin that amazed her the most though. Naturally tanned and almost the colour of caramel, it was completely clear of any spots and it just looked so soft.
As the desperate, annoyed boy yelled again for the security guy to "GET YOUR FUCKING HANDS OFFA ME!!", Katherine realised how familiar his voice sounded. It had that same tone as the little boy she'd met in the playground all those years ago, albeit older-sounding, and now that she looked closer at him she could see he looked a lot like him too.
"...Aiden?"
