The next morning, Eliott woke to two messages. The first came from his mother, confirming the date for the meeting with the Porter family and instructing him, with obvious relish, to be present to "enjoy the show." The second came through Ethan's phone — his sister, informing him he'd been booked onto a television variety program. He called her the instant he finished reading it.
"I'm not doing it," he snapped into the phone. He'd been explicit about this from the start: no variety shows, ever. His patience simply didn't stretch that far.
"Really? Alright then. I just assumed you'd be interested, since Alex happens to be one of the guests — but if not, fine. Oh, and I also just learned that Kylie will be there too..." Leila let the sentence trail off with surgical precision, fully aware of exactly what each of those two names would do to her brother's resolve.
