Insta Empire

Although Mitch was an old friend, and he trusted him with his life, he was concerned that maybe there was something wrong with the pill. What would it do to him? Would it kill him? Was it FDA approved? Just as Kevin was contemplating spitting the pill out, he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his abdomen. Then his whole body felt like ice. It reminded him of that time one of his friends had convinced him to jump into Lake Michigan with his "polar bear club" one cold winter day. Then his eyes rolled up in his head and he fainted! When Kevin opened his eyes again, it was almost dusk. "What's that horrible smell?" he said to himself. The funk was almost enough to knock him out again. Kevin got up off the floor and discovered that the smell seemed to come from his own body. Great! He ran his hand along his forearm and felt something strange. His entire body was covered with some sticky yellow liquid. It had soaked through his clothes entirely. "Gross! What the hell is this?!" Kevin sprinted to the bathroom to take a shower. He must have washed himself for more than half an hour! Then he changed his clothes again. He gave the house a quick cleaning and sprayed the air with an entire can of freshener. It seemed impossible to get the stink out of the room, especially the spot where he'd fainted. It was stained a pale yellow and he wasn't sure he would ever be able to get it out. "If Lily or her mother come home now they'll think I've been frying dog crap!" He thought, "I can't believe someone told Mitch that this would help me. So far, it's given me an intense pain in my gut, knocked me out, and made me smell like an outhouse on a hot July day. Are there any more fun side effects…?" Kevin kept muttering to himself as he cleaned the room furiously. Just as he finished, Lily and Dorothy came home. "Hi Kevin. Have you been cooking?" Dorothy put her shopping bags on the sofa and turned her head to look at Kevin, who was helping Lily. Kevin coughed uncomfortably a few times. "I had something to do, so I haven't cooked yet. Why don't we eat out tonight?" Dorothy gave Kevin a funny look and said, "You're home all day and you don't have a job, but you don't have time to cook?" Lily found his excuse a little suspicious too. Even though she thought her mother was right, she wanted to give her husband the benefit of the doubt. "You know, I was thinking the same thing," Lily interrupted. "There's a new place on the north side. I think it's in Evanston. They say it has great stuffed spinach pizza! Let's head over there this evening." Then she gave Kevin a subtle tug on his sleeve and motioned for him to go to the bedroom with her. Kevin was curious to find out what Lily had to say. And did she have any more news about her grandmother? Kevin still hadn't gotten over his weird reaction to the pill Cook gave him. And he really wasn't in a mood to make dinner right now. But he was pretty happy that Lily had stood up for him with Dorothy. He followed her back to their bedroom, wondering what news she might have about Grandma Jones. Was Lily's grandmother finally going to put her in charge of the Williams Media contract? Lily spoke first. "You should have learned by now. Don't make random excuses. We need your help around the house, and that includes cooking meals." She took out the new clothes that she'd just bought, one by one, while Kevin helped her hang them up in the closet. Kevin didn't offer any more explanations. He just nodded and replied, "Okay." Lily was satisfied that they'd settled the matter, so she brought up the latest news of her grandmother. "It's Grandma Jones's birthday the day after tomorrow. So you have two days to try and find something nice. And nothing cheap or tacky. Please don't embarrass me in front of my family again." When Lily told him this, Kevin remembered that he and Grandma Jones shared the same birthday. But usually everybody spent so much time fawning over grandma that they forgot about him, so he wasn't much in the mood to celebrate. Over the past two years, every time Grandma Jones had a birthday party, Kevin would just make believe that the celebration was for him. Kevin noticed that Lily was staring at him, which made him come back to the moment. He nodded in agreement. "Don't worry, I'll remember it. And I'll find her something nice." "Thanks." Lily replied. She really wanted to ask him for some advice about the partnership with Williams Media. But she also wanted to handle the problem with Grandma Jones herself. So she decided not to say anything, for now. Grandma Jones's birthday bash was held at Chez Robin, one of the finest restaurants in Chicago. They rented out the whole place just for the party. Kevin didn't arrive in the same car as Lily and Dorothy because he was out picking up the birthday present for the family matriarch. Lily sat next to her mother and saved a seat for her husband. The more she thought about it, the more restless she got. For the past two days, she'd asked Kevin over and over what he planned to get for her grandmother. But he insisted that he wanted to keep it a secret. This really worried Lily because her grandmother was hard to please and she didn't want to disappoint her. When Kevin finally arrived, Lily saw that he was holding a simple gift bag like you find in a drug store. This sure ticked her off. This was definitely not okay! Lily wasn't looking forward to spending another embarrassing evening with her family because of Kevin's behavior. She let out a heavy sigh. When Kevin sat down at the table, Dorothy frowned and stared at the gift bag he was holding. "You could at least have had it wrapped. I hope the gift you picked out is presentable." Kevin was a little uneasy at Dorothy's response. "Uh. I didn't have time to wrap it. But the wrapping isn't important. It's what's in the bag that counts." Kevin was tempted to let Lily and Dorothy take a peek in the bag. He was sure they'd be pleasantly surprised by his choice! He started to lean toward Lily, offering the bag to show what was inside, but she put her hand out and stopped him. She wasn't interested in finding out right now. Lily rolled her eyes. "I don't want to know. Later, when everyone is giving Grandma her presents, you can take advantage of the confusion and just stuff it into the pile so we're not embarrassed in front of my family. Again." Kevin was a little disappointed at her reaction. "Alright," he said. "Whatever you say." Everyone had already started to give their gifts to Grandma Jones, who was seated on the dais at the front of the room. In the place of honor, of course. They were all secretly competing with each other to see who would give the most valuable or rare gift to Grandma Jones. So far, the best presents were the beautiful diamond brooch that Matilda gave Grandma, as well as the antique Victorian bust that Jason had presented to her. Everyone agreed that it looked a little like Grandma when she was younger. Grandma Jones took Matilda by the hand and smiled happily, "You've always brought me such great joy, Matilda. I'd love to keep you around here with me forever, but it's probably time for you to get married." Matilda didn't know how to respond. Married? She didn't even have a boyfriend! "Don't worry, Grandma. I'll always be by your side." Everyone who heard this was deeply moved. Matilda returned to her seat, which happened to be next to Kevin's. As she sat down, she heard Kevin say, "Nice choice. That brooch is from Wales, mid-eighteenth century. Probably belonged to the royal family. Not bad!" This piqued Matilda's curiosity. Most of the members of the Jones family thought Kevin was kind of dull and uninteresting. Even Matilda had always looked down on Kevin, but his comment was far from dull. "How did you know it was an eighteenth-century royal brooch?" she asked him. "And yes, it's from Wales. Do you know a lot about jewelry?" Kevin shrugged and nodded. "Yes, I know a little. May I ask how much you spent?" "About twenty thousand dollars." Matilda answered candidly. "I bought it from a friend of mine. At that price, she said she would just break even." Kevin shook his head. "I hate to tell you this, but that brooch isn't worth much more than fifteen thousand." Matilda wasn't happy to hear that. "Fifteen thousand? Are you sure? I got it from a good friend of mine." Kevin lowered his voice so nobody else at the table could hear him. "There are a few factors to take into account. First, you have the diamonds. They're a nice size, but the cut, color, and clarity are important too. I could see from here, under these lights, that they're not the absolute best. But the perfect diamonds cost a small fortune. Then there's the provenance. The most famous royal brooches are well known and, once again, way over twenty thousand dollars. Still, it's a very nice piece of jewelry. But I think your friend could have given you a lot better break on the price. It doesn't sound to me like she's your best friend. Just my opinion." Matilda had a puzzled look on her face as she listened to Kevin. Just then, someone walked up to Grandma Jones and announced. "Grandma, Bradley Smith is here." She smiled and said, "Bradley is here? What a lovely surprise! Please show him in." Kevin and the others turned around to look when they heard this. They all watched Bradley Smith walk in wearing a Navy blue Tom Ford suit and shiny new Oxford shoes. He was holding a small gift box in his hand. He'd spent his last penny on the clothes and the gift, just to make a good impression on Grandma Jones. He knew that he had to succeed today or he'd be ruined! Bradley walked confidently up to Grandma Jones and gave her a kiss on each cheek. "Happy birthday, Grandma Jones. I wish you health, wealth, and happiness! I'm sorry that I'm a little late. The Dan Ryan Expressway was backed up with construction traffic. Please forgive me." Grandma Jones knew that Bradley had always been interested in Lily. If only she had been able to match them up a few years ago. But instead she had married that failure Kevin. "Oh, I understand. I know you have a busy schedule. It's very considerate of you to come to my party." Bradley smiled and looked over toward Lily. "Actually, I'm not just here for your birthday. There's something else." He paused for a moment. "Grandma Jones, I want to ask for your blessing to marry Lily!" She looked Bradley in the eyes and then shifted her gaze to Lily. Was she actually taking this request seriously? Lily was already married to Kevin. But this didn't seem to bother the Joneses. Nobody had ever really accepted Kevin into the family. They even treated their hired help with more respect, and that's saying a lot because they didn't treat them that well either. "Bradley, you do realize that Lily is married. Doesn't that bother you?" She inquired even though Grandma Jones knew what she wanted deep in her heart. "Grandma, I'd like to ask Lily to be my wife. You know I've always seen you as my very own grandma. Please say yes." The whole time he was saying this, Bradley was acting like Kevin wasn't even there. Finally, Kevin had had enough of this. He stood up from his chair and yelled. "Stop!" "What the hell is wrong with you? I've been sitting right here the whole time, and you're asking if you can marry my wife, right in front of me?" Kevin had lost it. Now it was Jason's turn to stick his nose in things. "Who do you think you are? You have no right to speak here! You're not a member of the family!" "I may not be much, but I'm better than you, you jackass." Kevin spat back. "I'll kick your ass, loser!" Jason said as he rushed towards Kevin. Jason had been spoiled by Grandma Jones since he was a child, so he never learned to control his temper. He had countless fights when he was in school, but never faced any consequences. Even as an adult, working in the Jones family business, he got into a lot of fights and arguments. He also got involved with some pretty tough criminals. It didn't look like his family was going to be able to make Jason control himself this time either. One of them commented, "Kevin's really going to get it now!" Another replied, "Serves him right. Who does he think he is? He's just ruining Grandma's party. Why doesn't Kevin just keep his mouth shut?" Someone else, at the next table, said,"That's right. What gives him the right to say anything about our affairs?" Everyone was upset to see this, but nobody made a move to stop Jason. They were all expecting to see Kevin get beaten up. But Kevin stood his ground very calmly. Lily called to him,"What are you just standing there for? Hurry up and leave!" She was surprised at how worried she was for Kevin right then. Things hadn't been great between them lately, but maybe they'd been together for so long that she couldn't bear to see him get the crap knocked out of him. Jason threw the first punch, but Kevin stepped to the side to avoid it and caught his fist. "So, you're going to get violent, are you? Okay." Kevin said coldly. Then Kevin twisted Jason's wrist with a move that his friend Emo had shown him back when he was his family bodyguard. Everyone there heard a sharp pop, and Jason let out a loud moan. "Why have you always been such a douche to me?" Kevin said as he let Jason drop to the floor. They were all shocked to see this happening, especially at Grandma's party. What was happening to their pleasant little get-together? They were all trying to get a grip on it. Jason felt like one of his ribs might be broken. He sat on the floor, yelling in pain as he held his wrist. Just then, Dorothy walked up to Kevin and slapped him in the face. This caught Kevin off guard. He staggered a little and took a step back. "How dare you ruin Grandma's birthday!" Dorothy was furious, "After all that we've done for you, this is how you repay us? Get out! Now!" By now, Jason was slowly standing up, with a little help. "Oh, he's not getting off so easy!" "You're a dead man!" Jason pulled out his phone, scrolled through his contacts, and made a call. But Kevin wasn't paying any attention to Jason. He was staring blankly at Dorothy. His penetrating stare made her uneasy. He finally spoke. "Lily and I have been married for two years. Things have been hard while I tried to get back on my feet. But I thought we still had a pretty good relationship." He began to smile before he continued. "Maybe it's my fault that everyone here looks down on you and Lily. Maybe I deserved that slap. I don't know. But from now on, we're even." Kevin clenched his fists tightly. "From now on, I'll have nothing to do with this family. I've had enough of this. If you want me to come back, you'll have to make Grandma Jones get down on one knee and beg me."