"Ceasar." I nodded my head at him in greeting.
"Kaytlin! Good to see you, I was starting to think you weren't going to show." He teased lightly.
"Well there were some slight malfunctions with the dress but my stylist worked out all the kinks just in time."
"I see.." he said, sounding slightly confused.
"Any ways I hear you and Jackson Grey are besties? Have any ritual type things you'd like to share?" Ceasar inquired.
"Well we have the same routine every morning Monday through Saturday. I wake up at five am. I pull on a swimsuit, make sandwiches and grab my board. Then around five thirty I either walk about five minutes to Jacks house or go get him from the next room over and wake him. We leave immediately after he pulls on a swimsuit and head down to the beach. We spend a good hour surfing and swimming. Some days we get great waves and surf the whole time and some days the waters are calm and we just float and talk but nevertheless by six thirty we head over to the docks and meet our fathers there and a team of mostly men and start our work day."
"Sounds like you have it all down to the T." Cesar laughed, flashing a smile.
"Well Kaytlin, do you have any sibling back home? Any family?"
His question struck a nerve and any part of me that was starting to loosen up and enjoy this was immediately slaughtered.
My face tightened and I pursed my lips slightly.
"Yes, I have two younger brothers and several cousins plus my parents and two aunts."
"What about a best friend besides Mr. Grey?" He pried.
"I have a friend named Madison who is very close to me and one of my cousins, Beatrice, is practically my sister." I felt as if the life was being sucked out of me as I answered his questions. I'd been so wrapped up in winning and making it home that fear, worry, anxiety, and hopelessness has built up in me. Waiting to burst out.
I wasn't aware of much of what happened next and I didn't remember any of it but Cesar stood up and so did I and he announced my name once more, Kaytlin Huxley, and then Finnick dragged me and Jackson to our rooms. Insisting that we go to bed.