Play On by Heather C. Myers

in the room.  If only he had a monocle…
    Seraphina chuckled under her breath.  Katella gave her a warning look, but her lips curled up into a smile, almost though she knew what her younger sister was thinking.
    Once everyone had filed into the slightly larger room, Katella and Seraphina took the only two seats offered while Ryan leaned against the right corner of the room, his blue eyes reverted to the maroon carpet beneath him, Richard stood by Seraphina’s left, his arms behind his back and his shoulders pushed back, and Simon and Henry standing in the left portion of the room.  Both sisters offered the older gentlemen their seats, but both were politely declined.
    “Okay,” Earl said, his deep voice vibrating against the inside of his throat.  His thin-wired glasses were dangerously close to sliding off his pointed nose as he looked at the papers before him.  “I’m glad you could all come and on such short notice.”  He passed out papers to everyone before taking a seat at his desk.  “Before we begin, let me explain that Ken requested that each of you get your own personal copy of his will and testament and wanted me to explicitly state that any argument against it in court will result in automatic disqualification for any rewards you may or may not receive.”
    Earl looked over at the two men not related to the parties involved.  “Mr. Wayne and Mr. Spade, Ken wanted you present because the information provided directly involves the two of you and he wanted you to hear it from me directly the status of where you stand with the Gulls as a team,” he explained.  “He also wanted you both as witnesses to the reading.  So while you aren’t directly receiving anything, there’s pertinent information Ken believed you should receive along with the disbursements of his estate.”
    Seraphina watched as Alan read ahead, obviously only caring about he got out of it.  She, on the other hand, opted to wait for Earl to explain everything to her in a way she could understand; she didn’t want to guess what Papa might have meant about certain things.  One look at Ryan proved that he hadn’t even looked at the papers – hell, he might not even be aware that they’re in his hand.
    “Both surviving sons,” Earl began, his eyes skimming the document Seraphina was certain he had memorized, “each get one hundred thousand dollars each, to be distributed in increments every three months of five thousand dollars, given that they take drug and alcohol tests and get negative test results each time.”
    “What does that mean?” Alan said, and Seraphina could detect the strain of patience in his voice.  From the way his fingers were gripping the sheets of white paper, her uncle did not look happy with the result.
    “It means,” Earl said , none too pleased to have been rudely interrupted, “that one hundred thousand dollars goes to you, but you do not get the entire thing at once.  Instead, Ken wanted you and your brother to be on a payment plan: every three months you get five thousand dollars if you pass and drug and alcohol test distributed randomly.  As the successor of his will, the time and location of your tests will be at my discretion, but I am open to ensuring that it is not too far from your current residence.”
    “What if I’m on painkillers?” Alan said.  His voice was losing the hold of patience already and they had only begun to read Papa’s will.
    “Any prescription medication you and Ryan are on shall be disclosed once the reading is finished,” Earl stated.  “Anything else is subject to fail the test.”
    “And what if we do fail?”
    “The money is split evenly between Seraphina and Katella.”
    Great.  Yet another reason for Alan to hate his only nieces.  Seraphina wasn’t sure if hate was the correct word to describe his disdain he had for her and her sister, but it certainly felt like it and for the life of her, she couldn’t fathom why that was.
    Alan smiled, but it