When you wake up, the morning sun is peaking through your bedroom curtains. The smell of breakfast seeps through the air vents and you can hear your family going about their morning ritual of yelling about the news, laughing uncontrollably, and altogether being as Italian as possible. For a moment, you question why Mother didn't wake you up at seven as she always does, but then you remember: today is your birthday.
You crawl out of bed and slip on a pair of underwear. Normally, you'd go ahead and get completely dressed for the day, but since the real festivities don't start until this evening, you figure it's best to kick it with casual for now. You pull the curtains open wide and let the sun illuminate your space. The water surrounding Staten Island pours onto the sands of your backyard, a privately owned beach that extends for nearly a mile. In the window, you find your reflection staring back, near-naked and glowing under the New York City sun.
Your name is Drew Ré, and as of today, you are twenty-one years old. You are the middle child of Ludovico Ré, one of the wealthiest men in America and this years pick for People Magazine's "Sexiest Man Alive", amongst other accolades and honors. Sometimes, you find it frightening to live in the shadow of one of the world's most powerful businessmen, but you know that you are also meant for something great.
In the window, a reflection of yourself stares back; you are lean, rippled with tight muscles, coated in an Italian tan and equipped with a gentle face and long legs. Social media would have you as the "quintessential All-American boy", but you suppose that's just the controlled dynamics of the media. Your father is called "King Tycoon", the man that cannot be stopped. Your mother is the "Queen Consort of Wall Street", the one who manages the kingdom while your father is off at war. You and your brothers, Luke and Sam, are known as the princes of New York. Luke, your oldest brother, is known as "the Olympian", a man presumably made of steel and pure sex. In his twenty-four years of life, Luke has turned down more movie roles than any man living or dead. Sam, your youngest brother, is called "America's sweetheart", a nineteen year-old cherub designed to be swooned and lusted after. In his one year of legal adulthood, Sam has declined more offers for adult film roles than any man living or dead.
Today, however, the magazines will be all about you. Drew Ré has turned twenty-one years old and the world is at his fingertips. What will he do? Who will he be seen with? What will he wish for? However, this does beg the question:
Who needs a birthday wish, when you are the Prince of New York?