at vi's house

Vi’s house at about 3 p.m.

“Hi. Sorry I’m late.” I say as I get inside the living room where she’s with Ruby, watching E! Channel.

“Hey! It’s ok. Come on have a seat.” She pats on an empty seat beside her on the plushy sofa. “What happened?” she asks right away. Dang, she always knows when I got problem.

“Nothing.” I lie.

“nothing..” she echoes.

I look at her and she’s looking at the TV.

“Fine! I got into more serious trouble.” I say, admitting.

“And?”

“And I yelled at Mrs. Manson.”

“No way!” her eyes bulge out, she almost drop her jaw too.

“Well, I did.” I say, “and I met this guy in an ice cream shop. And when I saw his eyes and hair, I remembered you!”

“And do you like him?” she leans closer like all the gossipers do.

“Hell no!! we met like 15 mins, that’s all!” I say.

“OH. But he’s cute?” she asks even more.

“Quite. But for real, an ice cream guy! Does a shop keeper not ugly enough?” I say. And we both giggle hysterically.

“Remember what I said to you the other day? Sometimes normal guys are more romantic than those supercilious guys of our school.” She says in a lecturing style.

“Rigghttt…”

Vi walks to the kitchen to fetch a packet of chips and I’m left alone in the living room. The silent living room. The whole house even looks dead.

“So, what is it you want to tell me this morning?” I ask, laying my head on the sofa pillow and take out my cell phone with a notification of ‘1 new message’ on its screen.

“Nothing. Not important.” She walks back with the chips and yoghurt. “Tell me about Ian.”

I stare at my cell disbelievingly. There, Ian sent me a text:

R u completely out of ur mind?

But I like it

I know my mouth’s open and I want to say something but no word comes out. “Who is it?” Vi asks, jump to the sofa and take the cell from my hand. She reads it for a while.

“What is it so special?” she asks plainly.

“I…..I almost got him fired this afternoon! After I yelled at Mrs. Manson, he’d probably got fired!” I say. then as quickly as I can, I text him back:

U r not angry with me? I thought you’d break me up!

So, did Mrs. Manson fire u?

I press ‘send’ and there, the text has been sent. Then only sound heard are just the sound of chips cracking in Vi’s mouth and a very little sound from E!Channel that we don’t listen anymore.

“Does Hayley know about this?” Vi asks.

“I don’t know. Her mum probably has already told her.” I reply.

“Complete story, please..”

And so for 15 minutes I tell her the whole insane story. She gawks at me and stares at me in such incredulity and when I finally stops, my cell beeps. It’s Ian, texting me back.

No. I quited

She looked really pissed. I think I might want to take a break before applying any job.

Where r u?

I miss u…

I smile at the text while Vi is shouting hysterically, “You’re crazy!!!”

Ok, so…I thought Ian mad at me which is not. And I’m now lay at Vi’s bed with Ruby and Vi, gazing at the empty ceiling. “So, are you gonna tell me something?” I ask.

“Not really. You know almost all the information I got.” She says.

“Almost?”

“Well….” She gulps, “almost all. But really the only thing you don’t know is really not important..”

“Such as?”

“Such as…..Sean texted me yesterday…”

“No way!” I gasp.

“Oh yes, he did. And he asked how am I doing? that sort of thing.”

“did you fall in love with him all over again?” I ask, feeling uneasy.

“I don’t know. Somehow, he understands how I feel when I told him what I heard from Mum.” She shrugs.

“You told him?! Gosh! Vi, what happened to you? Are you out of your mind?”

“No, it’s not like that..” she blushes, “…he phoned me too and we talked for quite long. At first, I was ignorant and wanted to hang up the phone as soon as possible. But the more I listened to him, the more I realized…”

“What?” I feel a twinge of alarm. This is all wrong! Sean is supposed to be out there, nowhere, puuffff! Gone!

“He understands me. But really Sugar. We don’t have to a couple again! We can be just friends, right?”

“But……but you and him……but this is all wrong!” I say puzzled.

“This doesn’t have to be wrong. We can always give a second chance, right?” she looks at me in a pleading face.

I silent. No, no, you can’t give Sean another chance. I mean, he had sex with me when he was still with you! And we officially made him a ‘not the guy in our list’, well not in words, but we…..

“Well…” I inhale. “As long as it suits you.” I say, forcing a smile.

“That’s it Sugar! He understands me. He had been here! In my position. Her mum and dad divorce and her mum married again.” She says reassuringly.

“Yeah. Whatever. God knows how many secrets you’ve been hiding from me.” I mumble.

“Sugar! What’s wrong with you? I’ve been open to you, aren’t I?” her voice raises a pitch.

“Yeah. I….pretty much appreciate it.” I say.

“What?” she looks at me.

“Unless, you haven’t told me about the guy in the picture.” I burst.

Damn! I wasn’t supposed to say that! That’s her privacy!

Well, ok, I’ve been curious about it and everything, but that doesn’t mean she must tell me or what, right? Or should she?

“What picture?” she asked, then with a click she adds, “Oh, that one.”

“Yeah. That one.”

“Well, I’ll……didn’t I tell you?” she asks, lying. It’s in her eyes, she’s trying to sound as if she had told me and in case I forgot.

“No. you haven’t.” I say to the point. She sighs and we’re silent for a moment, then she says, “I’ll….I’ll tell you later, ok?”

I was going to say ‘ok’, when suddenly my lips say the other, the other that I might think of, “Does Sean know about, him?”

She suddenly becomes tenser and she gulps.

“He knows, isn’t he?” I say, feeling betrayed all of a sudden. And Vi nods slowly.

And that’s it. I can’t contain this feeling of being betrayed, backstabbed, and not trusted. She’s my best friend, and even before she knows Sean. We’ve been best friends! How could she?

“Ok, that’s it!” I say in a final tone. “maybe Sean can understands you better.” I say, taking my bag and coat then I walk to the door and leave.

As I help mum cut onions before dinner, I can’t help feeling a pang of guilt of what I experienced today. It’s not just about the Vi part, but also about the Mrs. Manson part. Actually, I start to think that I’m out of my mind. Hell knows what happened to me today.

Maybe it’s a jetlag effect? I don’t know.

But still, I still feel betrayed. It’s so disturbing, uneasy, and somehow, it makes me feels insecure every time I think of it. I had been thinking of phoning Vi and apologize when suddenly those feelings appear again and I cancel all the apologizing words.

“What’s wrong?” Mum’s voice disturbs my thoughts. Dang! She always know!

“Nothing.” I say, moving away from her side to the stove, pretend to check the soup and stir it slowly.

“Nothing?” Mum echoes. “Nathan, could you please tell your dad that dinner will be ready in 20 mins so he can take a shower first?” mum shouts from kitchen.

“Got it!” Nathan replies from the living room, where he’s playing his PS2 with Nicho.

“So? Are you gonna tell your story to me, or not?” Mum says, looking at me.

Ok, I can’t avoid her anymore. “Fine.” I say. then, I tell her all that had happened today and she’s quite shock, especially in the “yelling at Mrs. Manson” part and as usual, she gives me advices and parts where I did wrong, including the Vi part. According to Mum, it’s Vi’s choice who she wants to tell the secret to. Sometimes, we want to tell other people, to see how others think, to see from their point of view.

“Yeah, I know Mum. And now, we’re not good. I feel like…” I try to find the word.

“Not trustworthy?” mum helps.

“Yeah, quite like that. It’s as if I’m not trustworthy enough to handle Vi’s secret.” I say, bringing the soup to the dining room, where Nathan and Nicho are ready on their seats.

“What should I do?” I ask, taking a seat opposite the twin.

“Well, for start, you should get rid of those uncomfortable feelings.” She says, spooning the twin beef. “And everything will flow from there. You should trust Vi. You’ve been friends for long time. You should trust yourself and Vi that she doesn’t mean bad things to you.” Mum adds.

“Wow! Looks yummy!” Dad suddenly enters the dining room only with his shorts and sleeveless white thin shirt.

“Dad! I’ve told you not to wear that!” I exclaim.

“Have you?” he asks with a dumb face, then takes a seat besides mum carelessly.

Yeah right. That’s SO my dad.

New York Super Fudge Chunk Ice Cream

All my senses wake up as I smell the sweet scent of maple syrup downstairs. Oh! It’s a Pancake Day! I get up lazily, all my body feels comfortable and nice, it’s really warm in here, in my own bedroom. Although it’s much smaller than that bedroom in Birmingham, but this is waay cozier. It feels like……home!

And I am wearing my old easy pajamas that I had since 3 years ago. The familiar smell really brings me to life. It’s another day of summer holiday and I’m here! Safe and warm under my house roof!

The noises made by Nathan and Nicho echoes to my room, they’re fighting over their PSP. Dad bought it for their birthday present but Dad only bought one, he said the twins can always share. Duh, as long as I live, they NEVER share! The only thing they share is…….ok, nothing.

They even want the bed to be separated although mum had bought them a queen size bed for two of them! And they insist on getting a standard-one-person bed. And Nathan, who has always been the more talkative one, want to get his own telephone on the side of the bed and Nicho, who join the soccer team, begged for his own Nike Mercurial Vapor soccer shoes which cost around $300.

I wash my face and brush my teeth, then join them downstairs. The small living room is so contrast than those in Birmingham but somehow, it’s more comfy. With the usual magazines and papers everywhere, and the PS2 the twin left last night and even mum’s coat.

“Morning, Honey!” Dad greets as I enter the kitchen. He’s sipping his coffee, reading the usual newspaper, already in his smart suit to go to the office. Normal life…

“Hi..” I mutter, take a seat besides Nathan who seems to have won the PSP, and pondering every inch of my body in this kitchen and inside this pajama.

“Pancake?” Mum asks, she’s also in her nice pink shirt and long pants.

“Absolutely. 3!” I say, “Why are you two in your office suit? Didn’t they give you any day-offs?” I ask, pouring coffee into the nearest cup.

“No, Hon. Office’s been busy these past weeks. People are getting out, searching for new sofas, bed, and storages. Especially after Oprah did a house make-over last week on her talk show, people are packed inside the stores.” Dad says without looking at me.

“Yes, people are more interested in wedding in holiday. And next week, I have to go to Hawaii to organize this wedding for these superrich couple.” Mum flips the pancake and put it on the plate, “Here.” She hands it to me.

“What?!” I almost drop the plate. “Hawaii?!” Nathan, too, stops the game and gawk at Mum.

There’s a complete silence. Then Nicho suddenly whisper in a scared-sounded voice, “Can I come with you?”

Then the ice has completely broken, me, Nathan, and Nicho beg in turn.

“Please Mum, I’ll bring your suitcases…”

“I’ll wash your clothes…”

“I’ll do my homework!” Nathan says. And we’re all stop dead, looking at him. “What?”

“No, sorry Dear. All of you. I can’t pay for your flights! Besides, you’ll wreck the wedding if you all come!” she says.

“What?! No! I’m old enough!” I say encouragingly. For god sake! Hawaii!

“But still, you have to make sure the house’s secure while Dad in his office and you have to prepare dinners and breakfasts for Daddy and the twin!” mum rubs her hand on the apron and take the twin’s plates and put them in the sink.

Suddenly, a ring tone echoes in the kitchen, the Step Up soundtrack blares in the room, then with a snap, I realize it’s my cell. I grab it and look at the name winking at me on the screen, it’s Vi.

“Good morning!” Vi’s cheerful voice greets.

“Yeah good morning. What do you want?” I ask, chewing the pancake.

“Hey, hey! You’re so tense!” she says, “listen, on the 1^st of August, my dad will launch his new perfume and it’ll be held in The Ritz Carlton! And we obviously need to go shopping!” she says excitedly.

“Vi, come on! We just arrived yesterday. I need a break!” I say, walking to the backyard to fins a more silent place.

“Oh. Ok. Actually, I…..” she stops, “…never mind.”

What? Vi never says ‘never mind’!

“What? What is it? Just tell me.” I say.

“Oh, okay….umm, I need to tell you something. Err, why don’t you come here?” she asks.

“No I can’t I have to go to the Sanctuary and get the penalties for what I and Ian had done. Ran away to Birmingham.” I say.

“Oh, ok. Anyway, it’s not really important. I’ll tell you next time.” she says. “actually, there’s a more important problem.”

“What?”

“I can’t talk on the phone!”

“Oh Vi! yes you can!” I insist.

“Alright..” she pauses. “Mum and Dad are getting really distant and they don’t talk to each other anymore. And last night..” she exhales sharply, “…I was going to fetch a glass of water when I saw Mum talks on the phone in a low voice..”

“And..?” I ask impatiently.

“I didn’t really hear what she said but I can catch the words that sound like ‘divorce letter’, ‘sign the statements’, and something like ‘grant you big rewards if you win this case’, that sort of things. I guess……I guess she’s talking to the lawyer.” She finishes and I can picture her in her room with Ruby and she’s now playing with the tip of her pillow nervously and she maybe also bites her nails or something like that.

And now, it’s my turn to talk. What can I say? I have to go to Vi’s house! As soon as possible!

“Ok, there are lots of possibilities that you’re sleepy and you didn’t catch the word correctly. But I’ll go there as soon as the Sanctuary problem finish.” I say.

“Ok. Thanks Sugar! You are the best!” she says. And the phone clicks off, leaving me looking at the backyard vacantly, wondering what if all the things she heard is true?

I mean, in this kind of situation, it’s really possible for Mrs. Freyson to hire a lawyer, and maybe both of Vi’s parents had decided to go other ways, in other word, separate. Maybe they already decided to get this case done on the court and they’re trying to win the child custody.

Ok, I have to get rid of that kind of thought, that’s terrible. I can’t imagine my mum and dad divorce and I’ll have to choose one of them or maybe the court have decided me to go with Dad, and I have to leave mum. And the twin will be with mum. That’s terrible! A family should be one! They’re not breaking or cracking or get separated!

“Dear, I’m going.” Dad says, his head appear from behind the door.

“Oh, ok.” I quickly get up to get my forehead kissed by dad, then he turns to leave the house. Mum also comes towards me, kisses my forehead and the twin and she also leave.

The Sanctuary is as calm as always with its candles and bamboos, and Diane, looking at me with a look that says ‘you left me behind! How dare you let me work alone!’. Ian seems to have arrived there before me because his bag is on the chair and Diane quickly looks down, avoiding my eyes.

“Diane, where’s Ian?” I ask.

“In the office.” She replies shortly, pointing at the office’s door.

Since I got on the bus, I got this tight knot inside my stomach. What punishment will I get? I mean, I’ll do anything to get Ian work in the shop again. Never mind with me because mum already got another job.

As I push the door opens, I can see Mrs. Manson sits behind the desk and Ian sits on the chair across her. “Hi. Good afternoon.” I greet awkwardly. “sorry, I’m late.” I add.

“Please take a seat and you’re not late. Ian came too early.” Mrs. Manson says coldly.

I pull the chair and sit beside Ian, whose face pale. Hell knows what Mrs. Manson has said earlier.

“So….you two went to Birmingham without informing me. And luckily, you bumped into my daughter and ask for her help. Is that so?” she asks frigidly.

I don’t like how she stresses on the words ‘luckily’ and ‘ask’. We’re not that terrible! We’re not even that lucky to meet Hayley. And she’s a kind girl and we’re friends. It’s not like we begged her or felt thankful for her.

“Yes. Quite like that.” Ian finally says.

“And you still want to work here?” Mrs. Manson raises her eyebrow.

“Yes, ma’am.” Ian replies.

“What about you, young lady?” she asks me.

“Yeah, I still want to work here, too.”

“Do you have any idea what consequences you two will get?” she asks, then she answers before I even open my mouth, “you two, who fortunately knows my daughter, will sure get a dispensation of the punishment.

“Actually, you two should work here 2 months without any earnings, but….” She looks at us intensely, “you will only get no earnings for a month.” She finishes unwillingly.

“Sure! Thanks a lot, Ma’am!” Ian face’s bright and he looks at her thankfully.

“yeah, thanks.” I say unenthusiastically. And it seems like she wants me to thank her the way Ian does, so she asks me again “you still want to work here right? I know punishment sounds bad, but that’s the consequence.” She says. “and I gave you a dispensation!”

“Yeah. I’m……grateful!” I say, beaming at her.

If she’s not Hayley’s mum, not the owner of this wonderful shop, and it’s not for Ian, maybe I’ll slap her ignorant face and say “Screw you!” and leave the store. Lucky for her, she happened to be Hayley’s mum.

We’re about to leave when Mrs. Manson says, “Oh, and don’t try to persuade my daughter to be your friend. She’s all different from you two. You know that, right?”

This time, rage is rising inside my body, I hit my step to her desk and say sharply, “Listen, ma’am. She’s the one who come to us and want to be friends with us! Besides, we never beg her and if you don’t want us to be friends with her, it’s perfectly ok with us!” I stop for breath, Mrs. Manson has gone pale, she’s paralyzed with a really ugly expression.

“And don’t step on people just because they’re less fortunate than you!.......screw you!” I yell with all my anger, then march my way to the door, open them and bang them. Diane’s there, staring at me in horror. She must have heard the yelling.

But I really don’t care! Who she think she is! Threat me, yell at me, and step on me! Lemme show you what dignity means…

I pound my feet in anger on the busy pavements with people walking pass me. And suddenly it’s like I’m plunged into a deep cold sea, my legs are shaky and my hands are sweaty. I turn to the nearest ice cream café and sit my self down.

“Anything you want to order, Miss?” A voice calls. I look up and there, is a guy with a blond hair and a series of white neat teeth, looking at me with a pair of bluest eyes. It’s almost like, Vi’s.

OMG! Vi! I have to go to Vi’s house!

“Umm, actually, I’m in a bit of hurry.” I say, pushing the chair back to get up.

“Are you sure?” the guy asks doubtfully.

“Well, yeah. Why?” I say, looking at him.

“Cos, you look so tense and pale.. why don’t you have a glass of ice cream first, then you can go?” he takes a really good look at me from top to bottom.

For real, I’m not tense and pale! It’s just every time I get up, my legs are shaky and wobbly. And ok, I have to admit this, I need a glass of ice cream.

“Ok, fine.” I say, sitting down again.

“Great.” He hands me the menu and I look at it for a while, “I suggest you New York Super Fudge Chunk Ice Cream..” he says.

“Yeah, ok, whatever suits me.” I say, hand him the menu back.

“Ok. Is that all?” he says after note down my order.

“Yeah. That’s all.” I say.

“Ok, be back in a min.” then he strides inside the shop.

Where the hell am I, anyway? I look up to see a board with Ben and Jerry’s on it. Oh, right, I’m in Ben and Jerry’s ice cream shop, that’s ok.

Unless…. I have just shouted at my boss, ruin my boyfriend’s job, and if Hayley knows, she’ll get mad at me…

My whole body freezes as I remember what I have done. Dang! What was on my mind? Shout at her like that?

“Hey, here’s the ice cream.” The guy walks back again with a glass of yummy ice cream. Then he points to an empty set right in front of me with a questioning expression which means ‘is this seat empty?’ and I nod which means ‘yes it is. You can sit there’ and so he pulls the chair and sit.

I scoop the ice cream and put it inside my mouth. Ummmmm…..I forgot how yummy ice cream is. I practically close my eyes to feel every bit of it.

“Yummy, huh?” the guy asks. I open my eyes and nod, ”yes it is.”

“I’m Scott. Scott McKinsley.” He extends a hand and I shake it, “Sugar. Sugar Dale.”

“Nice name.” he says.

“I know, a bit weird, isn’t it?” I say, scooping another spoon of ice cream.

“No. it’s just. I don’t know. Weird?” he says. And we both laugh. “No, I’m just kidding” he says kindly, “When I heard it, the only sense that I can feel is: sweet! It’s like hearing the name Honey. It feels sweet.” He says.

“Yeah. Maybe I should change my name into, New York Super Fudge Chunk Ice Cream..” I grin.

“No, no. it’s too….macho.” he says at last. And we giggle even more.

“Yeah, right.” I say in the middle of my laughter.

And after a min or so, we both silent and suddenly the atmosphere become more serious.

“Got problem, isn’t it?” Scott asks in an understanding voice.

“Yeah, quite like that.”

“What about it? Tell me in a sentence without details.” He says.

“Ok. Here it goes: I just yelled at my boss, putting my boyfriend’s job in a danger and it’s not all, the boss is my friend’s mum and my best friend’s parents are showing signs of divorce and now, I should have been at her house.” I say without breathing.

He looks at me unbelievingly, “Wow! That’s a lot!”

“Yes it is.” I exhale. “And when I saw your eyes and hair color, it reminds me that I should be at my best friend’s house. She got the same hair color and eyes as you.” I say.

“Really? What a coincidence.” He says unenthusiastically and suddenly, he looks around, avoiding my eyes. And I daren’t raise the topic.

“Right then.. I should be going.” I say, standing up.

Then he suddenly jumps to his feet, “oh yeah right…well..”

“Here.” I hand him the money.

“No. no. no! just take your money.” He refuses.

“What? No! it’s can’t be! I’m a customer.” I say, thrusting the money into his hand.

“No.” he put the money back to my hand, “Let’s just say, it’s a little yummy present to cool down your problem.” He says firmly.

I pause a bit, “Ok. I’ll just go then. Thanks a lot!” I say.

“You’re always welcome!” he let out a big grin. And with a much lighter steps, I take a bus to Vi’s house.

back in states

We’re all silent for few minutes, trying to figure out what has happened. She never told me about that boy in the picture, even once! Or had she mention him by any chance and I wasn’t listening? No, no, that is not possible. And she seems to always be tough and brave and why did she cry? Or have we just crossed the limit? Is that her deepest secret ever?

Feeling responsible for her, I automatically climb down to chase her. “Wait Sugar!” Ian’s voice passes my ear as I run down the hall, back to the library. I come to a halt and the others have paced up with me. “Let’s search for her together.” Ian says.

“I’m the one who made her cry, I’ll search for her. You just stay here.” Hayley says.

“No. we search together. We go to separate ways, ok?” Jeremy says, followed by nods from me, Ian, and Hayley. “But we have to close the secret access first.” I say.

“I’ll do that. You all just separate.” Ian says, running back to the narrow aisle.

The rain doesn’t stop as we search for Vi and the thunder rumbles outside in the dark sky. I search in the bedroom, library, and every possible room on the 2^nd floor. Ian searches on the backyard, porch, and kitchen. Jeremy searches in the 3^rd floor and Hayley on the first floor.

It’s almost noon when we finally decided to gather in the living room for that our efforts are unrewarding. There’s no sign of Vi anywhere, but her coat, phone, and suitcases are still in the bedroom, neatly fold. She must not been there.

“Where is she?” I ask worriedly. My feeling says that she’s not far from the mansion. She’s sometimes nuts, but not that nuts to go out in the rain and run away. She’s not that type of girl. But then, where’s the possible place?

Horse stable?

Is it possible?

But it’s raining outside!

“Should we search in the horse stable?” I say, without much thinking. My feeling says so!

“What? That’s not possible! It’s raining!” Hayley cries.

“But she’s nowhere in the house! Where else could she possibly be?” I say, a bit stressed out.

“Sugar’s right. There are lots of possibilities.” Jeremy says. “Come on.”

We wear our coats and shoes then open the backyard door and run as quickly as possible, avoiding the rain and mud splash against my legs. The horse stable isn’t that far from the backyard but this time, it feels really far and the rain blurs our sight. When we finally reach the horse stable, there’s nobody there. All the horses are terrified by the rain but they’re safely covered.

“See, she’s not here!” Hayley says. And as we’re going to go back to the mansion, Ian shouts, “Is that her?”

“Where?”

“There!” he says again, tries to speak above the falling rain. His finger points at a small wooden building far between the wild grasses that grow on the right side of the horse stable.

“Come on!” Jeremy says.

Ian holds my hand as the 4 of us run towards the small wooden building.

The building seems like a comfortable place for us, even just to shelter ourselves from the fierce rain. As we come closer, I can see 2 figures sitting on the porch. “That’s her!” Jeremy cries. We run even faster to the wooden house with Vi and Mr. Badge sitting on the porch.

“What are you doing?” Vi stands up as she sees us, all wet and tired.

“Searching…..for…..you!” I say in a stutter, catching up with my breath.

The air is pretty cold and wet when we leave the mansion, dragging our suitcases and backpack unwillingly. The rain has turned into a breezy drizzle and all the maids and staffs are standing in a row, waving at us in the terrace. This is the end of a wonderful week at Birmingham which bring us more complicated problems as a part of our grown ups plan. This is too much to contain, I don’t want to leave Birmingham!

Vi hasn’t said anything since the lunch time. She was so shocked that we found her in Mr. Badge wooden house. She clearly was in the middle of a conversation cos Mr. Badge said that she can call him anytime she wanted to tell him more. What “more”? She surely was telling him something. And I don’t know it.

We ended up in Mr. Badge cozy living room with cakes and tea and Mr. Badge’s wife was also there, she was so happy to meet all of us and she talked a lot about when Vi was little. And we didn’t mention about the picture, not even once.

Mrs. Freyson came down when we had our lunch and she’s thick with make up to cover her sad face. And although her lips are bright red, but her eyes tell everything. She’s not in a good mood, pretty terrible actually.

“So, are you guys ready to go back to the States?” Mrs. Freyson asks as the Lexus purrs up to Birmingham’s wet street.

All the people on the street seem so peaceful, wearing colorful rain coats and umbrellas. I wish I can join them. Or that group of girls of my age, pounding their feet with ice creams on their hands and laughs in their face.

“Quite.” Vi mumbles.

“Yes! Totally!” Hayley says eagerly.

But they’re Birmingham girls, aren’t they? And they got British accent and they go to Birmingham school. How different my life is…

It’s summer holiday and people are coming to the States. New York will soon be full and we’ll soon be needing new places to hang out, avoiding the tourists.

“How bout you, Sugar?” Mrs. Freyson’s voice comes alive to my head.

“Oh…yeah…actually, I prefer staying here than in the States.” I say honestly.

“Really? Why?” she asks again.

“I don’t know. Here people seem to be happier.” I replies, looking outside the window, watching all passerby as the car comes to a halt due to the traffic.

“Not all.” Mrs. Freyson says in a sad face but then in a switch she covers it with a big grin, “well, we should go back to the States, whatever happen, right? And won’t you spend you holiday with your family somewhere?” she asks.

“I don’t know. Mom’s pretty tight with her wedding planner schedule and Dad’s busy too. You know, businesses are busier during holiday season.” I say.

Mrs. Freyson nods understandingly, “Yes, yes, that’s right.”

We’re silent as the car drive along the highway, drown in our own thoughts as the sun rays shines through the clouds, casting away the dark sky after the heavy rain.

“Have you informed you dad that we’re leaving now?” Mrs. Freyson asks.

“No. but he knows that I’ll leave today. Anyway, why don’t you tell him?” Vi asks. But Mrs. Freyson’s silent, pretend like she doesn’t hear the question at all.

We arrive at the airport, 30 minutes before the boarding and so we scurried to the check in gate, get our boarding pass and wait in the Executive Lounge. Lucky that we’re traveling with Mrs. Freyson, she got heaps of credit cards and just by showing them, we can easily get in the Executive Lounge to grab some late snacks before the flight.

“Hayley, we should get in touch when we’re in the States, ok?” Vi says when we’re getting inside the plane.

“Sure.” She says, smiling.

We arrived at about 8 at night with all sleepy and lazy feeling after taking a sleep. After taking our own baggage, we separate without much talk. Hayley has to go to her Mum’s house, Ian’s mum and dad have been waiting for him, and Jeremy’s been picked up by his own driver.

“Well the….it’s such a memorable week, isn’t it?” Ian says. We look at each other and can’t help let out a giggle and tears at the same time.

“I don’t want this to end!” Vi says abruptly.

“Me too!” I say. And we all hug each other, scared to be separated by the harsh American life.

Birmingham had been such a getaway for me and for all of us actually. But however, we have to get inside our own normal life. And so we lug our own belongings and go to different ways.

The familiar buzzes of American accents hits me as I drag my suitcases across the airport building, and as I turn my head around, wow! I’m in the States! Can’t quite believe it somehow.

All the black business suits, all the typical “busy women”, all the advertisement on the boards, all the yellow taxis line up in front of the airport building, all the Burger King and McD ads, all the black skin girls and guys, all the making-outs-in-public-places couples.

And above all heads, suddenly I spot 2 familiar heads.

“Sugar!!!” both of the heads calls me as they run towards me. I run towards them and hug them tight. How I miss my twin brother!

“Hi guys!” I say, hug them tight. Mum and dad have come towards us, dad in his yellow shirt that I told him not to wear and mum in her pink cardigan and jeans. We all come to a family hug. Dang, my family is the greatest thing on earth!

Vi's secret hiding place

It’s not a very good day as the rain pours on the mansion’s roof. We’re all hiding inside, packing our suitcases for that the plane will leave at 2 p.m. and now, it’s still 8 p.m. we’re all early morning person kind of person actually.

I got up after Vi and we took a shower in turn. The hot shower seemed like a perfect opening for the day due to the laziness I suffer before getting up. I mean, look at that, it’s raining outside and it’s so comfortable inside the duvet. Can I please just snuggle under the duvet for the whole day? But Vi insisted that we shouldn’t waste any more time because this is our last day here and so, half-heartedly, I drag myself to the bathroom.

As I’m drying my hair, 2 maids come inside, bringing trays of breakfasts. “Here is your special breakfast for today!” one of the maid says, putting down the tray with sandwich, boiled egg, and toast on it.

“Wow! What a surprise! Thanks!” I say, get up, and come closer to see the whole package of special breakfast both of them bring today.

“Wow! Yea! Thanks” Vi takes the toast and bites it, “Yummy,”

“Do the others get this special breakfast too?” I ask.

“Yes, of course. You’ll not get enough nutrients with the airplane’s food, won’t you?” the older maid says, looking at us in a pity-ish looking. I and Vi simply laugh and they excuse themselves to go to the kitchen. A thought slips into my mind as they close the door behind them, do they know that they’ll soon be unemployed when this house is sold?

This is terrible, I keep thinking of this kind of thing. And after 10 minutes of indulging ourselves in this super breakfast, I encourage myself to ask Vi, “Vi, do the staffs here know….you know..” I shot her a look, hope she understands what I’m trying to say.

“What?” she says blankly, chewing her sandwich.

“Do they have any idea that they’ll lose their job as soon as this house is sold?” I ask.

“Oh, I don’t know. But they can always move to the state if they want to continue their job.” She shrugs.

“That’s not possible! You got your own maids and staffs there! Where will these people sleep if they join you in the state?” I bite my toast and there are some pauses in between before suddenly..

“Good morning guys!” the door bursts open and there stands Jeremy, Ian, and Hayley, holding their own tray of breakfast, all bright looking and smiling at us although the thunder roars outside.

“Wow! Hey!” Vi says, shocked.

“I think it’ll be fun if we all eat our breakfast in the same room, isn’t it?” Hayley beams.

“Oh right! Sure!” Vi says. We all make a circle on the floor and happily, eat our breakfast. Why don’t we do this everyday? This is much more fun than in the cold, elegant dining room!

“So, we are going to go to your secret hiding place, aren’t we, Princess?” Jeremy teases.

“I’m not a princess!” Vi says, “But I’d like to!” she adds.

“and where is this secret hiding place?” Ian asks, spreading the peanut butter on the bread.

“Oh it’s a secret! That’s why it’s called secret place!” Vi replies.

“Okay….” Ian replies.

After we finish our breakfast in our warm, cozy bedroom, we head downstairs, bringing all the trays and give it to one of the maid who scurried down the hall to help us with all the trays, despite her small body. People here are soo nice, especially the staffs here. They’re way nicer than those in the State.

“Good morning!” a businessy voice jump all of us and when we turn our head, it’s Mr. Freyson, walking down the stair, make his tie and he seems to get difficulties in it.

“Come here, let me help.” Vi says.

“Oh no dear. I can handle this myself.” He says, smiling. He twists the glossy black tie and folds it and slips it and folds it again and turns it back. He doesn’t look like someone who can “handle this myself” at all.

“Sure?” Vi says. Mr. Freyson looks up at us, all looking at him. A flush of pink spreads on his face. “Alright, alright.” He says, letting Vi does his tie.

“Where’s Mum, anyway? She always does your tie, isn’t she?” Vi asks casually although I can catch a slight quiver in her voice.

“She’s upstairs.” Mr. Freyson answers, try not to sound too gloomy.

“She has waked up, hasn’t she?” Vi asks, twisting the tie and make a final touch to the tie.

“I don’t know. You know what Honey, I’m actually a little late. See you later!” Mr Freyson kisses Vi’s forehead and as he does so, Vi replies, “There’s no “see you later”, Dad. I’m leaving this afternoon.” She says.

Mr. Freyson looks at her, amazed. “Really? Wow! Why you never told me?” he asks clumsily.

“Hello? You’re the one who booked the ticket for all of us!” Vi replies, rolling her eyes.

“Oh, yes, of course!” Mr. Freyson says, even clumsier. “Ok then. Have a nice flight, Dear.”

“Does your mum gonna come too?” he adds as he almost near to the entrance door.

“Yes, she is.” Vi answers.

“Ok, perfect!” Mr. Freyson raises a thumb and leaves.

We settle ourselves on the sofa, still too dumbstruck to talk about anything. Clearly, this must be a big cat fight that Mr and Mrs. Freyson even don’t talk at each other, or at least, Mrs. Freyson doesn’t do Mr. Freyson’s tie anymore. This is too much for Vi to contain. I mean, for you guide, here are some questions that crowd my mind:

1. How could Mrs. Freyson not do her husband’s tie?
2. Do they even sleep in the same room, anyway?
3. How can Mr. Freyson forgot that today, we’re leaving Birmingham?
4. Has he actually sold this house?
5. Why did he even say “perfect” after Vi told him that Mrs. Freyson are going with go with us back to the State?
6. Has he really forgotten about Vi? I mean, not at all, but as a good daddy kind of thing?
7. Has he really sold half of the company’s stock and make it a joint company?

Actually, it could be a really long list includes the question about Vi and the staffs and other things. But I decided to put it in only 7 numbers.

We’re silent in our own thoughts for some minutes and Vi looks more than sad. But then she gets up and says cheerfully, “come on!”

We strolled down the hall, the familiar ones where we usually pass when we go to the library, then we turn left, to a narrower aisle. I’ve never been here before and I thought it’s gonna ended up in kitchen or maid’s bedroom.

Which is not.

It leads us to small corridors with doors in both sides and then suddenly Vi stops walking. We’re standing in the middle of the corridor, where the hell is the secret part?

“Here we are!” she says excitedly.

“What?” Jeremy’s face blank, and the others are looking around, searching for the secret door with the same color as the wall or a small door on the floor or anything. But there’s nothing like that here.

Vi grins and she touch the ceiling, there, is a small square with a small handle. No one will notice it’s there! She pulls it down and a set of stair comes down, complete with its dust rains us and makes us cough.

“Wow!” I say, coughing even more and wave my hand on the air, getting rid of the dusts.

“Come on!” Vi climbs the stairs and we follow her. As we climb up, the room on the ceiling contains even more dusts. Vi switches a small bulb on, it shines the whole small room with its dim yellow light.

“oh my god! It’s the same exact position as when I left it here!” she touches the photo frames that stand on a small table, thick with dusts.

There’s a small flowery carpet in the middle of the not-so-big room. And there are some big pillows, and a rack of books. The left side is a small table with photo frames and a small window, also covered with dust.

The ceiling is high enough that the girls can stand, but the guys can’t quite stand up here. The height of the wall is the same height as mine. And so when I stand up, it touches my head.

But for a little girl 10 years ago, it’s spacious enough. I’m now picturing little Vi play with her dolls here, her hair in braids, wearing a cute flowery dress. And as I do so, my eyes spread across the whole room, I can see frames and frames of photos, nicely posed with little Vi smiling at the camera, sometimes not.

“When was the last time you here?” Ian asks, take a photo frame with little Vi and her parents in a place what looks like a party. The frame’s glass is stained but still, it doesn’t cover the pretty dress she was wearing in the picture.

“2 years ago.” She smiles at some of the photos as she has her flashback.

“Wow! Who is this guy?” Hayley suddenly asks, she’s holding a crumpled picture from the box in the corner. there, is a picture of a little boy, laughing at the camera with blond hair just like Vi's. and her teeth are so neat and white, he's standing somewhere with tall yellow grasses everywhere around him.

“Don’t you dare touch that!” Vi suddenly snaps. Her voice raises a note and her face is tenser.

“What?” Hayley asks indignantly, holding the picture of a little boy. Her face shot a “no one shout at me” kind of look.

“That’s private!” Vi snatches the picture away from Hayley’s long manicured-nail fingers.

“Oh, a little scandal for the princess?” Hayley teases.

Uh-oh. She has just said the wrong thing. All my senses tell me so.

“Don’t make me mad at you, ok?” Vi says in a warning voice, make us all plunge into silence.

“Wow, wow, wow, don’t take that seriously.” Jeremy says, touching Vi’s tense shoulder but she casts it away. “What’s with him?”

“I’m sorry,” she says. “I think, I need some fresh air.” She climbs down and leaves, a single tear rolls down her cheek.

Thinktank

After we finished our dinner, we take a relaxing walk around the backyard. It was a cool night, with a bright moon dangling in the sky and stars are hiding behind the clouds. The grasses are tall and wet, brushing against my leg. I wrapped myself in a pink cardigan and as we walk across the grasses, we can hear owl hoots from far away. This is more like film scene you usually see where the little adventurous girl is hiding from the bad guy.

“What’s our plan for tomorrow?” Hayley asks as we pass a big tree and the horse stable.

“According to our plan sheet, tomorrow’s a fun day. And last night, I saw a brochure of Cadbury World. What do you think, Birmingham Girl?” Jeremy asks, grinning at Vi.

“Oh shut! I’m not a Birmingham girl! This is just my family’s mansion!” she hits Jeremy, “well, Cadbury should be fun.” she says after some pauses

“What about cinema?” I say. i don’t actually think it’s the best idea, but it’s nice though. And when I get back to the states, I can casually say to the others, “Oh yes! I watched that one in Birmingham! I just remembered!”

“Good idea.” Jeremy says.

“What about a gallery?” Ian suddenly says.

“I hate galleries!” Hayley says, “They shows you things you don’t even know what it is and it has got really high price!”

“Okay, Okay…then, where will we go?” Jeremy asks.

There’s a silence between us. The only things heard are our feet stepping on the grass briskly and the owl hoots and the traffic from far away. Ten suddenly, Vi comes to a halt, “I know! I know! I know!” she screams.

“Ssssh! You’ll wake the neighbors up!” Jeremy says, putting his finger on his lips.

“I know! But this is the greatest idea so far!” she squeaks to lower her voice.

“Ok, what?” I say. We all have stopped walking, and turning to her, watching her face glows in the excitement of her idea. Hope this one will be good!

“Thinktank!” she says in a low, discreet voice. We stare at her blankly, what did she say?

“Oh my god! You don’t know Thinktank?!” she jumps impatiently and explores our dumb faces. “It’s a great place! They got a planetarium, cinemas, café, cool robots, inventions, and technologies! You name it!” she points her fingers as she says the things.

“Right….” I say, waiting for more information I can feel more familiar with.

“God!” Vi put her palm on her forehead, “Right then! You all should see it! We will go there tomorrow!” she says in a final tone.

“Right….” We all say.

We change our plan, from visiting a world of chocolate of Cadbury World in Bournville to Thinktank in Millenium Point. It was almost 1 p.m. when we arrived there. I wear my best “Cinema Night” outfit which is a grey long cardigan, black tights, and long checkered shawl cos Vi said there is an Imax and Planetarium inside. According to Vi, this place is “must-visit” and we can’t miss Thinktank in Birmingham.

We arrive there 10 minutes by car. Fortunately the traffic isn’t so busy and so we can get there easily. This has so far gone as what we have planned on the first day when we arrived in Birmingham.

It is such a shock as I enter the massive building with wall of glass. It is so crowded and kids are running everywhere, I suddenly feel too big and overdressed for this place. As far as my eyes could see, there are just parents, kids under 12, and even younger kids. This place is really really big and cool. Why should it be a Thinktank for young kids, not a nice club, shops, tattoo store, books store, and saloon for teenagers. That is so unfair! Even Air isn’t as big as this!

As we pound our feet, our eyes are moving from one corner to the other. This is amazing! We are now looking at what we can read form the board is “Thinkback”. The whole floor consists of some separated galleries. As we enter the Move It gallery, we are served old things in the past. There are the huge locomotive of the City of Birmingham, steam machines, and even a real tram! And the design, oh I love the design of this place. I mean, the whole thing and even the littlest thing in this building are nicely designed!

“See! Isn’t that this place is absolutely amazing?!” Vi turns to see us gawking at this place. “This is a gallery, a cinema, and a cool place, all at once!” she adds.

Wow. She is right! I mean this has so far been the second time when Vi got the right thing on the right point after the incident where she has to chose between a green skirt and a bright blue tube dress. And she chose the skirt which is the right choice and she often use it!

“So, where’s the planetarium?” Hayley asks as we move along the machines and touch it and read the informations provided. I still am gawking at the designs! Oh my! The designs are so….what do you say? High-tech! With lots of abstracts shaped things, metal tables with flat screen TV… and everything is so cool!

“It’s on the L1floor. It’s the last floor of this whole building. We’ll visit it later, ok? I still want to explore floor by floor and every inventions and cool things!” Vi says excitedly.

And so we start our exploration from the Thinkback, to the Thinkhere, which is not really interesting for me cos it only tells you about Birmingham but Vi is all excited t read through every but of information about the old coins and even the area of Birmingham back then.

“Pretty boring here, huh?” Ian suddenly asks when I’m looking at William Hutton's death mask. I turn my back, “Yeah, not as interesting as the Thinkback part.” I admit.

“How about if we go to the next floor? They’ll catch up with us.” Ian says.

“Errr…ok.” I take his arm blushingly and he gives a little jolt as I do so but then he sends me a warm smile and squeezes my hand even tighter.

Thinknow is much more interesting. It has got 5 galleries, telling us about the genius inventions of nowadays gadgets, medicines, forensic and even how to recycle our rubbishes everyday. I wish I were 6 again…..this place is a whole package of fun and education!

Then after 10 minutes or so, Vi and the others are catching up. We had so much fun around the galleries especially in The Street gallery where we can really work a hydraulic digger. And when we’re laughing, all the kids are staring at us, even some are crying! I don’t even remember, am I that scared of a 16-year-old gang when I was a little kid?

The next thing we know, we’re at the L1, where we’re lining up to get inside the well-known planetarium. They say that the Planetarium has got a 360 degree dome ceiling where the breathtaking images are shown! That would be real great then!

After we pay the entrance fee, we get inside and suddenly, TARAAA! We’re in the middle of a full dome ceiling where gigantic images are playing! All the people here are looking upwards and around to see the images better. This is sooooooo great!

The show last for about 40 minutes and what we’re looking at is the west midlands sky and we’re spotting the objects that we can’t see from down here! I don’t know a sky is that beautiful, with lots of emerging colors, blending and spreads all over the place. The rock-shaped objects are scattered across the sky and it’s just so beautiful!

“Oh my gosh!” I say, looking around the ceiling.

“It’s very pretty, huh?” Ian says, holding my hand and we’re both looking up at the ceiling and it makes my whole body tingles. Never once in my life, looking at a ceiling this long, and this interested.

After spending lots of money, buying souvenirs for Nathan, Nicho, Mum, Dad, and myself, then we’re sitting at the café, having a nice cup of chocolate. I got a really hard time, choosing which figures I want to give Nathan, because clearly, he likes dinosaurs, but he also likes robots. And they got the Build-a-Hovercraft kit, dinosaur models, and even talking clocks! And so I buy all of them and ended p with 3 shopping bags just for the souvenirs.

“Cool down, Sugar! You’re getting all greedy about it!” Hayley chuckles and sips her chocolate.

“No, I’m not!” I say, avoiding the fact, “I just think all the souvenirs are cute and I’ll find it useful someday! Besides, I got loads of little cousins!” I say triumphantly. Which is a lie..

“Alright..” Hayley rolls her eyes.

She, Jeremy and Ian also bought lots of souvenirs and when we’re out of the building, it’s almost 5 p.m. Jake takes us all back to the mansion and we’re talking all the way back to the mansion.

“Tomorrow’s our last day…” Jeremy says, opening the conversation and it turns to a busy talk.

“Dang, yes it is..” I say, hit by the realization. How fast a week could be?! And I these past week’s memories are playing in my mind like a video cassettes. There, we are, riding horses, then party, Vi’s parents arguing, went to the Air, playing hide and seek, experiencing royal breakfast everyday, the job…..oh my god! I haven’t told Hayley about the job!

“So, where will we go tomorrow?” Ian asks, opening his wrapped burger and bites it.

“hmmmm……Airport?” Vi says plainly.

“Other than that?” Ian says, raising his eyebrow.

“How about a nice dinner in a posh restaurant?” Hayley suggests.

“I don’t know, a theme park?” I say.

“Theme park is nice, but we’ll be all too tired. And dinner isn’t possible. Our plane takes off at about 2 p.m.” Vi says.

There’s a slight pause before Vi says, “How about a nice walk to my hidden place?”

“You got a hidden place? Wow! Cool!” Hayley says.

“I know..” Vi says triumphantly, flicking her short hair backwards.

“Alright….” Jeremy says.

After we’re all bathed and gathered in the dining room, the tension between Vi’s parents has grown stronger and it impacts my feeling even if I don’t know what had happened recently. But I can tell something happened. It’s so obvious, like printed on Mrs. Freyson weary eyes and Mr. Freyson’s angry bark when he calls the chef and give the chef a hard time by saying the ribs isn’t cooked although it’s perfectly cooked.

“So…how’s your day?” Mrs. Freyson asks in a trembling voice.

“Nice! We had a great fun in Thinktank!” Vi says, chewing her macaroni and cheese.

“Really? What did you all do there? Isn’t that it’s the place for kids?” Mrs. Freyson looks up and meeting my eyes since we’re sitting across each other.

“Yes, but it actually got heaps of fun things there! Why don’t they built it when I was little?” Vi protests.

“They haven’t got the technology, Dear” Mr. and Mrs. Freyson suddenly say in unison. Of course, unintentionally. And they go blushing and pretend to get busy with their ribs awkwardly. This is the first time I see Mr. Freyson actually blushing!

I almost burst into laughter as I see these two adults playing like kids when they don’t get what they want. But I clamp my lips together and try to hide my silent laughter, but then as I look around the table, Ian, Jeremy, and Hayley are also doing the same thing!

Then we abruptly continue to focus on our food before we can’t contain the laughter and explode it.

The whole night is beautiful. We lay side by side on the rooftop after we finished our dinner and we’re looking at the sky, busy with our own thoughts. I think this is the best time to tell Hayley about the work at Sanctuary part and so I spill it all out.

“Hayley, ummm, actually, I have something to tell you.” I say, swallowing.

“Oh, really? What?” she turn on her right side and put her hand to support her head. Her eyes are glittery and she looks so pretty. I feel small all of a sudden. Will she grants us another chance?

“Um……It’s about the shop-keeper of your mum’s store.” I gulp, trying to continue to the end. Ian, realized what I’m talking about quickly straightened his back and take the turn to talk.

“Yeah, what is it?” Hayley asks, looking confused.

“It’s us.” Ian says without any “good and complicated” talk like what I have in mind. Hayley now really looks blank and suddenly Vi also joins the talk, “Please don’t fire them! I was the one who said to Sugar that it’ll be alright!” she says.

“Uh, what are you guys talking about, huh?” She says dubiously.

“It’s us!” Ian echoes.

“The shop-keepers!” I add.

She looks at us perplexed, from my face, to Ian’s, to Vi’s, and finally to Jeremy, “Do you have any idea about this, too?”

“Nop. Not at all.” Jeremy shakes his head.

“Ok, good. Cos this is quite…..shocking!” she says eventually.

“Will you tell your mum about this so that we probably….” I say, “…can still have chance to work there?”

Hayley still hasn’t moved from her shock then gradually, she opens her mouth, but then closes it again. She gulps and finally says, “Let’s see what I can do about this.” She reaches for her phone and climbs down to call her mum.

After some 10 minutes of waiting, she’s back and sits in the middle of me and Vi. “How’s she?” Ian asks.

“Has she replaced us?” I ask.

Hayley inhales and says, “she has hired another girl. But she still wants a confirmation from you two. She seemed shocked to hear that her two shop-keepers are in Birmingham with her daughter. But she’ll be waiting for you.” She says.

I release my breath in relief and hold her hand, “Thanks a lot!” I say. and she just smiles.

glares

As we step inside the house, Mrs. Freyson and Mr. Freyson are glaring at each other fiercely in the living room. They both are in their office suit and from their eyes, I can say that it’s safe to just go to the backyard instead of the living room.

“Oh is that what you think?” Mrs. Freyson snaps.

“Look, I’m just trying to make things better, ok? We’re in enough difficulties, and you’re not helping!” Mr. Freyson shouts back.

“Don’t even say word “help”! You even don’t know what help means! I lent you over $500,000 and you still able to state that I’m not helping?! Watch your mouth!” Mrs. Freyson retorts. “Oh…I understand…” she walks a circle, “…you use me up, right?”

“What?” Mr. Freyson seems totally angry and Mrs. Freyson is out of control. Mr. Freyson holds his head with two palms. “What the hell was that?! You think I’m that kind of person, aren’t you?!” he retorts.

The 5 of us stand in front of the door dubiously. And Vi is near to tears, seeing her parents shouting at each other. “I think we should just go to the backyard.” I whisper and everybody slowly walk to the backyard, ladled with shopping bags. But Vi stands still in the guest room and she slowly walks to her parents. At that time, I, Ian, Jeremy, and Hayley are turning to the backyard door, avoiding the uncomfortable family situation happening.

We sit ourselves down and stare into nothing. We know we all still try to eavesdrop some words from the living room. And from where I sit, I can see Vi is shouting to her parents from the small gap between the turning wall and the living room. Then she runs and goes out of sight. It’s such a small gap where I peep so I can’t see further.

I’m now staring at blank space where a small part of sofa can be seen. “Guess it’s time for me to chase her.” I say. The others are silent, then Jeremy says, “you go and do that. But don’t push her too hard.” And afterwards, I go back to the living room and sneaks behind the sofa where Mr. Freyson sits alone and Mrs. Freyson’s no where in the room. She must has already left.

Vi is in her room, burning her head in the pillow and says nothing as I come closer to the bed. I take a seat beside her but she doesn’t even look up to me. “Vi… are you ok?” I ask slowly, afraid she might bursts into hysterical cry.

“I’m ok.” She says in a low voice.

Oh, right…it’s not a hysterical burst.

“Sure?” I ask again in a concern tone.

“Sugar! What should I do?!” She suddenly looks up and without any warnings she hugs me tight. “I know this will happen. I had a dream a week ago that my parents divorce!” she cries.

“My goodness! Don’t you believe your dream then. It’s not always right!” I say encouragingly.

“But what if it is?” she release the hug and look at me in the eye. Her face is pink.

“No way! I mean, they’re perfectly fine! It’s just a small bump in every marriage!” I try to sound confident.

“No it’s not! They’re arguing about the company, Sugar! Dad’s sold half of the Freyson Perfumery and made it a joint company with some unknown woman! This is crazy! Situation might get worse! And mum knew nothing when Dad made the decision!” Vi sounds really frustrated.

“What? Unknown woman? What you mean?”

“I don’t know! Dad doesn’t talk business with me and he has been very discreet!” Vi says in a high pitch.

Alright… so Vi’s dad has made his company a joint company without discussing this to his wife or daughter. This is insane!

A silence plunk in the middle of the room and I can virtually see our brains revolves in our own thoughts. This isn’t good, I mean, Vi’s dad, and her mum, and….omg, I haven’t told Hayley bout the shop keeper! Ok, ok think fast, in like 2 days I will be back in the state and I have to tell Hayley before we all get back there.

And about Vi’s parents, I have no idea how to cheer Vi up! What if I say they won’t break up and actually they will? I mean, the situation is really fragile and their divorce can be announced at anytime!

“Could you please leave me alone, Sugar?” Vi suddenly asks.

“Oh, okay. Everything will be fine, I’m sure it is.” I say as I head to the door.

When I enter the backyard, Jeremy, Ian, and Hayley are still there, sitting with a plate of cakes and cups of coffee. “How is she?” Jeremy stands up as he sees me.

“Not better. She really is sad! And her dad’s been discreet about everything while the company situation is on danger.” I say, taking a seat and reach for the cake.

“And?” Ian asks.

“That’s all. She wants me to leave her alone. And I was stuck with no encouraging words. To be honest, I don’t really think everything will be just fine. I mean, it’s not safe enough to say that her parents won’t get divorce or…”

“Divorce?” Jeremy puts in, “what are you talking about? Are they going to get divorce?”

“I don’t know! That’s just possible. And Vi got this dream about her parents got divorce! And could you please lower your voice?” I hiss.

As I say that, I can hear a footsteps coming and as the backyard porch door opened, there stand Mrs. Freyson. Her face is pale and tense with a black shadow under her eyes. Her cheek is tear-stained and as she catches a sight of us sitting there, she stammers, “Oh… I thought this place is….. vacant. Well then..” she gulps.

“Oh no, Mrs. Freyson. We’re just going to go upstairs!” I say cheerfully, afraid she might hear our conversation before. Then, we all get up and head to the living room awkwardly, she passes us a weak smile as she closes the door and let herself in a more peaceful place.

“Do you think she heard us?” Ian asks in a low voice as we have all sat down on the couch.

“She might…” Jeremy answers.

It’s the most uncomfortable dinner we had today. Mrs. Freyson doesn’t want to go downstairs and have dinner and so it’s just the 5 of us and Mr. Freyson. Since the last 20 minutes, the only sound heard are just clanks of spoons and forks and some low voices asking for salts or pepper or if the food is too far, someone would say “Could you spoon that for me please?” in a low voice too.

Suddenly, Hayley’s phone rings and it makes us all jump in horror. And she takes the phone abruptly and she leaves in a low voice. Gosh! Can someone please talk? Anything? In a normal voice?

“So…what did you do today?” Mr. Freyson’s voice also makes us all jump although somehow, it can melt the ice in the room.

“Just go shopping.” Vi answers shortly.

“and what did you buy?” Mr. Freyson asks again, chewing his salads.

“Some clothes.” Vi retorts.

“And what about you, Sugar?” Mr. Freyson turns to me.

“Err…just some tops and dresses.” I almost add “sir”. This is more like an interview with a general!

“What about the others?” Mr. Freyson addresses Ian and Jeremy.

“Just coats and shirts.” Jeremy answers, smiling. Thanks God! Someone can actually smile!

“Shirt and shoes.” Ian answers lightly. As he says that, Hayley’s walking back to the dining table, she clutched her phone, her face is bright.

“What’s up?” I ask.

“My sister will take me out to Barbados for holiday!!” she squeaks in delight.

“Wow!” I say, aghast.

“I know!” she squeaks back. “It’s for the celebration of her new joint company!”

“Wow! Lucky you!” Jeremy says.

“You all can come too if you want!” she says.

“Oh no…that would be…” I say

“yeah…inappropriate…it’s your sister’s and….” Vi says.

“…we don’t know your sister…” Ian ends. We all give reasons in turn.

“Oh…” Hayley seems a bit disappointed. “That’s ok. But I really-really am hoping you all will come to the launching..” she says.

“Oh yes, sure we will. In America? Or England?” Jeremy asks.

“In America. 1^st of August!” she says.

In a swift, Mr. Freyson rises from his seat and says, “Well….errr…I should go back to work..” he says.

“But you haven’t finished your dinner!” Vi says.

“Yea, I’m full already.” Then Mr Freyson comes to kiss Vi’s forehead and he leaves for the working room.