the trouble-maker

It was around 2 in the morning when all the family members finally get to bed. The gathering was ended by a slow dance and some people are clinging on their couple to keep them standing due to the drunken condition they had. I, of course, danced with Ian. He was all sweet and kind and he smiled a lot. He was the first one to ask me to dance and as he offered his arm, I can feel my heart skips in excitement.

Jeremy and Hayley also had their moments and they look happy together. I wonder why they broke up over the distance? They look like the most perfect one on the dance floor. And at that time, Vi was no where to be seen, she has asleep when I sneaked inside the bedroom. Ehm, about Ian and me….he asked me to accompany him take a glass of champagne and then we off to the kitchen. But then the light was dim and we were too drunk and “high” and he suddenly…..oh you don’t need to know. But he was really…and I was like….oh, can I just keep this one to myself?

And finally, the night and the gathering have ended beautifully. The guests have to leave tomorrow so some of them packed their bags that night. But mostly, they enjoy the party till the end. And the last time I saw Lulu, she has changed her dress into the more sparkly one for the night and she was dancing with a cute guy.

So..

This morning as I wake up, Vi has waken up earlier than I am and I suppose she’s downstairs or somewhere in this huge house. After I take a hot bath, I go downstairs and find some of the families are still downstairs, enjoying their royal breakfast. There are about 50 people cos the rest have gone home on the first flight.

I was going to go upstairs again when an angelic voice calls me, “Good morning Sugar.” And as I turn to see the owner of the voice, I see Hayley standing behind me on the stair, wearing a shorts and a tank top. She looks fine with her hair up on a tie and her skin looks glowing.

“Oh yea, Hi!” I reply. “umm, have you seen Vi?” I ask

“No. I haven’t met her since I came. Where’s she?” she asks, coming down to my side.

“Oh, I don’t know. I will just, look for her then..” I sat then I walk off. I felt small and little compare to Hayley. She’s indirectly is my boss and she always looks radiant and glowing and I feel pale and ugly in comparison.

As I make my way to the backyard, I can see someone’s sitting on the garden bench, holding Ruby and pat her head. She’s wearing a blue night gown with her hair messy and curls up everywhere. My goodness! It’s Vi!

“Vi! what are you doing? You haven’t taken a bath!” I say, approaching her.

But she completely ignores me! She’s like some kind of autism girl that doesn’t hear anyone talks to her. This is insane! I sit beside her and inhale deeply, this is going to be a long time..

“Vi… I know you’re under some pressure and you think you will be poor and everything, but the truth is, you won’t! your dad and mom are such hard workers, they can easily built up another business empire and it’ll just be alright.” I say quietly. “and moreover, will always be here, you can always count on me.” I add.

“No Sugar. You don’t know what it feels like. You don’t know how bad the condition is. Even now Mom and Dad aren’t talking to each other because of this problem.” She says slowly without looking at me.

“What? Why?” I know I asked the wrong question, but I have already said it so I can’t take it back. It’s probably impolite and you know, not the question Vi’s looking for.

“Oh I don’t know. Mom thinks that Dad always make a decision without asking her and Dad thinks that he has done the right thing by selling this house and his stock. They just don’t talk to each other.” Vi hugs Ruby tightly as if Ruby will be sold too.

I am speechless now. If I were Vi, I would probably do the same things as she does now. Got many thoughts inside her head, not feel like talking to any body and everything suddenly turns into mess. She has always live in a luxurious condition, this princess won’t be able to adapt with a life like mine!

She keeps playing with Ruby and she ignores her surroundings. She doesn’t even reply a girl who said good bye to her. She’s her relative! And she’s too cute to ignore and she maybe came all the way from Hawaii or Brazil but Vi ignores her completely and it makes the girl sad.

“Vi! what happened to you!? The condition won’t get any better even though you do this! You know that, right? Don’t be scared of being poor, it’s not as terrible as what you think, ok?” I say.

“No, Sugar. You don’t understand. I’ll…I’ll just take a shower then..” she gets up and walk to the house.

In the afternoon, we’re all supposed to be around Birmingham’s best places to have some fun. But due to Vi’s mood, we all cancelled the plan. Actually she wants us to keep going there without her but what kind of friends we are if we go without her.

At around 12, all the guests have all come home to their own house and leave the 5 of us remaining in this huge house. Hayley has decided to stay with us all the week and actually she’s nice to be with.

“Really, you can just go and have some fun there. My head’s no right and I think I should take a lot of nap. Just…go!” Vi insists. We all sit around the semi-circle white couch for relaxing time.

“No. if you’re not going then I am too.” I say, pulling the nearest pillow and put it on my lap.

“Well, obviously we can’t leave you behind!” Jeremy says.

“We can always play card or twister here!” Hayley puts in.

“No, really guys. I am not in the mood but you go have fun. You’re all in Birmingham and you’re supposed to have fun!” Vi says.

“No fun until all can join.” Ian says. And we all agree.

And so we stayed in the house and try to cheer ourselves with horses and playing Hide and Seek. And actually it’s more fun then just go and spend some money on things and foods in the town.

We all really have some fun, especially in the hide and seek game that we have modified. So the game will start as usual, one seeker and 4 hiders. But the things is, there’s this place we call as “headquarter” and we all have to get there before the seeker does. And the “headquarter” is where the seeker counts to 20. So it’s pretty hard for us to get there if the seeker keep waiting in the “headquarter” instead of go somewhere to search for us.

This time, it’s Hayley who is the seeker and as she counts to 20 we all run to hide. I run to the backyard and find out that Ian, Jeremy, and Vi are also running to the backyard and we ended up got found by Hayley as we all laugh and running all places to hide and when she finished counting, we haven’t hide properly. And instead of hiding, we just laughing!

This is more fun than I thought it would be. The last time I played Hide and Seek must be years ago! And finally we’re all sitting on the backyard porch, laying our heads in tired. We all get sweaty and just can’t stop smiling.

Vi’s maid has brought us a bottle of orange juice and some cakes. As we all eat and drink, we share other idea of games. And we ended up suggesting ideas about old games we played as kids. Like jumping rope, tag, and other crazy games we can figure out.

Suddenly, a ring tone make us all hush, it’s Hayley’s phone ringing. She quickly takes it from her pocket and look to the screen. “It’s my Mom. Be right back.” She then off to the living room to take the call. I secretly exchanges look with Ian. It’s our boss calling Hayley!

After some minutes, Hayley’s back with us and she stuffed her phone into her pocket. “It’s my Mom, she said my flight has been changed to the 12^th of July!!” she screams happily. Her flight is on the 12^th means it’s the same date as all of us!

“And she also said few things about her office in the US. She said two employees are running away and it makes the whole store running out of places as the customers are mounding in the summer holiday. What a trouble-maker!” She says vaguely. “Right! Now…what we will play?”

I squeeze Ian’s fingers and he squeezes back. Omg omg omg omg. It’s us! The two employees! The trouble makers! I should have told Mrs. Manson!!!

“Ehm, Ian, could you please come with me upstairs to take the card?” I say slowly.

“Are we going to play cards?” Hayley asks.

“Maybe, just in case if we need it. Come on!” I stand up.

“Ok.” Ian stands up and joins me upstairs. Jeremy and Hayley are looking at us doubtfully but Vi’s biting her lips, knowing that it’s all because of her that I didn’t tell Mrs. Manson about the trip.

We both walking silently upstairs and when we finally got upstairs, he grabs my shoulder,

“I thought you have asked for the permission!!!” he whispers angrily.

“Yes, yes I know! I’m sorry. Look, Vi said to me that a week without two employees is nothing, the boss won’t even realize!” I hiss back.

“But she realized! What are we going to do? She probably have dismissed us from the job and replace us by other employees!” his eyes widen and we both silent as we come to this part.

“We can always ask for Hayley’s help..” I squeak.

“Are you crazy? She will consider us as the trouble makers! This isn’t good!”

“And what plan do you have, then? It’s the only way!” I whisper.

He thinks for a while and we both feel into silence once again. This isn’t good at all! If he gets dismissed, it’s all my fault! And about me, it’s nothing! Cos Mom has already got a new job as a wedding organizer which left me no pressure to work.

Finally, we come to my idea, to tell Hayley the truth and gamble the possibility she will help us. When we get down with a deck of cards, they’re still there talking and laughing. I and Ian have decided to tell her if the time is right, that means, no now.

As the afternoon turns to evening, Vi feels much much better and decided to join us all to a pub called Air. Vi said it’s a nice place and so we all get ready for the night. I slip on my glittery golden top with bow and a black legging to match. I don’t want to be too dressed up, it’s summer, right? I mean, we all should have some relax atmosphere.

Vi wears a nice red pinky mid-length dress with black bow circling her waist and a gold necklace. Hayley wears only a very short glossy black pants and a tank top topped with a white jacket. And the boys are wearin cool long pants and t-shirt and belt.

And so we all get inside Vi’s Lexus with Jake driving us to Heath Mill.