"Hey, Lyn," her father said to her, as he sat on the living room couch, scrolling through his phone. "Any suggestions for where to have our official reunion?"
Two week had passed since Amira was discharged from the hospital. Out of rage, she made a rash decision to stay with her best friend until the situation cooled down, and she was no longer angry with her family for the secrets that were unraveled the previous month.
They tried calling her or texting many times, but she never replied. Finally, they came to a consensus that, in the next weekend, they would talk to her again, over lunch. Until then, nobody so much as texted a 'hi' to her. Not even her mother.
"No, dad... All these restaurants your AI is recommending are terrible."
"I didn't get time to update its database."
"You do realize you have employees for that, right?"
"Oh, right... This past month has been a rollercoaster of emotions."
"That's true," Ashlyn sighed, and looked back into her phone. "I found something, Dad. I'll send you a link."
Ashton nodded and opened the link he had just received. "Hmm... this isn't half bad. It has a good collection of desserts, and if I know my daughter, she will be impressed."
"But that's the thing, you don't know her. That's why she was so furious. You might want to check with Mom about what she likes and dislikes."
"...Do I have to?" he whined. He always dreaded seeing her, since childhood. It wasn't that he hated her, but that he was rather terrified of her. Even after they were all grown up, even though he loved her and know she loved him, he still feared her.
That was why he couldn't stop her from enforcing her 'strategic' plan of divide and rule. He was afraid.
"Yes, you do. It's not like she's going to eat you alive or anything."
"Great... just great."
|•|•|•|
"Just to confirm, she doesn't like sweets anymore, but the restaurant is actually one of her favorites. Phew... thanks. Bye!" said Ashton, and hung up the phone.
"So, restaurant finalized. I'm gonna go to Mom's for a while. She's letting me read each chapter of the newest story."
"Perks of being the daughter of the author of your favorite series."
"'Levitation' is my favorite series, but my all-time favorite book of hers is 'Not Your Ordinary Fairytale'."
"The first book she ever published..."
"It's nice that the main characters' little siblings got what they wanted in the end, even if they themselves didn't."
"To be brothers-in-law. She sent me a special copy of it."
"I know, the book is dedicated to you. It's really cool though. I just wonder what became of that play."
"The play? I guess she forget to write that in. The characters put on a great show, actually. Just weeks before he left."
"She was probably so chill about it, huh?"
"I guess so... Anyway, I gotta go get my next set of spoilers, so that everyone at school can pay me for them. I'm not even telling Draco the information."
"Now that's just selfish."
"He can find out for himself, Dad. I gotta go now, bye!"
|•|•|•|
As Ashlyn was speeding through the city on her bike, helmet safely buckled on, dhe felt a vibration on her watch.
"Snow, read my notification," I said to the voice assistant on my smart watch.
Snow promptly replied, "You have one new message from Caeden: 'Hey, Ashlyn. You've been absent for a couple of days now. Everything ok?' Would you like to reply?"
"No,"
Ashlyn sighed softly, letting a small tear drop form, unable to wipe it off. She thought she had gotten rid of the drama at school after rejecting him. She was mistaken.
'I wish I could talk to him normally again... as friends, delegates. He can't know why I really said no, though.' she thought to herself. She shook the thoughts out of her head. She had to focus on the road to her mother's house. She couldn't let what happened to Amira happen to her.
In about ten minutes, she had reached her mother's apartment building. The house itself was smaller than hers, but standard-sized. There were three bedrooms - one for each of its three inhabitants. She took a deep breath and knocked on the door.
Promptly, her little brother, Oliver opened the door. "Hi, Ashlyn. What are you doing here?" the boy asked.
"I came to help mom with her next chapter."
"Mostly just for spoilers, right?"
Ashlyn chuckled slightly. "Yeah, you caught me..."
"When is Amira coming back from the hospital?"
She was confused for a few minutes, but realized he probably didn't know about the fact that she had already been discharged from the hospital and was staying with her friend until she managed to wrap her head around the entire situation at home. And neither his parents nor his elder brother had told him about this. "Um... she's still getting better. I don't know when she'll be back."
"Okay, cool. I miss having her always around to play against."
"Well, now you have your big brother too. I think he likes the same kind of games."
"I don't think he's any better than his twin though... is he?"
"No idea. Anyway, where's Mom?"
"Probably in her room. She doesn't listen to anything around her while she's working. You can go in though, she won't say anything."
'Wow, that's dedication.' Ashlyn thought to herself. "Cool, thanks bro."
"You're welcome," Oliver replied. "Have fun reading."
Ashlyn looked around the house as she moved toward her mother's room. The whole place was familiar to her, considering it was once her house too... until her family was literally torn in two. Oliver's room was once hers; Amira's room used to be shared with her twin. (Oliver had not yet been born.)
She pushed the door handle of the master bedroom to see her mother, seated at a desk, typing frantically.
"Minnie Elena Adeline...- or was it Adeline, and then Elena? I hate rich people and their way-too-many middle names." Angelina grumbled, as she typed.
"Uh, Mom...?"
She turned her office chair around and noticed her daughter at the door, watching her work. "Ah, Ashlyn. What brings you here?"
"Spoilers, mostly."
Her mother smiled. "Well, too bad I don't have any at the moment, because I started a new story. I can't even remember my character's name in this new one."
"You can just copy-paste it from elsewhere in the story. Why can't you remember it though, if you don't mind me asking."
"She has too many middle names... but it's part of her story. A college romance set in an upper class rich-people university."
"Should have thought about that before you decided to name your children Ashlyn Ella Claire Liz Winters, Amira Quinn Pearl Jade Winters, Draco Quin -with only one N- Felix Leonard Winters and Oliver James Nathan Winters."
"But you guys only use your favorite middle name for all the important forms. I honestly don't remember all of your middle names either. This character has to remember all of hers.
"I just go by Ashlyn Ella Winters, and my brother uses Felix."
"Amira uses Jade, and Oliver uses Nathan." her mother added. "I should really make her stop using each middle name."
Ashlyn sighed, realizing her mother's penchant for elaborate names was a recurring theme. "Well, Mom, as long as you don't name any character after anything to do with the drama here, I'm good."
Angelina chuckled, "No promises there. Inspiration strikes in mysterious ways."
As Ashlyn settled in, her mother continued typing, lost in the world of her latest creation. The room, filled with the soft tapping of keys, held a certain warmth Ashlyn hadn't felt in a while. It was a familiar refuge, a place where stories unfolded, creating a sanctuary amidst the chaos of reality.
And as the evening progressed, mother and daughter immersed themselves in the realm of words, finding solace in the narrative threads that wove their own tales of love, conflict, and resolution. The click-clack of keys became a comforting melody, temporarily drowning out the uncertainties that awaited beyond the confines of that room.
ns 15.158.61.12da2
