Chapter Three: Awkward
I am, and will always be amazed at my parents. That's not a compliment. They always seem to be able to make every and any situation awkward, and make you feel extremely inferior.
As we walked inside the manor, my mother was stood at the top of the stairs.
"Do we have a guest?" Mother asked, looking directly at Atobe. He was about to speak, but I elbowed in the stomach with the arm not in a cast.
I bowed at a ninety degree angle, my stance just like mother taught me. "I am extremely sorry, Okaa-sama*, but I wasn't informed that you'd be able to join us today- so I already made other arrangements."
I kept my head down, knowing that it would save me having to listen to a lecture on etiquette.
"Is that so? I guess we'll need some new staff, then." Mother's words were like venom, destroying anything and everything in their path. I would've lifted my head and objected, but unfortunately, Haru beat me to it.
"Okaa-sama, welcome back. It's been too long. Please, I apologize on behalf of the staff- I did not inform them that you would be back. They were only informed this morning."
Haru was telling the truth. The reason that morning there were no maids was because they were probably too busy preparing Mother's room to wake me.
Mother sighed, putting her hand on her head. She was wearing something that looked expensive, most likely a designer dress- it's diamonds blindingly shiny. Her blonde hair in a high bun, her eyes stared at me. Even with my head down, I could still tell.
"Hikari, lift your head already. Haru, make sure to be more punctual. I have no idea how you'll run the company if you can't manage simple tasks. And you- unannounced guest, get out now. I want to talk to my family about something."
Atobe looked annoyed. It was the first time I had seen him that annoyed. I held his hand, hoping that he'd calm down.
"Okaa-sama, this is Atobe Keigo. If you'll excuse us, but were going on a 'date.'" I said, my face burning. My mother's eyes widened as she realized who Atobe was. Mother stared for what seemed like an eternity, her eyes locked on mine.
"You really shouldn't bring boys home, Hikari. It gives people the wrong idea. Atobe-san, your parents would tell you the same thing. Now, please leave for today. I'll get Hikari's PA* to get in touch with you- once we find her a new one."
I let go of Atobe's hand, smiling gently. "I'll see you tomorrow." I whispered, turning around so my mother couldn't see my face. I stuck my tongue grinning, telling him without words that everything was okay. He nodded, still not looking too happy.
"The chauffeur, Claude will take you back." Mother told him.
"His name is Luka, actually." I corrected her.
"What happened to Claude?"
"He was thirty seconds late, so you fired him." Haru explained. She nodded in understanding. Atobe left, leaving me and Haru inside.
"What on earth happened to your skirt?" Mother asked, walking down the stairs. I looked down, noticing that the stain was more noticeable than I remembered.
"It was an accident, I spilled a drink." I lied. I sighed, knowing that today would be a long one.
"Is that Atobe-san your boyfriend?" Mother got to the point, causing my face to burn. Haru laughed slightly, but coughed to cover it up.
I have to admit that was awkward.
Not just because my mother had asked me something- extremely awkward, but mainly because I didn't know how to answer. Instead, I stared at her blankly. She sighed, disappointed I didn't know something so trivial.
"I don't know…" I said, looking down.
"Have you been together, alone for an extended period time together?" Mother asked. I blinked, and nodded.
"Has he kissed you?" I nod again.
"Has he confessed to you?" I nod, once again. "Obviously, considering he looks attached to you, you must've accepted- thus making him your boyfriend."
I almost gasped, but stopped- knowing it wasn't 'lady like.'
You see, every few months my parents would come back to see if everything was okay or not. Otherwise, they'd be there to show me and my brother we don't have freedom. Yeah- we got to choose what clothes we wear and what horses we wanted, but we were still forced to go to a prestigious school, and surround ourselves in things that were 'suitable.'
Basically, I wasn't allowed to go to a public school, and was forced to learn etiquette and how to speak Latin, which I will not use in the foreseeable future. Haru, on the other hand, had to learn about economics, piano and got into Hyotei on a scholarship- making him an honour student. He wasn't allowed to be himself, and was only allowed a break when I made him go to the stables.
Father walked down the stairs, his brown hair looking immaculate, and his eyes looked exactly like Haru's, just a few shades lighter- like always.
My father, unlike mother, was and still is cheerful. He is a polar opposite of mother, and we all love him for it. They are two opposite that will never be able to coexist without one another.
Okay-, I exaggerated that a little.
Fine- I exaggerated a lot. Father is cheerful- normally. Although, there are moments where you do something wrong and the house seems to be in a state of post-apocalyptic rage, just because father doesn't like something.
Oh- and mother and father fight all the time, normally about the littlest things. Like- when I wanted a chocolate chip cookie, but mother thought it was too fattening. Thank goodness Father won that battle- I hate raisin cookies.
"Hikari-chan, Haru-kun! It's been so long! How are you both?" He stood at the bottom of the stairs, his arms spread out. I ran forward and hugged him.
Just in case you didn't know, I am not daddy's little girl. I hate the thought of being showered by mountains of love, by a man who isn't around the majority of the time. So much so, he allegedly missed my first words, due to a meeting.
I looked at Haru, his face void of emotion. Father looked at him, then smiled. "Son!" He let go of me, then bear hugged Haru. Whenever the two of them were in the same room, the resemblance is amazing. Me and Haru are twins, so we look alike. However, the fact Haru's eyes look like Father's is an amazing feat.
"Darling, Hikari seems to have gotten a boyfriend."
Father grinned happily, a bit too happily for my liking.
"Isn't that great? It's much better than being betrothed."
Mother coughed slightly, since the two of them were betrothed. I smiled, and so did Haru, since we hadn't been forced to hear a lecture- yet.
"So, when are you going to look at the marriage applications?" Mother asked. I stared blankly at her- once again. "I knew you didn't check. If you did, you'd realize that some extremely high class people have requested you as a marriage candidate."
The conversation dragged, and mother threatened several things. She said that if we didn't go to the marriage interviews that the horses would be confiscated. She also warned that I'd never be able to see Atobe again.
My mother lied a lot- she still does.
After we explained to father the situation, he understood completely.
"Tell Atobe-san that you'll go shopping with him tomorrow. Penelope, I'm sure we can wait, can't we? We're here for the next month, after all"
I nodded, smiling as happily as I could manage. However, I felt like punching something. There was a little voice in the back of my head shouting "PUNCH HER!" I wish I listened to it. But alas, that little desire was left unfilled. Instead, I went to my study/storage room, taking several maids with me. Why? Because, I am much nicer than my mother, and getting new maids is annoying.
"My lady…" One of them said, whilst we walked into the study.
"Please clean this room. I expect it'll take a while… That should get you away from 'her' until dinner." I grinned, pulling my phone out. "And I thought I told you. It's Hikari-chan."
I rang Atobe's number.
From that day, Atobe has- and will- for the foreseeable future, say I arranged the first date.
If only that wasn't true.
*Okaa-sama is a extremely polite way of saying mum/mom/mother.
*PA is an acronym for personal assistant.
