Disclaimer: I don't own ½ Prince… And seriously wonder if I could cheat anyone into believing I do.
Warning, this chapter is not betaed, wont be betaed and... you got the point. If you see that there is something too big let me know.
Ch.30 Happiness
I woke up extremely flustered as Shen kept on polluting my every thought.
"Stupid Mei" I mumbled and then I got up of the bed, walking towards my closet to change into sport clothing. The clothes were loose, and comfortable. Then just after been ready I got a flashback.
"So, Alice, is like this. If you mix this soap with vinegar in water it will make the glass spark grealtly and you can save in the purchase of the soap. Then if you dry the glass with the old newspaper it becomes even better" Nanny explained to me as she handed me a newspaper to help her along.
"But… Didn't father give you money to buy the more expensive one?" I asked confusedly.
"Your father is a really cheap person, if not for the fact the he is such a clean freak he would have never employ any of us. So, since he is like that, he pays us a misery, but is willing to spend a fortune in cleaning product; that is why we make estimates on the prices and ask him exactly what it would cost if we did buy those ones. Then we simply make things the old way, mixing the right products and make do with the money we save by doing so"
"Is that enough? I mean, I doubt you can save too much with just that"
"Heh, that's where you are mistaken. Is not only for supplies over cleaning the windows, but also learning where to get the food cheaper, making him believe that the cleaning can't be done with brand new cleaning product… There are so many little things we can make to get ourselves what is left to make our salaries decent"
"Isn't that a bad thing?" I asked a bit confused.
"Technically it is. But Miss Alice, think about it. If we were fired and other girls start working here they will buy the products that were indicated, do as they are told. They would spend the exact same amount we do, but would be a lot poorer, and since they would be dissatisfied they would quit and so would be the next ones he employed... We are actually making him a favor" She declared "Listen well Miss Alice, if you ever want those under you to be loyal to you, you must pay them what they believe that they deserve to be paid. If they ask for an amount that you consider too exorbitant don't hire them since no matter if you pay them a good salary they will play tricks behind your backl"
I gave a little nod and then found myself standing in front of my room's door.
As I stepped out of my room there was uncle, dressed in his spot clothes as well "Good morning little flower" He said with a smile as I came out of the room.
I joined uncle for the stretching exercises, and promptly told him about how the medicine started working while I was playing second life and the things that I had done in-game.
"You got married?" He asked me incredulously, halting his warm-up exercises.
"Yeah, I married this guy Cao-cao. He and I are in similar situations you see, I was running away from Shen and he also has his own stalker to shake away, so we decided to join forces"
"I see… And what is your opinion about him?" He inquired.
"Well, he is not good looking, but he is not ugly. However he has a terrible fashion sense. His face is not bad, but he is too bulky and his hair is a mess…" Then I started rambling and complaining over his attire and saw him chuckle.
Uncle finished his exercises and then looked out for a towel, and signaled for me to accompany him out for a jog. I nodded and then took a towel for myself "How is your side on the project over the next branch going?" I asked uncle as we got into the elevator.
"It's going pretty well, the building is pretty much finished and we should have everything ready in time for the Spring Festival next month. What about your side?" He asked calmly and the elevator opened with a cling.
"I finished with everything related to the loans from the bank, made a list of possible busyness partner in P city, the commercial routes, and finished making an inventory of the machinery, clothes and am currently working in a market study to decide the trend that would be most popular according to the fashion tendencies."
"Sounds like you have been working hard" He praised and then looked at me with doubt "You have not been overworking your employs over it, have you?"
Uncle turned away from me, his eyes still inquisitively as we opened the door of the building so he could make some exercise outside.
"I haven't. Since now I have a lot more time things have been going particularly smooth. I think that maybe it is due to the fact that now I can work directly in the office, I don't have to worry about going to the university and I have no more maid related stuff to do"
"Maid related?" He asked at me with amusement.
"Yup, this morning I had a flashback involving them. I was learning some tips on how to clean windows, and by the way things felt, it was like that kind of thing was a common occurrence" I said and then shrugged, to think that I the same Nanny that took care of me so fondly in the other memory would teach me such a flawless way of scam.
Uncle, who was oblivious to the fact that the maid-related stuff were a lot more harmless than they were smiled "Well, it probably is so. After all you have mentioned the maids a couple of times, and according to you, they helped you get in and out without your family finding out about it" As Uncle finished saying that statement we both started jogging in silence. We would not speak until we had gotten back; that was for sure.
We spent the next 45 minutes in silence, as we moved at the same speed one next to the other. The cold wind messed with the locks of my hair that I could not manage to get into the ponytail. Then uncle moved his towel up to his forehead, pausing to regain is breath.
"It seems that I have become out of shape" He gasped and I simply stopped despite the fact that I was not tired at all.
"We should rest" I exclaimed and then spotted a bench nearby, and pointed to it. Unlce quietly nodded and then we were both sitting there. As soon as I sat the image in front of my eyes changed, and I was sitting in this very same park, under the shadow of a tree.
"Aliiiice" "Miss Aliceeee, where are you?" A voice came from the vicinity and I hid into a bush, secretly peeking in the conversation two maids were having.
"I can't believe you lost her!"
"Me? You were in charge of her, don't blame it on me"
"And you were the one who suggested to sneak out with the little miss, so don't try to dump all the responsibility on me"
"Fine, but that's not important anymore. What are we going to do now? If we come back without the little miss we will be severely reprimanded by the boss."
"Geeze, that little girls sure is troublesome" A third voice came from my right, and 3 more of them appeared, making 5 maids in front of me now.
Then I started running somewhere until I reach a big mansion. I sat on the floor for a moment to catch my breath. Then I looked to the tree that grew in front of the neighbor's house, before I started climbing over it. Once I was on top of it I walked over the wall of their house to the one outside mine, until a sturdy tree was inside the mansion and then, jumped to that one, descending branch by branch until I had safely reached the ground. Once inside I walked towards the window of the bathroom of the first floor, which was always open and sneaked in.
"Nanny" I called in a monotone as I spotted Nanny in the usual place in front of the kitchen.
"Alice" She called at me excitedly "So you are back from the park. Weird, I didn't hear the girls coming"
"I came on my own" I explained with no expression "I got bored and came back"
"On your own?" She asked me confusedly, but then the phone rang.
"She is here with me" She exclaimed neutrally and then she added "You should come back as well, is getting late and the boss will arrive anytime soon" Then she hung the phone and looked at me with a frown.
I blinked innocently, not knowing what I had done wrong. Then I opened my eyes I was again next to my uncle.
"How long was I gone?" I asked dazedly.
"About 5 minutes… You were remembering something? I thought you were just spacing out" He exclaimed with surprise.
"You sound like Mei" I mumbled angrily.
"She must be a wise woman then" He joked.
"We should go back" I declared reluctantly. I really didn't want to go to work today; specially since today a lawyer from 'Meng's' will come to negotiate the terms of the loan, over the money I offered Liang to get back into business. The call I had made back then to the bank to ask them to not auction the company for the money they had yet to pay. *Siiiigh* To think that now I own the president of the bank a favor.
"Was that another flashback?" Uncle asked me with curiosity and I shook my head.
"I was spacing out, sorry" I said embarrassedly.
"Oh! It looks exactly the same!" He laughed and then he stretched his hand to help me up "Want to race all the way back? The looser has to interview the new applicants"
"Isn't that strictly part of your job?" I asked.
"I'm going to lose anyway, so it should be OK" He said cheerfully and then started running ahead all by himself.
"Hey!" I exclaimed and then hurried behind "That's cheating"
We raced all the way back. Within a minute I had gotten the lead, but still kept my pace slow, so he would not be left too behind, since he might get tired again. It took him about 5 minutes to stop and wheeze for air.
"Unlce" I exclaimed in alarm, and soon stopped by his side "Are you ok?"
"Just, one second" he gestured and then he looked up at me "I didn't notice I had become so old"
"You are not that old" I declared, then I waited until his breath had gone back to normal. Then as if nothing had happened he started running once again. Then he stopped once more, then another wait, then another race… I could only smile at his spirit. I could imagine how he had been when he was younger, and although I hate kids I got this weird notion that he as a kid must have been really cute.
When we reached the building (I won of course) I couldn't help but wonder if he was aware that we could have made it back faster walking given how much time we had wasted in every pause he made for breath. After we had arrived home It was a matter of minutes to go up, shower, get dressed and be ready for work. It was so easy getting used to this kind of lifestyle. I don't remember what was my routine before moving in with uncle, but I doubt there could be anything better than this.
We sat one next to the other in uncle's car as he drove.
"I'm really happy right now" Uncle exclaimed and I turned in his way with a smile.
"Why is that?"I asked curiously and he smiled back.
"I don't know if you remember this, but a long time ago I told you that I always wanted to have a family, a big one, with lots of kids playing in the garden of a big house… Well, I didn't exactly get that one, but I feel that having you in my life is even better" He said and put a hand over my head "Little Flower, thanks for having been born in this world"
I looked at him with tears in my eyes, I knew that he would have been a great father "Why did you never married?" I asked curiously.
"I did once, a long time ago. But it didn't work in the end. I loved my wife and she loved me, but… we couldn't have children. She left me behind eventually and married someone else, but I never found anyone who I loved that way again."
"But aren't you lonely sometimes?" I asked calmly.
"Not anymore" He said ruffling my head and I couldn't help but smile.
"But… what if you do feel lonely?"
"If that ever happens I would just have to give a you a call, or I could also call Fa or Jiao, if I did I know you will leave whatever you were doing and come to my side. That fact alone keeps me from been lonely, since I feel like I carry you with me all the time"
"Uncle" I said softly and looked away, suddenly feeling really guilty. I had been saying over and over how incomplete I have been feeling since I found out I was not really me, that my name was an Alias, that my background story is a fake and that I left behind a past and a family, my real family. I must have hurt uncle.
"I'm sorry" I sobbed and he stopped the car at one side of the road.
"Little flower, hear me well. No matter what you decide to do I will keep on loving, looking out for you, because to me you are the best daughter a man could ever hope to get"
"A daughter?" I said feeling surprised "Aren't you supposed to love as a niece?"
"Might be so, but even if that's how it should be I can't see you like a niece. I can see you like an equal, like a partner and like a daughter, but uncles are not supposed to be the ones chasing one the men who eye their nieces, or the ones to scold, or raise. So to me you are my daughter, therefore I will protect you like a father should."
"A father…" I trailed distractedly
Then he let go of me softly and I could feel like I wanted him to keep looking at me for a little longer with that fatherly smile, and hug me and joke around with me every morning "I'm really selfish" I said softly as he checked the mirrors of the car "Would it be ok if I let go? If I forget everything? Would it be too wrong of me to want to be selfish and not care about Liang or Meng's anymore?" I looked into his eyes as he turned to see me with a calm face "Uncle. I want us to become family"
"We are family" He said with a smile.
"I know, but… I think I would be blessed to be known as your daughter. I know that it might sound a bit stupid at this point, but… Would you become my father?"
"You want me to adopt you?" He asked with perplexity.
I quietly nodded feeling really embarrassed "I want it to be official, and I want to go for the proper procedure not asking Fa-gege or Jiao-jie for help. I know that Long Zhuo Xia is nothing but an alias. But I feel that I could become her more real, if at least being your family in the eyes of the law was true"
Uncle wordlessly let go of the wheel and hugged me really tight. I could hear his heart beating faster as he squished him to an inch of my life.
"Nothing would make me more happy" He said to my ear and a couple of tears fell over my shoulder. If it were anyone else I would have hit them, but this was uncle, so I could only feel happy and I let myself be buried in his big broad chest that felt so warm as tears started falling from my eyes as well.
Right then and there I knew it for sure, without the need of knowing anything about my past. This is the happiest I have ever been in my life. So I will be selfish only this once. Alice, forgive me. I just want to stay like this a little bit longer, so please don't hate for not having room for you in my life. But don't worry, if you are there anywhere inside of me, I want you to be at ease, I will take care of the people you once loved the same way you did.
"We are going to be late if we don't get going" I reminded him and we looked at each other briefly.
"I'm not going to work today" He declared all of a sudden.
"Why?" I asked with confusion. Wasn't because of work that we took this road in the first place?
"I'm sick" He declared proudly in the most unconvincing way "And since I'm so very sick, isn't it normal that my very cute little niece, my only family in the world stays behind to take care of this dying old man?" He asked dramatically
"You are only in your fifties" I said automatically, then it hit me. Did he just imply that we should…
"Let's take some vacations! To celebrate that we will officially become family, is not every day that I got myself such a capable daughter"
"Uncle…"
"Come-on, try calling me daddy" He said excitedly.
"Father" I said feeling completely awkward.
"Daddy" He corrected but then after seen my flushed face he negotiated "Ok, I will settle for dad if we extend the sick leave from a day to a week"
I pondered over it. I have all the papers done at least a month in advance, so my leaving for a week should not bring the company any damage. If I restrain myself of taking any new project for a week…
"Fine" I finally agreed "But if we are taking one week of vacations, who is going to be at the head of the company?"
"Jiao" He said matter-of-factly.
I could hear Jiao-jie reprimanding uncle for pushing everything into her. I need to make some damage control.
I took out my phone and dialed a random person in my team "Mister Dun. I need to ask you a personal favor"
"What is it Miss Long?"
"I need you to take care of the negotiations with the people from Meng's. And keep me informed about it."
"Are you not taking care of it Miss Long?"He asked a bit puzzled, since I insisted in taking care of it personally.
"Something came up. A family issue" I explained
"Is the president alright?" He asked worriedly.
"He is apparently sick" I said as I looked in his way, feeling that I was doing something unforgivable.
"Is it too bad?"
"Not quite. He is just stressed, so we are taking a week of vacations so he can rest" I lied and then felt really upset over the fact that "Daddy" was looking at me like I was doing something completely fun.
"I see" He said sounding a bit relieved.
Then completely out of guilt I added "Since I'm taking the week free you guys probably wont have much to do, so choose 3 of you to stay behind just in case and 2 of you to help out Mrs. Hxu Jiao; the rest can take the week as a paid vacations. And, so things are fair the week after that the ones who stayed behind will be getting the same amount of paid free days"
The guy on the other side of the phone remains quiet, in what I assumed was speechlessness, since in all my years working for them I have never given them any spontaneous vacation.
"Put me someone else on the phone" I ordered "Just in case you decided that you just had an hallucination" I explained and heard the guy give a incredulous "Heh" Before passing me to another one of my team, and then I proceeded to say the exact same thing I had said a moment before. Then after the second one had also turned speechless I hung the phone.
"Now what?" I asked uncle… No, dad.
"Well, I think that first we should make it official and then go to the beach"
"Call Jiao-jie" I commanded feeling like nagging him in revenge for doing so every time I did something of this sort.
"Can't we have someone of your team tell her?" He said boredly.
"If you keep this up I will register you as my son instead of becoming your daughter" I threatened seriously and he laughed.
"Ok, fine. One way or another we should go to make it official" He said and then he got the car out of the place he had parked it in, and gave a turn in the opposite direction to the office.
.
AN: First of all I'm so sorry I was late (I never thought I would). I wrote this chapter several times (lets say I have 2 NGs of over 1800 words). Began with it being about her freaking out over her feelings for Shen for a bit, forget it after the first flashback (ok that much remained the same) then start having horrible flashbacks and have a break down… Then when the time for publishing it came I was so very mad at myself for writing such a cruel chapter. I mean this is not even a decisive moment and I made her suffer like that?
Also, my sweet beloved beta is having a really hard time in her life. They took away her computer... Mean evil parents grrr... And yup, just in case my sweet beloved beta is the same creepy beta I mention from time to time. Its a wonder how someone so creepy can be so loveable... *starts rambling stupid things about my beta until I freak all my readers out*
Anyway, this one was fluffy and loving… But since I did something like this I declare that next chapter all hell will broke loose! Look forward to it ^_^