Bra found that she had grown increasingly dissatisfied with her life. Her days were spent either being a mother to the ever energetic Machi or spending time on her own to at least convince herself that she still had a life. She didn't want to call up her friends especially not Pan as she imagined that they would not support her in the least. She didn't feel like hearing their gripes. For the most part, they often disagreed with her. While it was amusing before, it was downright annoying under these circumstances when she was still trying to maintain her sense of pride. Even when she repeatedly told herself that she had made the right decision, her own emotions would betray her and she would always feel somewhat despondent.
But there was something else that had taken her attention: her pregnancy. She'd gone to the doctor just as Malachi had suggested because she was tired of not knowing. It was no longer fun when the one who she had wanted to share it with was no longer in her life. Her personal doctor had confirmed her pregnancy. She was now on the second trimester and she was reporting to her doctor on a weekly basis to make sure everything was going fine. This pregnancy seemed easier than the first and for that she was grateful—it was easier to forget that it was even happening. It was easier for her to grow bored and miserable.
Her father always had something to do, it seemed, not that she wanted to hang out with him at the moment. Conversation between them had become sparse and awkward. He was distant and she didn't feel like trying to figure out why. She knew that her father had grown fond of Malachi and that was no small feat on Malachi's part. He was the only one out of all of her boyfriends to have managed it. Now that she was older, she knew also that it was difficult for her father to form such relationships with others and that once formed it was even more difficult to throw away. She suspected that out of respect he made no further contact with Malachi, at least not anywhere near the house. Her father was out of reach and could do nothing to help her anyway.
Her mother was buried in her extracurricular activities which could be misconstrued as work. Though she was no longer working for Capsule Corporation, that didn't stop her from indulging in her own mechanical engineering hobbies and help the corporation along the way.
Her brother was busy being a CEO and mostly unreachable. She'd not spoken to him in a long while. He was probably totally ignorant as to what was happening to her or the family. Of course, it was okay since he was legitimately busy almost all the time.
Aside from her grandparents making sure to check-in on her, perhaps more than what she felt was necessary, it was as if she was going through the entire pregnancy all by herself. There wasn't much that her father could do for her anyway and she didn't expect much from Trunks, but their absence even if it might not have been intentional was something she began to feel more and more. And though her mom almost always found time to speak to her at the end of the day, Bra felt as if it wasn't enough; she felt as if she was just an afterthought. She wanted more attention.
Here she was twiddling her thumbs with nothing to look forward to, nothing pressing on her schedule. In the past, she used to brag about such things. She could do whatever she wanted, whenever she wanted, but she couldn't decide just how she wanted to spend her time and the activities that she used to do were of no interest to her. Perhaps it was time for a change. Perhaps it was time she spent her time more constructively.
She'd gone to a university of her own choosing years ago. She hadn't really gone there for education, but socializing. She'd wanted to meet boys who were more high-caliber at least as far as intellect went. Yet it turned out that most boys who were of that ilk were not looking for relationships and were quite focused on education. The boys who were interested were the ones who were more sports-oriented. The hook-ups she managed to make were short-lived at best. That wasn't enough to deter her from actually finishing her four-year degree. Bra was never one to abandon something she started. She'd chosen applied mathematics because numbers were something that had always come easy to her—though she cared very little about them. She'd chosen a focus in computer engineering. Only the last year gave her any significant trouble, but she passed with flying colors regardless. After that brief stint with making some sort of life for herself, she felt no need to go further. There were no pressures from her parents and she didn't feel at all jealous of her brother. She would do as she wanted, when she wanted. She moved at her own pace. It had been awhile, but she decided right then and there that she wanted to do something with her degree.
But that was easier said than done. She had no résumé to speak of nor did she feel like putting one together. Even if she did, she wouldn't have much to add to it. The very thought of job searching sounded exhausting as well. How did anyone do it? How had Pan and Marron managed it? The obvious answer was to see if she could find something to do at Capsule Corporation. Surely she had ample connections for that. The problem was that she'd have to talk to her brother. Her mother was no longer in charge of things and her grandfather's role in the corporation had diminished over the years. He was well on his way to retiring if he hadn't already.
She sighed to herself. It wasn't an altogether terrible thing to call up her brother, but she hated being beholden to him. She hated the very idea of asking another for a favor especially on a matter like this when one was traditionally supposed to do it all themselves. After putting Machi down for her midday nap, Bra finally swallowed her pride and pressed his name in her contacts. She didn't expect to get an immediate reply, but to her surprise he answered.
"Hey, Bra, what a pleasant surprise. Did somebody die?"
He sounded unhurried much to her relief. "Not today," Bra said casually. "Slow day? I'm not used to talking to an actual person when I call. I was fully prepared to leave a message."
"Just another regular day for me. I try to answer all the important calls these days."
"Important? Finally came to your senses as to who's the most important person in the world?"
"Well, yes, actually, inflated ego aside. My priorities have changed. Family's important—isn't that what Mom always said? And you just so happen to be my sister so that's enough for me to drop everything and listen to you for a few moments."
"Alright, who am I talking to and where's the real Trunks? This better not be another Laputa episode."
"Trust me—it's not. We're, uh, done with that, aren't we? Laputa's been dealt with?" he asked a little worried.
"Yes, yes, no need to worry. I'm pulling your leg and you're super gullible. So what's with the change of heart?"
"Ah, well, all the things that's happened recently, I realized I was taking things for granted. Not paying enough attention especially not to Terri. I regret not being there for you more, for everyone really. Maybe I could have helped more with the whole Laputa thing. I want to make myself more available. I pretty much live at the corporate office and that doesn't leave room for much else. As far as responsibilities go, I've delegated more of it to others, hired more people thanks to Dad, gave everyone raises in order to have more free time."
"Sounds wonderful," Bra said only mildly interested in what he was saying. "Must be nice."
"It is. I think it's the best decision I've made in a long while. Terri and I, well it's been amazing. I'm thinking about asking her to marry me—"
"I didn't call to hear about all this," Bra interrupted. "I guess everything's going great for you—I'm happy for you, but I don't feel like listening to you go on and on about it. Some people don't have it as easy as you."
"I didn't mean to come off as bragging," he said quickly. "It didn't come easy for me, you know. I had to change. I had to listen. And," he said taking a deep breath, "I heard about you and Malachi. Maybe you could learn from my mistakes."
"It's not a time thing like it was for you. This is completely different. I don't want to talk about it."
"That's your problem, right there. Nothing will ever change unless there's communication. You both have to listen to each other."
"Trunks, you have no idea what my problem is. You think answering my phone call the one time I call you suddenly makes you a guru about what's been happening in my life? How about you stop sticking your nose where it doesn't need to be."
"You'd be surprised about how much I know," Trunks said confidently, "Mom and I have lunch together pretty often and you're all she's been talking about for days now. If Dad calls me, that's also all he talks about. What I got from them is that they're worried about Malachi and no one really understands why you two broke up. How about you enlighten me? Since I don't know so much."
"Really? They talk to you. Dad talks to you, but not me? I live right here in this house and they can barely spare me a few words."
"You're the one who has to deal with all this, they're probably just giving you some much needed space. You honestly think you wouldn't be annoyed if they constantly tried to talk to you?"
"I don't know."
"Exactly."
"Exactly what?"
"Your 'I don't know' is roughly translated to 'You're right and I don't want to admit it'. So you see what I'm saying. Look, I'm sorry what's happened to you—break-ups are always hard especially if it's with someone you put so much time and effort into."
"Did they tell you?" Bra asked quietly.
"Tell me what?"
"Malachi's asexual."
Trunks was quiet for a moment. "Are you going to expound?"
"I told you everything right there!" Bra said getting a bit roused since she was already embarrassed for having to say it out loud over a phone.
"Well, you haven't told me much. Is that really the only reason you broke things off?"
"Are you serious?" Bra hissed, "It's a huge deal."
"I mean, but what else do you know aside from that?"
Bra was becoming increasingly frustrated because it seemed as if he was missing the entire point. Was everyone in her family this dense about this? How many times did she have to repeat herself? "Do I have to say it to you plainly?"
"Clearly I'm missing something."
"I don't even know why I'm talking to you of all people about this."
"Because, apparently, you have no one better to talk to."
"Look, Malachi is just not for me. He told me he was asexual and that means that he won't have sex with me and you can't have a real relationship without that."
Trunks didn't respond quickly, in fact, Bra checked her phone to see if the call was still connected. She wondered if she had said too much. They might have been close in the past, but that was then and this was now. Maybe he really didn't want to hear about her problems. Maybe she'd ruined her chances of asking him for a favor. How did it come to this anyway? All she wanted to do was ask him a simple question and she hadn't even done that yet.
Finally he spoke. "I think you're reading too far into it. You two should just talk. Sure, he told you something you didn't know about him, but that doesn't change the person who you've been dating for over two years. If you liked him then, why would that change now? FYI, if someone identifies with being asexual, that doesn't mean they won't have sex with you. Just depends. From what I can tell, you have no idea what it means in Malachi's case."
"Really?" Bra asked mystified. "Are you just making stuff up again?"
"Well, you know, we're surrounded by technology and information on a daily basis doubly so considering our family—I'm sure you'd have no problem finding out for yourself."
"Whatever, Mr. CEO. I didn't call to talk about Malachi. I wanted to ask a favor."
"Ah, so we get to the real reason you spared me a thought today."
"Well, I'm not here to kiss your ass, if that's what you want."
"From you? Extremely doubtful. So, what do you want?"
"I need you to get me a job at CC."
"Right now, all of a sudden?"
"You got a problem with that?" Bra asked haughtily.
"I mean, aren't you pregnant? —I would think working would be the last thing on your mind. You should be taking it easy."
"Trunks, I've been through this before, everything's fine, but right now I'm so bored."
He was silent for a moment. "Okay, I guess I can't stop you once you set your mind to something. What did you have in mind?"
"Doing something at the headquarters."
"Where I work?" he asked perplexed.
"Yeah, like someone's assistant so I won't have to work too hard but enough to pass the time."
"Sorry, CC doesn't have one of those kind of jobs," Trunks said in a faux disgusted tone. "You'd make for a terrible assistant anyway. Constantly being told what to do, completely at the mercy of another person with no measure of independence. You couldn't stand a day doing that. Besides, I can't have you work here at the headquarters—conflict of interest. I don't allow anyone else to do it so I can't in good faith or else I'll piss off everyone else."
"Oh, you care about other's opinions? Who cares? You're the one in charge, right?"
"I do care especially about the people who actually do all the essential tasks that keep this place running. You don't want to piss off your trusted employees and partners or else you no longer have a corporation." He sighed at this. "What kind of qualifications do you have?"
"You're going to give me a job?"
"Of course, I will. I would hate for you to run back to Mom complaining or worse to Dad. It just won't be here with me. CC has many branches and many locations worldwide, I'm sure I could find you something."
"Well, I went to school for applied mathematics with a focus in computer engineering," Bra said. It was her one and only qualification. No experience and no other relevant skills.
"Yeah, you did. I remember. Feels like ages ago. Do you like stuff like that?"
"Like what?"
"Like numbers, computers, maybe solving software issues?"
"Definitely software and computer programs."
"Okay, then, I have the perfect job for you. Something internal so you won't have to deal with customers and it's still entry level. It's a part-time position as a paid intern at the technology troubleshooting branch."
"Part-time is perfect."
"I know."
"So, when do I start?" Bra asked feeling excited about the prospects.
"Jumping the gun a little bit, aren't you? I still need a résumé from you and you still need to do an interview and then actually get hired."
"What? I thought you said you'd help me get a job."
"I am. I'll give you a good recommendation. And of course, if that recommendation is coming from me, it's pretty much a shoe-in, but we need to go through the proper channels. Rules are there for a reason and stepping on someone else's shoes, letting you get a job somewhere without anyone else having a say is a terrible way of showing that you value their judgement. They'll have the final say-so, I suggest being on your best behavior."
"Seriously, Trunks, I've never done an interview before."
"Remember what I said about being surrounded by technology and information?"
Bra sighed exasperatedly. "Super helpful you are today," she said sardonically.
"I think I'm being incredibly generous. Consider all the people who don't have any of these advantages, people who actually need a job for a living."
"Right, oh, sagely brother of the world. I can't help that I've been born an heiress and that I've always lived that way. That doesn't make me any less valid than the next person."
"I wasn't implying that, but it wouldn't hurt to be a little more aware of others around you. Come to think of it, I think having a job would be good for you. Now, as soon as you send me a decent résumé, I can get things started."
Bra sighed. "Fine. I'll get around to it."
"Hold on," Trunks said right after she finished speaking.
Bra heard him talking to another man along with the sound of a nearby phone ringing. He seemed busy. She'd gotten her question answered so she didn't feel she needed to keep him any longer.
"Hey, Trunks," Bra said a little loudly so that he might hear. She waited, but she didn't hear him address her. She listened a little to the voices she heard on his side and waited for a lull in conversation. "Hey, Trunks, talk to you later, alright?"
There was still no response, but she didn't feel like waiting any longer so she simply ended the call. If he really had something else pressing to tell her, he could easily contact her again. She was available pretty much all day.
Despite some misgivings, she was still excited about the idea of having a job, a purpose to her daily living, and perhaps finally some direction. There were a few hurtles she had to deal with, but it was a small price to pay in the larger scheme of things.
/
Two days later, Bra was well on her way to going to her first interview. She was not looking forward to it, but she knew it was something she had to do. No matter how often she asked her brother if there was some way to avoid it, he was pretty staunch on her doing it. "You have to convince others that you're worth investing time and effort into—I can't do that for you." He would say this in some way or fashion anytime she brought up the issue. She used her own allowance money to pay for a program that could compile her own public records into a professional résumé so that she virtually spent no time at all making one. It was hardly even a page, but surely that was to be expected.
She went to a high-end woman's clothing store and bought several casual business outfits so that she could still look beautiful while wearing the appropriate attire. She still wasn't showing too noticeably and could get away with this for now. She wore a dark blue pant suit with a dark blouse underneath that sported a laced collar and small section just above her breasts. The dark blue jacket fit her well and her ankle pants allowed her to show off her gorgeous feet along with black pumps. She opted not to wear tights of any kind. She'd placed her usual long flowing hair into a tiny bun and allowed a piece of hair in the front to frame the left side of her face.
Bra walked with confidence towards the respectably sized building that housed one of the many information technology departments. According to Trunks, this was the first one established and dealt exclusively with the tech being used within the corporation. She'd watched countless interviews on the internet and practiced in the mirror. She felt as ready as she was ever going to be. Per the advice of many job articles, she came very early. In fact, she was an hour early just in case she couldn't find the building.
Her shoes click-clacked against the pavement as she strolled towards the place. The skies were clear and the temperature was perfect as seagulls squawked in the distance. It was a shame she had to waste such a beautiful day inside a building, but this was what she had asked for. Something to do with her time. She spied a little girl near the entrance leaning against the wall beside the sliding doors and sucking on a popsicle. Though it was odd to see someone so young at a corporate building, Bra paid her little mind until the girl spoke up.
"So, you're Bra—the one everyone's been talking about," the violet haired girl said unabashedly.
"Yes, I am," Bra said confidently. "And I'm going in for my interview."
The little girl snorted. "Formalities. No one really has the balls to give you a hard time. This whole thing reeks of privilege."
Bra's eyebrows furrowed at this. "Is that such a bad thing? It's not like I have any control over it."
The girl wore an amused look. "Spoken like a true spoiled brat."
"What's your name?" Bra asked not liking the girl's tone. She was intriguing nonetheless and completely out of place.
"Aster," the girl said simply.
"Just Aster?"
She rolled her eyes at this. "Aster Tyga."
Aster had vibrant violet hair, bronze skin and clear blue eyes. She wore a pale blue dress with spaghetti straps and two bright yellow sunflowers decorated the bottom section of it. She seemed a bit too smart for her own good in Bra's opinion. At the mention of her full name, however, Bra thought she'd heard it from somewhere before, but she couldn't place it.
"So, Aster, what's a little girl like you doing here pestering employees right before they go in for work?"
"First off, I like standing here," Aster said stubbornly, "And I won't move from my spot. Second, how do you know I pester employees if you're not even one yourself? You're not going into work. It's just an interview."
"That's right, it is an interview and I've practiced hard for it."
"Bravo, your richness. You want a cookie for that?"
"Who do you think you are talking to adults like that?"
"An innocent girl who's suddenly found a new hobby," she said with a mischievous smile.
Bra wasn't very fond of this smile. She'd never seen someone so young look so manipulative. "Don't you have school to go to?"
"Shows how much you know—it's still summer vacation."
"And how old are you?"
Aster gave her the same mischievous smile from before. "None of your business."
Bra rolled her eyes. "Clearly, you're around twelve—it's no big secret."
"What about you? How many years have you been around?" She hadn't agreed or disagreed with Bra's last statement which only annoyed Bra further.
"I'm twenty-three," Bra said haughtily.
"Could have fooled me," Aster said with a laugh.
Bra frowned at this, "Well, I got to go before I miss this interview. Have a nice day," she finished quickly before stomping towards the sliding doors.
"Good luck, rich girl, even if you don't need it."
Bra was surprised to hear this as she stepped through the doors, but she didn't feel like engaging the girl further. Instead, she looked for the signs to point her in the right direction.
"Hey, rich girl, third floor, second door on the right," Bra heard Aster say through the now open sliding doors.
"I can find my own way, thank you," Bra said haughtily just as the other snorted and disappeared outside.
Bra didn't trust Aster for a second and made sure to read the signs to the correct place. Turned out, however, that Aster had been correct. The little girl was too confusing to waste brain power on. She found the room of the Information Technology Director and beside the door "Auden Tyga" was spelled out clearly. She wondered if it was a coincidence, but somehow she figured it wasn't. The door was closed and for a moment she stood staring at it before coming up with the bright idea of knocking on it. She gave a gentle knock at first and then a harder one when she received no response.
She stared at the door longer before giving up and leaning against the wall behind her. This wasn't what she'd expected at all. She hated waiting for anything with a passion. After a while, she closed her eyes and crossed her arms in growing irritation. She wondered what kind of waste of time job her brother had managed to get for her when the person who was supposed to interview her was nowhere to be found.
"Ah, Ms. Briefs, a bit early, aren't we?" a man's voice asked startling her out of her reverie.
She turned to the man and immediately felt dwarfed by his height. He wore his light blond hair in a hastily made ponytail and it was quite long from what she could tell. His eyeglasses slightly obscured sharp, intelligent eyes that subconsciously made her stand a little straighter. His face was expressionless so she could not get a proper feel for him from the few words he'd spoken to her. He wore unremarkable clothes making his bright lime green tie littered with polka dots and big font words like "Wow!" and "Awesome!" stand out even more.
"I lost a bet," the man said probably following where her eyes were looking. "I'm Auden Tyga, the director of IT and I'll be conducting your 'interview' today. My apologies for making you wait—it's been a busy day and I hardly ever spend time in my office."
"Oh, that's alright. I'm just glad to finally get this started," Bra said politely with a bright smile. She had to make a good first impression, that was what all the articles had claimed anyway. She couldn't tell, however, if she was having any effect on the expressionless man.
She followed the director inside the office and found that it was quite bare. He hadn't been lying about hardly using the place. On his desk aside from the flat screen computer monitor and keyboard, a lone picture of a dark-skinned woman sat on his desk. It wasn't a large picture, but it was enough that she could easily make out the woman's face from a glance. The woman wore a warm, welcoming smile and her hair was pulled tightly back likely into a bun or beret.
"Please, have a seat," he said in a tone that Bra decided must be his pleasant one. It hadn't changed since he'd first started talking.
She watched him sit down and clasp his hands together. On his right hand, she noticed a plain black ring on his middle finger. It couldn't be wedding band, she surmised, as it wasn't on his left, but it was noticeable since he wore no other adornments. She waited in bated breaths for his battery of questions.
"What's your availability?" he asked plainly.
Bra was slightly confused by this. "Um, sorry, what do you mean?"
"What time of the day would be convenient for you to work?"
"Well, this time is good," Bra said, "I'm pretty much free all day."
"Ms. Briefs," he said in a way that made her feel as if she wasn't understanding him. "When would you like to work? Since you're part-time, no more than five and a half hours per day in a five-day week. Or maybe you would prefer only four consecutive days and more or less hours. It is completely up to you."
"Oh," Bra said in realization and confusion. "I didn't know we were picking out a schedule already. What time do you need me to be here?"
"It isn't a question of whether I need you or not. It's a question of how much you're willing to learn, but I'll give you a schedule since it seems you don't have a preference. Three days a week, Monday through Wednesday, four hours a day starting at nine in the morning. How does that sound?"
"That's—That's fine," Bra said still confused with his questioning. This wasn't what she'd expected at all.
"Alright, then you can start tomorrow if you like."
"Tomorrow is fine as well," Bra said with a nod despite herself. "But, don't you have other questions for me before all that?"
"I don't," Auden said simply. He expounded after a pause likely due to her completely confused expression. "You come very highly recommended and it would look terrible on my part not to hire you and I don't wish to rock the boat in any way. I don't feel strongly one way or the other about these odd circumstances or that we've never given out internships and have no standards on what the job should entail."
"I see," Bra said slowly, "So, I won't have anything to do?"
"I will assign you someone who will teach you how to perform their corresponding duties for as long as needed for you to learn and master. Then I will assign you to a different person performing other facets of the job. Then, so on and so forth. Does that sound reasonable to you?"
"Well, yeah, sure—I mean, yes sir."
He hadn't unclasped his hands and her eyes were drawn idly back to the black ring. His face never changed, revealing nothing about how he felt about anything. Was he annoyed? Was he relieved?
"Good. Then I think we're done. I'll see you tomorrow."
Bra hadn't expected to be leaving so soon. She still needed to make a good impression even if it seemed she'd been hired. At the very least, she wanted to be in her boss's good graces. But he'd given her nothing to work off of, nothing to make herself seem personable. She didn't stand up immediately. There was one thing she could use: his name sounded as if she'd heard it elsewhere. "Sorry, I know this might sound odd, but your name sounds really familiar. Have I met you somewhere before?"
"I assure you, Ms. Briefs, we've never met before."
Just like that, her attempts at an easy dialogue was dashed—he was a hard nut to crack. She could have simply left just as he was indicating for her to do, but she was determined. The only thing left now was the picture on the table—it would be a flimsy, obvious attempt at best.
"That's a lovely picture you have," Bra said with a bright, encouraging smile, "Who is she?"
She watched the other regard the picture for a moment longer than she expected. She wondered if she'd managed to upset him—it was hard to tell.
"That is a picture of my mother," he said after a moment.
Still, she was given little to work with. Not only that, however, she was caught off guard by his response. Perhaps he'd been adopted. "She looks beautiful," Bra said finding herself at a loss of words, having little opinion about the woman. Her hands had gotten a little sweaty, in fact, as she charged into unknown territory with a person she knew so little about.
"Yes," he said back, but his eyes hadn't left the picture as if he hadn't even known it was there. "She passed away some time ago."
"Oh, I'm sorry," Bra said in as sympathetic a tone as she could muster.
That was when she must have drawn him from his gaze as he looked at her now. "Don't be—you had nothing to do with it. She had a hard life, but she was ever optimistic about the future all the way to the very end. She would often say: 'By and by, everything will eventually work itself out.'"
"That sounds like a really nice saying to live by."
"Perhaps," he said wearily. It seemed as if he wanted to say more, but in the end, he left it just like that.
Once again, Bra was left in the position to carry the conversation and she strained to make it last a little longer. Whether it was too personal or not, she chugged right ahead with the first thought that came to mind. "And your father?" She wondered in that moment if she should be introducing herself more, but it was too late.
"As my mother once said about him, she fell in love with the man of her dreams who left her the very next day."
"Well, that's…" Bra said struggling to find something positive to say.
"It's alright. Perhaps I'm not the best person to be discussing family with. On brighter news, Trunks told me of your pregnancy. How far along are you?"
Bra smiled at him brightly now. "Thirteen weeks now and there haven't been any complications."
Auden's expression remained neutral even though she was fairly certain that he was interested in her answer. "That's good. I hope it remains that way for the rest of the time. If you ever feel ill or exhausted, don't feel as if you still need to come in to work. I'm very lenient with such things and especially in your case. Contact me should something arise at your earliest convenience."
"Thank you, sir."
"Now, Ms. Briefs, I think we've taken up enough time 'getting to know one another'. If that's all, Ms. Briefs—"
"Oh, just call me Bra," she said as she stood up.
"If that's what you prefer," he said with a brief nod. "I will see you tomorrow."
With this, she took her leave sufficiently relieved and also a bit excited. Her thoughts turned to the child she'd met before entering the building—something she'd conveniently forgotten to mention at the interview much to her annoyance. He'd seemed ready to leave, however, and not at all in the mood for conversation. She'd done well, all things considering. Aster—given her surname, could she really be biologically related to him? The way her mom had described him, it didn't seem possible. She used the elevator to come down to the first floor and strolled out the door only to be greeted by Aster.
"Wow, that was predictably short," Aster said teasingly.
"Do you really not have anything better to do?"
Aster stuck her tongue out at her. She held a fancy cellphone in her hand probably used for entertainment purposes as she stubbornly remained at the door. "I have an important job unlike you."
"Oh yeah? And what is it you do?"
"None of your business," Aster said proudly.
"Fine, don't tell me. Keep it to yourself."
"I will," she replied brightly as she brought up her phone once again to return to whatever it was she'd been doing.
Bra watched her for a moment before calming herself. She'd wanted to ask her a few questions. "You wouldn't happen to be related to the director, would you?"
Aster looked up at her knowingly. "That's my dad. He's the one who interviewed you."
"He's you're biological dad?"
Aster looked down at her phone again and didn't answer immediately. "Yeah, we're related."
"And you weren't adopted?"
"I was adopted too."
"You know that doesn't make sense," Bra said frustrated.
"He's my biological dad and I was adopted—What? You're too slow to figure that out?"
"Nevermind," Bra said quickly, "I don't care anymore. You're just going to keep playing games with me."
"Go home, rich girl. I look forward to seeing you each and every day."
"Monday through Wednesday, by the way."
Aster shrugged. "Your schedule is hilarious. I work harder than you when I used to go to—I mean, when I go to school and I'm just a kid."
"Well, I'm done with schooling. I paid my dues already."
Aster laughed at this and quite raucously and had a hard time catching her bearings for almost an entire minute. "I have as well. Didn't realize the standards were so low."
"You're impossible. Can't wait for school to start again for you," Bra said before walking away from her not wanting to hear anymore.
Bra left with more questions than answers, but her interest in the whole thing dulled when she realized she was free again to do whatever she liked. Nothing like a few minutes of scheduled time to make her appreciate her freedom a bit more.
She felt slightly intimidated about the prospects of actually doing the job, but Auden had seemed accommodating enough. The interview had been a complete joke, but she was more relieved about it than anything else. Even if she had been prepared for real questions, she had no idea if she'd be able to pull it off once push came to shove. She really had no references and she'd worked nowhere before so she couldn't give examples about past successes. None of it mattered now, however. She'd gotten the job and that was something to feel proud about.
The first thing that Bra realized as soon as she started working the next day was that four hours simply wasn't enough to learn very much in one session. She'd been assigned to an older brunette lady who was kind and quite patient with her. Any questions Bra had, the woman answered with a long, drawn out explanation. By the next day, she'd started bringing a notebook to write down everything. The lady who she was shadowing, Ms. Grant, oversaw managing the vast databases that CC used on a daily basis. It was a very meticulous job that Bra could see herself growing bored of pretty easily, but she was attentive because it was something she hadn't done before. Each day, she'd be learning something different as well as reiterating what she'd learn previously. Little by little, she was given a bit more to do to assist her.
Bra hardly saw much of Auden Tyga as he was often on different floors of the building attending to other matters and sometimes he wasn't even in the building as he made fairly frequent trips to other parts of the corporation to assist with system issues. He was quite hands on for a director. From what she could tell from her co-workers, he was admired by many and quite well-received. A number of women even had crushes on him, despite it also being widely known that he was unattainable. He abstained from dating and deliberately kept people at armlength—it seemed to add to his charm. Bra didn't particularly see him as charming and hardly understood all the bright smiles that came on a surprising number of women anytime he happened to drop by their work area. While others described him as mysterious, she saw him as an extremely dry individual. Though Bra had to admit, those eyes of his were particularly piercing—she couldn't gaze at him directly for too long. He spoke almost monotonously and had a habit of using non-colloquial words in his speech as if he had more in common with a computer than an actual human being. Bra didn't get the appeal. She also didn't understand how her mother could have ever at one time been attracted to him.
She recalled one time deciding to stay the entire work-day as it had been a particularly busy day and Ms. Grant needed her help—she was hard-pressed to deny someone who was clearly in need and she felt guilty for always leaving work well before anyone else. She'd left with Ms. Grant around five and had seen Auden in the distance likely headed to his car. The girl held onto his hand and she bounced enthusiastically beside him.
"Don't forget to take your pills, Dad," Bra heard Aster say brightly, "Almost missed your time again."
Bra couldn't hear his response as his voice was a great deal lower than the girl's and they were a ways ahead of them.
"Oh, isn't it so cute?" Ms. Grant said as she looked towards the director and his daughter. "Only that girl can so much as grab his hand."
"I guess," Bra said with a shrug, "Isn't it kind of weird though?"
Ms. Grant smiled at her. "Oh, sweetie, he's probably just an introvert—most of us techies are. Maybe they don't have those where you come from."
"No, I know about those kinds of people. It's just..." She didn't finish as she had no idea how to express how odd she thought it was without repeating herself. "Nevermind."
"Well, I'm glad you decided to stay—you've been a real help to me and it's been an honor working with you."
"Oh—Thank you," Bra said not ready for the praise. Had she really done anything worthwhile? All she'd done was follow her instructions.
"You're practically royalty around here, honey. Have a good weekend."
It was Wednesday already and everyone knew that she would be off until next Monday. She looked forward to Wednesday so much that she couldn't see how anyone could actually work a much longer day for five days straight. Part-time was definitely perfect for her. Not to mention having her own money even if her allowance gave her more. Speaking of her allowance, it had lessened since she started working, but she didn't mind. It wasn't as if she paid for anything pressing. Any income she received was basically free money. She had no financial burdens to concern herself with.
"You too, Ms. Grant, once Friday comes around again," Bra said with a smile.
She felt accomplished. She felt more complete. She was the best she'd been in a very long while. Yet her thoughts always returned to Malachi. Now that she was working under Auden, she began to wonder more and more about what it meant to be asexual. It wouldn't hurt to do some research.
When she came home that day, she sat down with her family at dinner. To her surprise, Trunks and Terri had joined them. It was truly a rare occasion. She could see that her brother was in high spirits along with Terri. At first, she was happy because of this, but soon it turned to full-on sadness as she watched the two of them clearly enjoying each other's presence. It was a struggle to keep a pleasant smile on her face the whole time. There was no jealousy on her part just simple, undeniable sadness. She excused herself early claiming she was tired from work and retreated to her bedroom.
They all had been far too happy. Her father had even been on his good behavior and actually held a pleasant conversation with Terri about her writing. It became clear to her that her father had gotten around to reading all her works. She had no idea that her father liked reading in the first place. Her mother had engaged Trunks in more science talk that no one but them could follow. She had felt left out yet she didn't want to ruin such a rare moment with her often chaotic family—they were so content now, so much calmer than what she remembered in the past, almost normal. They had each other. She had no one.
With a sigh, she woke up her laptop and clicked on the browser. In the search bar she typed "asexuality". Then she began to read, starting with the first site that popped up. Hours slipped by easily as she became more and more caught up in the subject. She hadn't realized she'd spend so much time reading about it. Everything she knew and took for granted was being thrown into question. There were so many categories, so many keywords. The personal accounts were what drew her in the most as she read about the perspectives of those dating aces and vice versa. Slowly, she began thinking about Malachi and how he might be described. She ran into roadblocks trying to do so because she simply didn't know enough about him or where he fell on the spectrum. Then, she slammed her laptop shut accidently breaking it in half as anger got the best of her.
Why hadn't anyone ever told her about this? Why was all of this so new to her? She thought she knew so much about people, about things in general, but time and time again she'd been proven wrong. This whole venture, having a job as an intern was exclusively about her learning new things. What if it was the exact opposite? What if she knew very little about people? What if she had no idea how things really worked in the world? What if she was utterly ignorant? How could that be, if she was surrounded, as her brother had put it, by so much technology and information? If this truly was the case, then she had no business trying to make decisions in the first place. She was not only capable of making the wrong decision, but doing it on a constant basis.
Yet she couldn't bring herself to call him and admit that she had been in the wrong, that there was something that she needed to change to make their relationship work and not the other way around. She'd never done that for anything and she loathed to start now. She closed her eyes firmly. She needed to call him, but it couldn't be right now. She wasn't ready. Her pride wouldn't allow her. In her eyes, it was almost an insurmountable task.
She looked up when she heard a light knock on the door—it was her mom.
"Come in," Bra said without hesitation.
The door opened and revealed her mom who wore a concerned look. Bra had wanted to talk to her some days ago, in fact, when she'd first started the job, but she'd been busier than usual for the last few days.
"You left dinner early. Anything wrong, sweetie?" her mother asked.
"Everything's wrong," Bra said with a sigh.
"Want to talk about it?"
Bra shook her head no. "Not right now. I wanted to ask you something though."
Her mother looked at her expectantly waiting for the question.
"Did you tell Trunks about Auden?"
"No," she said with a raised eyebrow, "I doubt my son would be interested in hearing about my past relationships," she said with a grin, "And I only told you because I thought it would help you. Is there something up?"
"Did you know he works for CC?"
"Yeah," she confirmed, "I helped him get a job there. Seemed like he really needed it. He was in a bad place the next time I saw him."
Bra waited for her to say something further, but her mother was finished with her thought. "Well? What happened?"
"Why all the sudden concern? You could barely stand my long-winded story last time. Don't think I didn't notice."
"I'm just curious," Bra said shaking her head, "I wasn't in the mood last time. What happened to him?"
Her mother stepped further into the room and then took a seat on the bed. Bra knew this might be a bit long, but she was prepared for that.
"Alright," her mother said with a sigh, "Since you're so curious. After I was done with all my adventuring with Goku and I began to settle back down again here, I started putting more energy into my work at the corporation. I'd also broken it off with Yamcha by then for the millionth time. I started wondering what had happened to Auden. It's not like we had a terrible break-up. We were pretty amicable and we just went our separate ways. I still had his number, but when I tried to get in contact, the number wasn't working. Probably his phone was turned off. That was pretty concerning, enough for me to actually put some effort into finding him again.
"It wasn't easy, but eventually I found him again residing in a psychiatric hospital."
"Really?" Bra said unable to contain herself.
"Yeah, I know. I had to go see him for myself. I wanted to know what happened and why he was there. The doctor there told me that he was in a perpetual state of catatonic depression and that there was no reason for me to go and see him. The doctor couldn't tell me the circumstances as to why he'd ended up that way as it was confidential. I went anyway and saw him just as I remembered him—that blond hair, those striking eyes of his—only he wore plain patients garb and he was older than when I last saw him, still handsome though. I sat beside him on that bed and he never said a word. He didn't seem to recognize me. He never moved other than to blink every once in a while. And I just, well, I just started crying because I hated seeing him like that. I demanded to know if there was anything that could be done. There had to be something.
"There was medicine he could be taking apparently, but because he had no medical insurance, the hospital was only tasked with giving him the minimal amount of care and that was only because it was something mandated by the government. He'd been in this state of immobility for almost a year, his mental state denigrating after counseling did little to help him. I wanted to help him, I couldn't let him stay like that so I paid for his treatment. They told me electroconvulsive therapy had to be the first step—I didn't like it, but I trusted the doctor to at least know his trade. After that, after he was able to respond well enough to 'external stimuli' as they called it, they began him on pills that would aide in his ability to cope and other things like anxiety and insomnia.
"All of that made a whole lot of difference. I realized when I visited him after the treatment began, that I was the only one looking out for him. There was no else. This visit was different. He recognized me immediately and I almost started crying again. Almost. I was so excited that he could even respond to me that for a while I didn't notice the things that were different about him. As I sat down with him and talked for hours, it became glaringly obvious that he lacked the ability or just didn't want to show any real emotion whether it be through expressions or tone of voice. I hoped that would change eventually, but it didn't. He simply stayed that way.
"He told me everything. After finishing high school with flying colors and with the highest honor, he was headed for college. The full ride that he was expecting, however, didn't actually pay for his lodging and he couldn't afford it himself not to mention all the expenses for books and materials. Living on campus was mandatory unless you lived within the city of the university. His only chance to attend that university was to find someone residing in the city who was willing to let him stay rent free. As you can imagine, that was a tall order, but he managed to find three sympathetic women who let him stay in the living room. He carried few belongings with him and promised that he would begin looking for a job immediately. That was when everything turned south.
"First of all, he received news of his mother passing away—a woman who he loved very much and the only one in the world who cared about him. He'd gone to college so that he might one day be able to take care of her. She'd been battling breast cancer for some time despite not being able to afford the proper treatment. Though it had been in remission, it had returned aggressively and taken her life swiftly. Aside with having to deal with that emotionally, he was also now financially responsible for all the debt she'd long been trying to pay off. He couldn't pay for himself let alone another person's lifetime build-up of debt.
"He was understandably in despair and at the time, he still hadn't landed a job. His studies were grueling and he had to still focus on his schoolwork. To top it off, his once friendly, understanding tenants grew more and more dissatisfied with his inability to pay. They were well-off and he was becoming an eyesore as the year went on. Mind you, Auden hadn't even finished his first year of college yet. By the second year, he'd gotten a job, but it was menial labor and he was paid only a little bit above minimum wage. With no qualifications and no paid internships to turn to, this was all he could do and it was only part-time because that was all he had time for. His wages were being liened as a result of not paying anything towards the debt that was now his. At the end of the day, he had only five dollars to himself each month after paying what he could to the women—a whopping fifty dollars. He never paid for textbooks and was forever asking others to copy pages. Some professors had pity on him and allowed him to borrow a textbook although it wasn't quite the right edition. This mattered a lot in his math classes where changes to the text differed greatly from edition to edition.
"The women he stayed with were a far cry from their disciplined selves in the first year. They were young and completely unburdened. They wanted to enjoy life and socialize so they started throwing parties that grew worse and worse as the year bore on. Most nights, Auden was resigned to hiding away in his room if he wanted to get any sleep. Though he preferred doing his school work at home, he was forced to do it elsewhere because of that. Then one very late Friday night, his three tenants stumbled into his room totally blitzed on whatever drugs they'd been passing around downstairs and they proceeded to making advances towards him.
"Now this is Auden we're talking about—the guy who can't even handle a measly kiss, let alone anything further. Not only did he not like those things, he was physically disgusted by it. What they did next would have been too much for someone who wasn't like that, he was essentially traumatized when they climbed on the bed and began having their way with him."
Bra looked at her mother horrified. "Are you saying that he was…?"
Her mother nodded slowly with a solemn expression. "Repeatedly for a long time. That night broke him completely. He tried to deal with it, to carry on, but it was a losing battle. He went to the police to report them and he had to tell them everything that had happened. An investigation began in earnest, but the thing that really dragged on and on was the case itself because the women were in complete denial. They pointed a finger at how he was living with them without paying them anything and how he was lying simply for his own gains. In the end, the women received a light sentence of probation simply because their lawyer was far better than the court appointed one for him. He, however, ended up with even more debt because the women were able to win a separate case about his negligence on paying them. All of this had disrupted his schooling and he was on the verge of dropping out altogether. Were it not for a kind professor, the very same one who had let him borrow a textbook that year, he would have been homeless. By then, he'd also lost his job after missing too many days. The professor who took him in also taught his Computer Science II class and she paid for him to go see a psychiatrist.
"But the daily sessions did little for him. It became harder and harder to focus and his mental state continued to decline until he could no longer do for himself. That was how I found him. He had no idea what happened to that professor, but clearly that person was no longer around. After I heard all that, I had to do everything in my power to help him, to make sure he was taken care of. I didn't ply him with questions immediately. I just kept visiting him at the hospital until the doctor released him on his own cognizant. I paid for a place for him to stay and I told him I would find him a good job at CC. He was worried about not having any real experience or anything of significance that would help him find a good job. I told him not to worry anymore that I would take care of him. It was hard to say if he was happy about that or not, but he accepted my help.
"While I was in the process of speaking with a few people at work trying to find the perfect place for him, he called me out of the blue at night. He told me more about the three women. Two of them had gotten pregnant from the activities of that night. One of them had gotten an abortion another carried the child to full term and immediately sent her off to foster care. He'd not been able to claim custody because of his mental state, but now he really wanted to make an effort in raising the child. I told him he needed to, at least, have a job first if he was going to convince anyone that he was capable of taking care of a child."
"And all this is happening a long time ago, right? More than twelve years."
"Definitely more than twelve years. Anyways, I found him a job at the IT department and I made sure he was paid well for his efforts. Despite never finishing college, he really proved his worth. He was a hard worker just like I knew him to be back in high school. He was able to adopt that child as well and from then on I left him to his own devices."
"So, as long as he takes those pills he's completely fine? He lives happily ever after?" Bra asked.
"Well, something like that. If you call having to rely on mind-altering medication just to function, happily ever after, then sure."
"Have you seen him recently?"
"Not really, Bra. He's still employed at CC as far as I know. Now that I think about it, maybe I should check up on him. See how he's doing."
"I keep seeing him with a kid who everyone calls his daughter. That can't be the same girl that you were talking about."
"Wait a minute, you've seen him?" her mother asked.
"Whoops…that slipped out. He's my boss at the IT department. I just wanted to know a few more things about him because he's a bit weird."
"Still using that word 'weird'. You would think someone in your shoes would hesitate to describe someone like that. You know most don't even think that there are entire races of people that don't reside on Earth? Yet you live with that proof every day. You are that proof along with Machi, along with Jensen. If anything, Auden is remarkably normal compared to you. I've sheltered you a bit so that I could keep you safe and away from the judging, prying eyes of the public. You've always been protected by wealth and having that last name. At least in this city, it's not likely anyone would bother you. You take away those things and you're presented with a world that may not be all roses and sunshine. If anything we are as far removed from 'normal' as one could get."
Bra realized after a moment, that her mother was right. All the things that appeared abnormal in her eyes was likely nothing compared to how she might appear to other people if they knew. Malachi knew and he had still accepted her without even a question. It wasn't something she had told him straight away and he didn't even believe her when she said it, but that made him no less interested in her. He embraced her completely, even went out of his way to understand the world that she lived in. She wondered if she had done the same for him, if she had afforded him the same kind of understanding. She knew the answer to that.
"By the way, convenient not telling me you worked with him before having me tell you all that. It's a bit personal, I would appreciate you not relaying it to him. He never told me to keep such things to myself, but it doesn't seem right that that kind of thing should be told to others. I'm telling you this in confidence, alright?"
Bra grinned knowingly at her. "I was just curious. Really curious. Every time I come to work, I'm lovingly 'greeted' by his so-called daughter. I have no idea what the deal is with her."
"Who knows?" her mother said with a shrug. "Adoption is still certainly a thing. You've seen him recently. How does he seem these days?"
"I don't know—he seems fine. He's pretty popular where he works though and he seems to get along well with everyone. I had an interview with him and he was super straight to the point."
"Sounds like him," her mother said with a chuckle. "I'm glad it doesn't look like people are giving him a hard time."
"Not while being surrounded by other nerds, all who are really into their computers and coding."
"Nerds? And what does that make me?"
"You do all the cool building stuff not like what we do at work."
"And are you enjoying your time there?" her mother asked.
"It's not bad," Bra admitted, "Everyone's pretty welcoming and everyone's willing to help me out."
"I would imagine so. I'm sure everyone's on their best behavior around you."
"Because of who I am?" Bra asked catching on.
"Now you're getting it," her mother said as she stood up. "You just remember that when you notice so many people being so nice to you and when every door seems to open with little effort on your part. Cherish the people who aren't afraid to challenge you and call you out when you're doing something wrong."
Bra watched as her mother made her way to the entrance of her room.
"Well, I've done enough talking for tonight. Let's hope your laptop will fare better in the future."
Bra looked down almost completely forgetting the mangled device. It reminded her of all the mistakes she'd ever made and how there was still so much she didn't know. When she looked up again, her mother had disappeared. For the time being, she was left to herself.
