Thank you for all the lovely reviews!
13teen: Please don't hate me.
Page of Pentacles: I'm so glad that you liked it! I'm always worried about keeping Kyoya in character if I'm being honest.
Mo: I thought it was time. The bet served its purpose.
Chapter Twenty-Three: Monsters and Bears - Oh my!
It always amused me to think about the monsters from my childhoods. Trapped inside the barely worn pages of a fairytale book that some nameless governess or maid had been paid to read me. The big bad wolf. A disfigured hunchback with a nefarious mind. A ghoul. A goblin. All things thrilling and terrifying because my little mind couldn't even imagine the monstrosity of these creatures leaping into my - albeit cold - but glamorous world.
And then I grew up. And all of the monsters of my childhood paled in comparison to the real monsters in the world.
"Mr. Locksley, I'm sure you've heard this many times before but this location is simply to die for."
The monster of my current hour was dressed in an all-black cashmere dress which displayed an impressive amount of cleavage. A matching ebony overcoat accented in fox fur lay draped across her shoulders in a way that screamed chill with a side of unbothered elegance. True to form, she had made Renge and I wait for an additional 15 minutes in the limo so that we had been 30 minutes late to our allotted meeting. Not my first instinct when visiting one of our fastest-growing stores in Japan but my mother was always one to dazzle.
Now she was positioned in front of our branch manager like a dog positioned just out of reach from a toy that they particularly wanted.
"Why are you letting her take the lead on this?" Renge hissed, her nails digging into the fabric of her ruffled baby blue dress. She had been ramrod straight the whole drive, listening in tight-lipped silence as our mother had tried and failed to flatter us into the forgetting that the last five years of our lives had been spent virtually parent-less.
I on the other hand had put on the blandest smile imaginable, my body lax as I pretended to take everything my mother said in with gratitude. I can't remember the exact age that I realized that all my mother really wanted from her children was polished acceptance. Whether she yelled or whispered, all of her moods and statements needed to be met with calm appreciation. No over-reactions or shows of objection. It was easier this way. Less disappointment for both of us.
I took a deep breath, speaking lowly as Mister Locksley's eyes flicked to me with worried curiosity. He had only known my voice in these last years of business and now...well, I'm sure it was jarring to realize that the captain of your ship was actually just the first mate. "Mother wanted to speak to him herself. This is her company-"
"Bull. Shit." Renge spat venomously and I didn't miss the stiffening of my mother's shoulders. My back tensed in response. Renge seemed undeterred, steam rolling from her in hot bursts as she turned fully toward me. "You know who has been running this whole thing. I do. Dad does. And mother does as well. Hell, even this manager knows by the way he's been eyeing you-"
"What do you want me to do?" I didn't mean for it to sound so earnest. Or so sad. My sisters gaze immediately softened, her hand reaching out as if to-
"I know-" She was talking louder now, her voice wordlessly carrying the message that we needed to either shut up or get the hell out of here. We were being an embarrassment. I shut my mouth, the hands clasped demurely in front of me clenching even more. "How ravishing our food can be but have we talked to you about expanding the cafe into the boutique? We all know that the majority of the sales come from the clothing offer."
Mr. Locksley's eyes darted to me once more, a sort of confused indignation starting to bubble in his gaze. I stiffened, dread starting to tighten my gut. He was one of our more innovative owners, throwing out branding ideas in a way that made me desperate to keep him where he was. The answer was simple: the cost to expand would have been greater than the profit. As it was, the area was a wide-open sphere of a structure, located high above the forest below and made almost completely of glass and wood. Even now, the screams of a dozen or more tourists and residence burst across the treetops and into the coffee-stained air. Zip-lining was a treasure trove in a location as picturesque as this one and all that people usually wanted were the different teas and lattes offered at our cafe, the bitter winds of soaring making them crave something warm.
"Um… well, I thought we had already discussed-" Mr. Locksley started again and I shut my eyes tightly as my mother once again cut him off.
"Apparently not enough." She made it sound soothing but her meaning was anything but. "My vision-"
I stepped forward, my skin crawling beneath the stiff mask of polite satisfaction that I smoothed on. I could almost feel my sister's smug glee. The calico gaze of my mother lasered onto me. I hated this. I hated that I had to do this.
"Mr. Locksley," I said smoothly and the older man's face eased into a tentative smile. "I couldn't stop myself from congratulating you on another year as our front-runner for profit again. How many years is that?"
"Three, now." His chest expanded, his cheeks going rosy as he seemed to inflate from the sudden gratitude. "But really I think it all has to do with your willingness to allow us a few daring leaps with table design and pastries."
"It's a new world," I mused, tilting my head. "People care much more about the visuals than they did in years past. I'm just amazed that you were able to enhance that component without compromising in the area of taste. I truly commend you."
His cheeks somehow got redder, a hand rubbing along his nape. "Well…"
"Ko-" My mother's voice always sounded syrupy moments before she made grown men cry.
"We have considered expanding - I believe it was around the time that you took over for your predecessor?" At his nod, I continued. "Of course, I still remember the conversation. You brought up a very good point: that most of the people who come here are tourists or weekend residents. They come for the thrill and the warm drinks and then they pack their suitcases and go back home. A full boutique with our clothing would be a waste of resources - a waste of money. If anything a t-shirt, maybe a hat but no one wants to go down the treeline with a full shopping cart."
There was a tense silence which I filled with more smiling and Mr. Locksley filled with more nodding. And my mother filled with seething.
I continued on, giving him one of my broader smiles. "What my mother was inquiring was whether or not that need had changed since our last discussion?"
My mother wasn't gentle in her dismissal. She stepped in front of me like I was a lost dog trying to get into her house.
"That was amazing," Renge whispered, looking more delighted than I had seen her since our mother had arrived.
I didn't speak for the rest of the meeting, staying in the tiny corner that our mother had carved for us. It was easy to fall into the role of a perfect daughter once more. So easy that it frightened me.
"Well… that was quite enlightening," mother breezed as we finally stepped out into the afternoon glow, the meeting a catastrophic memory. Her amber gaze snapped to me, the smile tugging up her perfect, fill lips sharp as any dagger before it flayed flesh. "Who knew that my little girl would grow to be so...discerning about business?"
I couldn't help the slight furrowing of my brow, the lump of cold steel that was creeping up my windpipe. While she had been on a yacht in Greece, I had been floundering. It hadn't been easy those first years. The Houshakuji family had been hemorrhaging money from so many wounds that I could barely see through all the blood. Children want to kiss and eating cake batter right out of the bowl. At the bare minimum, I wanted to sleep away my high school years. At the maximum, maybe apply to college and figure out whether I wanted to be homeless or jobless for the next five years of my life. And now this empire was set in front of me - huge, mammoth in all its funds and resources.
I had been terrified of the men and women who had whispered things behind my back. Terrified of the people who wanted to put strings on me and watch how I danced. Terrified of how big the world was and realizing just how small I really was.
So to say that I had suddenly grasped the essence of business - well, that was just a slap in the face, wasn't it?
As if I had had a choice.
As if I hadn't nearly drowned those first years. Some days the pressure was so great that I would stop, a pen still poised over a signature box or schedule. My body would shut down, my eyes still seeing, my breath still humming from me but everything else...gone. Like a shell that had been vacated. I would stop and force myself not to think. Not to move. If I wasn't alive right then… The next time I blinked, darkness would have already seeped through the curtains, the night inky beyond my window. And I would turn on my lamp and begin writing again - unable to stop until I had filled out the necessary papers, unable to sleep until I knew that I wasn't condemning my family and a million others who worked beneath me to poverty.
Enlightening? Discerning? I nearly scoffed. "I worked very hard."
"Mmm," my mother hummed, sliding into the back of the limo. "Well, your father and I always did say that we raised you right." Beside me, Renge stiffened. I could feel the gap between us starting to yawn open again, my mother's smile dazzling in the dim lights of the car. "Now I know that we left you in charge for a bit to stretch your legs, so to speak as the head of our company but, darling you must let the adults play."
My molars ground, something inside of me crumbling at her words. My reality crashed - something blinking off and on inside of me. Was I…? Had I been wrong? I mentally calculated the time that had passed between my fall into the head position. Had she been there-?
Renge's nails dug into my arm, her eyes deadly as she stared across the small space at our mother. Who wore the bemused expression of a cat eyeing an unguarded bird.
She was looking at me.
My jaw locked. No. She had abandoned us. Both of them had taken off right when they could.
"Ko took care of every boutique, cafe, resort, and tea kettle for years while you and father went from one hookah lounge to the next." I had never heard her sound more venomous.
Our mother grinned, her smile serpentine as a single auburn curl fell across her brow. "Oh, Renge. You always were more of a...free-spirit, weren't you, my dove?" Her eyes narrowed, calculating. Against me, I felt Renge stiffen at the nickname. "Did you help your sister with everything? It must have been a heavy load."
The words hit Renge with the accuracy and force of a blow from someone 100 pounds over her. Air wooshed from her in a burst, her face paling to the color of wrung sheets.
Slowly, my mother's eyes drifted over to me once more, a softness gracing her usual facade. Her eyes showed sympathy. "Oh, my poor Ko. How alone you must have felt."
Air clawed its way from me, the limo suddenly seeming too small and too dark for all three of us. My gaze snapped to the tinted windows, taking in the rapidly passing trees. There wasn't enough space between all of us - the bodies of my sister and mother seeming too big for the seats. My knee jerked colliding with Renge's who flinched back, her gaze dancing from mine to the ceiling to the floor to just over our mother's shoulder. Oh god-
Fingers bit into my chin, forcing my eyes to the penetrating calico gaze of my mother. "Breathe, mon chou. You always were so nervous. Just breathe."
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