A/N: Hi there, you cute little beans. Did you miss me?
I missed you. Really, I did. I mean, I know you didn't miss me because I didn't give you time to miss me. If this were last year's NaNo season, then you'd miss me. But that's here nor there. How are we doing? Doing good? That's good to hear. Look, I'm sorry about that hella cliffhanger from last week, but that's what we're here for now. And if you're curious, we can talk NaNo stats at the end, but let's get down to it, yeah? Okie dokie!
She didn't deserve a single ounce of my respect. We could sit here for as long as it too. In silence, if we had to. Victoria sat across from me, staring like I was some kind of alien. Was she expecting me to do fucking tricks? This bitch would be sorely disappointed. I wasn't bending to her. I'm sorry, Mama, but how the hell did you come from that? Even you understood. She's a bitch. I needed to get out of here. And now would be a hell of a time. The smell of her Chanel perfume was suffocating.
"Reila…" Victoria broke the uncomfortable silence. She's going to talk to a brick wall, "Why do you hate me?"
"Because," I shrugged, keeping things short and blunt. The less I have to talk to her, the better, "I hate you. You're a bitch. Next obvious question."
"What did I say about you using language like that?" she scolded me with her undeserved sense of self righteousness. It's sad that she thinks she has any sort of power over me.
"Is this your pathetic attempt at a shakedown?" I kicked my feet up on the table between us, "Because I've been through much worse. This is practically child's play. Hell, even when I was little, I've gotten worse than this."
"That's what worries me," Victoria gasped, "Reila, you shouldn't have been through anything like this at all."
"Yet here we are," I pointed out, "Kind of like how a nine year old little girl shouldn't have to testify in a custody hearing while grieving her mother. Hey! You put me through that, too! Irony's a bitch, isn't it?"
"This is your father speaking," she scoffed, "He's brainwashed you, turned all I have left of my daughter against me."
"No," I corrected her, "You did that all on your own, Victoria. You could give two shits less about me. I'm practically furniture to you. I'm something you could show off to your friends. You'd tell them all about how you lost your daughter to mafia violence and rescued your granddaughter from it to raise as your own. You know, like the good, little Samaritan you pretend to be. It's what Vanessa would've wanted, right? How's that? But then, once they all turned their backs, I'd get shoved aside until it suited you again. You don't want your granddaughter back in your life, Victoria. You want a bargaining chip. You want something to rub in Francisco Mendoza's face to say you won. To say you have power over one of the biggest bosses New York has ever seen. And you're willing to take a little girl away from her daddy to satisfy your own ego. No. Fuck you. I'm not going anywhere."
"Of course not, Reila," Victoria tried to play the role of the loving grandmother. However, she lacked the heart to pull it off, so…Shooting herself in the foot.
"Really?" I gave her a look, "You're just going to pretend I'm not caught up in the middle of a twenty year long grudge match between you and Daddy? Bold mood, Victoria. Bold move."
"Just once," she begged, "One time…would it kill you to call me Grandma?"
"Only on the inside." But it kills her even more to not get the satisfaction. And that's what makes it all totally worth it.
"I see this is going to be a process," Victoria let it go, "You don't understand, sweetheart. Your mother would've wanted better for you. If she knew this is what you would've become, do you really think she would let you stay with him? Of course not. Because she knows you deserve better."
"And shaking me down is totally the solution," I called the bitch out on her hypocritical bullshit.
"Simply the means to an end."
"No," I would've gotten up if she didn't have me shackled to the chair, "It wasn't."
"It'd be the only way you'd understand," Victoria justified, "I just wanted to use a language familiar to you."
"People who attempt shaking me end up going missing and don't get found."
"But…"
"And people who try to use the death of my mother against me?" I growled, a fire burning in my eyes, "Those are the lowest fucking pieces of shit to walk the face of this Earth. Don't you ever fucking use my mother against me again…Or it'll be your own funeral."
"This may be more of a process than I thought," Victoria sighed out, "No matter. I'm a patient woman. And I see you're going to require all of it."
"That makes one of us," I snapped, "Now, let me go, you bitch!"
"Reila…" she took in a sharp, angry breath, "We're going to get some dinner. Hopefully, once your blood sugar evens out, you'll prove to be a little less snappy. Maybe regain your rational thinking."
I was kind of hungry. She robbed me of my pizza and my eighth viewing of Goodfellas (What can I say? I was feeling homesick. It was one of my favorites that Daddy and I liked to nitpick at the inaccuracies.). Maybe I could slip her. If I could slip someone like Roy, I'm sure I could slip this bitch, "Alright, Victoria. Let's get dinner."
"See?" the bitch perked up, "Was that so difficult? It's not like you had much of a choice anyway, but it's nice to see you're cooperating. Go get dressed."
"Ok," I obliged. With one stipulation, "Does that mean I get to go home first?"
"Oh, no, no," Victoria shook her head, "You don't think I would already have something for you? Reila, I'm so disappointed. Of course I would."
Balls. I needed to play along. Show her what she wanted to see and pull the rug out from under her. Then, I can watch the bitch fall and bust a fucking hip. A girl can hope, "Fine. Where is it?"
"It's waiting in the bathroom," she nudged me along, undoing my cuffs, "And Reila…You'd be wise to behave yourself. You and your father are…for some ungodly reason…close. I'm sure you'd hate for something to happen to him."
My blood ran cold from the acidity that rolled off her lips. She's bluffing. She had to be. This bitch wouldn't get near a hundred miles of Daddy. She knows the kind of power he has. Not to mention, she loathes the man. Whether she's bluffing or not, I don't want to put Daddy at risk. So, for now, I'll play nice. Victoria knew my weak spot. And it was a card she won't hesitate to play. From a strategic standpoint, it was a good move. As her biological granddaughter, fuck her.
I walked into the bathroom and found the garment bag hanging on the back of the door. So far, so good. That is until I unzipped the bag. Fuck this day (This part of it, anyway. Not the beginning part. That, I could live over again instead of this bullshit.). Fuck Victoria. Fuck the contents of this bag. Because the giant pastel peach explosion in this bag needed to meet the business end of a blowtorch. I know I said I had come around to the idea of ruffles since I moved to Tokyo, but I still had my limits. This not only met my limit, but exceeded it tenfold.
Remember why you're playing nice, Rei. Daddy's on the line. Although, I'm surprised Victoria is going right for the throat. If it were me, I'd play with my prey first. Then again, when it came to shit like this, I could be a little sadistic. If she had someone following me, she knows I have friends. Take them out of play first, so I'm totally isolated. Maybe whoever was tailing me didn't find them important. Amateur. You have the money, Victoria. Why wouldn't you have hired professionals for a job like this? Like I said. Amateur.
Nevertheless, I put this fucking monstrosity on and walked back out to Victoria. I could throw up right now. If I do that, maybe she'll let me rest in my own bed. Not only would I not have to be seen in public in this god awful dress, but I could jump down the fire escape and call Ritsu. I'm sure he'd be more than happy to let me crash on the compound and I'd be one hundred percent protected. Or knowing my luck, Victoria would call the cops for kidnapping. Given that the name Kasanoda would be dropped, I'm sure it wouldn't be too farfetched of a story.
"There," I threw up my hands in defeat, putting on a show for her, "How's this?"
"You're adorable, Reila!" Victoria squeaked, "Although, you'd be so much cuter if you had a smile on your face. Besides, that has to be much better than your sweatpants."
"Totally." Who wants to be in comfortable sweatpants and kicked back on the couch when I could wear a rib crushing corset and the pelt of a fucking Care Bear? I wish I had a bottle of wine and my sweatpants back. That'd be so much better than this.
"I'm glad to hear that," she ran her fingers through my hair, sending chills down my spine, "Such a shame, Reila…It used to be so long and so pretty…"
Coming from the reason why I cut my hair in the first place. She'd shit herself if she knew I had extensions in my bathroom. That would mean I'd get to go back to my penthouse. That would make me happy. God forbid if Victoria would allow me the satisfaction of a little fleck of joy. Ha. Although, any thoughts I had of growing my hair back out just went out the window, so I had that going for me. Ritsu and I had talked about it, but…Not yet. Maybe one day. When Victoria's pushing daisies…
"I cut it for a reason," I backed off, hoping she'd get the message that no means no. If the past was any indication of that, it wouldn't.
"There's no reason for you to be a brat, Reila," Victoria finally came out to play, showing her true, bitter, bitchy nature. Her grip on my wrist tightened. Water aerobics must really be working wonders because it feels like she could break my wrist if she wanted to. But then, she loosened her grip, "Come on."
I was thrown into the back of a ritzy town car (much like my own. Only this one didn't have the driver I once found annoying as hell, but now, I'd give my right pinky for him to be here.) and brought to what looked like Omotesando. Ritsu did always say this would be like Tokyo's version of Manhattan. This was definitely the high end of town. I should've known Victoria would've brought me somewhere like this. Heaven forbid she mingled amongst the commonwealth.
When we walked into the restaurant, I could hardly see in front of me. Did they not pay their light bill or was I just so used to the fluorescents of the ramen shop? It had been a while since I last saw a wickedly nice restaurant that felt the need to keep their lights dimmed like this. Even the place in Karuizawa Ritsu took me to had better lighting than this. And probably better food, too. The two of us were seated immediately in a quiet and intimate corner of the restaurant.
And now, we wait. How long until the uncomfortable silence between Victoria and me becomes so unbearable for her? Because if there was one thing I was good at in this world, it was keeping quiet when I needed to. And I knew for a fact that Victoria loathed uncomfortable silences. More than Daddy. That was saying something. I wouldn't even keep eye contact with her longer than a second or two. If I were to sit here and pout, it'd only give her a reason to yell at me. In all honesty, I was looking for ways out.
I could hammer the heel of my shoe into Victoria's shin (Ideally, it'd be her eye socket, but I didn't have that kind of time.) and haul ass to the nearest exit. But that would lack a certain elegance. I did have a reputation to uphold. And having an escape be based on such a cheap shot would tarnish the family name. Granted, I was known for being kind of scrappy, but for a bitch like Victoria, I'd have something special in mind. At least I'd have to. I could always do a classic, 'what's over there?' scenario, but we're not children. I mean, I know I'm still technically children, but I haven't been children for years. Let's be honest.
"You know, Reila…" And we have the break in the silence, "It really is lovely seeing you again."
"Please," I shot her down, "Can we not do small talk?"
"Alright." Huh. I wasn't expecting Victoria to be so cool with that. It made me wonder where the other shoe was dropping. Besides, I knew that bitch was lying through her teeth. Like I said earlier, she could give two shits less about me. I might be her blood, but there was no fucking way I was her family. She burned that bridge, "If you're not going to indulge me with a little polite conversation, we might as well get down to brass tacks then."
Victoria dug in her bag and plopped down a manila envelope half an inch thick. The name on it made my stomach turn. Some lawyers from back home. I didn't even have to open them to know what was inside, "What's this all about?"
"You need to sign those, Reila," she demanded, "No need to read them over. My attorney has already gone over them with a fine toothed comb. It's airtight."
"What are they?" I growled. She knew it. I knew it. I wanted to hear this bitch say it. I wanted her to realize exactly what she's doing.
"You're smarter than that," Victoria pointed out, her claws fully out, "You know what those are."
"Pretend like I don't," I reiterated, "What are they? I don't want to ask again."
"They're adoption papers, Reila," she confessed, "You put your signature on those papers. I take immediate custody of you. You leave Japan and come home with me. End of story."
"So, that's what this is all about," I figured, "You getting me just so you can rub it in Daddy's face. And since I'm in Japan and he's still in the States, you'd get me all to yourself. He wouldn't be able to step in to say no. Since I'm at the age where I could make the decision, no matter what Daddy says, getting me alone would be your best bet at what you didn't get six years ago."
"See?" Victoria praised, "I knew you were smarter than that."
"Anyone ever tell you you're fucked up?" I wondered.
"Language, Reila…" she snapped. Oddly enough, in my search of a way out, I saw the ear of one of the waiters perk up. I might have an ally here.
"Excuse me," I rolled my eyes, "Let me speak much more properly like a goddamn lady. Forgive me for not being too fucking keen on the bullshit that's going down right now."
"All it would take is one phone call," Victoria threatened, "Just one. And you'd end up an orphan."
Immediately, I shut my mouth. Have I mentioned how much I fucking hate this bitch? It'd be an unfortunate accident if someone slipped with a large knife in their hand and fell into Victoria. It'd be a damn shame, "Alright…I'll be quiet."
"Good," she praised, a sadistic grin on her face. And she wonders why I hate her, "It really was easy getting you alone, Reila. Much easier than you'd think. All it took was a little push to some of the local families. This one said this. This one said that. It's amazing how they all have a hive mind. And of course, Francisco, predictable as ever, was going to want his little girl out of the heavy crossfire. So what else would he do but send her away out of everyone's reach? It took a while to figure out where, but when things started popping up in Japan about you, it didn't take an Einstein to put two and two together."
"Hold on," I stopped her, my blood already boiling, "You started the infighting…?"
"Not me, personally," Victoria clarified, "That'd mean having to deal with them. Although, it was enough to keep Francisco distracted, so…Win-win, I guess."
"Those are still people," I gasped, "They're still families like anyone else. You single handedly pit brother against brother, blood against blood, for the sake of this feud between you and my father. You're toying with lives of people you don't even know for the sake of giving him busy work and you don't have a single ounce of remorse?"
"Well, sweetheart," she took my hand, twiddling her fingers in the charms on my bracelet, "To make an omelet, you do need to break a few eggs. Like I said, the means to an end."
"This isn't an omelet, Victoria," I growled, snatching my hand away, "These are people. Human beings. Damage that may or may not be able to be fixed. Does that not bother you?"
"I'm doing what I have to for the sake of my family," Victoria glared, "Don't tell me you wouldn't do the same."
"You're one twisted bitch," I stood my ground, pushing the envelope back toward her. Where did that waiter go?
"And you're falling down the same path your mother did," she pushed back, "Trust me, Reila. You deserve so much better. And I don't want you to meet the same bitter fate she did. Can't you see I'm trying to protect you?"
"You'd be a fate worse than death." She wasn't the only one with claws at this table. Although, she didn't have teeth as sharp as mine to go with them, "I like what I have now. I got a comfortable penthouse in Japan. I have a father that loves me unconditionally. What more could I want?"
"What about a chance at a future?" Victoria argued, "Because if you stay with him, you won't have that."
"I know what my future holds," I assured, "And it's running the Mendoza family like a well-oiled machine and keeping things peaceful in the underground. None of that involves you."
"Excuse me," the waiter came back with a bottle of wine, "Could I fill your glass?"
"Thank you," Victoria covered her glass, "But I'm fine."
"Please, ma'am. It's complimentary."
"Well," she allowed, "Alright then."
As the wine was being poured, the waiter jerked a little, splashing the wine all over me, "Oh, no! I'm so sorry!"
"It's alright," I let it go, "I'm fine."
"No, it's not," Victoria scoffed, "Reila, have a spine. It's not ok! Honestly, one would think somewhere this nice would be able to hire competent staff."
"It's my first day, ma'am," our waiter begged for mercy, "I really am sorry. Please. Come with me. I can take care of that."
"Ok," I obliged, "I'll be right back."
"Yes," Victoria growled, "You will."
I followed our waiter to a spot of the restaurant that was sufficiently out of Victoria's eyesight. Without another words, I threw my arms around my savior, "I've never been so happy to see you in my life, Haruhi."
"Are you ok?" she worried, "You look like you're going to throw up."
"I could right now," I admitted, "Do you ever remember me talking about my grandmother on my mom's side?"
"Yeah," Haruhi nodded, "I figured you were in a place you didn't want to be, so I might have made some phone calls."
"I fucking love you," I wasn't letting her go, "Who did you call?"
"Kyoya-senpai," she filled me in, "If anyone's going to get you out of something like this in this kind of setting, it's him."
"No, no," I shook my head, "I know someone a little better."
"I overheard something in the owner's office a few days ago," Haruhi went on, "He said something about paying their monthly fees. And I don't think they were talking about their power bill. Someone's coming to collect tonight."
"Mmm…" I smiled, "Smells like home. Could you do me a huge favor and call Ritsu for me?"
"Of course," she nodded, "What should I tell him?"
"That I'm ok," I ordered, "And that I love him. And that my bitch grandmother's in town."
"Got it," Haruhi checked me over, "Are you sure you're ok, Rei?"
"I'm pissed off," I reported, "But it's nothing I've never handled before."
She's going to regret going for the throat…
A/N: We haven't been able to see much of the fighty side of Rei in this story yet. And I'm kind of glad she's stepping up. We've heard stories, but now, we're going to see it up close and personal. Although, she's definitely going up against an amateur. Or so she thinks. I'm going to be honest, I've met people like her grandmother before. They are not pleasant people. Inspiration really does come from everywhere.
Oh…You did want to hear about my NaNo stats? If you didn't, this isn't a section for you and I'll see you next week, but for now, how about some stats. I finished with a little over 109,000 words. I finished the story three weeks into it and it'll be up on FictionPress if you're interested. If you want more plot and information on it, just ask. Now, I'll see you next chapter! xx