My Aspiration
Author's Note: I'm finally back! I didn't count on taking about two months for not updating, but I haven't forgotten this yet. Throws herself at your mercy
Disclaimer: I, Candide Avedo, do not own anything that has to do with Beyblade.
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Her Love
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Mariah stared at the golden embossed envelope, her finger twiddling on the wax seal with anticipation. Carefully she prised the lid open, pulling out an ivory card. Shiny, gold, curly writing sparked her interest, and after squinting at the letters, barely made out their names on the top.
To: Mariah and Ray Kon;
You are happily invited to a wedding ceremony which would take place on the 28th
of October. This special occassion shall bring together and unite the Young miss Queen,
and Mr. Daniel Steinerstauch.
We hope that you could make it to this specified date, and will await you reply by mail.
Mariah let the words sink into her mind.
Outside, Ray returned home, just finishing his daily morning ritual. The whole thing consisted of the early morning yoga, and a couple of laps around a small lake; one that their house looked right over. He revelled in the smell of newly made breakfast, and coffee. It was a cozy house, just in the outskirts of a nearby city. Nothing but peace and quiet.
"What!"
Most of the time, at least.
His wife's voice echoed throught their home, kicking in his instincts to hurry over to his pregnant wife. One can never be too careless.
Panic soon subsided as he located Mariah, sitting on their couch, holding the invitation in the air, jaw dropped open in obvious surprise. Dare he ask? Hell, why not?
"Mariah?"
His wife turned to him, her plump belly sprinkled with drops of tears freshly fallen from her eyes. Pregnant women were prone to overreaction many times; This was not new. Surely she was in her-Trimester something or other.
"Yes?" Mariah wiped a tear from her eye, smiling widely at him.
"Is there something wrong?" he gently asked, plopping himself on the couch beside her.
"I-I can't believe it."
"What can't you believe?"
"Queen's getting married!" Mariah's eyes brimmed with tears once again, crinkling the envelope which was enclosed in her free hand.
"Are you kidding me?" Ray laughed, poking at his wife teasingly and enjoying the definite squirm and giggle emitting from her.
"Would I be kidding if I'm acting like this?" Mariah shove the letter under his nose, moving away from the threatening finger.
Ray shrugged. "I don't know, you've been acting like this for some time now, who knew if you weren't?" He read the letter, folding it carefully before setting it down on a small side table. "So, are we going?"
"Of course, silly. Why wouldn't we?" she wiped her tears on his shirt, and leaving the envelope on the table. Laboriously she stood up, inching away from the coffee table, and heading over to the kitchen, where the dirty dishes were rusting through.
He placed the letter back in it's envelope. Replying by mail would be easy. But right now, his breakfast was waiting.
"Ray, a little help, please? I can't reach beyond the sink."
-
Hilary frowned at the scene before her. Only a week had passed after their six-day long honeymoon to Tahiti, and now they were beginning to settle themselves down. Apparently, was not what she meant by "settling" themselves down. Hilary stole away to the small convenience store and get some of the personal toiletries that she had forgotten, entrusting Tyson with the unpacking. Unfortunately, his version of unpacking had her nerves tense up.
They had recently bought a two bedroom bungalow, which included a small front garden that needed quite a bit of work. All of the rooms had been remodelled sometime ago as well, by the last couple that had a growing family. Hilary sighed. Maybe someday they will move away, like the last couple that had once lived here.
It was too soon, and she needed to whip that husband of hers into shape.
Boxes lay forgotten, their contents strewn about the floor of the living room, and right into the kitchen. Clothes were poorly folded on the couch that Kai had sent them, still in it's original plastic wrapping. Piles of books were piled dangerously over the small coffee table, waiting to fall on the unsuspecting soul to upset it. What's worse, was that she couldn't find a trace of Tyson anywhere. It was too quiet. One couldn't be able to tell whether they were packing, or moving in.
"TYSON!" Hilary yelled, her voice no doubt reaching the two bedrooms, two bathrooms, kitchen, and living room of their home.
Finally, Tyson came out, with a sheepish grin on his face. He popped out of the kitchen, holding a box of what looked like donuts from the day before.
"Heh, welcome home." he made to give her a kiss, but Hilary dodged him, shaking her head.
"Tyson, as glad as I am to see you trying to help me, you're actually making it worse. Couldn't you just have waited for me?" Hilary picked up a small stainless pot off the floor, and placed it on the table.
"I wanted it to be a surprise." Tyson smiled, taking the grocery bag from her hands. "I just got hungry, so I had to stop and take a break." he tried to steal another kiss, but Hilary swiftly moved away, this time picking up a bra off the floor, and placing it on the couch, along with the other clothes.
"Great, now that you've taken your break, it wouldn't hurt if you helped me now, would it?"
Tyson scratched his head. "Yeah, well, see, I was thinking, since I already did the hardest job and unpacked, I was hoping you could finish the rest."
Rolling her eyes, Hilary shoved a pile of books in front of him, and sneered. "Nice try."
"What do you mean?" asked Tyson innocently, tilting his head to the side. Then, he grinned. "Oh, I see."
"Yes, I'm glad you see it that way. Now, are you going to help me or not?" Hilary bent down to pick up some more clothes from the floor, when she felt a presence behind her. She made to shove the clothes into his arms, but she only came face to face with his chest. "T-Tyson? Are you going to help me, or not?"
"Sure I will." he loomed over her, taking the clothes from her arms, making her drop them to the ground once more. He stared down keeping a straight face and fighting a laugh as Hilary stared nervously up at him.
"T-Tyson?"
"Hilary, you need to relax." Tyson inched his hands up her back, slowly bringing her closer to him. She shivered, but did not decline. The intoxicating scent of his light cologne rendered her useless.
"I do?" Hilary flushed. "What do you mean?"
"I think you know what I mean." Tyson leaned his head down, grasping both of her wrists in his hands. "Do you?"
Hilary tilted her head back, as Tyson bit gently at her neck. She unwillingly flushed darker, wondering if he wanted her to reciprocate. He pressed himself to her lightly, placing her wrists behind her back, not letting go, continuing his administrations to her neck. Hilary sighed, throwing all thoughts aside as she pulled her wrists from his grasp, only to replace them on his head, hoping that he wouldn't stop.
"Hm, Tyson, stop."
"Why?" said Tyson, muffled against the nape of her neck. "I thought I doing a good job helping."
"Kenny's here." Hilary said, detaching herself from him quickly. 'Shame. He should help me more often.'
Tyson felt as though a flaming poker was shoved up his behind carelessly, scalding his face in the process. Please, she must be kidding. He turned around, hoping that Hilary was wrong. It turns out that she wasn't, and there was Kenny, standing in the front door, holding a cream coloured envelope and staring at him with a blank expression.
"I guess we should have locked the door first, huh?" smiled Hilary, trying to recover. "Well, hello, Kenny! Nice er, surprise. Didn't know that you were planning on visiting."
Kenny nodded, finally taking his eyes off Tyson. "If you checked your mail box, maybe you'll find out why I came in such a hurry." He fished around in their mail box, which was just near the door. Kenny then closed the door shut, handing the letter to Tyson, who squinted at the writing.
"What's this all about?" he asked, turning to Kenny for answers. Hilary too, squinted at the writing.
"Why don't you read it for yourself?" Kenny said, holding his own letter in his hand.
Tyson peeled the letter open, and read it silently, while Hilary also read on with interest.
"This is-is a what?" said Tyson blankly, as confusion dawned on him. "Queen's wedding? Queen's WEDDING?" Tyson looked at Hilary, who seemed to be as surprised as he was. "You know, if you ask me, I didn't expect the she-wolf to actually get married. I feel for the man."
"Come now, Tyson. Don't you go talking about Queen like that." Hilary scolded, but she was grinning. "I'm actually glad for her. She's probably needing a change like this, you know, someone coming into her life besides King having to watch over her all the time."
"What with all these weddings, I'm feeling left out." joked Kenny, as he surveyed the living room. "I mean, you and Tyson's wedding sometime at the beginning of August, and now this?"
"I'm kinda worried about all of this short notice, though." Tyson plopped himself on the couch, after shoving some clothes back on the floor. "With all of these important events happening, I'm not so stoked on having to be formal all the time."
"Too bad. I'd say Queen did a very good job on being my maid of honour. I think it's time we did our part in helping out." Hilary answered.
"Speaking of helping out," Kenny, had wandered into the kitchen and out again, came back looking out of sorts. "Do you need any help with this stuff?"
-
"Are you sure you want to hang out with your brother for a while and not with your finacee?" King teased, and Queen blushed.
"For god's sake, King, I can't believe you'd actually think that I'd forget you."
The outdoor cafe was very noisy, despite it being very early. It was quite convenient, for the cafe was only a fifteen minute walk from their land. Suburbians who commute to work daily are the ones that usually fill these little coffee houses, happy to serve the bread and drinks. Some even brought their lap tops, and talking spiritedly into their cell phones yelling out the occasional 'no', before nodding.
"Yes, well, I have to prepare myself for the worst, right?" King laughed. "Who knows, maybe you'll leave me and I'll die all old and lonely." he took a sip of his cappucino, and closing his eyes in bliss.
"Indeed?" asked Queen, looking at him in disbelief. "As a matter of fact, you are right, in some sense, at least. Dan's planning to take me out to lunch today. I hope you don't mind." she finished her coffee, and took a bite of a brownie.
"Why wouldn't I? He is going to be my-" King winced. "My brother-in-law, after all." the last sentence sounded as though his throat was being tightly constricted.
"Don't worry about it." Queen placed her hand on his reassuringly. "Dan's been really good to me. He's done a lot to help us, remember? When we first began to adjust to our new beginning?"
"I don't think I'll get used to thinking of him that way, that's all." King gently pulled his hand away. "Isn't it a bit sudden? You are young, you know, there could be many more-"
"I've made up my mind, King. This is all that I could ever want. I've never felt anything like this." Queen stood up, and then waited. "I have to go and meet him at home, do you want to come?"
King waved his hand, taking another swig of his cappucino. "Nah, go on, I can walk home. You take the car. I need the work out, anyway."
"If you say so." Queen muttered a hurried thanks, and strode away, dodging the many patio tables. Her brother watched her, taking in the outfit of loose-fitting capris, and plain sleeveless shirt. All, of course, in dark colours.
King furrowed his brows. She was moving on while he was stuck here, left to take care of the inheritance. None the which turned out to be some chest full of gold. In fact, it was a key to some very important documents, all having to do with the ownership of a software company. For the longest time since his mother's death, his grandmother had hired a well-trusted man to look after it until the her children grew up. King never really knew what to expect, except that if it was some software company, shouldn't he have heard about it somewhere? Problem was, that he doubted wether it was half as successful as it was promised to be. The company had no name, or was said to have none. Everything was kept silent after his mother's death, that it had once been concluded that it vanished on the face of the Earth.
"Here I am, waiting to rebuild something that's been invisible for at least a decade, and she gets to do what she wants." King ranted to himself, setting the cup down with a loud 'clunk'.
"Talking to yourself ain't goin to cut it."
King looked behind him, not at all surprised. "Hey, Vince. What are you doing here?" he watched as the man settled himself on the seat that Queen once occupied.
"Complying to your sister's phone call. Said she was going to meet that Daniel of hers." the man scoffed, expressing his disgust openly on the name. "What she sees in that man I don't know. All that he's good for is trouble."
"Trouble? I can't imagine that finacee of hers being trouble." King peered at him closely. "Do you know something I don't?"
"After three years of being in your service, and you still don't trust me?" Vince gave him a hurt look. "If you think of it this way, aren't they a bit too young to even deal with something like marriage? Seriously consider it. Who's idea was it anyways?"
"If you're going to ask me, you won't get too far. All I know is that both of them agreed to it." King slouched back on the chair with a sour look on his face. "There's not a thing wrong with the boy that I can spot either, as if he's some sort of robot. Built to impress. Stupid git."
Vince laughed. "I didn't mean about the two of them, but Queen getting married. I imagined that if it did happen, it would be for saving the world from space aliens."
"Grandmother's dying wish."
"Ah, that answers that." Vince looked away, before spotting a waitress walking past them delivering a drink. He raised his hand, and she nodded.
"You've been here many times, I see." King watched the waitress disappear into the back room.
"You have no idea. If I wave my hand a different way, I can get a decaf instead of hot chocolate." the waitress came back, and Vince passed on his pay, before giving her a wink. The woman blushed, and hurried away. Vince cleared his throat. "About this wedding. Care to recap on the plans?"
King grinned at the question. "Queen's wanted to have a quiet wedding, just because she sees no point in inviting so many people that might not care anyway; But I've done some plans for her sake."
"Oh? King, that's sneaky."
"What she doesn't know can't hurt her now, can it?"
-
"If I hadn't known better, you were trying to avoid me all week."
Staying silent was something that always ensured no confrontations. Rolling his eyes and chewing on his tongue would have to suffice until he could get ahold of the gym. Then he can vent out his emotions by the many rigorous excercises that he knew how. All of their meetings now involved some sort of scathing remark or two, but when there was none, it would only be when they would be in public; Where his grandfather would throw one of his parties. It was then another opportunity for him to test out the guinea-pigs, or rather, 'guinea-girls'. The term was recognized as so because when the occasion came up, his grandfather would casually introduce him a young debutante that he hoped would attract his grandson's eye.
Too bad money couldn't buy looks. Unless you had plastic surgery. Then that was a different story. Still, even with some physical reconfigurations, the 'women' couldn't match it to their personality. One recollection he had was the time when woman, so strikingly beautiful caught his eye. He had to admit, there was a tiny bit if attraction. However, once he heard the woman speak, he almost gave up on women all at once.
Spending the rest of your life where a woman was used to ordering people around and dominating over you was ludicrous. Embarassing, would summarize the whole thing. He could never picture anyone ordering him about.
"Kai. Kai, are you even listening to me?"
Kai regarded his grandfather indifferently. "Yes. I'm sorry, but I wasn't listening."
Hiwatari stared at him from across the long dinner table. He sipped his wine thoughtfully. "You know, Kai, I was thinking. Do you remember that girl that you met in the last party?"
"Yes, I remember." Kai had no choice but to remember the time that he saw her. 'After that, I felt honestly uncivil.' True, this girl-Diana she was called-was plainly attractive. Simplicity was her main feature. Problem was, she was too 'clingy'. What she couldn't get, she will cry for until it was gained.
"I want you to spend some time with her." Hiwatari replied, with an air of authority; as though he was daring Kai to object. Hearing none but Kai's silence, he continued. "As your guardian and grandfather, and my future successor, you will have to settle to doing what is right. This is all I ask of you."
Kai was about to answer, when a servant appeared at the doorway.
"A phone call for master Kai."
At this point, Kai didn't really care what the distraction was, but he needed to get away from his manipulative grandfather.
"Excuse me." Kai excused himself out of the room, where the phone was waiting for him in the nearby study. "Hello, this is Kai." he frowned, as the connection became fuzzy, as though he were speaking to a walkie-talkie.
Pshhh.
"Kai?"
"It's me. Who are you?" If Tyson was having problems in paradise, he's just going to have to bugger off and go to Ray for advice.
"God, do you know how much trouble I went through just to get to your phone number? Do you?" the voice rang into his ears, as though the voice at the other end was shouting at the reciever. Kai couldn't miss the familiar tone of that voice.
"King?"
"Well, I'm glad you remembered. Honestly, I tried to phone Tyson, but he said he forgot your number-then I had to get Ray's number from him, and phone Ray afterwards."
Kai tried to intervene, but King went on.
"Sometime way before the 28th, I want you to to come here and-"
"What are you talking about?" Kai asked, confused. The significance of this phone call was quite so, as he noted the tone in King's voice. Casually he sat on a nearby chair. He was expecting a reply, but all he got was silence. Then, rustling.
"So...You didn't get a letter?" King said slowly.
"Didn't get a letter for what?" asked Kai, hearing his voice grow lower.
"You mean you have no clue?"
"Damn it, King, just tell me." He couldn't take the guessing anymore.
"...Queen's getting married, Kai."
'Okay. What? I understand, but then I don't. Married? What did he mean, Queen was getting married?' Kai felt his chest tighten. His own brain was too busy thinking to notice. Not until King woke him up.
"Kai, are you there?" King sounded uncertain.
"...Huh? Oh, yeah, still here. What about this wedding? Are you sure that Queen's getting married?" Kai could hear the urgency in his voice. The urge to find out every single information that he can get his hands on.
"As sure as the sun rises everyday." King replied. "Although I don't know why you never got a letter...Oh, wait, never mind. About this eh, wedding. Since you know already, I guess I might as well. It's supposed to be on the 28th of October. Queen doesn't know that people are coming, so it's supposed to be a surprise. I wanted to plan a sort of bridal shower. Actually, Hilary mailed me back, saying that she could come-and she proposed the idea of the bridal shower. So, think you can come?"
Kai was only half-listening. He was still pondering the fact that Queen was getting married. It felt like on yesterday-He touched his lips. No. Don't think about it. She's said you're too late-So that's what she meant.
"Yeah, I think I can go. When do you want me for the bridal shower?" Kai asked, as he tried to get his own thoughts sorted out.
"How about in a week?" King suggested. "Everyone else who I talked to said they can come at that day. You?"
"No problem." Kai paused. "King? You were planning on not to invite me, weren't you?"
Awkward silence.
"Look, Kai, I promised to take care of Queen. You just had to fall short and the man came along. I've never seen her so happy. If she looses that spirit of hers because of you, I-"
"I know, King. If just attending and not interfering would make some of it up to you, then I would do it."
"I didn't want you to be upset. It seems like I'm the only one who knows how she really feels about you." King said, recalling a particular event. "She was confused. Changes were made immediately once we got back. Queen had no choice but to grow up."
Kai felt his voice grow cold. "If 19 is young, then this marriage is reasonable because?"
"Because it is her grandmother's wish. Kai, just make sure you're going to be able to go. I don't know what she'll do, but it's safe to say she's slightly more mature. Hey, I've got to go. I'll be seeing you then."
"Yeah, I'll see you." Kai hung up the phone.
He trudged back to the dining room. Who knows how long he took in the phone. Hiwatari was gone by the time he got back. Quietly he finished the rest of his dinner, still in deep contemplation. His mind was noisily buzzing with thought, yet his whole body-was numb. He could feel nothing. Just ample confusion. So far he's believed that his attachment to Queen was out of pity and regret for not keeping a promise-but now marriage? Uncertainty crossed Kai's mind. He did kiss her in the past, but what was it for? Did it have a meaning; or was he just a growing adolescent that needed to exercise his nature?
The more he thought about it, the more he felt the shortcomings of foreboding. There was something behind those kisses, and maybe not.
Maybe he was keeping something from himself.
Kai snorted. That is some idea. He was himself. There was nothing that he can hide, since he knows himself from top to bottom.
For now, he needed to find a wedding present.
A good idea would be to send them a large box, one that was complete with postage, so that he could ship the man into orbit.
-
C.A.:Please tell me what you think. If you don't agree, please have some faith. ( New story New plot ) Promise, it'll be a happy ending for the two. Truth is, life is complicated. If you battle the challenges head on and succeed, then the rewards are great.
You're in the right track, element6. Geez, why are you so perceptive? I think that's two guesses that you've got right. Or, somewhat. Now, I haven't been on in such a long time, I got surprised with the new layouts. I thought it was pretty snazzy.
Awright. Yes. I know, I've procrastinated this enough, and I should really get my act together. I shall be working harder to get these things up, okay? Please, I need you to bear with me. Thank you. I hope you r&r. I need to know what your expectations are, please?