HIKARI
Hikari sipped tea from a little cup, kneeling on cushions while maids passed by through sliding doors. Outside, birds flitted in the trees. The majestic view afforded by the three-storey home, even if it was spartan and small, spoke volumes to the surrounding neighborhood where this home was atop a hill.
"I'm thinking of buying it," her mother's voice made her jump.
Clara Kinneas wore a qipao and her hair tied into a chignon with chopsticks. She poured sake and took a hit.
"Buying what, mom?" Hikari watched her mother, who glanced out the window.
"That," Clara pointed, and Hikari saw a vast courtyard and layout.
"I only see the Temple of Heaven," Hikari frowned, and her mother nodded. "The temple! Mom, I don't think you can buy the temple."
"The location's a bit public, but we can use the revenue," Clara shrugged. "Besides, there's a tomb underneath. We can refit it and go there for silence."
"I don't think you charge people entry," Hikari raised her eyebrows. "It's a place of peace and meditation."
"There's always money to be made," Clara raised her eyebrows. "Besides, why should these people traipse around our property for free? Why should they even enter?"
"It's cultural, mom!" Hikari cried.
"Being friends with that Cartwright girl has made you renegade," Clara rose. "You won't see her again."
"Mom!" Hikari pleaded, and Clara Kinneas slid the door open and shut.
LEO
Leo was on the back porch of his parents' house, painting from an easel of the backyard when the butler coughed quietly.
"Miss. Katrina Cartwright to see you, sir," the butler nodded.
"Oh, yes," Leo fiddled, and replaced his paintbrush.
He came into the foyer, and Katrina wore simple clothing, a cleaner fresher look.
"Sorry for disturbing you," Katrina gestured. "I should have called first."
"That's alright," Leo blinked. "I think I know what this is about."
"Her mom doesn't like me," Katrina raised her eyebrows, and crumpled. "I'm sorry. But I miss her."
The butler interceded. "I'll bring you tea in the living room."
Leo led Katrina into the living room, and they sat on adjacent chairs. Everything was so still and quiet, as he had always liked it.
"Where are your parents?" Katrina blew her nose on a handkerchief he proffered.
"My dad is working, and my mom is out at the gardening store," Leo uttered, and at this Katrina laughed.
"Oh, Leo," Katrina shook her head. "Your family is so eccentric. I can tell you, my family is nowhere near as rich as yours, and yet both wish to appear as above work, and beyond labor as possible."
"I suppose that's it," Leo clasped his hands together. "My parents don't want to appear above everyone. They want to fit in, with all the comforts money provides."
"At least you can say your parents truly wish you every happiness," Katrina nodded. "I mean, for Hikari. Kept like a bird in a cage up there. Even her father must kowtow to his wife's wishes. Sorry - I don't mean to disparage your aunt."
"We all orbit around my aunt," Leo offered a little smile. "My father, my mother."
"Because she's the eldest?" Katrina sniffed.
"Perhaps that," Leo paused. "My uncle Max is a bit more tug n' pull. He's the more argumentative one. But then, he's always been involved in shady deals."
"You know," Katrina began. "My mother was so upset when my father won the election. My parents thought they were the top of the heap. And here was this private family, sects in Pleasantview and beyond, far further than she might ever reach. And my father, well - he's mayor, but nor is he truly the man around town."
"Does it bother you?" Leo eyed her. "My family only happens to own almost all the real estate in Pleasantview. But they do not seek to control it."
Katrina shrugged, and didn't entirely believe that. Perhaps Leo was a kind soul, and saw little of what his family could be capable of if pushed.
"I'm due to graduate soon," Katrina fiddled with her bracelet. "Hikari, too. Do you think your aunt will let her even go on campus?"
"Hikari wants to go to university, even if only to get away from my aunt," Leo nodded. "Whatever she studies, I doubt her mother will let her do anything besides paint in the afternoon while butlers clean up after her. Certainly not in Show Business."
Katrina rankled, and rose. "Well, I should be going. Could you check on Hikari for me? It would be great to go to Academie Le Tour with her."
"Oh, yes," Leo nodded, and saw her out. He went to his father's study, and picked up the phone.
"Kinneas' residence," answered the butler.
"Could I please speak with Hikari? It's her cousin, Leo."
"Of course. One moment… "
"Leo?" Hikari answered. "Now's not a good time."
"I hoped to check in on you, see everything's OK?" Leo pondered.
"Well, she's bought a temple. A temple!" Hikari laughed, frantic. "I don't know where she'll stop. She acts like she owns the entire world."
Leo laughed, and added, "Katrina sends her regards. She hopes to share a room with you at Academie Le Tour."
"Speaking on that front," Hikari hesitated. "My mom's saying why should I go to a university? Not that it's beneath us; but that it's so public. She fears what trouble I'll get into with boys. As if I've ever kissed one! And she's having a tutor come to teach me how to paint."
"But you don't like painting," Leo pointed out.
"No, I don't," Hikari laughed, gurgled. "But she does. It's like she's trying to protect a younger version of herself. She doesn't see me. God, I wish I had been brought up on your side of the family. Your parents give you love and compassion."
"My parents," Leo flicked at a piece of lint on his pants. "Yes. I am very grateful. But there has always been something between them keeping them apart. I suspect that if not for me, they would not truly get along. And they don't fight - but nor are they as gushy as uncle Max and aunt Maria, or caring towards each other as aunt Grace and uncle Johnny."
"Our family," Hikari sighed. "Well, my future's already set. What about yours? What about the great heir to all this?"
"I'm sure my parents will be fine either way, whether I'm a writer or a gardener, anything that keeps me indoors or at home," Leo shrugged. "But it worries me, Hikari. Katrina said the same. You'll be an adult soon enough, and free."
"Yes, free," Hikari considered. "But my allowance stems from my mother. And she keeps a tight enough rein on my father."
"If it comes to that, my parents will help you," Leo nodded. "And you won't be alone. Even if we both find a place somewhere."
"Thank you," Hikari wept. "I'd better go."
Lydia
"Wow," Grace gaped at Lydia's house.
This, Lydia thought primly, was a bit much considering Grace had all the money she could ever want, and relations whose houses were bigger. Yet Grace was all earnestness, and Lydia gave her tour with all the aplomb of a museum director.
"It's really nice," Grace sniffed, and glanced over the balcony of the three-storied rec room with a hot tub bubbling away. "Can we go in?"
"I wouldn't want to change this close to lunch," Lydia pursed her lips, not having worn a bathing suit in years, nor for the comparison Grace would surely present. "Is lobster thermidor OK?"
"Course!" Grace cheered, and when they both reached the dining room, napkins settled and china clinked, they were left in peace by the butler.
"Your family intrigues me so," Lydia savored the first bite. "I feel as though we are friends. I will tell you a bit more about mine."
"Oh, yes, please," Grace smiled. "Katrina's so glamorous, and I see your twins Alexandra and Conrad the height of all parties."
"Well," Lydia began, rattling in nostalgia. "Garrett began in Business, as you know. We married, and took to a small house. As I had children, so did his career bloom. It was a horrid business. So much infighting and squabbling. I felt I had to keep up appearances to keep our heads above water."
"Oh, that's awful," Grace saddened.
"We had a fortune, but not time," Lydia squared her shoulders. "When Garrett moved into Politics, appearances were everything. Alistair is our golden child, and the twins were difficult, but Katrina is my daughter as Alistair is Garrett's. We fought tooth and nail to rise to the top. Garrett's opponents fell like dominoes. He became mayor, and I First Lady."
"And how do you like it? Gosh, I wonder what being First Lady is like," Grace considered.
Lydia flushed. From her propensity to learn how Grace got her house, it inflamed her that Grace might just as easily replace her as First Lady. And for all my hard work.
"And what about you?" Lydia steadied. "You and your siblings? What was life like before the children came?"
"Oh, well I went to Sim State University," Grace shrugged. "My parents bought me a little house on campus, and I filled it with girls who wandered by on the street. I made a little sorority, and I forgot to study. Somehow I passed the exam, and then on a trip to Bridgeport, I met Johnny. I liked him, but he didn't know that. Suddenly, he started taking me on dates."
Lydia nodded, fascinated with how this story might end.
"Johnny was rich, of course. But he liked me for me. And when he took me to his mansion, and all the paparazzi, I told him I couldn't live in the limelight. And yet, I loved him. I married him, had Kylie, but then a spot opened up here. And here we are."
Grace smiled and took a sip of juice. Lydia fiddled with her wine stem.
"And what about your siblings?" Lydia arched her eyebrows. "The brothers Spencer, and Mrs Kinneas?"
"Oh, well Adam went to Sim State University as well. He studied literature and went in a dorm. His was the only furnished really posh. Then when he graduated, he worked his way up the Business ladder. He met Phillipa when she was teaching kindergarten, and Adam asked the Landgraabs to buy their mansion and had Leo."
Lydia was intrigued. "And the others?"
"Well, Max never really went to school, or university. Our parents gave him tutors, but he just ran away. I think he once was in the Criminal career while he was a teen, and never really gave it up. But he hates hard work. I think he's retired now. He found Maria, and she's as devious as he is."
Grace wiped her lips with a napkin.
"And Clara went to Academie Le Tour. She hated our mother - she rebelled and after graduating in Art, she took up with Irvine. He was a ladies man before she met him, and after graduation they moved to Champs Les Sims and had Hikari."
"Interesting," Lydia nodded. "You all have taken such different paths through life. Can I be completely honest?"
"Oh, Lydia," Grace giggled. "I am always honest. You know me."
Lydia fiddled with her wine glass. "Surely, I understand now that your wealth is yours, not Johnny's. And Irvine is a kept man, and Maria and Phillipa the equivalent."
"We've always been rich," Grace nodded. "That's the way it's always been."
Lydia's grip tightened. "But Adam Spencer still saw fit to enter the Business career?"
"Oh, he got bored," Grace shrugged. "But now he's at the top, so he doesn't have to work as hard. Just check his investments on his computer, or something."
"And your parents?" Lydia was fit to burst. "Did they work, too?"
"Oh, no," Grace fiddled. "My dad was always traveling, and my mom mainly raised us."
"Forgive me for being blunt," Lydia peered over the table. "But as you may not know, I studied a bit of history at Academie Le Tour. And my husband is something of a scion in public office. And neither of us could put two and two together, of how your family became so rich. Garrett's father and his father were always in Business. I mean, the Goths have always handed down their wealth! Bella is married into old money."
"Hmm, I don't think we're old money," Grace pushed her plate aside and drained her glass of juice. "We had enough to live on, and then - well, I'm the youngest - when all my siblings graduated university, they started planning their futures. They started buying property, and furniture and cars. We didn't inherit it from our parents. And I came into my money when I graduated. Adam opened the bank account for me."
"And your parents? Do they still live?" Lydia picked up her fork.
"Oh, yes," Grace nodded. "We don't see them anymore, and they keep to themselves. But they live on that little house at the end of the road overlooking the ocean."