Estrangement
Disclaimer: Don't own Victorious
A/N: Okay it's the next chapter with Jade's intervention
Chapter 8 (A Sister's Thoughts)
While Jade was dealing with another client the next day, Tori had gone out on the town to see what New York was like. It was about noontime, and she'd taken time to drive out to New York City. Her subconscious mind led her to the corporate headquarters of Gold's Gym. She'd looked the address up the night prior.
She stopped alongside the curb and gazed in at the employee parking lot. Trina's car rested in the CEO spot. Her eyes drifted to the guard booth at the entrance of the lot. The security officer was sitting inside, munching on a turkey sandwich. She was a little surprised by this, because it was the most relaxing thing she'd seen since entering New York City.
The city was as busy as always described, so much that Tori speculated over why she bothered to drive out instead of using a taxi instead. Her stomach growled and hunger stabbed her. The problem was she had no idea what was around to eat. She wished she'd been able to think of grabbing breakfast earlier.
Just as she was about to drive off, she saw Trina walking out of the building. She was wearing a navy blue business suit with padded shoulders and a business skirt that ran down to her knees. She had a dark blue tie, and her hair was up in a bun. Her black purse clung to her right shoulder, and her hand was gripping it firmly. Tori's eyebrows shot up and her lip twisted into a small smirk as she chuckled. "Trina looks all stuffy…"
Trina reached her car and tossed her purse inside. She let her bun drop down and climbed inside. She seemed to be going to lunch, so Tori thought on following her. Close, but not too closely. She didn't want to stalk her sister, she just wanted to see how she lived. Did she make friends? Did she have a good life?
As Trina left the lot, she waved to the guard and turned out to the right, which was fortunately the way Tori was facing. Tori started up the car and carefully followed after her. She wasn't sure if Trina would see her or not, but hoped that maybe she could remain incognito. On the plus side, tailing her sister might give her opportunity to learn something that could help her actually talk to the woman again without fear of being shunned. Again.
She could also grab some lunch due to the money Jade had given her. Rather, Jade was paying for everything related to this trip. Tori greatly appreciated that.
Eventually Trina stopped off at a Panera Bread café parking meter. Once she paid the meter and went inside, Tori did the same. She always liked Panera Bread, and found their soups to be amazing, though their coffee was otherworldly, almost as awesome as Dunkin' Donuts.
After paying, Tori found a booth close to and behind Trina's booth. She sat with her head bowed and eyes gazing at her bowl of soup and hot coffee. Eventually she heard Trina greet someone and looked up to see two women. The way Trina called out to them was as though they were old friends. Their names were Kate and Emma.
Emma looked like a classy blonde with a style cut that resembled Marylin Monroe from the 1950s. She was wearing a pink chiffon dress with sparkly shoulder straps. Her purple pants hugged her legs, and her belt was diamond encrusted. She had bright blue eyes and painted red lips that seemed to shine on her powder pale face.
Kate was more reserved in her appearance. She had shoulder length auburn hair and bangs that curled in the middle of her tanned forehead. She had hazel eyes and peach colored lips. Her long sleeved brown shirt hugged her arms, and her black pants appeared to be covered in animal hair. "Trina, I'm sure you know, but never wear black pants when working with animals," Kate rolled her eyes and sat down on the booth opposite of Trina. Trina laughed as Emma scooted in beside Kate. "You get Hazelnut coffee again?"
"Yep, the usual, but a little stronger today. Went with extra bold." Kate and Emma exchanged a surprised look that made Tori raise her eyebrow. "It's a long story. Emma. Where's Grace today? She can't get off for lunch?"
"Not today unfortunately," Emma leaned back and moved her hand up to her hair. "God I can't wait to let my hair down and get out of these clothes. I wish the most annoying thing they do to my hair is put it up in a bun!" Trina laughed while Kate shook her head. "So, you're laying it on thick with the coffee? What's wrong?"
"Family issues." The girls gasped and Emma's hand flew to her mouth.
"You and Sinjin? You guys didn't have a fight did you? You never fight!"
"Oh we argue like everyone else, I just don't talk about it to you. But no, it's nothing like that. Anyway, you know my sister, right?"
Kate raised an eyebrow and spoke flatly, "The one with no work ethic that never worked a day in her life and pushed you away twenty years ago?" Tori rolled her eyes once more and dropped her forehead to the table. "What about her? You haven't talked much about her…"
"Yeah well, I never thought she'd bother with me. Turns out, she and mom found me yesterday. I drove up and they were talking to my daughter. Tori, one of her old friends, and Mom." Trina sipped her coffee as her friends shook their heads. "I swear if this were my day off, I'd be sipping some whiskey at the Pub tonight."
"We wouldn't let you," Emma laughed. Tori's eyebrows went up and Trina started to chuckle. "Besides, you worked too hard to get where you're at, to ruin it by going alcoholic on us."
"True, and I have never been an alcoholic, Emma!"
"Well...workaholic, yes. Now that you're at the top, it's nice to see you spending your time with your family."
"Well I'm certainly not about to become a neglectful workaholic mom, now am I?" Trina started to laugh, which lead the others to laugh with her. "I had a workaholic parent, remember? Not to mention my mom was the lazy one, cheated on my dad and everything, but I think they got past that."
"You said your mother is here?"
"Yeah she's staying with me now, needed a doctor's appointment. Apparently Tori lost a job or something, doesn't have the money to get mom's meds refilled. As for Tori, I sent her to a hotel for a while. I don't have time to deal with whatever baggage she's come with. To be honest I'm not sure if I want to."
"Why not? Why not reconnect with my sister?"
"Because you didn't know the princess back when we were kids." Tori stirred her soup absently, near breaking point as she listened to her sister's harsh words. "Teens really. I mean you expect someone to be real, not fake as shit, right? She was real growing up, then I made the mistake of helping her get into that Hollywood Arts school, and she just changed. Completely. She stopped respecting us, let these vain friends of hers walk all over us, all over her, and even blew off her own best friend for these new friends. Now that was something that led to my first big fight with Sinjin."
"Why did you guys fight over it?"
"Courtney was his sister, she was upset and I was trying to find some way to justify my sister's behavior. In the end, there really was no justification. The two did like everything together and she dropped Courtney faster than I could snap my fingers."
"Harsh."
"Yep. Eventually I just stopped trying, put all my energy into college and moved up here with Sinjin and Courtney. One of the managers at the Gold's Gym back home recommended me for a job, so I started out small."
"You guys met there, right?" Emma pointed to Kate and started to smile. "Early workers, I think?" Kate nodded, her lips turned up into a broad smile as she reached over and pat Trina's shoulder.
"Yep, we met when she was able to be a personal trainer. They liked her work ethic. I was just working for the time being. Had other career plans." Emma moved her hands behind her head and leaned back. "You know Trina. If your sister needs a job, you should give her one." Tori perked up, her eyebrows rising as
"Hell no." Trina waved her hand through the air and closed her eyes. "Tori has no work ethic. Hell, mom said she got fired for calling in sick to find some damn talent coach. Work is a team effort, I'm not going to subject my businesses to someone who can't work with the team."
"True, I wouldn't either." Kate agreed with Emma, neither girl would hire someone that couldn't keep steady appearances.
"I've always been a hard worker, and I expect all my employees to do the same. Why do you think Megan refuses to work for me when she turns sixteen? She thinks I'll overwork her."
"Would you?"
"My own daughter? No…though I would hope she'd be a hard worker, I know a teenage girl has her priorities. Friends, the social scene, school, and work is not high on the list." Trina spooned her food and her eyes glinted off to the side. "Anyway girls, I'm going to need your help with something."
"What?"
"Not tearing Tori apart." The girls raised their eyebrows as Tori slowly looked up. She'd started to not pay attention to the conversation and hadn't heard much of what was just recently said until she heard her name. Trina poked her thumb over her shoulder and Tori paled. "Saw her pull up to the parking meter behind me…." Trina twisted around and Tori started to shrink in her seat. "Get over here, Tori."
She put a piece of bread in her mouth and slowly picked up the tray. As she made her way over, she saw Trina motion to Emma, who instantly moved over to sit next to her. Leaving Tori to sit beside Kate. "H-Hey Trina. Fancy seeing you here."
"Spare me. Your acting sucks about as bad as your following someone." Tori winced as Trina crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes. "What are you doing here?"
"Okay so I followed you, but it didn't start out that way."
"I thought you had no money. How are you paying for food?"
"Jade's been paying for everything. She's a guidance counselor now." The corner of Trina's lip rose into a smirk. "She says she wants to have a session with you and me."
"I'm not sure what's funnier. Jade a guidance counselor, or her thinking we can be in the same room together."
"How's mom?"
"She's fine, got a prescription for her medication." Trina tapped a finger on the table as Tori bowed her head. "You do know I'm not going to just hand you more money, right?"
"It's not money I want, Trina!"
"Then what?"
"I just need your help! And besides, is it that hard to believe I've come to see you?"
"If you wanted to come to see me, it wouldn't have taken you twenty years." A good point, and a difficult one to debunk. She wasn't crazy enough to ask why Trina thought she didn't care, but it still hurt. "Also, I can't imagine being counseled by Jade. Exactly what is the problem? Why do you need any help at all?"
"Because...I lost a job and I'm being evicted. I've never had much luck with jobs."
"Why is that? They make you break a nail or something?" Tori looked off to the side and shrugged her shoulders. "Mom says you went after some talent coach. Are you still trying to get a job singing? You know, even singers have to work hard."
"I guess. Yeah I'm still trying, I mean…obviously I'm not getting anywhere."
"It's a rough world out there, but you can't forgo work for some silly dream, Tori. You need to be living a life! You're not a high school princess anymore."
"I know that, Trina! Of course I wasn't expecting to have fame handed to me! I thought maybe, just maybe I could make it."
"You know how I got to where I am? By good, solid hard work. Not by forgoing every job just so I could get a fantasy life handed to me. That is not how life works. I'm pretty sure I've told you that before."
"A lot of people, a lot of bosses have told me that."
"So really it's just your priorities were out of whack? They've been out of whack ever since you attended that damn school. You know what Hollywood Arts taught? Nothing. They were a zero-effort school that only taught talent. I went there for martial arts, but I did my main studies elsewhere. You know why? Because that school didn't teach the things that you needed to learn. They just gave you a degree and sent you on your way to college. Which, by the way, did you even attend?"
"No…and I don't have the money…" Tori bowed her head and balled up her fists. Emma shook her head and Kate clicked her tongue while Trina merely stared at her as though she had just grown an extra appendage on her head. "What? Is it a problem I never went to college?"
"Can't even be an actor or singer these days if you don't have a college degree," Emma reminded her. Tori groaned loudly while Trina nodded. "They've made it so much harder to get into that life. Not only do talent coaches want you to have a degree, they want you to know somebody high up that can recommend you."
"So I see why you say you need help," Trina bit into her food and closed her eyes. "You have no work ethic, you have no degree, you have no money…and mom also says you've never married?" She nodded and Trina scooped up another bite. "Then you really are in trouble. I wish I could help you, but I don't know how I can help you out. Sorry."
"Look Trina, I know I didn't put a lot of effort into our relationship and all during my teenage years, but come on! You have to give me a chance!" Trina opened her eyes and raised an eyebrow.
"The way I see it, Tori? I don't owe you a damn thing. You went to that school, fucked up your relationship with your best friend, screwed things up with me, weren't there for the people that mattered…" With each word Trina spoke, her voice rose, and each word was like a slap to the face for Tori. Her eyes started to glaze over as Trina narrowed her eyes. "I'm sorry if you thought you could just walk back into my life after all these years and think I was going to welcome you with open arms and give you all the help you need! Sorry Tori, that's life. The world doesn't work that way."
"But Trina…"
"No. You have no right to ask me for anything, because you sealed your own fate the second I helped you get into that damn school." Trina's face tensed as her two friends shared a concerned glance.
"Do you think you're being a little hard on her?" Kate asked. Trina raised an eyebrow and chuckled.
"Hard? Believe me, I haven't been hard enough, and I should have been harder when we were teens. You have a sibling show up out of the blue after twenty years, first thing they do is ask you for help or money, and then you come ask me if I'm being too hard!" Trina wiped her mouth with her napkin and rose up from the seat after signaling Emma to get up so she can leave. "My lunch break is over, time to get back. Tori? Unless you have a good reason why I should be sympathetic to you, then go back home and tell Jade I have no intention of going to any kind of counseling session."
"Just let me show you that I'm not that person anymore." Trina looked to her watch and shook her head as the girls started to leave the booth.
"Out of time, I don't want to be late getting back to work, I have a lot of paperwork to deal with. Goodbye, Tori." Tori withheld a scream as she watched Trina walk out the door. Her two friends trailed behind her, both looking at her with pity. She didn't want their pity! She wanted her sister, but like everything else in life apparently, that wasn't an easy task.
If Trina would just let her show her that she was being genuine, things could work out! But clearly that wasn't going to happen. How could she prove it to her? How could she show her she was willing to put the time and effort into being a sister again?
"Great…I'm going to need another session with Jade…"
So what are your thoughts? Trina let a lot out, not everything, but a lot of her own thoughts. By the way as the story goes on, you may pay attention to Emma and Kate, they could be important.