Estrangement
Disclaimer: Don't own Victorious
A/N: I only post this second chapter because I told you guys Jade's intervention was last chapter, so you were expecting it, and I had forgotten I had a separate important chapter between.
Chapter 9 (Intervention)
"I can't just give up," Tori paced the floor while tapping her chin. "I have to find a way to get her to talk to me." Even at the risk of a possible restraining order, she needed to talk to Trina. "Maybe mom. I mean I don't know how, but mom's on her good side." Jade was typing away at her laptop, trying to do some research for one of her clients that had some sort of disorder that she had to study up on.
"Yeah just try not to go too overboard, because one thing you don't want is your sister slapping a restraining order on you. Those things are much stricter these days than they used to be." It was true restraining orders were more than just a sheet of paper to wave in someone's face, it was more stringent in the form that if you broke a restraining order it was grounds for a hefty prison sentence or major fine. "Not that I think she would do that to you unless you start following her around everywhere, or popping up at her kids' schools and so on."
"I'm not going to do that. I just need to show her I can put effort into this relationship. Into something. If I give up now, it just means she's right…and I am getting tired of her being right. Do you know how tired I am of her being right, Jade? Do ya?" Jade raised an eyebrow and curled her lip into a smirk as she continued scanning the webpage.
"I think I have some idea."
"It's infuriating! I'm going to talk to her. I am! I'm going to tell her she needs to understand that I want to be a part of her life now and it isn't because of money! Yes I need help with finances, yes I waited until I had no other options to come see her, and yes I know how that looks and sounds!" Jade lifted her fingers from the keyboard and looked up to her with concern.
"It sounds like you didn't care for her as a sister or person and only wanted to see her when you needed something."
"I didn't need you to psychoanalyze it." It hurt more to hear it coming from a guidance counselor than anything, because until now she never thought she was doing anything wrong. "And if you're such a damn smart counselor, why didn't you ever tell me any of this stuff before?" She put her hands to her hips and raised an eyebrow to the woman.
"Because you weren't going to hear it before. Someone doesn't hear advice until they either need it or want it. You didn't need it before, now you do. Or perhaps, you always needed it, but now you're willing to hear it." Jade kicked her feet up onto the table and leaned back in the chair, still smirking. "So Trina couldn't believe I was a guidance counselor now? Well to that respect I didn't think she was going to become a CEO."
"Yeah, yeah, okay…just tell me you have some ideas." She sat on one of the chairs, leaning forward against the back of the seat. "You're the counselor, you ought to have some clue of what I can do."
"Well it's apparent Trina is a family person. She's a top notch CEO and still has time to tend to her family and cares about her children. She tenses up when you ask her for help, so don't get combative, but rather…ask her about her family. Take an interest in them. In the meantime, I've still got plenty of time and some money to stay here and hold up a hotel room for you. Though, I can just consider this a job since you're now my client-but eventually even I'm going to have to be paid or I won't be able to stick around and help since I will be out of money."
"My pockets are empty aside from the one hundred that Trina gave me…" It was enough to pay Jade for five sessions if she really had to. Jade charged her clients twenty dollars a session, and was a very good counselor, so she made a lot of money. One day, she could have six or seven clients scheduled, and that would make over a hundred per day. "You're still holding sessions with your clients now? How are they paying you?"
"They're not…" Tori's eyes widened for a second and she bowed her head. "I'm here supporting you and they have no way to pay unless they go down to the building and pay the receptionist. I guess some of them are doing that, since I am getting something in my bank account, but I don't expect every one of them to do it. My priorities are clear right now, however. I'm treating you and Trina like clients, assuming we can get Trina here."
"Well she's not even talking to me, so I don't know how to get her to set up an appointment with you. She runs a tight schedule, apparently." Of course when you're a business person, or a CEO, you have to have a schedule for everything. Even free time. "I could see if she'd pencil you in, but who's to say. She'd probably have to give up some of her free time with her husband or children to do that, and knowing Trina, would she really want to give up her free time with them to talk to you? No offense, I'm just stating what might be on her mind…"
"No I understand that." Jade stood up and shrugged her shoulders. "It's the last time she saw me. She doesn't know I've probably toned down over the years. I'm not going to insult someone the way I used to do, I'm a guidance counselor, why the hell would I cause the very problems that I'm trying to help people get past?"
Tori nodded and started moving towards the door, sighing heavily. "I'm going to try one more time, if I can't get her to talk to me, then I don't know what I'm going to do."
"Let me know how that works for you." Jade waved as Tori left the hotel room. She shook her head and straightened her shoulders as her eyes focused on the laptop.
After about an hour and six jelly donuts later, Tori stormed into the room and threw herself on the bed with an angry scream. Jade looked over with a bemused look while her friend pounded a fist into the bed. "How did it go?"
"How do you think? She kicked me out!"
"Ouch." Jade closed the laptop down and turned to Tori. "Want to talk about it?"
"No I don't want to talk about it! I'm pissed that I can't get my own sister to give me the time of day!"
"Tori, calm down and take a deep breath." Jade folded her arms and watched as Tori sat up and closed her eyes. Her chest expanded slowly and her eyes opened halfway. Stress lines stretched from Tori's eyes and her lips were down in a frown. "I know it's bad timing that all this extra stuff is happening while you're trying to reconnect with Trina, and you have to understand that it has been nearly twenty years. Seventeen to be exact. She left on bad graces. What happened, Tori? Why did she throw you out this time? I thought you weren't going to mention financial problems?"
"I was apologizing for mom and dad, I said it was my fault and that anytime she needed something I ended up stealing their attention away from her. She got mad that I would intentionally do that, and kicked me out of the house." Jade winced and moved her hand to her forehead. She was not really surprised, a lot of her clients made the same mistake when trying to deal with their problems.
"You have to be more choosy with your words, Tori. You can't just say the first thing that comes to your mind. You have to be calm, patient, and rational." Jade dusted off her pants and rose up from the chair.
"Coming from you? That sounds funny. No offense."
"No, I get it. I went through hell as a teen, as you know. You don't end up with a mother like mine and not come out with serious problems. Why do you think I became a guidance counselor? To help people with similar family issues. Even yours is different, but not so different. I know through high school I was not the greatest person, I treated people like shit because my mom treated me like shit. You forget though, I deal with families that are estranged from each other for a living. You think seventeen years is a long time? I got done dealing with a bipolar client who hadn't seen his father in well over forty years. The feeling you get when you see them finally make a connection? Tori, it's something that I love to see."
"Yeah, well…I don't know if I see the point."
"If a father and son can reconnect after forty years, a couple sisters just shy of twenty years can reconnect. It just takes effort-from both sides. A willingness to see where you went wrong in the past and to move forward while learning to trust the other person." Jade grabbed her coat and pointed to the remaining six donuts. "Now you sit tight, finish up those free donuts, and I'll be back." Tori raised an eyebrow and stared at the donuts.
"Free? Where the-"
"What can I say, the busboy here for room service? Hot!" Jade winked as Tori's eyes started to widen. "I still got it. Thirty-four years old and I still got it."
"Oh my god…"
Jade drove to Trina's house and parked alongside the curb. She stared at the gates and pulled her lips into a flat line. "This could be a challenge." She exited the car and walked up to the gate. There were people playing in the yard with one of the German Shepherds and the beagle.
As she squinted her eyes, she saw the man was Sinjin. He looked much different than he did before. His hair was shorter and wavier, but thick and with a part down the right side of his head. His arms were bigger, chest fuller, and he had a thick moustache.
He and his son were tossing a Frisbee down the yard, letting the dogs chase after it. Daniel was a short and pudgy looking boy, about the average size and height for a six year old. He had a blonde bowl haircut and bright blue eyes. His cheekbones were high and covered with freckles.
Sinjin spotted her and walked over, his eyebrows forming a thin line over his eyes. "Jade? What on earth are you doing here?" Danny came running over asking who the woman was. "Nobody son, just someone your mom knew a long time ago." Jade closed her eyes and lifted her eyebrows.
"Yes Sinjin that's right. I want to talk to your wife."
"She's stressed out enough as it is."
"I know, I understand that. I'm a guidance counselor now." Sinjin crossed his arms and gave her a skeptical look. Of course no one from her past would believe her. Hell, even Beck didn't think she'd make it, but she did. "I'm the best counselor in LA. I deal with family issues for a living. I want to speak to Trina, so that I can hear her side of the story."
"I don't know, she's pretty busy right now."
"Sinjin, it's okay." Trina's voice startled them, and Jade flicked her eyes to the front door. Trina was standing on the porch with Isis at her legs. The dog looked ready to charge if the woman ordered it to. Trina folded her arms across her chest and stepped off the porch. Her eyes narrowed, and Jade thought for sure the woman was leaving a trail of fire behind her. "I don't suppose Tori sent you?"
"Actually no, I've come on my own free will." Trina scoffed as she stepped through the gate and leaned against the fence. "Look, I don't mean any harm, I just want to hear your side of the story. I know it's hard to give your sister a chance-"
"You expect me to believe she's here for anything besides money when that was the first thing out of her mouth? The only time she's ever needed me for anything was when she needed help with something." Now they were onto something, and here Jade was without her notepad. "Ever since Hollywood Arts, it was 'Trina, I can't afford this purse', 'Trina I need to buy these new shoes', 'Do you have fifty bucks so I can take my friends out to eat?'" Trina poked her chest with her thumb and sharpened her glare. "It has been a damn long time since she's shown any interest in anything aside from her own material deficiencies."
"Well, it is unfortunate the timing and circumstance, but it is genuine. She wants to reconnect, she wants to be a part of your life, of your children's lives. She is willing to make that effort, she wants to try, she wants to show you that she can do it. Tori can't do it, however, unless you're willing to give her a chance to prove herself."
"And yet at the same time, she needs help. She's not going to get any apartments when she's got evictions on her file. She's not going to get good jobs when she's got a track record of firings due to her calling off sick and slouching off work."
"I'm not asking you to help her, or to pay her money." Trina leaned back slightly, her jaw locked and her eyes started to open a bit. "I'm asking you to give her a chance to show you she's genuine. If she is not, be done with her. That is what I tell people, because reconnecting takes effort on both sides. First thing though, you two need to be able to sit down and talk to each other. There are many things the both of you need to get off your chest, and the safest way to do that is with a counselor there."
"What? You? How do you expect me to believe-well no, I guess I can believe it if you're really a legitimate counselor."
"Trina. I became a guidance counselor because of my mom." Jade leaned against her car and folded her arms, bowing her head. "I became a counselor because it's my way of paying back to those that I've treated like shit back in the day. I know the things I've done in the past were wrong, and there are a lot of things I regret, and like you I've worked my ass off to become better-to become someone. You and I, Trina? We're the most successful out of any of Tori's old friends. You want to know why that is?"
"Why?"
"Because we've worked. We believe good things aren't just handed to you on a silver platter. Beck believed he could get whatever he wanted with a simple smile, Robbie thought he could get everything he ever dreamed of, Andre never expected to be rejected by a single record label, and Cat? She thought she could live through life with the same ditzy charm that she had in high school, but that didn't work out. Andre made a few good songs, then gave up the second a record company said 'no, I don't like this, change it.'"
"He didn't change it?"
"Nope. Cat? She's living off medication right now and is receiving welfare because no one is hiring her. I've tried to help her with the mental issues she has, but she's moved away and has a different therapist. Beck? We were married once, divorced when I changed and he, well, didn't. He's still a bit arrogant and used his looks and charms to try and get work. I have no idea if it's still working for him, but since no one's really heard from him, I don't know. Then there's Robbie, dealing with an affair and a pending divorce-became a ventriloquist and still has Rex with him. They all stayed the same, they all thought they could get whatever they wanted and didn't have to do much…Even Tori did, but she's trying now. She wants to make an effort. You and I? We worked for where we're at. You're a CEO, and I'm a top notch counselor in LA."
"And you think you're going to be able to fix whatever issue is going on between Tori and myself? Forgive me if I seem a little skeptical, Jade, but you were a big part of the problem back then."
"I know, and so I understand why you're skeptical. I can push all that aside and help." Trina dipped her eyes towards the ground and slowly looked back to Sinjin.
"My problem was never with any of my sister's friends, although I did not like how you guys treated my family. Or myself, for that matter." Trina tapped her fingers on her arm and took a deep breath. "Then Tori tells me that she hoarded away my parent's attention? I spent years being angry at them, estranged from them, because of their neglect, when in reality it was Tori that intentionally made them focus on her? That's low."
"I agree, but you need to tell her that, Trina. You two won't be able to work things out if you two aren't talking to each other. Not to mention…do you really want your children to grow up and never know who their aunt is? Would you consider giving her a chance? I can set up an appointment with the both of you to hash out whatever issues you have. I'll just be there for guidance and to calm things down if they get out of hand."
Trina rolled her head to the side and started to hum. Sinjin folded his arms and raised an eyebrow. "It cannot hurt," he suggested, "As much as it surprises me to say; Jade has a point. You haven't been doing well lately, I think you need to work things out with your sister. The kids have been asking about her, you know."
"Yes, I know…" Trina clenched her eyes and bowed her head, exhaling softly. "What the hell then, go ahead and set up an appointment, Jade. I'll give you my number, and I will see if I can work a session into my schedule. I can't help that you guys came at a busy week."
"All right, great! I can give you my number, call me when you can fit some time into that schedule of yours, and we have a deal."
This was great news, and Tori would probably be happy with it as well. It was important that Jade get the two sisters sin the same room together in a controlled environment. That way, the two can hash out whatever differences they have, and hopefully start working things out. She knew it would be a difficult road, only because it never took just one session and there was no such thing as an overnight success. However, with both sisters on board, they could definitely make the journey that they needed.
So what do you think? Jade did put forth a convincing argument, as Trina is a big family person, her kids' happiness would likely come first for her. At least she's agreed to a session, but I wonder what else she may plan for Tori, there are a few things she wants her sister to learn, such as, how to rely on herself and not ask other people to fix her own problems.