[Multi Chap] Dreaming For Reality (JunxOC) Chapter 2
Chapter 2
Title: Dreaming For Reality
Paring: Matsumoto Jun x OC
Rating: PG (G for now)
Up in the bedroom she shared with her sister, Saesha took out a large clipboard from under her bed. On it was a table of empty boxes. The two topmost rows were all crossed out, and half the third row.
“Audition number twenty seven, out.” She didn’t know why she was crossing it out before she even received the results of her audition.
The door suddenly banged open. Saesha jumped and her clipboard clattered to the floor.
“Oh, hi Saesha, didn’t know you were here.” Natali threw her school bag onto her bed and went to check her reflection in the mirror. Satisfied with what she saw, she flashed a brief smile at her reflection and turned back to her sister who was lying on her bed, looking up at the ceiling listlessly.
Natali walked over and sat down next to her sister, pulling the clipboard from her.
“Another audition, huh? Maybe you should stop keeping track of the auditions you go to, it’ll make you feel less depressed.” She advised her older sister nonchalantly.
When Saesha made no move to answer her, she got up and headed to Saesha’s clothes cupboard.
“Can I borrow this dress for this Saturday? I really need it.”
Saesha waved her hand without even looking at the dress.
“Thanks! Oh, and Papa’s home. Is everything okay? He was acting a little weird.”
Saesha’s attention perked up. She felt the same when she saw him earlier. Something is definitely up then, if Natali noticed it too.
******
Uncle Akira was visiting again. The family was all to be here to welcome him, and have dinner together.
“Hi kids!” Uncle Akira bellowed enthusiastically when he entered and saw them lounging around the living room.
“Hi…” they mumbled half-heartedly. Uncle Akira had been coming over a lot these days.
Mama came in from the kitchen and welcomed him to join her and her husband in the kitchen. Dinner was ready soon after.
“Leena, you have outdone yourself again! Have I ever told you that you’re the best cook in the whole world? You’re too good for Sudesh, really.”
“Liar, Hiroko is a better cook.” Mama smiled.
Natali & Sajjan’s eyes met and they had to suppress themselves from giggling. Uncle Akira was really cool and all, but he was not a very good flirt. Everytime he visited, he would try to get their mother to blush. He failed everytime. They were somewhat proud of that, actually.
Moving onto dinner, Uncle Akira began telling stories of people he’d met and places he had been to. Some they have heard before, some they hadn’t.
Just when Saesha was getting bored and thinking of excusing herself, Uncle Akira suddenly said “Actually, I have a very important reason why I came here tonight.”
Papa’s relaxed body straightened up, becoming tense suddenly as he watched his 3 children sitting across the table. He placed a hand on Uncle Akira’s shoulder when he was about to speak again.
“It’s okay Akira, I should tell them.” He smiled at his friend. The three children were looking at their parents, confused.
“Kids, do you know I’ve been having some trouble over at the office?”
One by one, they nodded. They suspected, but couldn’t be too sure. This was the first time their father was really talking about this.
“They have asked me to leave. That it is time for retirement. They want me to sell my shares and leave.”
Well, that’s okay, isn’t it? He’s past 50 years, after all. Saesha thought to herself, catching her brother’s eyes. He was looking happy at the news.
“If I sell my shares in the company, I will have nothing here. They are throwing me away, after using me. After all I’ve done for those young hippies! None of them would be here if it weren’t for me!” Papa was getting heated up and thumped his fist on the table.
A silence settled over them. They all knew very well what this company meant to him. He built it from scratch. It was six months older than Sajjan. The children grew up with it, holidays were spent there, working as temporary staff to earn a little extra allowance. A few more seconds passed in silence. Papa was still fuming.
“This is where I come in” Uncle Akira chuckled, breaking the silence.
“Your father is still a major shareholder in the Japan office, and I’ve invited him to shift his base back there with us, which is really where he belongs, in my opinion.”
Papa had somewhat calmed down now.
“An amazing deal, but your father here still hasn’t decided, he thinks you three are going to oppose this.” Uncle Akira now fixed a stern eye on Saesha’s brother.
To which he immediately replied, “Of course we’re against it. He’s fifty-three now, and you want him to move 3000 miles away and live apart from his family?”
“I’m not in my grave yet, boy.” Papa told him in a stern voice.
“And I have no intention of living away from you. Your mother and I have discussed it, we’re taking all three of you with us.”
“Sounds like you’ve decided already. Why ask us then?” Sajjan crossed his arms, hostility thick in his voice.
“But Papa, Sajjan hasn’t graduated, and I haven’t even started college! We can’t leave now.” Natali looked at her parents despairingly.
Papa and Mama exchanged glances.
“We’ve discussed that too. I’m going ahead first, with Saesha. Then you and your brother will come later with Mama.”
Exasperated, Natali tried to fight her case desperately.
“Mama, you can’t ask me to leave, what about my friends?!”
“It’s what’s best for the family right now, dear….” Mama said complacently. Natali and Sajjan started protesting immediately.
“Enough! You’re 16! You don’t need those friends! We’re going and that’s final!” Papa barked. He had had enough of his children’s complaints. He grabbed Uncle Akira’s hand and shook it.
“You can expect me in 3 weeks!” He shouted above the din of his children. Uncle Akira was so happy he hugged Papa and prattled on excitedly about the Tokyo office and how much it had changed since he last visited, and all the things they were going to do now that he was returning to join them.
“Say something Saesha, don’t just sit there!” Natali enlisted her sister’s help. She knew her parents had a soft spot for her older sister. They would definitely listen to her.
“Whatever….” Saesha feigned disinterest, crashing down Natali’s last hope.
She stomped her foot angrily and ran up to their room, slamming the door behind her. Sajjan had given up the fight as well and was refusing to look at both his parents.
Mama looked at her two older children and sighed. Things happened exactly as she and her husband had predicted. But there was nothing they could do to avoid it.
“Go to sleep kids, we’ll talk tomorrow.” She told Saesha and Sajjan. Papa escorted the still highly excited Uncle Akira out.
Returning to her bedroom, Saesha found that her sister had been venting her frustration out on anything she could get her hands on. Clothes and shoes were strewn all over the beds, the floor and the table. Her books and CDs were all lying on the floor, like a hurricane had attacked the room.
Natali was screaming into a pillow in the midst of all that. Saesha didn’t pay her any attention and pushed off the clothes strewn over her bed and lied down, her head full of her own worries.
******