Realm of Renee

Chapter 18

(Clover told Mike what I was doing, so he decided to write in my pdf too.)

9th June 2019

MIKE

"Mom, this is delicious," I said as I dug into the steak and roast potatoes in front of me. Mom beamed at me, while Renee rolls her eyes.

Dad was at his therapist's today, which made it a perfect chance for me to come home. I hated visiting this way, but this was the best option I had.

I was expecting Clover to be here, but she had her Tarot classes every Sunday, and she promised me that she would visit later.

"I wish you would've brought your friends, Mike," Mom complained for the hundredth time.

"Violet, Simon and Daisy have their own families to visit, Mom," I repeated patiently and mom simply shook her head.

Renee sat quietly, merely nodding whenever I glanced towards her. However, my sister's always silent, she's hardly the chatty type like mom and I was.

"We're planning to start a business, since we can't make YouTube videos for the rest of our lives," I told them, trying to poke my fork through a rather hard piece of potato.

"How exactly are you doing that?" Renee finally opened her mouth, looking curious.

"I don't think we'll be starting from scratch, since none of us is particularly skilled in anything other than pranks. We might buy an already existing business," I explained, thinking about my lack of a college degree.

I don't regret not going to college. If I had gone, there would've been no LOLtube or anything of the sort.

"Have you decided on a name yet?" Mom asked, taking a sip of water.

"MBTN Group. Has a nice ring to it," I said before I see Renee gawking at me, wide-eyed.

"Why MBTN?" She sputtered out. "And what does it stand for?"

"I don't know, Daisy came up with it. It stands for Michael, Bianca, Timothy and Nicole." I said proudly, but Renee looked confused.

"Where did the other three names come from?" Renee raised an eyebrow.

"It's our real names, of course." I laughed. "Mike for me, Daisy is Bianca, Simon is Timothy, and Violet is Nicole. You didn't think we'd use our real names on LOLtube."

Renee still stared at me in shock, like I'd just told her that the world was ending.

"Renee, what's wrong?" I asked her softly.

"I don't like the name," She said quickly, avoiding my gaze, "There are better names out there."

"Okay then, I'll change it," I replied immediately, and she leaned back into her chair, still throwing me a wary look.

"What type of business are you planning to buy?" Mom asked, choosing to skip the exchange between Renee and me.

"I thought a publishing company would be good, but the others wanted something bigger," I explained, to see Renee choking in on a potato.

"Ren!" I exclaimed as mom handed her a glass of water.

"Why publishing?!" She cried out, as soon as the potato was dislodged from her throat.

"I don't know. I just felt like it," I shrugged.

I wondered why she was so shocked by all this.

"Mom, I'm full... I just can't...," Renee pushed her plate away and used her crutches to limp to her room. Mom and I exchanged looks, unable to understand what was going through her mind.