enfin.

Chapter 2〢Des choix

Kiera

9:17

Soon enough we had almost finished dining and although the hall was full, entertainment remained scarce for the entirety of the meal. When we had all been done or close to finishing our food, my mother fortunately decided to start up a conversation. 

"So, what college are you thinking of joining next year, Cherie?" a question addressed to Cora. "Kiera may be joining Brown, have you heard of it?" Nope, definitely don't recall even having that as an option. "Yes, it's one we are reviewing and I guess it's a fitting choice." She doesn't specify for who. "No need to guess at all dear, and what are you considering as a major?", queries my mother, "Most likely Econ, how about you, Ki?" 

I'm somewhat startled by Cora's mention of my name and from my peripheral vision, I see my mother look down at her plate. "Oh, um Engin-" and I'm cut of by my mother before I could finish my reply. "Business Management, is what she means", She accompanies her interruption with a dead-eyed glare in my direction while hiding her manipulation with a hoax, entitled smile. "What a fine choice, the things you learn in that field will never leave you," replied Francois, with a gentle smile suggesting he took exactly that as a major - Of course he'd say that. Who the fuck asked you?

I don't know why but I glanced at Nic to see if he could stand up for me as he did in fact know what I actually wanted to do in the time ahead because at the very least he knew it was nothing near the shit that flowed from my mother's mouth. But even so, Nic's expression was traceless and his lips sealed, I was undoubtedly alone. 

I'm overthinking it, asking for too much.

"Please excuse me", I scurried swiftly away from the hall. Anywhere but there. Fair enough, yes I admit to having no clue where the hell I was off to but I couldn't stand the awkwardness of that hall. I needed space. And so after a few minutes of aimless roaming, I found myself at what seemed to be the living quarters of the Roache's mansion. 

I didn't know whether to feel offended or relieved that not a soul came searching for me. 

-

I shortly came to a dead end at the end of the hallway and noticed a solitary door to my right. It had a crown carved into it. Must be Cora's

I went in.

I was greeted with an eyesore.

Her room fostered so much mess, it was unbelievable. There was barely anything in her closet as it seemed to have puked all its contents out onto the floor. Mounds of books spiralled across the ground, garnished by pieces of torn cardboard; a desk was upturned in a corner, residing by a chair missing three of its legs. How can anyone live like this? Do her parents not care? Does she not care? This would grant me instant murder at my house if my room ever dared to resemble Cora's in the slightest. There was one place in her room however, that remained spotless during whatever hurricane hit the rest of it. It was a balcony situated in the far side of the room, oddly attractively. I found making my way towards it when footsteps abruptly sounded in the hallway. Shit. 

Hiding was obviously impossible so I cleverly opted for a 'Deer in headlights' pose accompanied by a great excuse, mentally rolling my eyes at myself. The noise gradually grew in volume and moments later a figure stood in the doorframe. "I'd find it particularly difficult to mistake this room for a bathroom." "Cora... I'm really sorry, I wasn't thinking and-"

"Étoile, it's fine, not like I'm hiding explosives or nuclear weapons in here  and it seems you've navigated away from that... situation just fine." She responded, flailing her arms in the direction of the huge hunk of trash at the centre of the room. Her room didn't seem to bother her much.

"I'm really glad to see you again, I thought you'd forget about me." My real translation: 'I hate myself for stopping thinking about you.' She made her way towards me and gave me a hearty hug. "Didn't think you'd actually let me do that", she chuckled. "Didn't think you would", I smiled back. 

"WE CAN'T FUCKING DO THAT, IT'S INSANE-"  "He was- HE WAS OUR FRIEND." The voices of my dad and Cora's feuding.

A note from the author:  Stop here if you want a happy story. I've warned you. 

"...Baisse la voix, les enfants sont là." Keep your voice down, the kids are around.

The lowering in volume was directly followed by a soft closing of a door. I was just about to ask Cora about what was going on but I guess she could already tell. "They're in the family lounge nearby. I'd recommend ignoring them." "Does your dad get that worked up often?" I asked nervously. She paused for a moment, presumably flicking through her memories to find a suitable answer. Then, she bit her thumb and said "No." She did that when she lied. 

It's probably just a habit now though. "We should check it out." I proposed this idea because something about two grown, sophisticated men arguing about a seemingly sentimental subject piqued my interest. I never suspected a thing. "That's a really shitty idea, Ki" She stared at me with an unconvinced look plastered across her face. Maybe there was some fact in that, but I didn't care. But now I wish I listened. I really wish I listened. 

"Then give it more thought because it must be something really important if they're getting THAT worked up and as their  kids, I'm fairly certain it's our right to know." Cora rested her hands on her hips and shot me the most 'What the fuck, are you kidding me?' look ever. 

"Two minutes. And I'm already counting."

Easy fold, Cora.