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Chapter 29

Tristan came over again when he’d knocked off, long after Clyde left for work. He sat on the bed, taking up Kay’s space. She clicked her tongue and glanced at him in annoyance. “I’m can't get in trouble with my leg like this. You don’t have to check on me.”

“I’m accompanying you in case you’re lonely,” Tristan said.

“Then don’t sit on the patient’s bed, doctor,” Kay snapped.

“I’m not a doctor, I’m your brother,” Tristan corrected, patting her head affectionately. “Be more respectful, by the way.”

Kay rolled her eyes and gestured to the other patients in the ward. “Anyway, I’m not lonely. I’ve been making friends. Right, Anne?” she said to the middle aged woman lying in the neighbouring bed. The woman raised a feeble hand to give her a thumbs up.

Tristan smiled and waved at her as well. Then he turned to Kay. “Well, you’ll be leaving your friends tomorrow, so be prepared to say goodbye.”

“Could you not be so straightforward for once?” Kay asked him.

Tristan smirked in reply. Kay waited for him to say what he wanted to, because it was unlike Tristan to want to spend quality time with his little sister without reason. And just as she’d expected, he had an ulterior motive for exploiting his employee benefits.

“That boy… Clyde, was it? Is he just your friend?” Tristan asked, a tone of suspicion in his voice.

Kay narrowed her eyes at him, but carefully avoided answering the question truthfully. “What are you getting at?” she hissed.

“You know what I’m getting at,” Tristan said, winking. “He’s a pretty good-looking chap, too. I wouldn’t be surprised—”

Kay cupped her hand over her brother’s mouth. “Shut up.”

He lifted her hand away. “You can’t hide your relationship forever. I mean, it’ll be hard for him to convince our parents that you two are just friends if he keeps visiting you at home while you recover.”

Kay didn’t realise that before, and now she was worried. Even if they weren’t in a relationship, she qualified to be in a relationship with coconut water, and Clyde would be tasked to deliver it to her every day throughout her recovery. Them dating only made things more awkward, because they had to lie about it. She didn’t know if she wanted to smack herself for not thinking of that, or if she wanted to smack Tristan for bringing it up.

After a long silence, Kay asked, “Was it obvious?”

Tristan thought about it seriously. “If that was the first time I’d seen him, I would’ve given you guys the benefit of doubt. But I recognised him—he seemed to have been avoiding me a couple of times in this building, and I remember doing the same thing around my girlfriend’s parents when we were dating in secret.”

“Speaking from experience now, are you?” Kay said humorlessly. “Anyway, do you think Oto-san and Oba-san will approve of us? They scolded you a whole lot when they found out about you, after all.”

“Don’t take my words for it, but I think they’d accept it after a while. Especially since you’re the youngest, I don’t think they’re as protective anymore. And you know them… as long as your partner is accomplished in their eyes, you should be fine.”

“Ah…” Kay said, thinking of how Clyde was only starting year twelve the next term, after having dropped out three years ago. And his two jobs weren’t exactly desirable to her parents, if she were to be truthful to herself.

“I think that’s going to be a problem.”

~

Julian cooped himself up in his room the instant he reached home everyday, for the past week. Kay already had her surgery and was now recovering at home. Judging from his father’s silence regarding the matter, he assumed that the man hadn’t gotten wind of the news yet.

However, the silence didn’t last any longer than that, for Julian’s father called him down from his bedroom on Saturday morning and informed him that they were going to visit Brooklyn one last time.

“One last time?” Julian asked Sera, “Is this my punishment for losing my cool at her?”

"I don't think so," Sera said, smoothing out the sheets on his bed. "He mentioned something about the Sargent family moving. Maybe it's about that."

"Moving?" Julian repeated to himself. If it were true, that explained Brooklyn's absence from school since Monday. He'd already seen the video online more times than he was comfortable with, along with its comments. If he were Brooklyn, he would want to leave this place too.

He dressed himself in a hurry and leaped down the stairs, nearly crashing into the railing in the process. His mum peeked out from the mudroom and smiled warmly at him. "Come on, sweetheart."

The ride to the Sargents' was a quiet one. Julian couldn't remember the last time he'd gone out with his parents without a mission. It was always an important company dinner, meeting, or his father just needed him to help out. It would always have something to do with the company, and they never went out for leisure. All they had was a trip to a new country every year, but even then Julian was tasked to take down notes of how businesses were ran there, their etiquette and such things.

This was possibly the first time he'd been to the Sargents' that was not for a formal purpose. As Julian stepped into their house, he felt something completely different from when he'd come for their company gatherings. It felt more like a home.

"Julian! My boy!" Mr Charles Sargent exclaimed in a deep voice, embracing Julian. He gestured to a room at the end of the hallway. "Brooklyn's packing. Or she should be."

Julian knew that bedroom far too much for his own good. He was familiar with the layout of the excessively comfy furniture inside, and the golden fairy lights that hung over the huge white bed frame. He cautiously knocked on the ajar door, and pushed it open gently.

As expected, Brooklyn wasn't exactly packing. She was giving orders to her two maids, tears streaming down her cheeks as she did so. She didn't have to look up to know it was Julian at the doorway, and she didn't acknowledge his presence either.

Julian walked over, careful not to tread on any of the clothes strewn on the carpeted floor. Brooklyn still wasn't looking at him, but she had stopped shouting at her maids.

That was one thing about her that Julian disliked: she barely showed anyone respect. Sure, she respected herself, her family, and a handful of her friends. She even respected him. But she didn't respect others, like her maids, for example. Julian, on the other hand, could never imagine bossing Sera around, although she was his personal maid, and her job was to serve him. Sera was a person, and he thanked her every chance he could for helping him so much.

Brooklyn sniffed to herself and dabbed at her eyes with a handkerchief. "What do you want?" she asked, and Julian could make out her feeble attempt at trying to sound harsh.

"I was supposed to say bye to you," he said, standing awkwardly by her bed, a small gap between the both of them.

"Bye, then. You can go now," Brooklyn said, audibly bitter. She picked up her mobile phone and scrolled, tapping on a lot of things. Julian turned on his heel and headed for the door when she stated, "'Brooklyn Sargent's a monster.' That's true, right?"

When Julian looked back, Brooklyn had finally lifted her head, and her gaze was locked on him. Julian stayed silent, not knowing if she was asking him a legitimate question.

Brooklyn barked out a humourless laugh. "Of course I am. Even you agree." Julian didn't miss the drop of her head as she pressed her thumb to the corner of her eye to wipe away a fresh tear.

Julian looked away to the door, his hand on the handle. "You're not a monster," he said, pretty softly, but loud enough for her to hear. "But if I were to be honest, you were really stupid."

***

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Only two more chapters left! After which I will hopefully start on a new project that I've been on forever :-)