until he left // luke hemmings

beginning

"Welcome to Australia, Ariadné!"

I immediately ran into my grandfather's arms the moment I exited Kingsford-Smith Airport's doors. I saw him waving his hands in the air as if he's stranded in an island and a boat just passed from a hundred meters away. He looked so happy. I immediately puled away from the hug when I remembered that he wasn't able to attend my college graduation last week. I was supposed to be mad at him but happiness had took over my system when I saw him, my grandfather, with a huge grin on his face outside the airport waiting for me.

I looked around, feeling the Australian winter air. Thank God it doesn't snow in a lot of parts of Australia. It was currently almost summertime in Boston, Massachusetts while it was winter in the country I am at.

Grandpa opened the car door and handed me a coat and a sweater that both looked like designer ones.

I have never been to Sydney. Heck, I wasn't even given the chance to fly out of Massachusetts. I even messed up as I was undergoing the airport routine before entering the plane heading to Sydney and now here I am... outside Kingsford-Smith International Airport with my grandfather. I've always wanted to go out of Massachusetts and when I was out of college, I knew that my time has arrived and that I'm needed in Sydney.

When I was thirteen before I entered Boston College High School and before Grandpa flew to Sydney, he had told me that if I graduate in Harvard, he'd send me to Australia because he believed that it is where I belong. I'm Australian blood and flesh though the only difference is my accent because it's American. A few months after I turned eighteen, I got my acceptance letter from Harvard College and just like what my grandfather had promised me, here I am.

My grandfather is an Australian merchant. Well, not just a merchant. He's a tycoon. He's the President of Grandiose Enigma which is a hotel-resort chain. I call him Boppa because I couldn't pronounce the word 'Grandpa' when I was very young and he loved the nickname so he just let je call him that.

"How do you feel, Ariadné?" my grandfather asked as his "men" grabbed my suitcases and duffel bags and placed it inside the back of his Audi. My grandfather also has a thing with my second name. My full name's Audrey Ariadné Vanderbilt Robinson. Most people call me Audrin because that was how I pronounced my name when I was very young but my grandfather, he always calls me Ariadné which is slightly annoying on my part. My second name is so weird. Seriously, who has that kind of name? Only me.

"I feel weird." I simply told him, glowering because of the men in black suit around us... and also because he called me Ariadné.

He laughed quietly. "That's okay. You'll get used to it!"

I sighed and forced myself to smile.

🍉

"So, Ariadné... Congratulations on your graduation! A Summa Cum Laude from Harvard! That's so great!" He practically yelled out that caused some of the café goers to turn their heads and to look at me with fascination... while some just didn't care. I looked at the ground, not ready to meet the eyes of anyone. All the blood have rushed to my cheeks. "I'm sorry I wasn't able to fly to Boston, my dear."

We were inside the Mrs. Fields café and I didn't know why but going to Mrs. Fields has somehow reduced the jetlag feeling. Good thing his "men" were staying outside. I wouldn't want to keep my head down when curious eyes stare at us as if we're aliens because we have guards.

"It's okay, Boppa. It's just Harvard." I faked a smile right after I told him that. I was so angry and so disappointed. He's the only family that I have but he wasn't able to attend my graduation. I was thankful that Dr. Susanna Owens, the only professor that I was close to, was there to attend the activities that involved the family members of the college class. She almost seemed like a real mother the whole time.