redeeming alyson | ongoing

first day

The Christmas holidays passed by in the blink of an eye, and before I knew it, it was already the 27th—my first day of work with West. I applied a last coat of Clinique's Black Honey lipstick, and stared at myself in the mirror in satisfaction. I was sporting an office babe look today—tanned, casual and chic. My hair was in loose waves, and I wore a white button-down tucked in over a knee-high pencil skirt, and black Valentino pumps. I was the most excited about my new elliptical glasses that completed that look.

I've always wanted to work in the corporate world. Heck, I've got an entire Pinterest board from when it did happen. And today, it was going to. I smiled at myself in the mirror for the first time in awhile.

There was a soft knock outside my door, and one of the maids came in. "Miss Alyson, Mr. Xu is downstairs."

I tried to hide my surprise. I didn't expect him to pick me up. I had intended to use my old car. I asked daddy about it yesterday, and he looked delighted about it. At this point, I couldn't care less what his children thought because they were in Italy, in their mother's ancestral home.

Downstairs, West was seated across daddy and mommy. I heard mommy's dainty laughter. West grinned. I couldn't hear what they were talking about, but they all looked up when my heels click-clacked on the marble staircase.

Daddy's wide smile was the first thing I saw. "Aly, you didn't tell us you were working for Mr. Xu. We could have prepared breakfast for him."

"Oh no, Tito," West said with a laugh, shaking his head. "She couldn't have known. I came here by surprise, and I already ate. Don't worry about me. The coffee and mooncakes were already very good."

Mommy blushed. "I'm glad you like it, hijo."

I kissed her cheek, and gave daddy a side hug. He patted my back, and motioned for me to sit beside West.

"Good morning, Mr. Xu," I greeted politely in an even tone.

He smiled widely, the light catching in his eyes. I looked away. This man could not be any more obvious. Mommy glanced at the two of us, her eyes dancing in delight. Knowing her, she's already interrogated West. His full name, his line of work, everything. There was nothing a man could hide in front of my mother. She even interrogated Kayden the first time he came to pick me up in our house in Burra when we were in high school.

At that time, our economic status could not be any more different from Kayden's. Some would find it laughable, and even I thought it was annoying of my mom to ask these men who were clearly economically superior over us. How dare we interrogate a rich man when his family should be the one interrogating us?

I've heard that so many times from our neighbors in Burra. They'd laugh and smirk about it. It always made me feel bad and I often lashed out with mean words. I never felt better about it until I got older and reserved the energy I used to use to retaliate to pour into myself instead.

Now that I was older, I now saw what she always did. She knew my beauty would make me a target, and that was why she was strict with me when it came to dating.

"Aly's mommy trained in Beijing, you know? We were there for a month, and she really wanted to try a culinary class," daddy said proudly with a sheepish grin, shifting my attention. "I couldn't say no. After all, I got to try every product."

Mommy laughed, touching his arm. "Of course, honey. You spoil me rotten every time."

I secretly smiled. I loved seeing my mother like this, light and charming. She's always been like this around Daddy Xerxes. It was reminiscent of her old self, before papa lost his job and she had to carry the family's weight on her shoulders.