Hidden Plays

20: Now it's time to turn a new leaf

Satomi opened her eyes and looked around. She checked her screen to see there was still one hour left until she arrived in Paris. She went to the restroom before heading back to her plane seat. Her father bought her first-class seats, so she could be watched more easily. After all she was only 13 years old.

She sighed and watched a movie for the remaining hour.

————

The plane had finally touched down in Paris. Her grandparents insisted on picking her up themselves. She decided to leave her tennis identity behind and decided to just be Yoshida Satomi, after all the Yoshida family was only well-known in Japan, unless you were an avid tennis watcher or lover to Japanese dramas, but there probably weren't too many in France. She got her luggage and exited. She was led by an airport worker. When she saw her grandparents she ran into their embrace.

"Solaine, it's been forever!" Her grandmother said in french using Satomi's french name.

(French is in italics)

"You looked beautiful just like you're mother when she was younger." Her grandfather said.

The Beauchêne family had somewhat of a reputation in France. They weren't that famous, but the family runs a famous winery in Paris that was known to have some of the most exquisite wines and champagne made in Champagne, France. The winery was ran by Satomi's uncle Chenye, Katsumi's eldest sibling. Her Aunt Odette married an entrepreneur. She had a total of 5 french cousins, two boys from her uncle Chenye and two girls and a boy from her Aunt Odette.

They headed into the car and the driver drove to their retirement villa a little outside of Paris.

"Odette, Nicolas (Odette's husband), their three children, your uncle Chenye, Aunt Elaine, and their two boys will be arriving soon to greet you as soon as we get back. They only see you on TV, and even so, they can't see your face." Grandpère said.

Grandmère moved Satomi's bangs to a side and removed her eyepatch.

"Grandmère!" Satomi said scared for a moment.

"Don't worry, cher (darling), we all know, you are even more beautiful without it. Your eyes shine brightly either way." Grandmère said. Satomi just nodded and held the eyepatch in her hands.

"You got a former pro to train you? Is he any good?" Grandpère asked.

"Number 1 back in 2002, I believe. Won two grandslams." Satomi said.

"She sounds like a fine trainer." Grandmère said in japanese. Grandmère was japanese, but moved to France with Grandpère after they married.

"And your mère? How is she?" Grandpère asked.

"She's doing great. She recently got ranked as an A-class actress after the drama 'Written in the Stars' came out. It was a big hit, and she's finally out of being a B-class actress." Satomi said.

"And your sad excuse of a brother?" Grandpère asked. He didn't like Hideaki. He believed that Hideaki was 'too spoiled' and 'too arrogant' 'like his father' while he believed that Satomi was 'an angel' and 'the kindest little girl ever' 'like her mother'.

It was actually the opposite, Satomi was the arrogant one, while Hideaki just didn't know how to handle all the attention.

"He's not a sad excuse, he just wasn't raised like a normal child, but he's doing great. He finally has a stable life and girlfriend." Satomi said. She had heard from the news that he was doing great.

"How is your père? That you must know real well since you're father got custody of you." Grandmère asked. She on the other hand adored Katashi, and just believed their divorce was because of a misunderstanding and her daughter demanding too much from her fomer son-in-law who was making money to support the family.