Bluefire

Posted Far Away

This was far from a good way to start my vacations. Even if it wasn't, it was still not what I had expected. 

You see, I had expected that leaving school early meant I would get an extra month of rest... that would technically still be true, but now I would be spending much of my Summer with a bunch of rich kids of Instagram being... well, rich kids of Instagram. 

The good news was that I happened to be a rich kid as well (you may bow now!) and moreover, my cousin, who was also one—and who was the main reason I was in this imbroglio—, would be keeping me company, so I would have at least one familiar face to look forward to seeing, especially since it had been a while since I last saw her. 

I still wanted to make sure though, which led to our current conversation... 

"Is it really necessary?" I asked my mom over lunch. We had chosen by a restaurant close to the Corniche area since it was the only place I could get stuff I liked and my mother could get the stuff she wanted. It certainly beat abusing Glovo and Uber Eats, but it was still far from my favorite place. 

"You know I wouldn't be sending you away if I didn't have to Sydney..." my mother said as she stabbed at the romaine lettuce and cherry tomatoes in her salad, looking up from her platter to address me. "Besides, Saskia wants to see you. When was the last time you saw each other."

"Nine." I accepted, suddenly looking down and noticing I was barely a few fries into my platter of fish and chips, "...I know it's been a while, but I expected less travelling with a bunch of rich kids and more just staying together at the manor in Ghent and just spending the time in the city, not moving around." 

"From what I understand, your cousin is sick of her city. She said she couldn't wait to get out of it. Since your sister and Aurele are away from Liege, it means she can't visit our home." 

"Are you implying a seventeen year old guy can't spend the summer with his cousin in his own home?" I asked my mom as I took a fry and dipped it in mayo, then shoved it into my mouth. Of course I knew Sylvie and my old man weren't in town, but why couldn't I be? 

Mom seemed to ponder the idea for a moment, fork still in one hand. I could tell she was hiding something from me and I wanted to know what it was. It certainly didn't look like something bad and I wasn't really trying to get out of this situation at this point, but I was too curious as to why she didn't want me in Liege besides her urge to overcompensate what hadn't been a good childhood in her eyes. 

She sighed, dropping the fork on the bowl and blowing a lock of silvery hair away from her face. "Ok, you got me. I didn't want you to be in Liege because I forgot to get the keys to it and Aurele is currently in Alaska." 

Ok... what the hell was my old man doing in Alaska of all places? 

"And?" I pressed on. She slumped slightly in defeat. 

"Beyond that, Saskia really wanted to see you. When I learned I would have to spend two weeks in Potsdam doing nothing but attending business meetings, I asked her if she wouldn't mind if you stayed with her for a while. And I thought she was going to be as doubtful as you are..." she trailed off, smiling slightly at the memory, "...turns out she was ecstatic about you staying for a long while. She even said you could move in and spend your last year with her family. When I looked into getting the keys back from your ancestor, she phoned her and I told her about it... and well..." 

I blinked. She took a breath and kept going. 

"And she essentially broke down over the phone, begging me to let you visit her. She was hysterical..." she trailed off again, sighing once more as she looked at me with pleading eyes. "She really misses the two of you, you know..." 

I couldn't help but nod at her assertion—because it wasn't a question—I did know. The last time me, Sylvie and Saskia had been together, I had been nine and the two of them had been eleven. My sister Sylvie had always been the overprotective kind and the fact she and Saskia had grown up competing over everything meant I had been caught in a tug of war of sorts. I couldn't really mind the quandary though; they went to great lengths to please me. Also, Saskia was less overprotective and more overbearing. She had an issue spoiling me because she had been an only child and a loner as well... so she had always wished for a little brother. 

Surprise surprise! I was just what she needed. Sylvie apparently didn't count, even though she did mention she missed her as well in her letters to us. As things were, we didn't even have each other's phones, so no Snapchat or VK when we were bored. 

I slumped back on the chair, crossing my arms as I thought about seeing her again. In many ways, I actually wanted to meet with her again, but a part of me couldn't help but wince at how uncomfortable her love could get. "Fine, I'll pretend I like the idea of spending a month with 50 odd rich kids my cousin knows." 

Mom smiled, covering her mouth with a napkin and suddenly laughing behind it, prompting me to raise an eyebrow at this. 

Brothers and sisters! Juliette de la Sainte-Garde, former model, fashion designer extraordinaire and my bloody mother! 

"Actually, 50 she knows. But I get a feeling the number's actually closer to around 800 hundred or so." 

Thankfully I was not drinking anything when she said that. "Pardon me?!" 

She waved a hand dismissively as she stood slightly over the table, as if to tell me a secret. I bit and inched closer to her. I was starting to regret having been so accepting of my predicament now. 

"Saskia actually asked me to keep that a secret. She told me she was aware you wouldn't like it when you heard it, even if she's confident you will like it once you arrive." 

Saskia? This? Seriously, if she was expecting me to calm down upon hearing this, she clearly knew me terribly. 

For an instant, I thought about answering. Hitting back with something, but the fact was I had already accepted to go, hitch a boat in Copenhagen (sorry, 'cruise ship') and set to gods know where. So I couldn't really object. I sighed, this time in defeat, and set to trying to finish my food. I don't think I would have the stomach for dinner tonight.