Millie's troubled face hovered above her. This would be the first time seeing her uncomfortable talking about something with Renata. Yet, Millie's voice was stern enough to make Renata's mind run billions of miles per hour.
"Why?" Renata abruptly sat up, hugging her knees and leaning on the almost non-existent headboard, preparing to hear the worst.
"Lyle probably is not as good as he seems, Renata. I have heard stories about him which are quite disturbing."
"What kind of things? Come on, Mil, give me some details to ponder. Don't just give me crumbs....."
Millie let out a long sigh before continuing. "As you know, I have lived in Boston for the past few years, right? Lyle is also from Boston; he came from an old-money family. I heard some stories about him assaulting numerous girls in Boston. However, none of these have ever made it to the public; I'm sure his family has their hands in covering up his wrongdoings."
"Did he ever do something bad to you?"
"No.... but it would be best to be cautious nonetheless. So far, what I heard rumors about him lately is his involvement in the 'Senior Salute' thing."
"What is that?" Renata's forehead wrinkled in her confusion.
"Idiotic things that usually Senior do." Millie didn't have the heart to tell this particular sweet summer child in front of her, but she had to. "Guys compete on how many skirts they can fuck."
Renata gasped at her revelation. "Renata, I'm worried if he is only playing with you. What if he only sees you as one of his next conquests among other chicks?"
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Most students would come home during the weekend, if their home was quite near. As for Renata, coming home every weekend would exhaust her. She couldn't stand to sit still for hours watching mundane people doing mundane things from inside her car.
When she was stuck in a traffic jam like this one, she would awkwardly stare at the trees, wheels, or even the skies. Anything else besides the people or inside the car next to hers. Though she called herself an extrovert, she'd feel embarrassed even staring at the car next to hers for too long. It could be just her, though.
"You are awfully quiet tonight, grumpy bear. Is everything alright?" Her father pinched her cheek, and Renata snuggled up to him. "I miss home, that's all." She couldn't possibly tell him about boys; she still loved her dear life.
"Really? Who do you miss the most? Me or mom?"
"TungTung." She squealed when her father tried to pinch her again. "I miss my daddy, I miss my mommy, I miss my TungTung, I also miss aunty popo's cooking. You too, Frank."
"Aww....." Her father put his palm on his chest.
"Are we close to our home yet? Hoaahhmmm... I'm tired already." Renata rubbed her drowsy eyes; her head had settled nicely on her father's shoulder.
"Sleep then." Her father caressed her head, making her eyes even heavier to stay open. "I will wake you up when we arrive."
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The essentials of the Chinese family mainly was displayed during dinner time. A meal was something more than just food. Family members gathered at a big round table, eating while chatting about how the day had gone so far. Sharing food between parents and children was a symbol of a bonding time. If there was any food left to be shared, that was.
Her mom and dad looked at each other, wondering if the school didn't give Renata any meals all this time. Judging from how chaotic Renata shoved the food to her mouth. "Eat slowly; the food won't go away, silly bear."
"How long since you last ate, pooka bear?" Her father was amused as he put another mushroom in Renata's bowl with his chopsticks.
Renata swallowed before answering her father, "I eat regularly; by regular, I mean more than 4 times a day. No matter how good the food there, home food is the best."
"What do they usually serve, silly bear?" Her mom called aunty popo and asked her to make another batch of wonton and tofu soup.
"Meat, lots of meat. Chicken, pork, beef, and sometimes turkey or salmon. They cook in various forms; meatballs, sausages, fried, baked, and so on. The soups or pasta are usually creamy, and veggies are usually salad kinds. You know, western food in general."
"And you don't like any of those?"
"They taste good; some of them are really good. But....." Shaking her head, Renata drank another bowl of soup. " They are too heavy..... and greasy."
"Ou~h, silly bear. Do you want to bring some food when you go back the day after tomorrow?"
"No, mom, it would be a hassle. I can always eat all of these whenever I'm home anyway. No worries." Renata finally fulled after inhaling another steamed sea bass.
"So, how's school? Did you make many friends?" Her mom and dad continued their dinner.
"Many homework, dorm duties, basically the same tasks I had in my former boarding school, nothing out of the ordinary so far." Except for the 'Senior Salute' thing, of course. She had never encountered such a thing because she had been in an all-girl middle school before. "My roommate is a year older than me, she's Chinese, but her mom was married to........."
Renata recounted all the things that happened, the funny, the weird, and even the embarrassing events, which she replayed animatedly.
"Lately, most of my homework required me to use a computer. Thank gosh, Millie has a computer, and I often borrow it. Well, I also borrow it for playing games too."
Her mom stared at her husband, "By the way, I have something for you, plump bear. Why don't we all go to our study room?" Her dad walked in the front while Renata walked hand in hand with her mom.
Patrick took a huge white box from the desk and gave it to Renata. "Consider this as one of your early birthday presents, cutie bear." Her dad sat on the armrest and hugged her mom.
"A Macbook???? Thank you very much, dad!!!! I love it, it's pink too!!!! Oh, I love you guys...." Renata put it down and kissed her parent; she was ecstatic.
"Careful with it, Ok? Come, let's set it up together, care bear."
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Being in New York with her dad was a pretty rare occasion lately. If Renata wanted to be honest, she loved watching the tall buildings, loved watching the sea of people walking non-stop, and she especially loved watching the woman. Once in a while, Renata sketched something based on a particular woman she chose. Either her shoes, her bag, or her sunglasses.
"What's so interesting, pony bear? You've been staring out the window for a long time. Are you bored already?" Her dad sat on the sofa next to her. "It's pretty rare to see you wake up early without your mom soprano-ing you first. And you chose to be with me all day, even though you knew I would visit our branch stores."
"I'm not bored at all, Daddy. How could I? I have a date with my dad in New York and watch him nitpicking his employees. It's entertaining actually, more so than watching those women walking with those weird accessories they wear."
Her dad looked at the sketchbook on her lap; this little one loves to design just like her mother. If her mom loved to draw many kinds of handbags, this lovely daughter of his loves to design shoes, eyewear, scarves, and any other little accessories.
"Another shoe again, this time, pita bear? May I?" Renata gave the book to him. "Good color matching, not so bizarre as the last one, I see. Why don't I set up a store next to your mom's when you are old enough? You can sell your shoes and other accessories or whatever you come up with your design."
"I don't know, Dad. I love drawing these things, but I never think of myself as a businesswoman, like mom, or you, for that matter. I'm not sure I can. What if it doesn't sell? What if my design sucks?"
"Don't you worry yourself with those thoughts, sweety bear. Business is not simple but also not that hard. As long as you grab the basics, you are more than ready. Or how about this: you can stick to designing, just like your mom does, and leave the business matter to me first. Once you are ready, you can take the reigns."
"Sir, Frank said the car is ready." One of the employees informed them.
"How many branches are left, dad?"
"3 more to go, but first, let's have lunch. What do you want to have, cookie bear?" Her dad helped her carry her bag after she put away her book and stationery.
"Ramen? Dumpling?"
"Uncle Yan's kitchen, then."
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Renata sat lotus-pose on her bed while typing her English assignment that needed to be submitted tomorrow. Millie was just back from her shower and was waiting for her PC to boot. Millie watched the ever-so-serious look on Renata as she placed a cup of hot tea on her table.
"So serious, I could tie a rubber band on your mouth..... what are you doing, Renata?" Millie couldn't help but want to tease her pouting face.
"Oh, nothing. Just a simple English essay." Renata's eyes were not leaving her Macbook screen.
"What story do you work with?"
"The Aged Mother by Matsuo Basho."
"A~h, that is a very heartfelt story of a loving mother and her son."
"Uh huh..." Millie could feel the disdain from her short response.
"What? You don't think so?"
"I think it teaches me not to give birth to a son in the future. One, he could be a despotic leader, or two, he could be an ungrateful murderous son. Talking about Sophie's choices between a rock and a hard place."
"Hahahhaha...." Millie held her stomach and laughed out loud before she asked Renata, looking aghast. "You are not writing that, are you?"
"I wish I'm crazy enough to sacrifice my credit, but no. I write just as you say, a heartwarming and tear-jerking story, yada yada..."
Millie shook her head and started to work on her homework. "By the way, don't you feel a bit chilly? How could you dress like that while I'm literally freezing here."
Looking down at herself, Renata examined what she wore at the moment. Denim frayed hot pants, and an oversized crop sweatshirt slid off one of her shoulders, showing her black bra's strap. The orange sweatshirt was too short that displayed her stomach and belly button. "I'm not cold." She shrugged and went back to her assignment.
"You could catch one though, Renata." Millie swung her chair and continued typing. She always placed her hot tea next to her screen; she said it helped with her creativity.
"I will use this if I feel cold later." Renata tugged her blanket to show Millie.
However, her blanket got tangled with the ethernet cable connecting her laptop and port. As she yanked it, she lost her grip on her laptop and accidentally pulled the cord too strongly. She could save her laptop from the floor, but the ethernet port was torn off from the wall socket.
Like a domino effect, the cable dragged the tall bookshelf between her bed and Millie's PC table, and Millie caught the bookshelf. Still, her elbow sent her mug full of hot tea flying to the back of her PC desk, drenching all the electrical sockets and everything.
Their room soon blacked out, and they both hugged each other while hysterically screaming, alarming everyone on that floor.
Someone banging on their door loudly. "WHAT HAPPENED????" They could hear Kim's voice outside their room. Ran to the door and opened it; Millie and Renata tried to muster all they could to tell the story. Still, nothing coherent came out because they were both panicking.