November 29th, Birmingham, England
۞۞۞۞۞
ONLY AFTER A WEEK PASSED SINCE MY 24TH BIRTHDAY, my parents contacted me. They didn't call me on my birthday, neither did any of my siblings, or siblings-in-law for a matter of fact. I spent my day with my with my four grandparents and my two best friends, since they are very familiar with them already.
"Elizabeth-Freya Arceneaux Von den Hoek," it can't be good if my dad's calling me by my full name, "happy 24th birthday, child. I would have called at 00h, but you know, I was taking care of my grandchildren."
I scoffed, "Hello, father. Thank you, for not remembering that my birthday was a week ago. That was very insufferable of you. But well, it's not like I'm not used to it. Last year you called on the 30th of November, at least this year you tried one day earlier. That's a change."
"Don't speak to me like that, Elizabeth-Freya. I'm your father. And no. Your birthday is today. 29th of November, I would never forget."
My eyes rolled instantly, "You always forgets, father. No. My birthday was a week ago, since I was born on the 22nd of November, 24 years ago. Ask grandpa and grandma, they spent the day with me, together with mother's parents."
"It doesn't matter. Just accept my congratulations."
"Accepted!" Then I hang up, and got back to watching the new episode that came out for the new season of House of the Dragon, on HBO+.
But not even a minute later, my phone rang again. Taking a deep breath, I stared at it and inhaled before accepting the damn call.
"Hello, mother."
"Elizabeth-Freya, why did you hang up on your father's face? You know how upset he was? Don't be mean, child. You didn't even let him finish what he wanted to talk to you!"
Upset my ass. "Oh, I thought he only called to pretended that he remembered my birthday."
"Don't be a bitch, Elizabeth-Freya. We've been too busy. The world doesn't revolve around you, so stop being such an attention-seeker. You've been like this since you were a child!"
"Are you finished? If yes, I'll hang up because I have better things to do than stay here chit-chatting with you, mother. I'm not useless like my siblings, I have work to do." And watching House of the Dragon is light years more important than listening to her bullshit.
She gasped, "Don't hang-up. I'm not done," sigh. "You have to come spend the Christmas season with us. We miss you here. Your grandparents will also come, and you can bring a boyfriend, if you even has one. You annex is still here waiting for you. And if you want to move back and-" Hell no.
"No. I won't move back to London. The city is noisy and annoys me. You insisted that I came back to England, I did. But I told you I would only live here if I lived in Birmingham. Besides, I prefer living around my grandparents, than living in London, because you and dad, and my siblings, would try to use me as a babysitter. And again, I have work to do!"
She growled annoyed, "You ungrateful, child. Your siblings took care of you their entire life and you can't even do that much?"
I scoffed, "No. They didn't. Neither did you or dad, for a matter of fact, mother. Now, my grandparents did and that's why I do everything for them. I won't go for Christmas, I prefer staying here and watching a movie than spending with you, since none of you appreciate my presence. Can I hang-up now?"
"No. You have to come!"
"Then stop this bullshit, mother. Tell me what is the actual reason for you and dad to be calling me. This isn't like any of you. So, spill the tea already or I'll really hang-up on your face."
I could tell she was trying to control her temper by how she was breathing, "You really are infuriating, God's above. Alright, Elizabeth-Freya, I'll be straightforward, if that's what you want. The new CEO of Choi Moon Mills," the British-Korean billionaire conglomerate in which both my parents and all of my siblings, work to. My dad is the vice-president of the London branch, and my mother is one of the higher ups too, "will be coming to spend the Christmas holiday in our Villa. And he requested that all of our family gathers there."
Not being able to hold in, I chuckled bitterly, "Why? Is he planning on putting us all in one place and then murdering us all so both yours and dad's shares on the CMM Conglomerate got to someone else?"
She gasped in horror, "Don't be so morbid, Elizabeth-Freya. God's forsaken. We don't know who he is yet, he's the new CEO of the entire Conglomerate, the new Chairman of all the branches, and he's living in England apparently, so we need to get on his good side. After all, we were only familiar with his father, Darrel Mills, and his mother Choi Moon-Young."
"And what does that has to do with me? Why don't you… I don't know?! Pretend I'm dead or something. Say I got covid, and have to stay in quarantine for a month and won't be able to go. Just lie." I'm amazing at that, and I have to have gotten it from either her or dad.
Dean is also an amazing liar, so it means it runs in our blood. "We can't lie to him, Elizabeth-Freya. He knows everything. He's probably one of the most powerful people in the UK, we can't afford to do that. Our positions are too high in the company for us to do such a thing."
"That's not my problem, mother. I don't work for this dude. You, dad, and your four golden children, do. Not me. So, I don't see why should I do that."
She seemed to be anxious, "That's not all. There was a terrible storm three days ago here."
"Yes. I saw in the news. What about it?"
Sigh. "All the seven power generators you build for our Villa got damaged in the storm. We managed to get a small temporary one, but it'll only last a week."
I gasped in shock, "Oh, no. What about the solar panels I installed in the rooftop?"
"It all broke, Lizzy."
Hah, she only calls me this when she needs me. Now we got to the point. This is probably the actual reason why they called me, not the CEO-is-coming bullshit. After all, they depend on my work to use all the energy they want. And the power generators and the solar panels I build in the villa was a gift I gave them just to get rid of the small guilty that I still felt for scamming them.
Sigh, "Alright, mom. I build them in a way that only I will be able to fix so I'll have to go. I'll be going in two days," I'm my own boss anyways, so that won't be a problem. "But I'll be taking two people with me, and I won't be using my annex, I'll take the two-store house in front of the lake, you can let your guests use my annex. It'll be more comfortable for you all and for me. It'll take me around five weeks to fix it all, maybe six, at maximum seven."
Letting out a happy squeak, I could help but find it cute. Again, I don't hate my parents, I just don't appreciate having to spend a long time around them. "Oh my God, I knew we could count on you for this, Lizzy. We'll take that as a Christmas gift. Bring all the materials you need, and the people you want. The lake is frozen because of the winter, you won't be able to bath in it, but the view is still great. You liked ice-skating, didn't you? Maybe you could do that, or whatever. We'll wait for your arrival on Sunday."
"Okay!" Then I hang-up, and got up from my personal theater. "Dove," I called the AI that I created for my house, my grandparents', and Flower and Chase's. "Pause the episode and play Too Late by Chase Atlantic on the speakers of the house!"
"Yes, Freya!" That's how I programmed her to call me, and how everyone else calls me too. Elizabeth makes me cringe, especially because my family calls me that. And I hate being called by my full compound name, Elizabeth-Freya, it stresses me out.
Tying my hair in a high bun, I called Flower and Chase, and told them to pack their things because I'll take them to spend around five-to-six weeks on my family's villa in London, which they were happy to apply, since they always asked me to take them there, but I always refused.
Then I called my p.a. Debora Corioni-Montevecchi and told her to go and prepare all the materials I would need to fix the solar panels and the power generators at the villa. I also told her to come to my home and help me prepare all of the clothes I would be taking with me.