I woke up to someone consistent and soft tapping on my shoulder, slowly raised my head to notice dad . We have landed ,he said.
Mom and I got our bags and headed out , after getting out i saw my brothers were waiting for us , Austin was talking to a man looked like he was in his late fifties or early sixties.
Harold mom called out and quickly walked towards the man smiling.
Young miss it's nice to see you after so long,Harold said .well I am no longer young, mom said with a smile .
We got into an eight sitter suv Austin sat in front with Harold who we discovered was a long time staff of mom's family . A thought popped into my head who exactly was mom's family to begin with.
Mom was sitting next to me, so I asked . mom who exactly are your family . She hesitated before calmly answering in a single word " Beaufort" the already quiet car seemed to to be on pause and the time froze.
"Beaufort " klaus said more a statement than a question.
The Beaufort Michael asked.
The magnitude of this was too much , anybody who wasn't living under a rock knew that there were only a handful of conglomerates in this country and the Beaufort were on this handful , they controlled numerous food franchise within and outside the country .
The Beaufort originated from France when the family arrived in this country about 150 years ago they where just small pastry chefs , with time they expanded and they grew all across the city , then the country , now the Beaufort's weren't just chefs , they are a franchise that deals with nearly half of food aspects in the country, none of us could believe it our mom was the daughter of more than a century old family. My favorite instant noodles was a product of one of their sectors.
We soon arrived at a our destination and even my always composed dad was dazed , this was a chateau with water fountain beautiful sculptures and scenery.
We all turned to look at mom and all she said was , it seems it has changed much. Got back to my senses Austin brought out my bag from the trunk , I was about collect it but he said some one would bring it in.
Austin lead us in and the door was immediately open by a butler who smiled at us all and mom called Andrew. We went through a short passage and arrive at a wide living area were there were more than 10 people awaiting us .
The moment we stepped in a woman with similarities as mom engulfed her in a hug soon they broke apart and the lady noticed us and started embracing each of us while calling us her grandkids when she approached and embraced me i stiffened like a log of wood and could not reciprocate her hugs.
The whole environment was soon bustling with introductions , we discovered mom was the second child but first daughter out of five children .
The whole family tree include Gabriel and Genevieve my grandparents , Alexander who was the eldest and Claire his wife George and Juliette his kids, next was Claudia mom's sister and her husband Lucas they had only one daughter charlotte whom i was a year older than, then Pierre and his pregnant wife Anna and finally Austin and his fiancée Celine .
Everyone looked friendly and while everyone was busy with introducing themselves I quietly took in my environment cause I know it's going to be noisy and I need my quiet spot .
We were all led to our bedrooms and I was given mom's old bedroom with was overlooking the garden , time flew so quickly that it was dinner time and I realized I had not eaten anything except the meal on the plane.
At the dinner table silverware were arranged and everyone was seated , they had been waiting for me . The meals were brought in and it was all delicious there was some conversations going on and I could hear Gabriel my grandfather asking dad what he studied and dad answer simply , law he said. And the chatter went round discussing the occupation. Basically everyone studied something relevant to the family business. For example charlottes is planning on studying food science at one of the top colleges in city Y though she is still in her final year of high school it's obvious she was working hard to get into college with her own merit rather than connections.
While I was in my own little world thinking , Genevieve my grandma asked don't you like the food Quinn , suddenly I was brought back to earth and realized I had been moving the food around my plate without eating.
It's delicious , I said . I just got lost while thinking , I smiled to reassure her. She nodded and asked , Quinn you are already in college right , yes I nodded. What are you studying she asked , journalism was my simple response . where , this time it was charlotte who asked ,i turned and said simply university of mass communication city S . Wow she said , I heard they increased their cut off mark two years ago so that those who had real potential and competence would gain admission. Lucas charlotte's dad spoke , the school has a lot famous alumni and is quite recognized you must have really worked hard to get in, i nodded in agreement but I actually didn't need to work so hard I aced all my classes in high school and could have easily chosen any career and excelled , but I kept it to my self I do no need to brag or show off.
Dinner was finally over and I excused myself from any gathering , I needed sleep and was still a little jet lagged from the flight .
In my room I took a cold shower ,change into my pajamas and immediately fell asleep .
For the next two days every morning I took a stroll in the garden after breakfast and the serene environment was a Huge contrast to the bustle of the university campus, which I would be returning to tomorrow.
I need to arrange my supplies before heading out and most of my belongings were still back home.
I was in my room when a soft knock fell on the door. come in I replied. Charlotte timidly walked in and said, I heard you are going back to college tomorrow so I organized a little ladies only fun relaxation I was wondering if you could come along.
I thought for a second and nodded though staying at home was more relaxing charlotte put effort into this so I should attend.
Beaming she said ,great we are all waiting for you in the car , outside a hummer stretch limousines was parked and grandma, mom, Claire ,Juliette ,Claudia, Anna and Celine were already there we got in the car which was spacious and even had a mini bar were drinks served round , I had non alcoholic fruit wine and Anna who was pregnant had Greek yogurt smoothie. We arrived at a spa were attendant were immediately available , I noticed the place was booked and thought charlotte really outdid herself .
We got massages , pedicure and manicure , hydrating face masks and even got our hair made and went shopping or I should rather say the mall came to us and we simply picked the clothes we liked .
The day sadly came to an end and we headed back home for dinner. After dinner I was in my room laying on the bed and finally having the time to go through the school's forum and the class group chat . A knock fell on the door and grandma walked in . I had just started calling her grandma and she was excited.
You haven't fallen asleep yet she asked . I will be going to sleep soon just checking somethings . Without wasting time grandma explained the reason for such a late visit.
Your grandpa and I wanted to give you a gift ,she said . And the she brought out a black card and placed it on my palm.
I was stunned and didn't know what to say so I quietly kept shut. Grandma quickly explained herself . I know this doesn't make up for the fact that your grandfather kicked your mother out of the house and I didn't put up a strong fight to go against him ,nor the fact that we weren't there to watch you grow and even forced your mother to live in fear and hide, but please accept this as our apology . I don't know what you girls do in your spare time , but just enjoy and have fun, go shopping and treat yourself to something nice . I placed the card back in her palm and calmly said . I have everything I need I don't need more.
Grandma eyes were getting misty with tears , I have been a bad grandma she said in between gentle tears . My granddaughter can't even accept a gift From me , sobbed grandma . it was getting late the longer she stayed the more I got exhausted and frustrated so I simply took the card and said, thank you for the gift but I can't accept it even if I wanted it's to expensive to accept . Then keep it with you for the probability you would ever need it she said .
Grandma and I chatted for a while , well grandma talked and I listened ,finally it was late and she went to her own room and I immediately fell asleep like a starfish on the bed.