2 Late Night Meeting
On a moonless night, a sleek black car drove along a quiet stretch of road. As dark as the car was, it still stood out against the road that was designed and maintained to leave no shadows for surprises to lurk within. It was deemed a necessary measure to have in the neighbourhood that comprised of the top wealthy families in the Capulet Syndicate's territory.
Besides the low hum of the engine, the road was silent at this time of the night. It was even quieter in the car. There was only the chauffeur and a lone passenger in the back seat. The dim light from the phone illuminated Audrey's face, making her pale face look paler than usual. The abrupt ringing of the phone pierced through the silence and stopped when Audrey answered the call.
“Has my baby eaten yet?” A pleasant voice floated through the speaker.
“No, Dad, an unexpected surprise came up at work so there wasn’t time to eat.”
“Oh? Must be a pleasant surprise.”
Audrey’s flattened lips raised into a smile as she mused, “rather than pleasant, amusing would be more accurate.”
Audrey looked up briefly into the rearview mirror and met the eyes of her chauffeur before continuing, “I’ll be home in 15 minutes.”
The chauffeur nodded after receiving her instructions and silently sped up.
“Do you want to share the news at the dining table or at the study?”
“Dining table. I’ll share the news while I eat.”
Her father clicked his tongue and began to chide Audrey, “how many times have I told you that it’s bad for your health? You’re still young, but you can’t keep up this bad habit. You won’t feel it now but-”
Audrey closed her eyes and leaned back into the seat, obediently listening to her father’s exasperated nagging of her bad habits and its long-term consequences.
Only after pulling a promise out of her mouth to eat first and share the news after, did he finally end the call. Silence returned in the car and neither of the 2 occupants sought to change that. Audrey kept her eyes closed for the remainder of the ride home.
-..-*..-..-*..-..*-..-..-*..-..-*..-..*-..-..-*..-..-*..-
Back in the Capulet’s house, after Noah ended the call, he directed the housekeeper to inform the family chef to cook a light meal for Audrey.
As the housekeeper made his way to the kitchen, Noah got off the couch to look for his youngest daughter, Juliet, first.
Noah knocked twice on the closed door before calling out, “Juliet dear, may I come in?”
“Sure dad.” Came Juliet’s muffled response.
No sooner had Juliet given permission, the door clicked open. However, Noah remained at the doorway to speak.
“Darling, Audrey has news to share at the dining table. Could you do me a favour and help fetch Briar for me and gather in 10 minutes?”
Juliet chuckled lightly and teased her father, “why not find her yourself, Mr Noah? You know where she is.”
Noah lightly ruffled his hair with a sheepish look on his face as he replied helplessly, “you know your third sister. You’re the only one who can get her attention once she’s fixated on her project.”
Juliet grinned upon seeing her father’s expression, then swivelled her chair to face her computer again.
“We'll be a little late.”
Noah beamed and dropped a thanks before gently closing her door. Then, he went on his merry way to look for his wife, while sending a text message to his 2nd daughter to inform her of the family gathering.
Juliet stayed on her computer and tapped away at the keyboard. The screen turned black and reflected Juliet’s figure as she got up from the chair after completing her report. She grabbed the access card in the hidden compartment by the side of her wardrobe, then left her room to look for Briar.
Although everyone calls Briar's research space a room, any normal person who saw it would complain that the term was an understatement. The entire 4th basement floor belongs to Briar and is fully equipped with all the top grade research equipment. Due to the worth and influence of the projects inside, the Capulet family also put in a security system where only they were allowed access to it. Though it was intended to be a strict security system to protect Briar from extremists, Briar turned her entire research lab into her exclusive hamster hole. She disdained leaving it. If anyone needed to drag Briar out, they had to enlist Juliet’s help to lure her out.
Juliet returned the greetings of the servants that she passed by, with a carefree smile, completely unconcerned about the time constraint. She walked into the elevator and patiently waited for the doors to close. After it closed, she walked to the back and touched the empty wall in a practiced manner. An almost imperceptible beep sounded and a small area of the wall, at eye-level, slid open soundlessly to reveal a retinal scanner. After the system confirmed Juliet’s identity, the elevator began to move down. The doors opened and a stretch of long spotless white corridor spanned before Juliet with a huge closed double door at the end of it.
Juliet walked down the corridor, taking steps of equal length, only to stop suddenly and face another blank wall. She held up her access card to that wall for 3 seconds. Then, a part of the wall slid open without warning. The echo of her footsteps announced her arrival in the hidden research laboratory.
The machinery in the room was well-organised and neat. White light reflected off the surfaces of the machinery, which were huge enough to make Juliet feel small. However, the room didn’t feel small or cramped. Instead, all these machinery of the highest technology made the place look majestic and luxurious.
As Juliet turned a corner, a small figure with short messy hair hunched over the table that was littered with diagrams and notes greeted her. The familiar sight evoked a warmth that spread in Juliet’s chest. Indulgence and tenderness filled her eyes.
Juliet leaned against the cabinet behind her and silently watched her older sister work zealously. The sight of Briar’s single-minded devotion to pull her ideas into reality never failed to amaze Juliet. After a moment of appreciation for her sister, Juliet moved regretfully to disrupt Briar’s intense concentration.
Maneuvering her way across the floor with barely any walking space, Juliet made it to the empty spot by Briar. Juliet leaned towards Briar’s ear and softly whispered, “when the world crashes and burns…”
“It should go out with a big bang!”
Juliet winced at how fast Briar snapped her head up and wondered if Briar’s neck was alright.
Although Briar responded enthusiastically, her eyes were still a little dazed. She had not completely extricated herself from her train of thoughts. Juliet started tapping Briar’s left arm lightly, in a slow rhythm, as if guiding Briar’s wandering mind back to reality. It took a while before Briar’s awareness of her surroundings returned and she noticed Juliet waiting by her side silently.
Briar’s eyes and smile lit up her small face as she pounced on Juliet and shouted passionately, “Juju! You’re here!”
Juliet caught Briar flying at her with ease, then brought out the bad news that she came with, while sorting out Briar’s messy hair.
“Audrey has news to share with us at the dining table.”
Briar pouted upon learning she was required to leave her research behind even if it was only for a moment. She fidgeted in place with a conflicted expression on her face, before drawing out a long sigh and moved dejectedly to clean up her work while muttering under her breath. “What’s more important than my research? I don’t need to be there, it’s not like I’ll understand anything. I wouldn’t even be useful there. I could’ve used this time more efficiently-”
Juliet had no desire to interrupt Briar’s ramblings or to rush her. She only looked on helplessly at the figure shuffling around with her shoulders slumped. Briar was rarely dragged out of her hamster hole, but each time she was, even Juliet could not soothe the ire of her older sister.
By the time Briar was done organising her desk, Juliet deduced that Audrey should have finished her dinner already.
“Let’s go king, you can demand compensation from queen later.” Juliet joked.
As they made their way to the dining room, Briar suddenly exclaimed, “Oh! That’s right! Juju, how’s your whip? Does it need any adjustments? Any discomfort? Anything you need tweaking?”
Juliet replied unperturbed by Briar’s sudden outburst, “It could use a little more weight. Also I think it would be good if the barbs are retractable, it was a huge inconvenience to carry it around with the barbs sticking out. The grip is perfect, fits my hand like a glove. Even when I sweat it doesn’t affect my grip at all. Unfortunately, I didn't get the chance to see if blood would affect it.”
Briar hummed as she took in Juliet’s feedback and suggestions seriously, before chiming in, “I understand. Retractable barbs, now that’s an idea. Since we’re on the track of retractable barbs, why not go a step further and include electric shocks? Just like in manga and anime, I could also-”
As Briar sunk further into the development and improvement of Juliet’s exclusive whip, her talking regressed into slurred mumbles, and her feet started to drag across the floor. Juliet matched her pace accordingly while helplessness filled her eyes. She smoothly took Briar by the hand and acted as her guide, ensuring that Briar doesn’t run into or trip over something. Like this, one sleepwalker and one guardian made their way to the dining room together.
Lively chatter could be heard as they neared the dining room. As the words became more distinct, Juliet lightly squeezed Briar’s hand. It brought Briar’s attention back just as they reached the entrance.
“Ah, my 2 baby darlings are here.” Noah dragged out the last syllable in a sticky sweet manner as his tender smile shone brightly.
Audrey and Evangeline smiled in response to their father’s behaviour, while Felix ignored her husband and beckoned to her 2 daughters to quickly take a seat.
“Hi, Audrey, hope we aren’t too late?”
“Hey queen~ So, what could possibly be more important than my research?”
Juliet and Briar called out as they took their seats, after hugging their mother.
“You’re right on time. I’ll get straight to the point, I’ve accepted the deal sent by the Aldrich Organization for a cooperation between the Capulet’s and Aldrich’s.”
