Family Holiday (VI)

When the lift door opened, Karen was the first to step out and step aside, allowing the others behind her to leave. She followed closely beside Brian, which enabled her to have a good view of Kyle who was beside Brian.

She couldn't stand beside Kyle as that would be too obvious, right?

She just felt like she was really having the time of her life as she could look at her object of fascination as much as she liked without being too obvious.

Or rather, she thought she wasn't being obvious.

Alex walked beside his father, giving everyone an added visual bonus of 'big' and 'small'.

People that is.

Two peas in a pod, they were.

Kyle had this serious expresson on his face, as he listened intently to Brian stating a few things and asking him of his opinion regarding the situation concerning the people that had been fired.

As this was a delicate matter that was better dealt with internally and through closed doors, Brian's words were not direct and rather vague. Anyone listening would not have thought he was talking about the situation with the company but something unrelated.

Kyle admired Brian for this, proving how adaptable and capable Brian was.

Just as Kyle finished giving his pointers, a rather shrill and excited voice filled the air.

"Daddy!!"

Immediately, Kyle's serious face turned gentle as he smiled, turning his head towards the source of that sound.

Karen, who was busy staring at Kyle who had been paying full attention to Brian, felt like her entire being froze as she was completey mesmerized by that gorgeous smile.

That gentle, loving look.

Her head whipped towards the sound of the voice as well, noting this adorable dumpling running over as fast as she could towards Kyle.

Just as she was about to reach Kyle, she seemed to trip because her smooth run became a stumble.

To everyone's surprise, however, before the little dumpling fell flat on her face onto the floor, there were two blurred images that appeared beside her.

Without missing a beat, the little dumpling's face broke into a bigger smile and she cried out, "Daddy!!"

Alex, who was holding his sister's right elbow, frowned a bit and looked a bit grumpy. Why was their father the one that got Ariel's attention?

He was the one that caught her.

His father was just beside them but his hands were not on Ariel at all.

Alex pressed his lips tightely together but before the dark clouds above his head became bigger, Ariel turned towards him and hugged him.

"Brother Alex!" she cried out, giving him a wet kiss on his cheek, "Thank you for catching me!"

The dark clouds disappeared after being shone on by such a bright sun, and Alex gave a begrudging smile.

"Be careful next time," Alex said, "You shouldn't have been running."

"But I was excited!" Ariel exclaimed, spreading her hands wide.

Then she looked down at her feet and pursed her lips as she glared at them.

"But my legs were naughty," she declared, "They did not listen to me and … and … hit each other."

She blinked innocently at Kyle and Alex, and said, while nodding her head seriously, "It was not my fault."

Kyle hid a smile, looked at Alex who was just staring at his sister in disbelief, looking all righteous and shifting the blame entirely.

Kyle stood up after stroking the top of Ariel's head, saying, "Your feet are your responsibility. So teach them well. You can start by not running while being so excited because you're not paying attention."

Ariel grabbed Kyle's hand and pulled it, saying, "Okay, Daddy. Do I look pretty Daddy?"

She let go of his hand and twirled about, letting her skirt move with her motion.

From the spa, she felt that her skin glowed and with the new hairstyle, she felt like a super duper Princess. Mummy had said when you feel good about yourself, people can see it and you look prettier.

"Very pretty," Kyle agreed and Alex grunted in agreement as well.

Feeling happy, Ariel patted her cheeks and Kyle turned towards Brian, "Brian, this is my younget daughter, Ariel. Ariel, this is Mr. Brian."

Ariel smiled sweetly, held the hem of her skirt on her sides with her hands and did a small curtsy. Like how a Princess would do when meeting someone.

"Pleased to meet you, Mr Brian," she said formally and politely.

Alex felt like face palming himself with embarrassment.

It was so cringy that he felt goosebumps.

However, what would have been a very weird and awkward move, was done so well by such a cute girl that no one thought it was cringe-worthy. In fact, the audience was going 'auww' in their hearts, filled with phrases such as 'So cute! So adorable!'.

Worthy of being Kyle Smith's daughter.

Such a good looking man, having such a cute and adorable girl.

Karen thought so as well though her mind was also reeling over the fact that not only did Kyle Smith have a son that was so big already, he had another child. It was hard to imagine such a young man being a father of two.

Then, she noticed another girl coming closer and blinked as the girl who looked about Alex's age called out, "Daddy."

Her mind went slightly blank.

"And this is Aurora," Kyle said to Brian, "Alex's twin."

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Brian," Aurora greeted him politely.

Karen watched as the gentle smile on Kyle's face as he introduced his children take on a whole new meaning when he looked at a woman that was standing further away, watching the entire scene.

"And that," Kyle said in the gentlest voice that seemed to be dripping with love, "is my wife, Sayuri."

Karen stared at the elegant woman that was Kyle's wife, Sayuri. She was just standing there, a slight smile on her face as she gave a slight nod towards Brian.

She was wearing a fitting dress that was about five inches above the knee, with a blue bolero jacket. The material of the dress appeared silky smooth with wavy blue marble print and a six-inch heeled shoes completed the outfit.

The entire outfit seemed to cling to her curves, showcasing it even more.

Karen couldn't help but think … how the heck did she move in that dress?!

Yet, she didn't look out-of-place at all wearing the outfit in an office and in fact, she appeared elegant and refined rather than slutty or 'trying too hard to be noticed' – something Karen normally said when describing the secretaries who came in 'inappropriate' clothes.

A truly breathtakingly beautiful woman.

If push comes to shove, Karen can admit that she's seen much more beautiful women in terms of face, and even figure (though true, Sayuri's figure was also good – especially for a woman who had given birth to three children) … but in terms of the entire package?

The elegance, the aura … it could not be replicated.

Obviously, from the admiring gazes of the people on Sayuri, Karen wasn't the only one with such a thought.

Then, she watched as Kyle walked over to his wife, and together, both of them looked so perfect. She saw as he reached over and brushed a stray hair away from her face and tucket it behind her ear, and the way Sayuri smiled lovingly at him as she stroked his cheek.

Such a public display of affection made everyone just groaned inwardly.

Karen couldn't help but look at the three children who were left behind by Kyle when he walked over, and saw how they didn't seem to be surprised or react like they were embarrassed by their parents being so affectionate in public.

Which could only mean that such a display was normal.

Kyle turned and gestured to his children to come over.

Both Alex and Aurora took Ariel's hand each. Alex nodded at Brian, Simon and Karen, saying, "Thank you. We shall be leaving now. Goodbye."

Ariel wanted to wave at them but found that her hands were held by her elder siblings so she could only smile widely as she said, "Bye-bye!"

Aurora did wave at them and said goodbye as well before all three of them walked over to their parents.

As Brian watched them go, he couldn't help but say, "Such polite children."

"Such capable children," mumbled Simon as he thought of how Alex had acted and the questions he had asked. If Alex was like that, he had no doubt that the other two would be just as capable.

Karen hardly heard them as she watched them leave, seeing Kyle holding his wife's hand.

Such a perfect family.

She sighed, putting her hand on her chest as she lamented over the fact that at this rate, she'd never be able to find anyone. All this time, she kept hearing her parents telling her to lower her standards, that her expectations were too high; but she had kept to her guns.

If she didn't like them, she didn't.

No spark.

But the years wore on and eventually, just like how a drop of water dripping endlessly on a rock would still wear it out, she was beginning to weaken.

Perhaps she really was being unrealistic.

Such a man could never exist.

Then, Kyle appeared.

Her world was utterly shattered.

To know that such a man DID exist … he was taken – but even if he wasn't, there was no way she would ever get into his radar.

Ah, Karen felt the bar that had started to fall go up again.

If there was one such man, there can be another, right?

Right?

….

[A/N: Author can't bear to tell her …]