A Perfect Family Dinner

A busy picture of the city, that was all she could see from outside her car window. Somehow, the night felt a little longer than usual to her. Looks like this night's gonna be a little painful for her too.

Kiera stopped the car in front of a mansion gate. She didn't need to wait, someone from the inside unlocked the gate for her. As if people here are quite excited to have her here. But she knew very well that it was not the fact. To be honest, she was more like an uninvited guest here. A person who is not that much needed here.

She walked towards the entrance, wearing her usual business attire. This was supposed to be her home, but she actually cut all the connections from this house long ago. That makes her an uninvited person here, right?

Slowly walking towards the entrance, she already planned her actions beforehand there, as she knew her family very well. The people here in this family are more of a pickup character of soap operas than real life. so, if anyone wants to be normal out of these people, they have to think very carefully before they do something. It has become a habit of Kiera to put an act in front of her own parents and relatives.

The moment Kiera stepped inside the house; she found a ton of her relatives gazing at her as if they were actually waiting for her to come. No, that's not it. They were actually interested to see the person she will come with. How unfortunate they are! They won't get to see the person they wanted to meet so desperately tonight.

"Oh, dear! It's our Kiera! How have you been, child? You have become thinner than I last saw you!"

The person who came forward towards her first and said these words taking a hand of Kiera's on hers was none other than Kiera's second aunt. She was kind of different from her mother. A fierce and haughty type of woman who is quite capable of voicing out her shameless and selfish thoughts in front of people very easily. She was not like her mother, who was like a scaredy-cat, always acting inferior around other people. Personally, she didn't like her. Kiera's first aunt, whom she never got to meet as she died before she turned 4. She doesn't know, maybe she was also the same as her other sisters or unexpectedly a good person, but yeah, she got to hear many piano recordings recorded before her marriage. She was a professional pianist to be exact but stopped playing piano after her marriage. That's it, she knows nothing else about her.

The other two middle-aged people who were sitting on the sofa in the corner were her other two uncles, who were younger than their sisters. About them, what should she say? They are the type of person who is more interested in their brother-in-law, Kiera's father's business than anything else. Even glancing at Kiera or other cousins of hers was always a bother to them as they knew very well that they are not connected with what they actually want. But right now, they were surprisingly staring at her with some kind of expectant look which she never saw in them in this lifetime. Though she knew the reason quite well. Maybe they are now fed up with their brother-in-law's money as they already came to know that getting money from her dad is tougher than creating a new business by themselves. Something bigger has caught their eyes after all.

Kiera was already feeling nausea. How can she survive the whole night with these people? Yes, there was a time when she was quite used to mixing with them, but now, it's kinda impossible. She was no longer that little girl who was naïve and trusted every flattery word of her relatives which was fake enough to even make her notice at that time. She was also one of them, pretending that she never realized the true colors of them, pretending that she was loved. She is not some kind of actor, she acted at that time out of a thirst for family love, and now she just stopped putting all those facades.

When Kiera's second aunt saw her say nothing, she pressed her hand a little to get some attention.

"I am so glad that you came. I heard you were bringing Jessica's child today? Where is he?"

Kiera looked at her second aunt for a long time. She has really faded up with this kind of acting. When will they stop doing these ridiculous things?

"Seriously? Don't joke with me. You know right, who are you talking about?" Kiera shifted her gaze from her aunt towards the other side as she was even disgusted to look at her.

"Kiera! What is this? Didn't you learn any manners?" Her fourth uncle shouted from the corner, he sounded quite angry.

"Don't you know? I left home years ago, my dad didn't get to teach me these shits," Kiera said flatly.

"Stop being a disgrace! I didn't invite you guys here today to quarrel with each other."

All of a sudden, Kiera's father came from inside and interrupted them. He has become weaker than the last time she saw him. A ray of tension was quite visible on his forehead. Why does he bother to take so much tension at once? Can't he live his life in a better way? He has all the things a person would want in their life, then why? Then why is he so obsessed with possessing more and more? Maybe it's true that humans can't stop lusting for what they don't have, forgetting all about the satisfaction among the things they already have.

Suddenly she saw someone sitting on the other side of the sofa of the living room who had the least possibility to have seen her tonight. When did he start to care about these gatherings? Wow, it's kinda new to her.

After her father's declaration, they silently took their seats on the dinner table. Kiera found a chair at the very end of the dining table and occupied that one. Surprisingly, someone else was also interested to sit beside her this far from others.

"Why did you two sat so far away? Come here," her second aunt again acted all friendly to her forcefully.

"I am okay here," Kiera cut it short as she looked towards the person sitting beside her. On the other hand, he didn't move an inch, as if he didn't hear the whole thing. It's been a long time since she saw him. How come he is here? Even if they invited him, she couldn't imagine him accepting their invitation to come here. When was the last time she saw him? He is this big now, huh? Quite a handsome young man he has become now, to be honest.

Maybe he felt the gaze of Kiera on him so he looked at her and smiled a bit. Kiera didn't know how to respond to that. Though he can't be compared to his big brother's handsomeness, he has some other kind of gentleness in him. What should she say, A gentleman type handsome? Not like that moody big brother of his.

"I heard our Theodore came to Los Angeles a few days ago, is it true Kiera?" Kiera's trail of thought broke when one of her uncles struck a conversation with her.

Kiera pinched her nose bridge irritatingly as she knew he was pretending not to know the fact of Theodore staying at her place.

"Yes, he came," Kiera answered, keeping her cool this time.

"Why didn't you bring him today?"

All of a sudden, her father asked her as if it was her duty to bring him along with her. Really, he talked with her for the first time after so many years, but to think, this was his first line for her was really kinda sarcastic. On the other hand, her mother didn't talk to her the whole time while sitting beside her father. As if she is really a stranger to her. Why the heck is she even caring about these useless things now? No matter how many years passes, this fact will never change, her feeling inferior in front of her own family.

"I apologize but I am not actually obliged to. Anyways, he is not here anymore. He already flew back to Toronto more than half a month ago. And I certainly don't know when he is gonna come back or whether he is even gonna come back or not."

The moment she said that Theodore was not here anymore, all her relatives seemed totally disappointed, as if he was the main reason for today's gathering. Why did she even bother to come here? She doesn't know anymore.

In an instant, all their attention shifted to the person sitting beside her.

"His little brother is also here, maybe he knows when he is gonna come back again, right?"

All this time, Theodore's brother was busy eating his meal, silently hearing their conversations. He finally lifted his head from his plate when they mentioned him.

"Oh yeah? I don't know, maybe? Even if I know, I don't think I would like to tell you."

Kiera's father, Mr. Simmons slapped his hand on the dinner table loudly straight away as he was feeling very angry at this moment. In an instant, her mother moved from her chair to pacify her husband and make the environment easy.

"Aighoo… let's finish eating first, why are you guys talking while eating?"

But none of them paid any heed to her words and still glared at her husband as if they were deceived by Mr. Simmons. Some of Kiera's cousins from her mother's side were also present. Such a laughing stroke they have become in front of their whole family. They deserved it, her warning was not enough for them actually. Let them enjoy it more for a bit. After all, this is the perfect family dinner they planned so hard to happen for so many days.