2. Dead to me
1514 Words
John Paul
Have you met my sister?
Well, she's got a heart of stone.
Her name is Charlotte. She is twenty-seven and behaves like a witch.
I used to like her as a kid.
But our father announced one day that I would head his billion-dollar establishment, Central Tech, and Charlotte started to hate me.
For christsake, it wasn't my fault.
I mean, if there was anyone to hate, it should be my dad. Not me.
In Charlotte's defense, though, I understood how she felt. I had never given two f***s about my father's company. But Charlotte? She had given her sweat and blood, been there with Dad through thick and thin, learning the ropes of the business, dedicating her time, but Dad, unfortunately, is patriarchal. Out of the blues, he announced to the board that I, the boy, John Paul, (or JP as my friends would call me) shall head the company.
Such positions were burdensome, truth be told. They came with too much responsibilities I wouldn't want. They would end up stifling me.
You know what I loved?
I loved to fly.
I loved sport cars and girls and parties and booze, not to forget my passion, Surfing. I didn't want to wake by 5am on Monday mornings like mere mortals. I wanted to wake up and heal from mad hangovers, and turn over on the bed and sleep again.
Now, what's the essence of this story?
Something happened today.
Something shocking.
It happened this morning.
All of a sudden, my sister became nice.
I kid you not. She was wearing her usual work attire, smartly dressed from head to toe. Then she knocked on my room's door, once, twice, thrice, and opened it herself, and peeped to say "good morning" to me. I wiped sleep.away from my eyes (to be sure I wasn't dreaming). Charlotte proceeded to announce that there was breakfast downstairs. And guess what? She fixed it herself.
I was flabbergasted, to say the least.
To make you understand what I'm actually saying, she hadn't done this in the last three years or thereabouts, ever since I turned sixteen and our dad introduced me to the board of directors as his successor.
Our relationship had grown sour, our long conversations replaced by monosyllabic, Stop-Bothering-Me replies. Until she turned into a stranger overnight, and everything I did to get back to her good side failed utterly. What made everything worse was that I was just 16 years old then, so I had absolutely no idea why she changed so drastically. At this time, I wondered what I did, where I went wrong for my best friend and only sibling to loathe me that much so suddenly. I asked her questions, pushed and pressed till I got tired and gave up.
So, it was understandable why I was very much taken aback when she suddenly turned nice this morning.
I felt unimaginable warmth as I ran into the bathroom to wash my mouth and rushed downstairs before she changed her mind .I was happy to see her more relaxed and laid back, maybe she got "some" last night when she went on a date with God knows who, because ever since my sister turned bitter, I no longer cared about her boyfriends.
But I promised from this morning henceforth, I would know everything about her man. If they were more than one, I would know stuffs about not only them, but about their parents siblings and cousins and nephews and even their dead grannies.
My sister smiled at me and asked how my night was.
"Excellent!" I said, baring all my thirty two teeth at her. "How was yours?!"
"Eh... Good?" she said. I sincerely hoped she wasn't suspicious that I was sounding fake,. because I was truly happy.
I went to the dining and plonked my entire weight on the chair, flexing my fingers and rubbing my palms in anticipation of breakfast. On the table was a plate of oatmeal and strawberry. There was a glass of milk beside it.
I brought my hand to my mouth and took a spoonful, and shut my eyes. It wasn't like this was the first time I was having oatmeals, but this one tasted special. I opened my eyes and began to rush the food until I almost choked on it and coughed thrice.
"Heeey, take it easy, here, drink some milk," she said so softly that I almost believed it was someone else and not Charlotte.
"Thanks," I smiled as I took the glass from her.
"Try and come to the office today," she said offhandedly, like both of us sitting at breakfast together on a Wednesday morning was the most normal thing ever. "Dad wants to handover the company to you today. It's a surprise as he wants it, but I'm just giving you a spoiler," she continued with a soft laugh and sparkling eyes.
"What?! I told Dad I'm not ready, I don't even want to be the CEO! I am done with school yet and I don't see myself suffering in suist and working in an office. It's not who I am. You know this, sis" I said. I couldn't imagine myself doing that, especially now that I was still young and had other plans for myself.
"You can't say that, JP. He chose you! He was planning to hand it over to you for a long time now, since he introduced you to the board." she replied with her static smile, making me feel uncomfortable with the way she dragged the "you" intentionally. "It's your duty, your responsibility, dad made sure of it. Life doesn't go exactly how we want it, little brother. You just have to deal with it." She finalized gently.
"Help me talk to Dad, please sis. I really don't want this. He knows I'm into surfing and I need to have a gap year and travel around for tournaments, I can't give up my career as a surfer and sit in that boring office all day, it's not right!" I said in anguish.
She stared deeply into my eyes and said with a mix of coldness and laughter; "I can't do anything about it, JP. You know how opinionated an obstinate Dad is. Do you think he'll ever listen to me? That wouldn't be the first time, he never listens to me and you know that. I'll see you at the office, don't keep everyone waiting." She finished, getting up as if to say, conversation is over.
After I finished breakfast, I dressed up and I went to the garage to fetch my car. We obviously have a chauffeur, but I liked to cruise in my Cadillac, drive with so much speed I feel the wind on my face. Of course, I wouldn't be the image of the ruly and stuffedshirt businessman by the time I arrive at the office. But I didn't think dad would care that much. The truth was I had my old man wrapped around my little fingers.
I got into the Cadillac and drove out the mansion onto the street, and soon stepped on the gas pedal full power, starting to feel the rush of adrenaline coursing through me. Driving was my next favourite sport, besides surfing
Should I tell you the truth?
I wasn't really satisfied with the breakfast Charlotte prepared. Honestly I wasn't a fan of oats, but then you know why I had to take it! Even if the had prepared s**t, I would have stuffed it down my stomach. So I drove to my favorite hipster coffee shop to get a decent expresso, before going to the office. I would be only slightly late, so its okay.
On the road again, I was crossing the marine bridge on the way to Cafe Le Chat Noir when, out of the blues, I heard a screech of my car against the tar. The front tire had fallen loose. It was a horrific thing to see. My heart dropped from its position and began beating in my stomach. I saw the tire roll off the highway while my car kept speeding forward.
I learnt in driving school not to apply the brake in this situation, to let the vehicle come to a natural stop. But I was approaching a bend and was on top speed. It was either I used the brake or risk a fatal accident.
So I stepped on it.
Unfortunately, with a tire gone, the vehicle rolled over. It all happened too quickly. During what must have been its third flip through midair, it somersaulted over the edge of the bridge and sent me cannoning through the windscreen, shattering it to shreds as I plonk into the lake beneath with a huge splash.
My last conscious thought before everything went blank and cold was, I'll make it, it wont be hard! It will work! Three sentences that summarized my life until that point.
Life had always been easy, as if I was in this world on vacations.
Life had always been easy. Until I died.
- Writer
