Syndedeménos (Connected)

CHAPTER 02

Keenan and Karen came out of Keenan's room and walked side by side in the corridor of the third floor house. Aldrich's corridor is dominated by white colour with a little gray on the small sofa and painting frames. It looks elegant even though the corridor has no carpet.

One by one the doors were passed by Keenan and Karen. After arriving in the middle of the corridor, an elevator was seen on one side of the room. Keenan pressed the button pointing downwards. Soon the elevator doors opened.

As usual, Keenan would wait for his younger sister to get into the elevator first. Then Keenan entered and pressed button one beside the elevator door.

"We can just eat lunch together on the third floor tonight, can’t we?" said Karen, showing a displeased face.

"Father wants to talk about something about his company."

"Your promotion as manager?"

Keenan nodded slightly as he answered Karen's question. Karen's face grew more displeased with Keenan's response. Her forehead wrinkled. The lower lip was brought forward. And Karen's eyes looked at her brother like a cat watching its prey.

"So you've started work at the office? Does that mean you'll be coming home late like Daddy? Huh! There's no one to talk to in this house anymore," said Karen in a whimpering voice.

The elevator door opened on the first floor. Keenan had to end the conversation between him and Karen because several housekeepers were seen passing by in front of them.

"Come on, let's have dinner first," said Keenan, patting his sister's head.

The Aldrich's dining room is at the back of the house. One large room was filled with a long table with ten velvet chairs placed opposite each other. Above the dining table, there is a lamp shaped like a dandelion with yellow light that gives a warm color to a room dominated by white.

One side of the dining room wall is paired with a large mirror with a lattice that divides it into twelve mirror sections. Under the mirror is a table with several flowers in a vase arranged neatly on it. And one side of the dining room wall is replaced by a glass window with a curtain that was currently being opened.

From behind the glass window people who are in the dining room can enjoy a beautiful view of the garden. The green color of the grass that dominates in the garden is enhanced by various flowers that show gradations of white to red. And the sun was starting to set showing a yellow-orange color in the sky that was already getting dark.

A maidservant was watching the sunset from inside the Aldrich family dining room. As if she couldn't believe what she was seeing, the maid froze in front of the window pane for a few minutes while opening her mouth. Made the other maids sigh and then immediately reprimanded her.

"Hey! What are you doing?! Young master Keenan and Miss Karen are coming soon!" scolds another maid.

"Ah, sorry. Usually I just tidy up Miss Karen's bedroom upstairs. Never seen such a beautiful sight."

Several female maids lined up to greet Keenan and Karen near the entrance, including the maid who had just transferred her job from the third floor to the first floor. Since there was a maid who looked awkward when two members of Aldrich entered the room, Keenan watched the maid.

"Ah, you were moved downstairs huh," said Keenan, inviting an enthusiastic nod from the servant concerned.

"Young master is indeed very kind and considerate... handsome too," muttered the waiter who Keenan had been talking to after Aldrich’s young members walked past the line of servants. Made her reprimanded by another servant for the second time.

"Hurry up and prepare the food! Don't daydream!"

A dozen minutes after Keenan and Karen were in the dining room, George and Valencia Aldrich came through the dining room door. This time the waiters were already in the dining room with appetizers served on a stroller.

George and Valencia are more suited to be seen as a father and daughter than as a married couple. Some of George's hair had turned white against the brown. The wrinkles on his face were visible from a distance.

Meanwhile, Valencia has waist-length blonde hair. Her face looked like she was under twenty five years old with blushing makeup. Valencia wore a red dress that was tight half-thigh and stilettos of the same color.

"Oh my dear… I'm sorry I couldn't come to your party yesterday. I had already canceled an appointment with my friends before so it wouldn't be nice if I didn't go. I've brought special gifts for you," Valencia said, approaching Karen and kissing her youngest child's cheek.

Karen tried to smile widely even though her eyes and heart didn't want to smile.

"Owh, I also bought gifts for you too." Valencia said to Keenan.

"Thanks, Mom," replied Keenan, smiling more neutrally than his sister. However, Keenan found it easier to hide his displeasure than Karen did. Keenan prioritizes attitudes with logical support over attitudes based on feelings.

"Karen, happy birthday. Just tell me what gift you want, I'll buy it for you," said George after taking a seat on the short side of the dining table.

Karen looked at her father for a moment, glanced at Keenan, then back at her father. Keenan frowned at his sister's behavior.

"I don't want Keenan to go to the office."

The Aldrichs' conversation stopped for a moment before a burst of laughter filled the dining room.

"Hahahaha… Karen… if you don't want your brother to continue your father's work, will you continue it?"

When he finished laughing, George asked, looking at his youngest child with raised eyebrows. Karen opened her mouth but no words came out. The girl wanted to express her opinion, but couldn't answer her father's question first. So Karen chose silence.

"Maybe what Karen meant was that she wanted me more at home than at work. Isn't that right?" said Keenan while glancing at Karen who was beside his seat.

Karen nodded quickly. In her heart, Karen praised Keenan's ability to read his mind.

"Then it fits perfectly with the results of yesterday's meeting. The management doesn't mind if you still share your time with school. The results of the meeting decided that you can go to the office at least one day a week."

"Wow! I didn't know that managers can do it like that," said Karen with a surprised face and couldn't hide her excitement at the good news she heard.

"Do you also want to get involved with your father's company, Karen?"

Karen shook her head quickly when she heard Valencia's question. The youngest did not think to question the motive of the question. Karen feels that her intelligence and skills are very different from her brother's. She never even thought of getting involved with her father's business affairs.

"In two weeks you still have to come in a few days before your appointment. What about the data I requested last night?"

While Keenan and George were busy talking about work, Karen devoured the vegetable salad in front of her in silence. The talk of work was never liked by Karen. Moreover, her father's job will take her time with Keenan. However, work was the reason that Keenan couldn't come on Karen's birthday.

Karen was probably the only member of the Aldrich family who found dinner time always so annoying.