Loved By The Twin Princes

family outing

/Kiara’s pov/

I am at work, trying to gather customers' complaints as a customer service representative in the Sunshine restaurant so that I can relay them to the manager but my attention gets distracted as my phone starts to vibrate in the pocket of my palazzo pant.

I check the caller ID and I realize that it is my mom calling so I dismiss the call and I continue with my work

Out of all people in my life, my mom knows that after I finish my lectures around two in the afternoon, I make my way down to the Sunshine restaurant to resume my part-time job from 3 to 6 pm, so I just waved it thinking she dialed my number by mistake but it seems like that's not the case at all because she has been calling me for five minutes straight now.

I finally take a few minutes off the customer's complaint report that I was busy typing, to check if she sent me any message that she wants me to reply to immediately.

I quickly scroll through my messages to check if she added a new instruction to our last conversation, but there is nothing like that at all, and has not stopped calling which is likely to imply she wants to talk to me urgently.

“It won’t hurt to quickly slip into the restroom to pick up her call” I quickly decide.

my mom is very persistent and she won't stop calling if I don't pick up her call but at the same time, what is so important that can’t wait till I get off work?

“Most importantly, what is so pressing that is making her disrupt my work like this?” I ponder on my way to the restroom.

my mom knows that by this time I will be busy at work and picking up calls is not an option at all because I share the same office with my other colleagues.

my colleagues and I share the same table with a sitting capacity of eight people partitioned to give everyone their private space, so even if I want to disobey the rules and pick my mom's call, I won't just be inconveniencing other staff, I will also be disrupting the serenity of our working environment which is not an option I can consider at all.

I am well aware that making calls or responding to emails while using a commercial restroom is against the three manners-related actions that we were asked to keep in mind concerning office toilet etiquette but at the same time, I need to hear what my mom has to say.

"Could something be wrong at home?” a random thought suddenly pops up in my head.

the restroom has a well-executed entry and a wonderful design concept blending in with the same quality of interior decoration portrayed throughout the restaurant to suit the restroom atmosphere unlike other businesses that focus solely on highly visible areas failing to address the restroom, Sunshine Restaurant's restroom is well designed and properly maintained.

I scan the area to be sure that the coast is clear, before quickly making my way to the farthest restroom partition from the door to pick up my moms to call as soon as my phone starts to vibrate again.

"Yes, ma,” I answer the call in an inquiry tone.

"Sorry to disturb your work, I was calling to inform you that you should come home straight from work because your father informed me that we all are going out for dinner to spend some family time together," my mom informs me from the other end of the phone

Come home just because they are going out for dinner?

what has their dinner got to do with me?

it is not like they have ever taken me out on any of their family outings while I was still living with them, so why will she call me like our house is burning just because they are going out?

“wait a minute......does she want me to come over to babysit my sister, Scarlet,” I thought.

"Kiara.....you didn't say anything," my mom says dragging me out of my straying thoughts.

"Hmm hmm," I said clearing my throat.

"Do you by chance need me to babysit Scarlet?” I inquire to be sure of what I will be dealing with later so that I can start dreading in advance.

“I thought you guys got her a babysitter after I moved out" I add with my brow creasing in confusion and at the same time, my brown eyes are wandering around trying to figure out what could have gone wrong with my mom to make her want to disrupt my perfectly planned program just for the sole purpose of babysitting scarlet!

"Not babysitting,” she corrects

“I said we all are going out together and that includes you so once you get off work, come straight home so that we all can go out together in your father's car and after dinner, we will drop you off at your dormitory," she says with finality in her voice.

Did she just say I am included in their so-called family outing?

all these years after she remarried I have never gone to any family outing because they never took me with them and initially, I used to feel so sad whenever they left me behind but not anymore, old things are passed away.

one thing I find difficult to believe is that my mom wants to disrupt my plans just for a so-called family outing that I am not even interested in.

"But mom..........I have my after-work schedule all planned out, it's not right for you to start informing me an hour before my closing about this family outing, you should have informed me about this earlier"I protested hoping she will leave me in peace.

"There is no way I could have informed you about this earlier because I just found out about it so you should adjust your program" my mom scolds.

"you know this is the first time your father is inviting you to go out with us...........so I have decided that you are coming and that's final," my mom says with finality resounding in her voice and she hangs up the phone.

can this mother of mine stop doing this every single time?

she is always trying to control my life forgetting the fact that I am an adult now and I am old enough to make my own decisions

for crying out loud, I am a twenty-year-old lady that is in her third year at the university and has moved out of the house.

what more do I need to prove to my mom that I am a grown-ass woman?” I sighed frustrated

My name is Kiara Anderson and the woman that just hung up the phone on me used to be Mrs. Olivia Anderson but now she is Mrs. Olivia Turner, and that is because she remarried after my father's death.

I used to be a rich heiress who had almost everything she wanted but after my father's death, his family took away everything from us just because my mother didn't give birth to an heir for the Andersons.

Those selfish people didn't even do as much as look at me and my mom's helpless state when they threw us out on the streets.

As a ten-year-old, I looked at Mom with hope in my eyes thinking we were going to leave the silver city(the capital of myrtle circle )for summer isles, a part of myrtle circle where my grandparents stayed, but that didn't happen at all, instead, we stayed at a hotel for a few days before we took a plane down to Pearl coast.

I later found out that my mom lived the better part of her life there before she met my father, married him, and relocated to silver city.............so it wasn't too difficult to navigate our way around here

After I lost my father, it felt as if a part of my mother died with him, coupled with everything we had to go through together, it felt as if the lively and fun part of her went into exile.

my mom struggled to take care of me, even though she was a full-time housewife who had never really gone out in search of a job because my late father was a really rich man.

With the remaining money my mom had, she started a food truck where she used to make snacks to sell for a living but at the initial stage, instead of having a long queue of hungry customers patiently waiting to be served, sometimes there were no ques at all and it was frustrating because my mother refused help from her friend till she slowly built her customer base.

initially, I used to help out a lot at the food truck when she couldn't afford to hire a helper, and eventually, everything started getting better and better.

I know for a fact that my mom is a really strong woman who pushed through those tough times without snapping and I respect her for that.

so when I say that the past few years have been crappy for my mom's emotional state I mean it

my mom was under so much pressure like trying to make ends meet and being saddled with the responsibility of taking care of me without accepting any help or assistance from anyone till she met my stepfather Richard Tuner, that was the first time my mom connected to a stranger so well ever since my father died and I couldn't say no to her when she told me she wanted to marry him

left to me, I wasn't ready to form a father-daughter bond with someone I wasn't familiar with because even when my father was alive I didn't enjoy that privilege because he was always busy with one business meeting or the other, but I still said yes for my mom's sake and I braced myself up to form a new relationship, but that new relationship just wasn't ready for me

my stepfather doesn't like me at all neither does he even try to hide his feelings about disliking me and as it is, we only try to tolerate each other for my mom's sake.

I suffered a whole lot of injustice in that house till I eventually got admission into Blackwood's prestigious college and that was my salvation.

I started saving all the Money I got from my part-time job to be able to move out quickly because of how my stepfather treated me differently.......in a bad way. so when the opportunity to move out came, I jumped at it without hesitating

"I tried my best in reaching out to this man to create a place for myself in his heart and after many failed attempts, I gave up that idea, and now he wants to bring me along in their family outing and I just hope I am safe" I thought as I finally make my way out of the restroom to continue my work.

luckily for me, I got back to my desk before anyone noticed that I was gone for long and I quietly continued my work, though I could barely concentrate.

my mind kept wondering why my stepfather wants me to join in their family thing out of the blue which made it difficult for me to finish the work target I slated for the day.

I glance at the portable clock on my white polished wooden table to check how many minutes I have left before the closing hour and I realized that it's just a few minutes to six pm so I quickly sent the document I was working on to the manager's secretary's email address.

I didn't realize that time went by so quickly, so I quickly clear my table keeping the files I didn't need and locking them away inside the storage underneath my desk and after that, I quickly put my things into my handbag because I needed to sign out as soon as possible and also leave this place before Maddie starts looking for me.

Madison Collins, Maddie as I fondly call her Is my best friend and also my housemate, she told me earlier today that she wants to take me out to celebrate this night but when I asked about the details of what we are celebrating........she didn't give me any hint at all, she only told me that it's huge, but now that this impromptu family came up so I will have to bail out on Maddie.

Maddie and I took up part-time jobs at sunshine restaurant.........one of the biggest restaurants in Blackwood and we got the slot using her mother's influence, I work as a customer service representative while Maddie works as a waitress.

I am from a middle-class family and we have enough to live a normal life but my mom just had to send me to find a job when I was just sixteen years old I tried and failed at many part-time jobs, but my mom didn't rest until I eventually found the perfect job for me.

I think she wanted me to have money on me without having to depend on anyone for it and even though I won't admit it to her face, I am l because I was able to quickly move out of a house I didn't fit into despite how much I tried.

As for Maddie, she doesn't need the job because of the money because her parents are very rich but you can imagine that she is one of those rich kids that go around to enjoy her parent's money without really focusing on her own life.

the last time she got into trouble she attended a party with her boyfriend and only God knows the kind of stunt they pulled that made them end up in the police station because Maddie doesn't like talking about the incident.

the long and short of the story is that her mom got so angry at her that she confiscated her car and also froze her account as a punishment till she turns a new leaf.

one of those days, her mom passed by and heard that I needed a part-time job so she got me and Maddie a slot in Sunshine restaura…

I took the spot willingly because I needed my mom to stop nagging me but Maddie only took the spot because he mom wasn't going to unfreeze her account not release her account till she gets a life and here we are.

I enjoy working here because having my own money stops a lot of nonsense for me in my house, while Maddie continues to work here because without me there to keep her company, she was always missing me.

Maddie and I first met when my mom and I newly came to Pearl Coast through her mother Caroline(my mom's friend).

Maddie is such a beautiful and outgoing person that I didn't expect to talk to someone like me but she did anyway and ever since then we clicked.

Sometimes in life, we find friendship in the most unexpected places........... Maddie and I have different perspectives, coupled with our family's social status that is poles apart with the inclination that we are as different as sea and ocean.

it seemed unnatural that we should be friends but yet our friendship has defied all odds and broken all barriers.

Maddie is not just a friend to me, she is more like my own sister in every way that Scarlet isn't, she is my wholesome rant buddy, and talking to her comes with a whole lot of vibe for me.

well, my best friend is a kind person but she transforms into all shades of scary when she is angry so that is the main reason why I won't ditch her to her face at all, I will go straight home before sending a text message to her to cancel our plans because I don't want to end up as dead meat.

"Kiara" I hear someone calling out to me faintly as I was about to leave the restaurant lobby so I turn back to check who it was only to see a tall, shapely ombre brown to blonde-haired girl who happens to be my best friend, Maddie waving me.

There are two things that I can do right now, I either turn back to say hello to her and tell her I won't be able to make it directly or trudge out of the hotel and deal with her later.........without thinking twice, I quicken my pace out of the building

as soon as I got to the road, I waved the first cab that drove towards me to stop as soon as I saw the light on the taxi indicating that it was empty I quickly enter the taxi.

normally, I am not the cab type because I am very discrete with my spending most importantly, I have budgeted my expenses for this month and I am sure that this impulsive spending will disrupt that budget but I will rather adjust my budget later than deal with Maddie right now

"But as it is, I will prefer to suffer the consequences of incurring Maddie's wrath later than face her right now, "I thought as the cab zoomed off.