Les Laches

(Un)Family

“Hai, Beautiful!”

Tian threw a sharp glare towards the striped grey suit-fitting man standing near the dessert table while winking one eye at him, before walking back to the balcony of the second floor of the building where he was. That night, she attended the birthday party of Zaira Oberon, her grandmother. Marcela's grandmother, to be exact, considering that only her youngest brother had inherited blood from her father, the only descendant of the largest shareholder in the Oberon family company, Mathis Oberon.

In fact, Tian had almost forgotten the fact that she was not Adler's real daughter thanks to the kindness she had received from the man since she woke up in a hospital bed ten years ago. However, all members of Adler's extended family, including Adler's father and mother, always try to ensure that Tian will never forget his true origins. 

In fact, Lydia and Joan, who had not yet reached adulthood, knew that they were hated. Fortunately, Adler had always encouraged them by saying that there was not a single person in this world who could make him stop regarding Tian and the two as his beloved daughter. The man was even willing to remove the Oberon surname from his name when his parents opposed his marriage to Bella simply because she was a widow. Moreover, the origin of the orphaned Bella is in stark contrast to the background of the Oberon family which has a long family history and abundant wealth passed down through generations.

Tian pulled one side of his hair that was played by the wind behind the ears. That night, Tian accidentally untangled her hair to hide the off-shoulder collar piece from the dress she was wearing. The dress was handpicked by Bella on the last day of her return from France. The woman had indeed offered to Tian to check the catalogue sent by her before choosing her own dress. However, reluctant to mess around with the rows of clothing models that look the same in his eyes, Tian handed all the decisions to his mother.

Tian quickly blamed his indifference after his mother handed him the piece of velvet-green cloth. The linen dress is far from ugly. Very far away though. It's just that the neck and hemispheres on the right front side of the dress that exposed his legs to the knee were making Tian reluctant to wear it. Not to mention, regular fit pieces that show the bend of his waist and hips. Tian never felt comfortable with the clothing model that made his curves visible.

Although, many people repeatedly said that they dreamed of having a body shape like her, Tian could only feel skeptical. Because, not once he is proud of the physical advantages he has. Instead, he tends to feel embarrassed when he hears others praise his body shape. He felt harassed as people looked at him with the intention of judging his body. It's just that, he keeps his own opinion in his head and protects himself from these feelings with his style of clothing that is always loose and closed.

It was not that Tian completely refused to wear something that fit the body, it was just that forcing himself to wear such type of clothes always gave a less pleasant side effect. Tian tends to sweat beyond the limits of reasonableness while in the dress. It may look normal in the eyes of the observer. Of course, not a few people who will sweat a lot when wearing tight clothes because of the limited space for the skin to breathe. However, Tian knew full well that what he felt was an unnatural phenomenon. Because, it will still look like that even if it is in a room with an unusually cold temperature.

“Tian?”

A voice distracted Tian who had previously been stuck on the surface of the pool water below. A westernized and blonde-haired woman appeared behind Tian. Upon seeing Tian's face, the woman smiled widely and took a step closer. Tian instantly recognized the figure as the lighting from the balcony lights helped him see the face more clearly. The woman's name is Mary, Adler's distant cousin. He is the only person from Adler's extended family who views Bella and her three daughters as fully human. No frills of social status and family background.

Despite not being in the main family, the girl had purely inherited Brazilian blood, a lineage that the Oberon extended family was proud of. Mary was categorized as a wild girl by the majority of the members of the Oberon extended family simply because the woman ran away from home after refusing an arranged marriage arranged by her parents. No one thought that the intelligent woman had planned her escape since she realized that she would have no right to her future if she continued to be in the confines of her extended family.

Armed with determination and hard work, the woman desperately pursues the opportunity to obtain a scholarship abroad. His efforts came to fruition when he received word that he was accepted into a well-known public university in Belgium. It was there that he "disappeared" to spend four years of his studies. There he met the prince who had captured his heart. Prince in the truest sense, whose son is a billionaire of Pakistani blood and owns a spread stake in various international class bona fide companies.

Their marriage took place in five countries, namely Pakistan, Indonesia, Brazil, Belgium, and France. All of those countries have a history for both, starting from their home countries, where they met, and the latter is the country they want to live together after marriage. Now, Mary's position in the eyes of the main family is even higher than that of her parents. Even though the wild label was still attached to his image, no one dared to harass him.

In fact, Tian, like Adler, was not close to Mary even though the woman showed a different character to the rest of the main family. Tian himself only suspected that Mary's interest in his family had something to do with the same feelings of resilience as an estranged person among the main family. Unbeknownst to Tian, that Mary's decision to defect from her family was actually inspired by her admiration for Adler's actions while leaving the main family in favor of Bella and her daughters. His cousin's firm attitude aroused a rebellious desire in him that had been buried along with increasing maturity.

Without that impulse, he would not stand where he is now and meet the man who became his soul mate. Therefore, for Mary, Adler was the savior of her life. Similarly, a small family tried to be protected by the man and became the motivation behind all the attitudes he took.

“Why outside?” mary asked as she threw a glance at the point Tian had seen before he disturbed her.

“Just want to get some fresh air,” replied Tian. His eyes quietly noticed how the black maxi dress worn by the woman seemed to add a radiance of sexy charm even though she did not show off the curves of the body.

“I see's. It's very stuffy inside, indeed.” Mary did not seem to have caught Tian's true intent. However, Tian had absolutely no intention of correcting it.

“Your lecture how?” mary asked again in a foreign accent, considering she spent almost eight years living in France with her new family.

“Fine.” Tian answered briefly.

Mary nodded in understanding as she caught the girl's unwillingness to discuss her studies. It's not without reason. Oberon's main family is strongly opposed to Adler's decision to enroll Tian in the art department. Not because of his majors, but because of the profession that the girl wants to pursue once her studies are complete. Tian wanted to become a curator, while the profession had never existed in the history of the Oberon family at all. 

In the Oberon extended family hereditary traditions are sacred and highly respected, so there is almost no room for innovation. Adler is arguably “lucky” because his career choice as an architect is in line with the construction business and property owned by his extended family, so it does not get opposition from his parents. The dispute over Tian's future itself became the second-largest conflict Adler had brought after marrying Bella. The conflict led to Adler withdrawing all of his shares and leaving his family-owned company. Judging from all those events, it was only natural that Tian was a little defensive when the people from his extended family alluded to the topic related to the matter in front of him. No exception Mary.

“How about boyfriend?” Mary tried to change her approach to start a conversation with Tian.

Tian simply shook his head, but his expression began to soften.

“No way! You can’t be serious!” Mary exclaimed in disbelief. “Not even a crush?”

Tian was silent for a moment before slowly shaking his head, a smile on his lips.

“Liar. Your smile says otherwise.” Mary laughed seductively.

Tian laughed before confessing to Mary that a name had indeed crossed his head when he heard Mary's last question. Tian also told about the quarrel that had occurred between him and the young man who made himself had to refute the fact that he was close to a man.

“Friends I've known from childhood. In fact, long before I met Papa,” Tian explained.

Mary nodded small. He had heard stories about Bella and her three daughters' past when Adler explained the background of the woman he wanted to marry to members of his extended family. Of course, no one would bother to show sympathy for the woman's past stories. There's no one, except Mary.

“Of course. With such a long history, it is impossible that you have never fallen in love with Afgar.” Mary smiled faintly. “However, the important question is have you really stopped liking Afgar?”

Tian frowned, as if Mary was asking something that was already very clear the answer. “Of courses. She's already a fiancee.”

Mary shook her head in a hurry. “Not because of Safira or anyone else. I want to know how you feel in spite of all that. Already really moving on from Afgar?”

This time Tian checked his mind carefully. Trying to figure out how he felt when he imagined that the young man was not related to anyone. When his logic did not see the situation as an opportunity, he immediately decided that he had completely ended the feeling. To be honest, he could not even remember the last time his heart felt excited while waiting for his meeting with Afgar.

“I've not saved such feelings again the same Afgar,” said Tian finally.

Mary looked into Tian's eyes, trying to find some seriousness there.

“He will trust you as long as he listen to your plea.”

“Indeed. IF he's listening. What I'm worried about is that she'll never want to contact me again.” Tian shook his guard. Just thinking about it made his stomach churn.

“When was the last time you guys were in touch?”

Tian did not need to think for long to remember his last moments of talking to the young man. “After coming home from our first and last date. Ironic, ‘kan?”

“No texting?” Mary continued to try to analyze the conflict between the two men. For some reason, even though he had not met Meda, he could judge that the young man was a good figure and character. He did not want a small misunderstanding to make Tian and the prospective daughter-in-law of the Adler family run aground in the middle of the road.

“We are still actively exchanging messages on Whatsapp. You know how it feels when something is off. Our conversation felt awkward.” Tian scratched the side of his head that was not itching before returning to continue. “More funny, the college break is almost over and the task report that was supposed to be the first thing I thought about was instead as if it was in the last pile on my priority list. This is driving me nuts!”

“Oh, dear! Don’t make your stress worsen. It's all normal. There is almost nothing logical about love.” Mary patted the niece's back gently.

“Did you also feel like this when you met Morgan?”

Mary shook her head quickly. “Luckily, our relationship is out of drama.

Mary hurriedly closed her mouth after realizing that she had indirectly mentioned the Tian thing going through in terms that, of course, sounded negative.

“I am so sorry. I mean no harm. It’s just ..” Mary tried to explain when Tian cut her off.

“It’s okay. I know. This situation cinda turn out to be dramatic, indeed.”

“No. Ughhhh! Listen to me! Don’t let that slip of tongue affect what I told you before. You have to make sure he hears and sees all your words at once. Just do it! Then everything will turn back to be normal. Easy does it!” Mary says it all in one breath, showing how determined she is to help Tian improve his relationship with Meda.

Tian could see through all of that and decided not to waste the earnest advice given by Mary, a figure who would be happy to call her Aunt if only her age was not adrift only five years with her.

“I'll try to get him to meet and resolve all these misunderstandings before starting college.” Tian promised the woman.

“Give me your phone number and e-mail address. I will contact you as soon as I set my foot on Lyon. We will get so much things to talk about.” 

Mary pulled out her phone and started typing Tian's cell phone number and email address. After several times confirming that Tian would not forget to contact her, the woman left. Zaira's birthday party was almost over and she had to head to the airport to return to France.

“Send my greetings toward Rafael,” exclaimed Tian, naming the one-year-old little son of Mary, before the woman completely disappeared in the swallow of the crowd of invited guests.