Chapter 3: Family dinners are so much fun.

I wove through the late afternoon traffic until I arrived home. I went up to my room and found my mother going through my wardrobe.

"Hello Atian" she said warmly.

"Hi Mom. Umm, what are you doing?" I asked.

"I am seeing if you have anything to wear for the next week" she replied.

"Why? Where are we going?" I asked lazily.

"We're attending a formal function." She answered, flicking past my shirts.

"What's it for this time?" I said not bothering to cover the annoyance in my voice.

"A very important business man has moved to Japan. Don't think that you can get out of this either. So how was your first day back?" she finished sweetly.

"Annoying" I replied.

"Really? Why?" she asked.

"There's this new 's really..annoying" I said trying to find the words to describe Xiaoyi.

My mother sighed. "Just don't get into any fights with her okay?" she asked. "Oh and your father's arrived back today, so wash up before you come down to dinner please" she said before leaving my room.

I flopped down onto my king-sized bed and closed my eyes briefly. Great, Daddy dearest was back home. That would mean attending more formal functions and having tense "family dinners." Ever since I was a baby, my father was always flying overseas, thus I never got to see him much. And when he did come home, he would usually criticize me about every little thing.

I got up went and took a quick shower before going downstairs for dinner. I absolutely dreaded having dinner when my father was home. He'd interrogate me about everything, how I was going in school, who were my friends and whether or not they were acceptable to him.

When I arrived at the dining room I stood behind my chair, opposite to my mom's and waited till my father arrived and sat down before sitting.

After a few tense minutes in which the only sound that could be heard was the clinking of silverware, mum asked dad how his trip was.

"Fine" was his curt answer before he turned to me. "What have you been doing while I was gone Atian?"

"Studying" I said flatly avoiding his eyes.

"You better be. If you don't get into Tokyo University, you'll have to go overseas" he said.

"Don't worry. He'll get in" Mom assured him.

A few more minutes passed by in silence.

"We'll be having company for dinner tomorrow night. So I expect you to be on your best behavior Atian." My father warned me.

"Don't worry I will" I replied dully.

"Who's coming?" my mother asked.

"Mr. Li Zhong" my father responded shortly. "He has just recently moved to Japan and we must welcome him for he is a most important business man. There will of course be a formal function to be held in his honor but I thought that it would be best if we invited him to our house for dinner first. I believe he has a daughter your age Atian and it is expected that you will socialize with her"

I nearly rolled my eyes at him but managed not to as it would only aggravate him.

"She would be of equal social status to you so don't you dare do anything to offend her in any way as it quite possible that it could result in the business ties between our companies to be severed." He stated seriously as he stood up.

"It is also said that she is quite beautiful" he commented over his shoulder as he left the room.

I scowled at his retreating figure. Like I care whether she was beautiful or not. All of my father's business partner/ client's daughters were all snobs, beautiful or not.

The next day at school passed and I found that Xiaoyi was also in my maths class. I found this surprising as I was in the accelerated class with not many other people. I hated to admit that she was quite clever since she busy annoying me throughout the entire class but still managed to immediately correctly answer a question by the teacher on the spot when it was evident that she had done no work whatsoever.

When the end of the day finally came, I thought that I'd rather go through it again than go back home and have dinner with my father and that Mr. Li guy. But then I was sure that my father would kill me since it would leave a bad impression if I was not present.

When I arrived home, there was a black limo at the front of the driveway. Great that Mr. Li guy was probably already here. He must've been really rich as there wasn't many other people besides us who owned a limo. I shrugged and went around the back instead. I managed to avoid the lounge since my father always had guest there and went up to my room quietly. I saw some clothes laid out on the bed, grabbed them and took a shower. When I had finished and was just about to turn on my computer the intercom next to my door crackled to life.

"Atian dear, dinner's ready. Make sure you're presentable okay?" Mom said.

When I reached the dining room, my father and a tall man were already seated. I slid into my spot and smiled politely at the other man.

"Mr. Zhong, allow me to introduce you to my son Atian" my father said smoothly.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Mr. Zhong" I said.

"I'm glad to hear that" he replied and extended his hand towards me.

"You have a strong grip" he said when he shook my hand. I could already tell that he was nothing like my father who was a cold, calculating man.

"Thank-you sir" I replied giving him a genuine smile.

"Tell me Atian, how old are you?" he asked.

"I'm 17 Mr. Zhong" I answered looking for my mother out of the corner of my eye.

"Ahh, excellent. You are the same age as my daughter" he said warmly. "But unfortunately, she could not come to dinner tonight for she had prior engagements"

"Well then, Atian will just have to wait until next week to meet her" my father said flashing a smile at me which may be perceived as caring by other people but clearly said to me:

"You will welcome her whether you want to or not"

My mother chose this moment to enter the dining room.

"Mr. Zhong, I'd like you to meet my wife, Lia" my father said gesturing towards her.

"It's so nice to finally meet you Mr. Zhong" my mother said smiling.

"Thank-you for inviting me for dinner" he replied.

It wasn't too long until the butler enter and began to serve us. I tried to eat as quickly as I could without making it seem too obvious and excused myself as politely as possible so as to give no indication to my father that this was the last thing I wanted to be doing.

When I finally escaped to my room, I turned my computer on and logged into my MSN. I was about to scroll through my list to see who was online when a flickering light in bottom bar began to flash indicating that I had a message. Clicking on it, I realized that it was William.

Dude I am so in love says: Hey Atian

Double Helix says: Hey William

Dude I am so in love says: Sup?

I paused for a moment wondering whether or not to tell him about my family dinners. In the end I decided not to.

Double Helix says: Nothing much. How about you?

Dude I am so in love says: Same. Oi who are you chatting to?

Double Helix says: Just you. Not really anybody else online that I want to talk to.

Dude I am so in love says: 's online. I'll add her to the convo.

Pink Sugar has been added to the conversation.

Double Helix says: Nooooo!

Pink Sugar says: Hey guys \=D

Double Helix says: Aww man William. Why'd you have to go and add her for?

Dude I am so in love says: Lol. Wanted to see your reaction.

Double Helix says: Well it's not funny. You know I think I might just leave this conversation.

Dude I am so in love says: Fine whatever. I don't care. It'll just be me and Xiaoyi then. Right Xiaoyi? [winks at Xiaoyi]

It was only then that I realized that Xiaoyi hadn't said anything yet.

Double Helix says: Err, is Xiaoyi even there?

Dude I am so in love says: I dunno. Maybe she's gone off to do something.

Pink Sugar says: No I'm still here. I was just checking my e-mail.

Double Helix says: Damn. Thought you were gone.

Pink Sugar says: *pouts* Atian! That's not very nice you know. Don't you love me?

I smirked before answering.

Double Helix says: Hell no.

Dude I am so in love says: Don't worry if Kai don't love you cause I do.

Pink Sugar says: *giggles* Thanks I think.

Double Helix says: William you make me sick.

It was then that my intercom crackled to life. I rolled my chair across to it and pushed the button.

"Hello?" I spoke into it.

"Atian, Mr. Zhong is leaving. I think that your father wants you to come down." My mum replied.

"Okay. I'll be down in a sec." I responded.

I quickly crossed back over to my computer and switched my status to Be Right Back. I then clicked back onto the conversation with William and Xiaoyi and told them I'd be right back then I descended the stairs down to the foyer where my father and Mr. Zhong were still talking.

"Well I suppose I better be off now. I'll see you next week then?" Mr. Zhong said.

"I expect you shall." My father said.

"Good-bye Lia. Atian, it was wonderful to meet you" he said before stepping out the door and into his limo.

"I think that went well" my mother commented when my father closed the door.

"Yes. I think so too" my father said as he left the foyer.

I shook my head and went back up to my room. The bottom bar was still flickering and I figured that William and Xiaoyi were still talking. I scrolled up to see what they had been talking about.

Pink Sugar says: I wonder where Atian went to.

Dude I am so in love says: Who knows.Hey Xiaoyi , do you want to go out some time?

Pink Sugar says: okaiz.

I smirked. So Xiaoyi and William are now going out. I returned to reading their convo.

Dude I am so in love says: Cool.

Pink Sugar says: Have you finished writing up the science prac report yet?

Dude I am so in love says: Nearly. I just need to talk to Senyao about what to write about the conclusion.

Pink Sugar says: Do you want some help?

Dude I am so in love says: No, it's okay. Just need to check what Senyao wrote.

Pink Sugar says: Can't you do it yourself?

Dude I am so in love says: We're supposed to write it up with our lab partner.

Pink Sugar says: What? Atian never told me that.

Dude I am so in love says: [shrugs] Ask him later.

I then returned to the convo.

Double Helix says: I didn't tell you because you didn't ask.

Pink Sugar says: *sticks tongue out at Atian* Well I need to go now, bubaiz. *blows kisses*

Dude I am so in love says: See ya.

Pink Sugar says: Aren't you going to say good-bye to me Atian?

Double Helix says: If I do will you go away?

Pink Sugar says: Maybe.

Double Helix says: Fine. Later.

Pink Sugar says: Love you guys.

Pink Sugar has left the conversation.

Double Helix says: Hey William, I got to go.

Dude I am so in love says: First Xiaoyi now you. Well See ya man.

Double Helix says: Later

I logged off my MSN and was turning my computer off when my mum walked in holding a black silk shirt.

"Here Atian, wear this next Saturday at the function" she said laying it down on my bed.

"Mom, do I have to meet Mr. Zhong's daughter?" I asked.

"Yes, I'm afraid you'll have to Atian. But Mr. Zhong seems like a nice man to me. His daughter can't be that bad" my mother mused.

I scowled. "She'll be a snob. They're all snobs" I spat.

"Well I suppose it can't be helped. This business deal is very important" Mom said.

"Yeah well if I ever have kids I'm certainly not going to force them to socialize with brats and snobs just so that I can make business deals" I muttered.

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