Mika didn't mind not seeing his stepmother or his siblings when he was told he wouldn't be living with them longer.
He wouldn't miss the servants talking about him behind his back or the way his father's business partners looked at him.
No, what he would miss is being around his father.
Whenever his father had to go anywhere, Mika was next to him. When his father was upset when an experiment or business deal failed, he'd be there to comfort him. No one was closer to his father than he was; it was something everyone they knew, knew.
Which was why his stepmother decided she wouldn't put up with him anymore. "I'm your wife, not him" is a phrase Mika heard daily. However, this was the first time she got her way over Mika's. His stepmother, Pricella, was nothing more than a used bargaining chip. His father needed a deal to go through in order to continue doing his experiments and marrying Pricella was the only way for it to work.
Mika didn't mind, at first. He never knew his birth mother, nor did he care to ask about her. He didn't see the need for a mother at all when he had his father. But they'd only been married for half a year before she started complaining about how his father was too close to his son. Pricella's complaints feel on deaf ears; they were only an arranged marriage. Nothing more, nothing less. They'd only act caring when it was profitable and had two kids for show, on top of Mika and the one Pricella already had. It was no secret that his father cared nothing for his second wife; in fact, it was painfully obvious. However, Pricella complaints finally got through to his father after five years.
Mika's father needed more funding and Pricella's father jumped in, saying he'd fund his father. On the condition that Mika was to be sent away. Pricella's father, noticing his father was obviously displeased, corrected himself. "To the school where you went" was what he told Mika's father.
His father disagreed at first, upset at sending his
favorite
son away; Mika was too, he was never far from his father for long. Never more that a couple hours. However, he knew that his father needed the funding and agreed to be sent off.
But now that it was the time to leave, Mika didn't want to. An entire school year, away from his father. Even just thinking about it didn't feel right. A "good learning opportunity", was what his father told him it was. Mika disagreed; it's bullshit. He was never overly emotional, knowing greeting upset or excited was childish. However, his father was a special case. He loved his father, more than anyone or anything. And Pricella knew that.
And she hated that.
Everyone around them knew that Pricella was trying to get her first born, Taker
Talker, as some called him
, closer to his father. Mika was smarter than Pricella and as smart as some of his father's coworkers. There was no need to send him to a foreign school. But she hated the bond between Mika and his father and tried to get between them. This was her first successful attempt.
Mika felt someone put their am on top his head. He immediately knew it was his father; only he got closer to him. Mika looked up, starting at his father as he stared into the distance. It was truly a nice view, one Mika enjoyed, especially around sundown. They were on the terrace of Mika's bedroom, the one with the best view of the trees. However, he wasn't in the mood to enjoy anything except his father's company before he was sent off.
His father looked down at Mika, and gave him a small smile. His father didn't smile much when he wasn't in front of a crowd, but almost always in front of Mika. He saw that good father didn't want him to leave either, and was probably thinking of how to get Mika back early. Another one of Pricella's father's conditions was that Mika was not to return for the school year, and to stay at the dorms he was provided. If it weren't for Mika calming his father down, Pricella's father probably wouldn't be alive.
'Now I wish I didn't do that', Mika thought as he and his father walked down their stairs, suitcases in their hands.
"Are you ready, Mika?" His father asked as the reached to bottom step, gently letting go of the baggage. Pricella and her kids were down there, waiting. 'That eager to get rid of me?' He thought. 'They should be sending Taker instead, he needs the help.'
"Yes, Father," Mika replied, also setting down his bags. He was reluctant to go through the portal, set to take him to his school.
His father, seeing his reluctance, pulled him into a hug, ignoring his glaring wife. Mika did too, as he embraced his father. They stopped like that longer than anyone else liked but Mika was going to miss his father dearly.
Mika finally pulled back after hearing Pricella pretend to clear get through for the third time. His father brought his bags to the portal, and sent them through, one at a time. Mika saw his father give him a small smile, knowing he was pissing his wife off.
Mika gave him an even smaller, almost unnoticeable one. He gave his father one last hug before going through himself.
"Hmph! He didn't even say goodbye despite the fact we waited here forever!" Pricella cried out, Tristan on her hip and Basi at her feet. She turned toward Davis, only to see his back as he was walking away.
She sneered than relaxed her face into the friendly smile she showed of to others. She bounced Tristan on her hip, making him giggle, before pulling out her phone.
She dialled to number she memorized, too afraid to put a name on it. When the other person answered she quickly spoke, "He's there. You better follow through "
All she got was a dark laugh before they hung up.
She put her phone away and picked up her other two-year old, balancing them on her sides. Taker only looked at his mom, hands in his pockets before he gave her a canine filled smile and walked off.
She bounced then up and down as she walked away from the now closed portal.
'Only a little bit longer.'
