Reborn from the Ash
1.4 - Choosing a Different Path
Kiara sat on her bed in her intricately decorated room, an unusual expression upon her face. The bed was made, with throw blankets elegantly arranged by Lyric earlier that morning, the pillows straightened and set up in an aesthetically pleasing way. Yet, Kiara took no joy in any of it, for, as she ran her hand over her perfect bed, she was reminded of her perfect life. And it made her sick.
The conversation she’d had with Luna the other day still haunted her. How had she known so little about her best friends own life and goals? Even the time she’d orchestrated her and Luna’s flight from high society was entirely self serving- Luna being worried about her home life had just been a convenient excuse for Kiara not to go it alone.
It was becoming quite evident to Kiara that she wasn’t even able to treat the closest people in the world to her properly. Was she really that privileged, that self absorbed?
She’d spent so much of her life looking out at the world from her lofty balcony on high, envious of the normal struggles everyone but her got to experience. What about her, she’d wondered. Why was the one who had to end up buried under a mountain of responsibilities, why had she never had the freedom to control her own destiny? Everything in her life had always been about her, her problems, her story, and if someone else suffered as a result of her actions, so be it.
Kiara wanted someone to blame. She wouldn’t have turned out this way if she’d been raised with the proper influences, she was sure of it. It was this perfect life of hers- the life of an heiress.
Unsure of what else to do, Kiara took out her phone and texted Lyric to summon her to her room. She desperately needed someone to talk to about her feelings, and she didn’t want to needlessly burden Luna yet again when she had her own life she was trying to make work.
As had long been the rule established by Antonio for all house servants, Lyric dropped everything she was doing when she received the summon. Within five minutes, she was knocking three times on the door- the signal she and Kiara had established to indicate it was Lyric at the door, and not Jacqueline.
“Come in,” Kiara sighed.
Well used to Kiara’s moods after years of serving her, Lyric wasn’t phased by how morose Kiara’s voice was. “What’s up, Kiara?”
Kiara slid off her bed, and walked over to the white, sleek sofa she had set up in front of her TV closer to the door, which she perched on nervously. “I… I’m sorry to summon you Lyric, I know you were probably in the middle of something else…”
Now this, Lyric didn’t expect. “Kiara, what are you talking about? This is my job.”
“But are you happy?” Kiara blurted out. “I mean- I’m sorry, that was poorly phrased- are you satisfied with, you know, working for me and my father?”
Lyric frowned and walked over to sit next Kiara on the couch, forcing her out of her hunched up position. “Am I happy? Well, Antonio pays me good money, and the housing is sure top notch. Honestly, if I wasn’t thrilled about my situation here, Kiara, I don’t think I’d be here talking to you right now. I would’ve quit and been out of here a long time ago. …Can I ask where this is coming from?”
Kiara didn’t respond for a while, an expression of deeply pained thought upon her face.
When she finally did speak, her voice came out as a whisper. “…I don’t think I ever treated Luna, or Max, or, well, you like an equal.”
“Kiara, no. I can’t speak for anyone else, but my job here is to work under you. We can be friends, but a woman and her servant obviously isn’t an equal playing field.”
Kiara shook her head slowly. “That isn’t it. I… I struggle to put it into words, but… I saw myself as so much more important. Your life story, Luna’s plights, they didn’t matter as much as mine. Like, for instance, did you see the way they reacted when you went to eat elsewhere? Not even Max had a side comment about servant eating with them! It isn’t just our professional relationship, Lyric. Living this life… I do not think I can be a person I or society will ever judge as good.”
“Then… what do you want to do?”
“…I think I’ve decided I need to leave. I can’t stay in this household for a moment longer without hating the person I’ve become.”
Lyric’s breath caught in her throat. Was Kiara serious? She seemed serious. Lyric was a little worried about what this sudden change of heart might mean for her job security, but above all else, she was worried for Kiara.
“But, I want your advice first, Lyric. It’s… it’s why I summoned you. I truly value your opinion. I’d say that you're the one person in my life I’d consider to be the closest to authentic. Lyric… do you think I should?”
Lyric looked down at the ground. “Oh boy. I kind of wish you hadn’t asked, because this is a lot to try and advise on, but-“
“Please, if it’s too much-“
“Kiara,” Lyric said firmly, cutting her off and looking her in the eyes. “I want to give you advice. I just… I want to warn you. Antonio won’t take a decision like this lightly. And it’ll destroy your mother.”
Kiara nodded. “I will have no choice but to accept it.”
“It won’t be easy either. You’ll have our own bills to pay, you won’t have any personal servants, shoppers, maids, or chefs, and will have to take care of all of those tasks on your own. And… on a personal note, I don’t think I’d be able to talk to you like this anymore, cause I need to stay in Antonio’s good graces. But… as far as what I would actually advise you to do… do what’s going to make you happy, Kiara. If you’d be happier dealing with the monotony of an ordinary life over your family problems here, you need to choose that option.”
As Lyric left the room, Kiara was left with much to think about. Sinking further into the couch, her head began to spin as she weighed her options. She didn’t even go downstairs for breakfast or lunch. Two words echoed in her head as she tumbled down a dark abyss of uncertainty.
Privileged.
Selfish.
Kiara absolutely hated who she was, as well as who her parents wanted her to be. She was sure the only way to undo their work and take control of her own life was to distance herself from them, but she wasn’t sure she’d be able to survive on her own. Money might actually be on obstacle, for once. She didn’t know how to cook for herself. And she’d never interacted with anyone her parents hadn’t approved for her beforehand.
Whatever she decided, Kiara was certain there was no coming back from it. She either had to get out and risk it all, or resign herself to becoming exactly what her parents wanted. It was far too late for her to pick neither option, as she’d spent too much time on self introspection to stay in the place she was at in her life now.
Later that evening, Jacqueline sat alone at the grand dining room table, a massive piece that stretched the width of the rather sizable room. It was said to have been carved out of a singular tree, one that was centuries old that Antonio had felled just for Jacqueline. An intricate meal was laid out across most of the table, far more than Jacqueline could ever hope to eat.
Jacqueline sighed to herself, then looked over at Jinelle, who was seated at a table separate from hers. She then rapped her fingers against the table, the rings on her gloved hand making a sharp noise. Then, when that didn’t work, she picked up a golden spoon from the table and tapped it against her crystalline goblet.
Jinelle, who had been enjoying a grilled cheese sandwich she’d thrown together for herself for dinner, slowly looked up and over at her. Noticing she’d attracted her attention, Jacqueline put down the spoon and sighed again. Jinelle put her sandwich back on her plate. “Um… Mrs. Jacqueline, is there anything I can do for you?”
“Why, yes, Jinelle, these is something you can do for see, thank you for asking,” Jacqueline said coyly as she turned in her chair to look at her.
“…and that is?”
“Summon Antonio and Kiara for me. I can’t even fathom the last time we had a family dinner. We’re long overdue.”
Jinelle gave Jacqueline a strange look. “Are you sure that would be okay with Mr. Sanchez? I thought he-“
Jacqueline cut her off. “Jinelle, I don’t pay you to question me. Go fetch them. Understood?”
Jinelle pointed at her sandwich. “Can I?”
Jacqueline smiled tightly and shook her head.
Sighing to herself, Jinelle pushed her chair back, stood up, and meandered her way out of the room.
Jacqueline peered over at Jinelle’s rather dismal looking sandwich, which looked rather out of place on a hundred dollar plate. Frowning, Jacqueline picked up a cluster of grapes from her feast, then hurried over to place them next to Jinelle’s sandwich.
Antonio thundered his way downstairs and into the dining room after receiving Jacqueline’s summon.
“What is the meaning of this, my beloved? We as a family chose to abolish family dinners because we didn’t speak to each other and I wasted valuable work time.”
Jacqueline did nothing but smile. “Sit.”
Antonio crossed his arms. “Jacqueline, I have a rather crucial-“
He was cut off by Jacqueline pushing back her chair and marching over to him. She pressed a sharp nail into his chest. “Antonio, we are drifting apart as a family! We need this! I think making sure you have an heir and I have a daughter is far more crucial than whatever…”
Jacqueline’s voice trailed off as Kiara entered the room.
“Kiara, darling! Just catching up with your father, I hadn’t heard from him all day. Please, let’s all takes our seats.”
To Jacqueline’s surprise, Kiara didn’t have a snarky comeback prepared. “Okay.”
The three of them all took their seats at the table, Antonio and Jacqueline each at the heads, with Kiara seated perfectly in the middle. They sat there in an awkward silence, waiting for someone to break the ice. Jinelle took the moment to quietly pick up her plate and disappear to anywhere but the dining hall, failing to notice Jacqueline’s addition to her plate.
Jacqueline cleared her throat and looked at the two of them with a perfect smile. “I’m glad you both chose to join me, we as a family have not been spending nearly enough time together lately! So, I’m proposing we reinstate family dinners as a once monthly occurrence.”
“Miss Foster did not give us much of a choice, I can assure you of that,” Antonio said. “As far as reinstating these… events, I personally-“
“I have something to say,” Kiara said quietly.
“Would you speak up, dear? Mumbling is horribly unattractive, plus, your father and I couldn’t possibly hope to understand you.”
“I,” Kiara said, standing up slowly. “Have something I need to say. To both of you.”
Antonio rolled his eyes.
“Which is?” Jacqueline asked.
Kiara allowed herself to smile in her parents’ presence for the first time in what felt like years. “I’m leaving.”
Antonio and Jacqueline sat there in silence. The only sound in the room was that of Kiara’s rather nervous breathing.
“Leaving? Whatever do you mean, dear?” Jacqueline asked, her voice quavering a bit.
“Exactly what she says,” Antonio said. “She intends to leave the mansion and venture out into the world. Do I have that right?”
“D-Did Lyric tell you?”
Antonio didn’t respond to Kiara’s question.
“Kiara. Tell me it isn’t so! You’re leaving us, this mansion, all the comforts we provide you, and for what? What about this lifestyle and this home isn’t good enough for and your evidently overly refined tastes?”
Kiara sat back down. “That’s just it, mother. How can I call myself an authentic person when every need I’ve ever had can be fulfilled by just asking?”
Antonio nodded. “What hope does she have to ever take over for me when she doesn’t understand the common man? Face it, my beloved. Kiara does raise a point.”
“So, so- you’re saying that she’s doing this just for now, correct? Then she comes back to us?”
“No, that isn’t-“
Antonio cut Kiara off. “That is exactly what she means. Kiara can leave, I’ll even provide her with a bit of starting money, but at the end of the day, Kiara is still a Sanchez. Regardless of whatever she tells herself, there is no world where she can get away from that. She’ll be back in due time.”
Antonio stared Kiara down from across the table, and suddenly, Kiara felt very small. She hadn’t felt this level of intensity from him since she’d tried to run away, all those years ago. And yet… he was clearly playing it differently. Actually granting her some of the leeway she wanted. Kiara was sure Antonio was playing some sort of game here- If she actually wanted to maintain the freedom she wanted, she’d have to figure that out, and quickly.