Victim of His Obsession

I eagerly bounce up and down in front of my parents, both seated at our large, marble island counter, having breakfast before work. My father barely blinks at me, as he continues to read the newspaper, his dark brown hair, slightly greying around the edges, combed back neatly.

            “Yes, Ava?” My mother finally asks, setting her utensils down and smiling gently at me.

            “There is a comic convention in San Francisco this weekend, I was wondering if I could please borrow one of the cars to go,” I whip out the flyer and push it at her, begging her with my eyes.

            “Ava, you haven’t even turned 18 years old yet and can barely drive to school. I hardly think you can handle driving alone to San Francisco,” my father mutters, still not taking his eyes away from the paper.

            “I won’t be alone, Sebastian will be coming with me,” I say, but continue to plead with my mother. She frowns and goes to open her mouth.

            “We’ll think about it. For now, get ready for school, and make sure you have everything ready for the opening of your mother’s new line tonight at the charity event.”

            With that said, my hopes are crushed. I know he isn’t going to think about it, all he cares about is the party. My mother owns a rather successful line of jewelry and is releasing a brand-new line of male and female wedding rings, along with a Fall set of necklaces and bracelets. Half of the proceeds will be going to help various disaster victims around the world.

            It is a noble cause, but my father only cares about looking good in public and keeping up the family name. If it was up to me, I would be attending the small community college in San Francisco, to study Art. Instead, I am attending a private University, to study Law and Business, so I can one day take over the family business.

            Tossing the flyer in the trash, I trudge upstairs to prepare for morning class. I have a mock trial this morning, and I can barely remember which character I am playing. I can already tell it is going to be a long day. Just one more year, and I will be free of school, and maybe have a bit more freedom than I’m letting myself believe when I take over the family business.

            Either way, I know in my heart, it isn’t what I want to do. But at the same time, I love my parents, and everything they have done for me. I would never want to let them down, either.  

            I text Sebastian and tell him not to get his hopes up. He messages back with a sad face. I wonder how much a train, or maybe even a bus ride would be. I don’t have money, or a job, since my tuition is paid for by my parents, and they put money on my student card every semester to get food and stuff. Other than that, I don’t have my own spending money a whole lot, unless it’s for my birthday. But by that point, everything would be over, and there would be no point in the effort anymore. For once, I want my parents to take an interest in mine, not what they want mine to be.

            I will never be their perfect daughter, someone they can shape and mould into a socialite icon, heiress to their vast fortune – blah, blah blah. I hate it all. They say money can’t buy you happiness, they were right. There are several things money cannot buy you; happiness is just one of the hard ones.

            My parents have more than enough money to keep my family thriving for generations, even I wouldn’t have to work with the money they already supply for me. It isn’t enough to purchase a decent car or keep up with the insurance payments, on top of a phone and other personal splurging. But it is enough that without that, I could do whatever I want; go on shopping sprees, have a girl’s night out downtown. But I never wanted any of those things, I was a pretty simple teenager growing up. I never wanted fancy things or had expensive taste in clothes or personal items.

            Yet my parents never gave me the things I wanted, like the convention. It was the one big thing I had asked of them in quite some time since I was 15, and I had asked to stay out late to attend a local concert by my favourite band in the park. I had only asked to stay out until midnight, but I knew at my age, and the area we lived in, that was pushing it.

            My father had of course said no, making claims that I was a high risk for kidnapping since I was worth a lot of money in ransom. It is no secret how wealthy my family is, everyone in town knows about it, and people had often tried to kidnap my mother when she was a little older than I was, to ransom for a large sum of money, since they knew my family could afford it.

            But I am almost 18 and have gone out with friends on our many times but have never come close to it. My father had once even said that the few times my mother had been kidnapped when she was younger, the police were quick to put an end to it and find her before any money was exchanged. I had a feeling the crooks understood, our family is too wealthy to be bribed even.

            I slowly make my way to school, mulling over all the stupid things my parents have me do; the constant dinner and cocktail parties they make me attend, the dreadful charity events where no one focuses on the worthy cause, just the money it is making, and who receives the left-over funds once half of the donations are split. I have discovered quite a few despicable things, being a quiet, watchful child in the corner of the room, about what goes on behind the scenes of big-name events and businesses.

            I message Sebastian and tell him to meet me in the park after classes, I don’t want to go home right away. He always knows how to cheer me up, without even trying. Just being around him, his presence alone is enough to make anyone brighten from their gloomy mood. He is an overly friendly guy, but not enough to make a person feel uncomfortable unless they are extremely shy. I had bad social anxiety when I was younger, and I still kind of do, but Sebastian helped me move past it a little when we met.

            His smile and kind words were enough to win me over, and we have become the best of friends ever since. He is my rock when it comes to dealing with my home life, he knows the right things to say and, the right things to do, to make me forget whatever is upsetting me.