Finally getting hold of herself, Brianna sighs deeply and says with her normally high-pitched, excited voice, "Oh well, nothing we can do about him anymore."
Duke thinks in a rather confused tone, "Did Brianna really just give up?" "It seems rather unnatural for her to do so, but, oh well, maybe she's finally accepted the 'you win some, you lose some' logic."
"We'll have a rest for today, and have another shot at it tomorrow," she announces excitedly. Duke sighs inside, "Of course she hasn't. What was I thinking?"
"I thought you said we were going to hang out." Brittney asks with a look of confusion. Brianna laughs nervously while rubbing her right palm against the back of her neck, "Well..., about that..., I just said that, try and make Luka hang out with us. I honestly never thought about what would've happened if he'd agreed or not."
Brittney drops her head down, facing the ground, smirks a bit, her left eye twitching with rage, jealousy, and disappointment. Then she raises her head and sighs deeply, calming herself, "If you're gonna do that again, please try to inform me. I hate getting my hopes up, then getting disappointed right after."
Brianna looks at her with eyes of gratitude, "Thanks, Bri, you're the best. I have to leave now, guys. Mom's probably already back from shopping today, and I want to help her out. I'll see you guys tomorrow, right?"
"Alright, Bri, we'll see you tomorrow." Brittney hugs her briefly and pulls away as they look at each other's faces. "Nope, not me. P and S students don't have any lectures tomorrow."
"What?!, So I'm not going to see Luka tomorrow?" Brianna whines, and Duke puts on a pained look playfully. "That stung a bit, Brianna."
"Sorry, I'll miss you too." She leaves Brittney and handshakes Duke. "So bye, guys, just text me on the group chat if anything happens," she says as she waves and leaves.
Duke takes a deep breath, his voice low and calm, "So she already cares for him that much?" "And she doesn't even have a clue about it," Brittney says with a smile, her voice a bit pitchy but low and calm. As they watch her leave the school premises.
Brianna hums along the streets till the subway and enters a train heading to Ossan. Upon reaching Ossan station after passing by three other stations, the train stops, and she descends and heads up the subway stairs, arriving at Luckview Avenue. She heads into the third street from a fork in the road after passing by most of the business enterprises in the area.
"Hey, Mrs. Shaw," she greets, an older woman on her home lawn, planting flowers and uprooting weeds. "Oh, Brianna, you're back from school already?!" Mrs. Shaw answers back with a look of surprise and sweating a little bit.
"Yeah, we only had a lecture today. Isn't it a bit late for you to be gardening?! The sun's already out." Brianna asks with a concerned look. "I'm just rounding up with it, I started late, and these weeds aren't gonna weed themselves." She responds, smiling as she jests.
Brianna then smiles and waves at her while leaving, "Okay then, I'll be on my way."
"And tell your mom to keep those sunflower seeds for me, I'll come get'em later."
"Okay."
She arrives at an ash colored duplex building with a flower-filled lawn and a white painted wooden fence around it. She shifts open the fence gate and steps in through a path of stepping stones embedded into the ground, and heads to the front door.
"I'm home." She announces as she steps into the house with her normally optimistic vibe and enthusiasm.
"Welcome back, sweetheart. How was school today?" a woman's voice answers from the kitchen area.
"It was fine, mum." Brianna answers, looking at the dining table to find a lot of grocery bags and packages, "It looks like you got a lot of things today while you were out grocery shopping, huh?".
"Oh yeah, your dad's insurance funds were recently released."
"What?!?!"
"Yeah, apparently, it was held back because of a change in the office of the CEO. And the best part is, the new boss compensated for the time families had waited to get their insurance."
"Wow, then he must be a nice guy."
"From what I heard, he just officially became the CEO, even though he'd been working in the office for the past three years. Your father used to say that he was cold at face value but actually kind at heart."
"Huh?, is that so?," then she thinks to herself, "Sounds like someone i know" then chuckles "it would be funny though, if the CEO of Winter Mirage Inc. was Luka, even i wouldn't see that coming." and asks while picking up an apple from one of the grocery bags. "how old is he?"
"I don't know, rumors say he doesn't look a day over twenty," an adult woman with slightly wrinkled yet shiny skin and dark brown hair says, coming out of the kitchen and sitting down at the dining table.
"What?! I don't believe it. Even if they were supposed to retire, that means he'd been working as the CEO since he was seventeen." and she bites the apple.
"Well, no one except the high rankers in the company has actually seen him before, and they have been sworn to secrecy. As for the former CEOs, they didn't exactly retire. They were an old couple, so when sickness came, their bodies couldn't fight back, and sadly, they passed away."
Brianna's mood dampens, "Oh, I didn't think about that," and the apple in her mouth suddenly begins tasting bitter as tears begin flowing from her eyes.
Her mom quickly moves closer to her and hugs her. "I miss him too, sweety, but there's nothing we can do now," she says, petting her.
Brianna sniffles, "It must've been really hard for him to take over the office that his parents once held and take responsibility for such a big company at such a young age."
"Yeah, it must've been hard. But he was strong and strived through it, and the company is thriving because of it."
They remain that way for about ten minutes, then she moves to the kitchen again as she hears the sound of the oven ding.
Brianna thinks to herself. "But if he's twenty and, according to mum, they were an old couple. Could he be adopted?"