Chapter 4.6 | Rules for this challenge | Chapter 4.8

Generation Four: Orange

Appearance: Orange hair, Island clothing style
Traits: Foodie, Good, Active
Aspiration: Friend of the World
Occupation: Lifeguard
House Goal: 40,000 worth

The Highs… and the Lows

I checked the weather before heading to the bus stop, and – by the time I arrived in the frigid city – I was certainly glad I had. After a quick morning call to Magnus’ father, he had mysteriously said he was working at the main firm in San Myshuno this morning, and asked whether I could meet him there. I didn’t really want to travel that far just to talk to him, but he sounded hurried and distracted, so I assumed it wasn’t the best day to ask him to do all the traveling. Maybe something was going wrong at the main firm? I pondered on it for a while as I watched the rain pour down on the windows of the bus, but before long, my other worries had pushed the curiosity completely out of my head.

I had been to the city before, with Mom, but I had never been to this particular part. I looked around, flabbergasted at the people that were all dressed in clothes that probably cost as nearly as much as my bedroom furniture was going to… and peered awkwardly at the directions I had penned on a now-soggy piece of paper.

I found the building, and rode the elevator to the top, as directed.. and stood for a moment, just staring at the firm’s logo on the window in front of me. It wasn’t until that exact moment that I realized that Magnus’ father wasn’t just an architect. He owned the firm… and that was his name just staring back at me, mocking me for not knowing.

Taking a deep breath to calm my nerves, I walked into the lobby, looking around curiously. I could see people working in their offices, and a harried- looking woman with some serious bags under her eyes running the front desk. Wondering idly what might be wrong with her, I stepped up to the desk to announce myself and my appointment.

“Oh! Ms. Naiades! Please, have a seat. Julius is on a call, I’ll let you know as soon as he’s ready for you!” Calling her boss by his first name seemed overly familiar, but, as she quickly answered the basically incessantly ringing phone, I knew it wasn’t exactly my place to say, and turned back to the waiting room.

The huge check felt like it was burning in my pocket, and I was far too nervous to do something like flip through a magazine, so I just waited. It didn’t take long, however, and the woman looked up from her phone call, covered the phone briefly, and whispered that I could go right in, pointing at the large front office.

I walked in, and Magnus’s father looked up from his computer, and waved a greeting. He offered me some refreshment, but I was far too nervous in this environment, and I declined politely.

“Well, Ms. Naiades, what can I do for you?” he asked, then continued, “It must be important to bring you all this way – and on that, I must apologize for asking you to come all this way. I will explain in a moment…”

I waved back, and pulled out the cashier’s check from the bank with basically the rest of Greta and mine’s savings plus the funds from Hector Laurent. I sighed nervously at the total, then blurted out, “I have the rest of the funds for the house.” – and handed him the check.

He took it with a smile, commenting that he had expected it to take quite a bit longer to come up with the total, then, glancing momentarily at the woman at the front desk.. his face fell, and he set his hands on his desk very seriously.

Fearing that the check wasn’t enough, I immediately started going through the calculations in my head, trying to figure out what might be wrong.

Sighing sadly, and wiping away a bit of what looked like tears, he cleared his throat and – with a slight crack in his voice – said, “I wouldn’t have asked you to come this far if there had been any other option. You see, I had been setting up the Sulani office for my son.”

Confused, I looked at him, unsure of what he was saying.

“I had every intention of having .. Magnus .. take over the Sulani part of the business. Now, I suppose I must find someone else…” he said, after a couple of pauses, only confusing me further.

“I don’t understand. I know Magnus wanted to work in construction for a while first… but I thought he really wanted to follow in your footsteps?” I finally asked, then I realized he was fighting tears again. “Julius??”

Taking a deep breath, he wiped away a tear, and, again, glanced at the woman behind the front desk. Nodding towards her, he finally said, “My wife, Leinani, is in the office helping out today. Magnus’ brother, Austen, is home from school, upstairs… it’s been a rough week for us. You see, last weekend, Magnus went with some friends to Mt. Komorebi for a mountain climbing expedition. He didn’t come home.”

I gasped, and looked at him, even more confused. “But he really seemed to know what he wants in life. Did he extend his vacation?”

“No. No, he didn’t. Or, well, I guess you could say he took a permanent one. He died, Charlie.”

I stared at him, struck completely dumb. It took many moments for me to find my voice. “I’m… I’m so sorry.”

“Me too.” he replied soberly, then seemed to shake himself free of what I assumed was the heavy weight of his oldest son’s passing, and glanced at the check again. I could see him visibly switch to a business persona, and say, “I should be able to get crews on your house by tomorrow morning, and I’ll put a rush on them. I’m sure you’re worried about the Winter Monsoon rains coming. We’ll get you into a house as soon as we can, okay?”

“Well, yes, but.. if you need time, I’m sure Greta and I can find…”

He held up a hand, and typed something into his phone, then looked up after it chimed, “Enough about business.”

Once again, nodding to the woman, he continued, “Leinani insists you come up for lunch. We’ll get your house done, I promise. But for now – how about you join us. Perhaps your presence will convince Austen to actually eat something.”

“Let me let Greta know I’ll be a little later than she expected.” I replied, and quickly texted my wife, letting her know I would explain when I got home. Somehow, saying that one of my best high school friends had passed away the previous weekend seemed like something I shouldn’t say over a text.

After Greta replied, I stood up to follow Julius upstairs, noticing that his wife had already vacated the front desk.

Walking into their penthouse was certainly an experience. There were gorgeous photos of Sulani on the wall, as well as a massive modern sculpture. I wondered how Magnus had ended up in the Sulani high school when he’d had .. this.. to grow up in… but was, obviously, reluctant to ask. I didn’t want to bring Magnus up and bring the pain back into Julius’ eyes.

We sat in the living room for a while, as Leinani wandered around the kitchen seemingly aimlessly, calling to me that the caterer was due any moment. I called back that I wasn’t in any hurry, and turned back to Julius.

“I am really sorry to hear about Magnus, Mr. Ngata. He was one of my closest friends.” I began, and he nodded.

“He spoke very highly of you, Charlie. I’m glad he had friends like you.”

In the kitchen, the caterer had obviously arrived, and was humming to herself blithely while cooking up something that smelled absolutely divine.

I could hear Leinani chattering with the caterer, and I glanced back at the silent Julius. I simply couldn’t think of anything else to say. What, exactly, COULD one say in such a situation. “I’m sorry.” was already said, and was so woefully an understatement that I could not come up with any more words.

After a long moment, Leinani called everyone to the meal, and Julius quickly stood up, and showed me to the dining room.

I tried not to gawk at the city view outside the windows in front of me – or the fact that they had a pool outside the other windows.. and sat down at the table, thanking Leinani for the invitation.

In a few moments, a young boy ran into the room and haphazardly pulled out the chair opposite me. He looked at me for a moment, as if confused at my presence, then he glanced at his mother, who cleared her throat. Looking sheepish, he blurted out, “Hello. Welcome to my house.”

With what I hoped was a reassuring smile, I replied, “Thank you, Austen. I am Charlie Naiades. I was Magnus’ friend.”

His eyes lit up when I said my name, “The MERMAID? You’re Charlie??!”

With a nervous giggle, I replied, “I take it you’ve heard of me?”

“Of COURSE I have!” he replied, “You’re FAMOUS!” He then clapped his hands together, and leaned across the table, whispering conspiratorially, “What’s it like… being a mermaid?”

Leinani immediately cleared her throat, and scolded, “Austen! Mind your manners, son!”

I chuckled, and quickly replied, “No, it’s okay, Mrs. Ngata. He’s perfectly welcome to ask. I’m not shy about it.” With a reassuring smile at Austen, I told him a bit about my family’s history, and a little about being a mermaid.

He quickly warmed to the topic, and began asking question after question, to each of which, I answered as well as I could.

Austen’s innocent enthusiasm for the topic was contagious, and soon the whole table was chuckling at some of my stories. For the moment, at least, the tragedy was forgotten. It was the least I could do. And sure enough, Austen finished an entire plate of food without hardly noticing he had done so.

The caterer helped clearing the dishes, and Leinani gave me a grateful smile after motioning at Austen’s plate, “He hasn’t eaten a full meal all week. Thank you for your company today!”

“No problem!” I replied with a smile, then leaned across the table, and commented with a smile, “Austen, if you’d like, once our house is finished, you could come visit Greta and I. See the islands for yourself. We could even show you our tails.”

“REALLY??” he exclaimed, then looked at his parents, “Could I?”

They looked at each other, then back at Austen, “Sure. I don’t see why not.”

With a happy squeal, Austen got up from the table, and raced back upstairs. I could hear him already talking to himself, “I have GOT to tell my friends!!”

Lifting my eyebrows with amusement, I watched him disappear up the stairs. “Nice kid.” I commented, “And I’m sure he’ll be no trouble. Soon as we have an actual guestroom, he’s welcome to stay for a weekend.”

Leinani and Julius thanked me, yet again, and mentioned that I really ought to head out – the last bus to Sulani was to leave soon. I, impulsively, gave Leinani a hug, then one for Julius, as well. “Thank you for inviting me here. And for the lunch. It was very nice.”

After all the goodbyes, I headed back downstairs with a jaunty step.

Upon arriving home, Greta ran out to meet me… and I tried to figure out how to tell her the news.

It hit me, then, quite suddenly, the reality of the situation, and I buried my face in my hands. “I can’t believe he’s GONE.”

“Who?! Wait, Charlie, what’s wrong?! Who’s gone??” she blurted out.

“Magnus. He died last weekend. And I didn’t even KNOW.” I replied, my voice breaking a bit.

Greta immediately pulled me into her arms. “Oh, Watcher…, Charlie.. I’m so sorry.” she mumbled, and comforted me only how she could.

After a cry, I suddenly straightened up, and cheered up (because, let’s be honest.. I can’t be sad for long!) “The construction crew will be here tomorrow, by the way. We should have a real house in a few days!”

Great squealed in joy, and hugged me again. “Now we just have to paint enough to finish paying Dad back. Then, maybe, I can find a job at the flower shop in town?”

I quickly agreed, and we waded out into the water to find a cozy sleeping spot.

As the sun set, I glanced over at the restaurant, stunned to see it mostly finished. “They finished it already?” I blurted out, glancing at Greta.

“Mostly – I think most of the furniture gets delivered tomorrow. They were saying the grand opening will be this next weekend!” Greta replied, and yawned broadly. “By then, perhaps we’ll even have our own home!”

Giggling, I floated on my back for a long moment, then replied, “Perhaps. Although I will sort of miss sleeping under the stars like this.” I never heard another word from Greta… apparently she was already asleep.

(A/N: I apologize that this chapter has been so long in coming. This was not an easy one to write. And, yes, Magnus actually did die on Mt. Komorebi a couple days after Charlie last saw him!)

Chapter 4.6 | Rules for this challenge | Chapter 4.8