SABRINA & MEMINI: THE UPTOWN DISTRICT {FINISHED}

[Wolfy]

During the middle of Memini’s geography lessons, Mr. Matthews glanced down at his grandfather’s pocket watch. There was still twenty minutes to go. As arduous of a task as tutoring the boy was, he usually enjoyed the feeling that he was helping his student, but lately it seemed that it was becoming less and less fulfilling. Rolling up the sizeable map of the world, he looked to Memini and forced a smile. “Why don’t you go find Sabrina for your piano lesson?” he suggested. “I think we could both use a break.”

Once he was alone in the room, he bent down his head and rubbed his closed eyes. He wasn’t tired, and he wasn’t sick, but he just felt unhappy. But what could he have to be unhappy about? He had his family all together living in a huge house with friends, even though he was basically unemployed. Realization hit with the last thought, and he picked up his head again. That was it – living with the remainder of the Veritas family had been wonderful, but he still felt that it was time to get out on his own once again.

He got up from his seat and set off to him and his wife’s suite. Without telling her or Sabrina, he began packing all of the things that were his, and not borrowed from Memini. Then he moved on to his wife’s things, and then moved on to Sabrina’s separate room. When he was done, he set off to find where Memini had run off to. Luckily, he was easy to find if he just followed the sound of the piano. He arrived to find Sabrina playing a little ditty that she’d been playing since she was a little girl.

Allowing her to finish, he finally cleared his throat to announce his presence. Sabrina turned and smiled at her father, having no idea what he was there about. “Memini,” he asked. “May I speak to you for a moment?” With a shrug, Sabrina nodded and left so the two could talk in private. Once she was out of earshot, he began to ask his request.

“I know that you went to the Lillington Bank auction of my estate,” he started. “I heard that you secured the deed to the property. Well, I was wondering if I could have it back. I am extremely grateful to you for your hospitality, but I think we all want some space. And I’m sure that you want your estate back to yourself. Sabrina and I can even continue to come back to continue your studies if you would like.”

[Rad]

It had all been a typical day for Memini; everything from waking up, to brushing his teeth, to reading the daily news, then to his lessons (which were tedious but essential) had been perfectly ordinary. In fact, the entire day had been progressing along its usual predictable track UNTIL this very conversation. What was Mr. Matthews thinking? Wasn’t he happy here, where he had employment, servants and all the pretenses of wealth? The fact that his tutor and idol wished to depart from the Veritas estate now when the economy was still in such shambles was something that both daunted the young heir and caused him unparalleled offense. Seriously speaking, he had, in his honest opinion, never heard such an absurd request in his life.

Opening his mouth, the lad was just on the verge of voicing his objections when the familiar voice of Adrasteia interrupted them. Approaching them with the parchment in hand, it was almost as if the butler had foreseen this turn of events. Why? Well simply because the deed to the Matthews’ former estate was not an article to be carried about all willy-nilly and had never once actually been removed from the ‘legalities’ cabinet after it had first been placed there. Why his butler had seemingly ‘coincidentally’ felt inspired to withdraw the document from its place right now of all times was something that completely eluded the young boy.

However, in reality the matter was quite simple. Upon inadvertently perceiving Mr. Matthews going about his packing, Adrasteia had felt obliged to fetch the deed which he presumed would inevitably be called upon. He was really most efficient, not to mention proficient, at his job, after all, his master was the unpredictable, unconventional and unruly Memini. “Good afternoon, sir. Here is the deed my young master instructed me to deliver to you when the time came for you to get back on your feet. He has appreciated your assistance with his studies these past few weeks and looks forward to continuing the lessons with you and your daughter if your schedule would allow. Isn’t that right, Memini?”

Of course, such mature words were definitely neither Memini’s intention nor idea. They were an improvised fabrication created by Adrasteia to prevent his young master from talking without thinking. If he had permitted words to flow from the Veritas’ heir’s open mouth the result would surely have been disastrous. Furthermore, Memini would definitely have regretted it later and started sulking again, something he often did after that devastating ‘party’ overseen by Kratos on the Exousian estate.

For the interim, Memini gaped at his butler, opening and closing his mouth as he blinked in indignation. However, what could he do except mutter a begrudging, “Yes, you took the words right out of my mouth.” His perception of Adrasteia had changed since that same event. He knew neither how to tease him nor how to argue with him anymore. Adrasteia’s disposition had, for a while, teetered on the brink of insanity since returning from the Exousian estate and it was nothing short of a miracle that he had made what appeared on the surface to be a full recovery. Still, Memini was exceedingly careful around him these days, so careful to the extent that he had given up and disposed of all his cherry-themed possessions, even those that were his favorites.

As the situation currently was, it was like a crevice had opened up between them to which there was no bridge to cross. It was almost as if Adrasteia wasn’t the same person anymore, even though neither his appearance nor personality had changed. No…it was more like his butler was just…distant now…and…and…detached from everything. To Memini it was like Adrasteia was residing only in a world of his own and looking out at everything and everyone else through a looking-glass. Memini shuddered. He knew how lonely he would feel when Sabrina left. Yet…he couldn’t stop Mr. Matthews from leaving without debating with Adrasteia and that wasn’t something he could do right now. Thus, in the end, all he could add was a “And yes, I would like the continuation of my lessons with you and Sabrina.”

Turning away, he walked out of the room, gradually shutting the door behind him.

[Wolfy]

Mr. Matthews looked over to see Adrasteia with the deed to his estate. Shaking the man’s hand, he took the thick piece of paper with his other. “Truly, Mr. Veritas,” he said, turning to Memini. “I am very grateful to you and everything you’ve done for me and my family.” When his young student turned to leave, he sighed and figured that he probably seemed ungrateful. That would just have to be, though, because he just had to get back out on his own. He was too proud to just continue on living off of someone else’s fortune. Eventually Memini would have to come to see that, too.

Meanwhile, Sabrina had gone back to her suite to find that it was completely empty. Confused, she walked out to find her father in hopes for getting an explanation. As she neared, she saw all of the suitcases that he’d had and guessed what was going on. “Dad,” she said, walking up to join him. “We’re leaving.” Nodding solemnly, the man said nothing. He just bent down to pick up the bags to take them back to their rightful place. “I don’t want to go.”

Mr. Matthews wasn’t surprised. Why would she want to leave? Here she had almost everything—a comfortable room, that beloved horse of Memini’s, and her best friend. “We’ve been here too long, Sabrina,” he said. “We are more than ready to get out of our own. You know how wrong being a leech off another person’s wealth is.” Sabrina did agree with that. “And don’t worry; we’re going to continue coming back here to give Memini his lessons, so you will continue to come back here.”

So Sabrina picked up her own suitcase and helped him move it to the car. She tried to find Memini, but didn’t have enough time to actually locate him. So she, her father, and her step-mother got into the limo for their last request from Memini. It was bittersweet, in a way. She would miss living in Memini’s mansion, not that she didn’t like her own home. Plus it wasn’t far between the two estates, not like when she lived in the slums and she had to walk from one end of town all the way through the city. It was only a ten minute drive, and as they got closer she got more and more excited to go home.

When they arrived, the first thing Sabrina did was walk around the entire mansion so she could see everything once again. When she finally made it back to the hallway with all of the rooms, she saw that her suitcase had been placed, not in front of her own room, but a slightly smaller room down the hallway. Her old room’s door was open, and she could hear Mrs. Matthew’s voice coming from inside. “This will be perfect for a nursery,” she said. “It’s a big room, has a window, and it’s right across the hall from us.”

A nursery? she thought. Why do we need a nursery? She poked her head in the door to see her and her father standing and looking at the empty room. “The baby will love it here!” the woman concluded.

“Baby?” asked Sabrina, stepping inside to her former room. “What do you mean: baby?” They both turned to face her with completely different expressions. Her father looked nearly embarrassed that she’d heard conversation, while her step-mom looked almost proud. “This is my room, though!”

“Yup, there’s going to be a little baby running around here,” she replied. “I’m sure you understand.” Folding her arms, the woman turned to further examine the future nursery. Angry, Sabrina left them without saying another word. She wasn’t happy about it, but as long as nothing else changed, she could live with it. She just hoped that her personality wouldn’t change like some women’s did when they were expecting.

[Rad]

Memini watched Sabrina’s departure from the distant windows of the upper floor, an apparent lack of expression displayed on his face as he gazed through the wide French windows. Even after some time had passed, and the vehicle had long since vanished into the distance, the boy still continued to stare, almost unblinkingly, multifarious contemplations playing out in his mind. Should he have stopped her?

Should he…dare to…run after her so soon? Surely doing such a thing would make him appear…’unsightly’…but… Then, at last, an epiphany broke his reverie and the boy charged through the corridors, sliding down banisters and swinging open doors until he finally arrived at the stables all in a huff. Panting from the exhausting sprint through the mansion, the lad practically staggered up to the ebony stallion which whinnied at him in greeting.

Giving the creature a fond pat on the muzzle, Memini made his way over to Dally, the mare that Sabrina was so doting towards. That’s right. Here was his excuse for a visit. If anyone spotted him he’ll simply explain that he was delivering the Lady Sabrina’s horse to her. “Come on Dally. I’ll take you to your rider.” Obedient for once, almost as if understanding the young master’s words, the mare followed Memini as he mounted Nameless and led the way out of the stables.

Although they meandered for quite a while on their journey through the uptown district, and on occasions Memini was even rather sure they were lost, the trio did eventually make it to the Matthews’ estate. There was no one to greet him at the gate (thankfully). No servants anywhere (he easily snuck in to the premises). After all, the family probably didn’t yet have the funding required to pay for workers and such. Furthermore, even if they did…well the selection process for potential employees would take time. ‘There’s no need for me to disturb them. I’m just here to give her the horse as a house warming gift.’ Memini thought to himself, slinking around the side towards the neglected looking stables. From an outward glance it sure looked like the place hadn’t been put to use since Mr. Matthews’ company first collapsed.

It was a sad sight but now that the Matthews were back things were definitely about to improve for this place, wasn’t it? They would probably be able to fix all the damage done to the property soon. Speaking of which, since he was the instigator of that scene at the Lillington Bank auction which ruined the place (albeit for good causes) it would probably be wise for him to get out of here before his conscious got a hold of him and he ended up paying for everything.

However, try as he might to be stealthy and invisible, Dally had other plans and chose this moment to be rebellious. Whinnying loudly, the mare galloped ahead, intent on making herself noticed. Not wanting to be seen here (since he personally thought it would still seem weird and desperate for him to visit so soon), Memini gave his steed a gentle nudge and instructed, “Come on Nameless. Let’s go before Sabrina sees us. She’ll sight Dally soon enough.”

[Wolfy]

Sabrina, who had just finished moving all of her stuff into the small second bedroom that she had been forced in to, was in the foyer, cleaning up the remainder of the mess left by the food fight at the auction. She was just about to finish when she heard a loud whinny from outside. Curious, she looked out the window toward the stable. She saw a black horse with what looked like a young boy on its back. “Huh?” she asked, then saw the source of all the racket.

The familiar form of Dally was running around the estate grounds, as if looking for her outside. With a beaming smile, she sprinted out to see her beloved horse. Dally saw her and also ran to her, nudging her with her big head. “How did you get here?” she asked, then remembered the horse she’d seen before. “Memini…” He must have wanted to give her a parting gift or something. She hoped that he knew she would be coming back.

“We should get you inside, huh?” she said to the horse and slowly walked her over to the neglected stable. Sighing, she looked around the building. “This is going to need a lot of work,” she said softly. She tied Dally in the center hallway so she could clean out a stall for her. After she finished that and put the mare in her new home, she began cleaning out the rest of the building.

She spent a good couple of hours in there, cleaning it to make it look presentable enough. Just as she was about to finish cleaning up the grooming area, she heard the front door swing open. “Sabrina!” It was the voice of her step-mother. “You’re not done with the foyer! Didn’t I tell you to do that?” She walked in further and got a cheerful greeting from the ebony mare in the first stall.

“Where did you get a horse?” she asked furiously. Then, thinking better of it, she just shook her head. “Nevermind, I don’t want to know, I’m sure. Just don’t let it get in the way of your work. Got it?” With that, she walked out. With a sigh, she quickly finished up what she was doing, then walked back to clean up the entryway like she’d been told.

She would stop by Memini’s later, though, to thank him for the gift. And also to make it clear that she would still come by for visits and lessons, no matter what.