Ashbourne Evening

“Vivi!” Amelia screamed as she ran towards her cousin.

The cousins embraced as soon as they reached each other.

“Hey Ames,” Vivi told her cousin “Good to see you.” Vivi took a step back “Did you get shorter?” She teased the petite girl about her height.

“And you’ve gotten bitchier, I see,” Amelia teased back. “I can’t believe I’m moving here,” the sweet girl gushed. “I’m so excited to live in Resin Grove.” she added.

At that moment Camille stepped out and walked towards the group.

“Hey Mia,” Camille said as she hugged her cousin.

“Hey Cami,” Amelia said, hugging the girl back.

Amelia used to visit Resin Grove every year and Vivi always enjoyed spending time with her favourite cousin, so Amelia spending at least a year in Resin Grove was something that excited the heiress.

“Ms. Hathaway, you can go inside. Do you want to spend some time with your family or shall I take your bags to your room?” Winston, the butler, asked. He didn’t bother asking the girl if she needed to be shown to her room as she always slept in the same one when visiting.

“Oh, I’ll stay here, but I’d appreciate it if you'd take my bags please,” Amelia replied.

With that, the girls made their way inside, the cold already starting to get to them.

Once inside, the girls made their way to the living room and sat on the couch.

“So, anything new in town?” Amelia asked the two girls.

“Hmmm, let me think,” Vivi said. “Well, nothing comes to mind apart from the fact that I threw a party last weekend.” She then told her cousin.

“Really? What was the occasion?” Amelia asked her.

“Well, since the football and the basketball team both won that weekend I decided it would be nice to celebrate the occasion.” The oldest redhead said.

“Don’t listen to her, it was Alyssa’s idea” Cami said.

“It was not!” Vivi retorted. “She did like it and encouraged me to do it,” she then added.

“Anything fun happened at the party?” the out of towner asked. “Wait, don’t answer it. We know you didn’t do anything, Vivi” she then joked.

Vivi rolled her eyes at that, but then asked her cousin.
“What about you? Did anything happen over there?”

“Not over there, but I did recently visit Rosecliff Bay,” Amelia replied.

“Oh yeah, I saw your photos on the Pulse,” Vivi said, “I have to say, you looked gorgeous in that baby blue bikini.”

“It was awesome,” Amelia gushed. “You really have to go there sometime. The water is so clear and the cliffs… They’re just wow.” she added.

“Oh my god, I’m so jealous,” Camille said.

“Although, I haven’t heard the best things about our family branch there” she then said in an ominous tone.

“Yeah, they don’t have the best reputation.” Vivi added

“Alright, speaking of photos on the Pulse” Amelia said, “Camille, that last photo dump you did? Beautiful photos”

“Aw thank you” Camille said. “I also really liked them.”

“Now that I’ll be living here, you have to show me how to take photos like that,” Amelia said.

“It’s not that hard,” Camille responded.

“That’s because you have a talent, Cami,” Amelia said, “I don’t.” Then after seeing Camille make a disagreeing gesture she added, “no seriously, you have a talent. Your paintings and photographs are wonderful.”

Then, wanting to include Vivi in the conversation, Amelia decided to switch topics.

“How’s your car collection?” Amelia asked her older cousin.

“I don’t think I bought any new cars since you’ve left.” Vivi said, then after thinking a bit she added “but I did make progress on my project car.”

“The two seater convertible that had broken doors?” Amelia asked.

“Yeah, I already have an engine picked out and I painted it a dark green color.”

“Nice color. Did you go with the engine you wanted?” Amelia asked.

“No, the Calderas gave me a deal for one of their legacy engines.” Vivi proudly said.

“No way!” Amelia exclaimed. “That’s amazing! How on earth have you managed to do that?”

“Let’s just say I have some connections in New Aurelien.” Vivi said.
“Oh I forgot! You know Andrea Caldera.” Amelia realized.

“Exactly,” Vivi replied.

At that moment Vivi’s parents came downstairs to greet the new arrival.

“Hey Amelia,” Veronica said, perfectly composed, “how is Alexandra?”

“She’s doing well,” Amelia said. “My parents send their warm regards. To you both, of course.”

“That’s great to hear,” Veronica said. “We’ll make sure to call them soon. Isn’t that right, Marcus?” she added, glancing at her husband.

“Of course,” he responded.

“We’ll see you girls later” Veronica said and they both left.

As Vivi’s parents were leaving, a new voice sounded from the side.

“Hey girls” Julian said as he entered the living room.

Then, after hugging his cousin, he crossed the room and sat down on an empty arm-chair and spaced out.

He heard chatter around him from the girls, but he didn’t register anything that was being said. Instead, he was deep in thought. He finished reading a few pages of Being and Nothingness and was reflecting on the implications of its author Sartre's words. He spaced out as he usually did when contemplating philosophical takes, his mind basically a debate where he evaluates the meaning and veracity of the statement.

“Julian? Julian?” He heard a distant voice.

“Julian!” Finally he was brought back down to earth, the voice being his cousin’s, Amelia’s.

“Jules, are you ok?” she asked.

“Yeah, I just spaced out a bit.” He answered honestly.

“I would have been worried if I didn’t know that to be common for you.” Amelia said.

“I was just thinking about something I just read,” he replied.

“Then sorry for interrupting.” Amelia said.

“Don’t worry,” Julian said. “It’s good to take a break from thinking so much, every once in a while” he added while gently smiling at his cousin.

“So tell me, Jules, do you still want to take over the company after your father retires?” Amelia asked him.

“Yes, after graduating from university, I’m going to join the company to learn how it works and then, when I’m ready, I’ll take over as CEO” Julian said.

“So you’ll be studying business administration?” Amelia asked.

“Yeah, I’ll probably go for a master’s too.” Julian shared.

“No philosophy on the side?” Amelia asked him.

“Where’s the use case in that?” Julian scoffed, “Look at Karl Marx, Baruch Spinoza or Walter Benjamin, philosophy doesn’t pay the bills.”

“That’s not the point,” Amelia said. “It helps you think. Strategy, ethics, actual leadership stuff.”

Julian tilted his head. “Touché. But I can get that from books without wasting a minor.”

“But wouldn’t getting a degree in it make you more knowledgeable?" Amelia asked.

“Not really. Universities tend to focus more on what philosophers have already said than on actually thinking about it.” He paused. “And once you turn philosophy into an academic subject, it stops being about thinking and starts being about passing exams.”

“Wow,” Amelia said surprised, “you have thought about this a lot, haven’t you?”

“What can I say? A person who enjoys philosophizing and has too much free time is bound to think about these things eventually.” Julian responded.

At that moment Lucia, a striking 18 year old latina, one of the Ashbourne's maids came down. Although technically just recently being hired, she was very close to the teens, having spent a lot of time with them during their upbringing. Her mother, Mariela, was the Ashbourne's housekeeper, having worked for them for more than twenty years and so Lucia spent a lot of time growing up on the estate’s grounds.

“Miss Amelia,” she addressed the new arrival, “your room is ready.”

“Thanks Lucy,” Amelia warmly replied. “could you help me get settled in?”

“Of course” Lucia quickly replied, “how may I help?”

“Come with me to my room and I’ll tell you what to do,” Amelia said, standing up.

Both girls made their way up the stairs and into the redhead’s new room. The room wasn’t in the guest’s wing, even though it was usually used by Amelia, a guest. That’s because Amelia liked to spend time with Camille and Vivi and so her bedroom was closer to the girls’ bedrooms. Inside, it was what you could expect from a family like the Ashbourne’s, a king sized bed on one side of the room, with a soft rug covering the floor. A desk in the corner and a mirror in the opposite one completed the furniture of the room. Out the window you could see the river that flowed behind the estate’s grounds.

The bedroom was also decorated with plants and artworks, some chosen by Amelia. On the wall opposite of the bed, there were two doors, one led to the en-suite bathroom and the other to the closet, which had some of Amelia’s clothes that she left there for when she was visiting.

“Could you be so kind as to help me put my clothes in the closet?” Amelia kindly asked the gorgeous maid.

“Of course. Should I organize everything alongside similar items?” Lucia asked.

“Yes please,” Amelia responded, “I will organize the non-clothing items for now.”

And so the two girls got to work, unpacking the redhead’s stuff and organizing everything. When everything was in its new place, Amelia looked around the room and it hit her.

This would be her new home.