“Mum! Dad!” Hoya ran barefoot across the carpeted followers until she reached the master bedroom at the end of the corridor. “Mum? Dad?” She knocked on the door, but no answer came.

“Aren’t they here?” She looked at her wristwatch. Half past ten. If they weren’t answering, they should have gone to work by now. She had missed them. “Damn,” Hoya  bit her lower lip. Depending on their schedules, she knew it would be near impossible to get a hold of them at the moment. At best, she could leave a message and hope they replied during their breaks.

“If they take their breaks,” Hoya reminded herself. Speaking of, “Doe-”

“I’ve already contacted their assistants about their lunch appointments.” Doe displayed the messages on his screen and Hoya nodded.

“What about the engineers?”

“They snack throughout the day,” Doe pointed out, his tone sounding a little confused. “Do you want to order lunch for them as well?” By this time they should  be on their post breakfast snack. A chocolate bar, some crisps, maybe a cup of coffee being fed to them by mechanical hands as they drew, measured, corrected, scaled, tinkered and pulled apart whatever piece of engineering they were improving this time.

“I meant the party, but bringing lunch works too,” Hoya thought as she rubbed her palms together. A food offering would butter them up well.

                                                                               ***

Shielding herself from the glaring sun’s rays with a pair of dark glasses and a straw summer hat, Hoya strode through the doors of  the main branch of Gold Industries, the hub of quality  technological advancement, if she did say so herself.

Before the second reinforced bulletproof, laser proof, cannon proof, and whatever assault weapon they could think of proof glass doors opened for her, a tall young man, perfectly sited in grey, walked out to meet her with a nervous look on his face.

“Miss Gold!” He greeted, his hands landing on the straw lunch basket in her hand. Yes, it went better with her hat than any other lunchbag they had lying around at home. “You’re here to see the president?”

Security must have rang those that needed to know the moment her hover car pulled into the premises. Judging from the way he was fidgeting with his tie and adjusting his blazer, he must have been the ‘who should know’, and a new one at that.

Clearly, he wasn’t familiar with the way things worked at Gold Industries.

Deciding to spare him from a joke that could make him keel over on what should be his first day on the job, Hoya went with a simple, “no. I’m here to see Mr Gold from the mecha division, and the younger Mister Gold from the forearms department.”

“The two Mr Golds?” He blinked, “not the president?”

“No,” Hoya smiled as she took off her glasses and hat. Inside the air between the two glass doors was blessedly cool, and the strength of the rays from the sun, being absorbed by the first panel for energy, were diminished.  “Ah, if you could get them to meet me in the break room…”

“O,of course…of course!”

“...”

“...”

“If you could do that now,” Hoya smiled as her hands gestured towards the door, ushering him to move.

“Right away!” Suddenly being reminded that he was awkwardly standing in her way, the secretary turned his heels bolted through the reception area on long, determined legs, leaving Hoya where she stood, half amused and half confused.

Whilst Hoya contemplated whether to laugh or not, Doe let out a heavy sigh as he watched the singular figure become smaller and smaller until he finally disappeared. “Tut, tut, tut.” He sounded disapprovingly before taking over the hosting duties that had been left undone. “Shall I take you to the lounge?”

“Do you think he’d freak out if I wasn’t there?” Hoya’s eyes squinted at the spot in the distance where the newbie had disappeared. Thinking back to his floundering, she couldn't bring up any reason for why he wouldn’t.

It was so tempting, but she knew she shouldn’t.

Following her sense of mercy, Hoya obediently walked behind Doe who unlocked the doors and subsequent barrier with the entry clearance cars she had so obediently handed him. Only after he had led her to a comfortable visitors lounge did he return the lanyard to her. “Would you like a cup of coffee whilst you wait?”

Looking at the Silver card in her hand, Hoya was silent for a minute before deciding. “Tea, please. Fruit tea. Berries…any kind, but make it sweet.” She was in the mood for something tangy and light. Mnnn, if she could have a slice of cake that wouldn’t be bad either.

Doe, “...”

Not waiting for Hoya to make any amendments, Doe zipped off to the approaching waiter with the speed of a bot who had learned his lesson the hard way.

“You change your mind one time,” Hoya laughed. Picking up her nearly glass thin  phone, she opened her chats and sent a quick text text to the group ‘Flower Children’ :

You: [I’m here with food.]

Not even a second later, her phone pinged twice:

Florian: [Where?]

Sorrel: [Where?]

You:  [Coffee Lounge]

This time there was no response. Assuming they were on their way up anyways, Hoya sat back in her chair and took the opportunity to look through her mounting emails- permission permission, minor crises, party details, uncooperative bridesmaids…the list went on.

Between brief pauses, elegant finger with neat oval nails beautifully painted with pink plush and burnt orange sunset hues tapped at the screen, responding to urgent matters and setting reminders for the things that could wait.

Among them were a string of party invitations, launches, get togethers and brunches in anything from boats to botanical gardens. With her free hand, Hoya fished through her handbag and picked out a small diary. Her eyes made quick work of matching dates and the pen in her hand scribbled and adjusted what could be pushed around.

By the time Hoya was finished, her tea was the perfect temperature. Closing her eyes as the sweet, tangy sharpness of the berry brew danced over her taste buds, Hoya took a deep breath and relaxed further into the leather brown couch.

Her cup clinked back onto the saucer at the same time that two low puffs reached her ears. Then, muffled voices and the sow creaking of the straw baskets lid being lifted open.

However, before the two newcomers could go any further with their treasure hunt, Hoya’s quick hand closed the lid shut. “Not so fast,” She opened her eyes slightly so that when she looked at them, expression was already a suspicious squint.

The two identical faces, the first like her father’s, full of sharp features and prominent brows, and the other like her mother, soft and approachable, looked at her unblinkingly.

Her own face, which was said to be a blend of both her parents', remained unchanged, even as their eyes moved from the box beneath her hand and her face, a pleading expression filling their eyes.

The first to cave was Florian, coincidentally, the oldest who looked like the least likely to give in. “Hoya, you look really nice today.”

“Splendid,” the other, Sorrel, added with a nod in praise.

Just who was supposed to be buttering who up here?

Florian raised his brow at him: Are you, are you trying to one up me?

Sorrel’s rounded arches shot up t the challenge: What if I am?

Florian: Really?

Sorrel, smirking, couldn’t resist: Really.

Very well then. Florian turned to  Hoya who had been watching their silent back and forth just as silently. The corners of her lips did their best to stay down. This was too easy. Really, too too easy.

“Hoya,” Florian readied himself to take the lead for the prize in the basket. “Did you do something new to your hair? It looks nice.”

He was correct.

First was twists, then the twist out, and then the braids so she could keep her mind and hands off of her hair.

The only thing was that there was no way the mecha obsessed mechanic would have noticed the change, especially not when they hadn’t seen each other in person for a while and every time they spoke, her hair was pulled back.

In fact, the eyes that Hoya soundly ignored conveyed his nervousness quite well.

As if on cue, his opponent took his chance, “rubbish! How would you know? She hasn’t done anything at all!”

“Ho ho?” Hoya picked up her cup again. This time, she gestured with her eyes for Doe to pick up the packed lunch.

“Ah? Ah! No! No!” Sorrel sensed the error and began to panic. “You did something, you did…” He turned to Florian for help.

“Don’t look at me, you dug your own grave here!” Florian hissed as quietly as possible.

“No, no, no- “

“What ‘no’?”

“Gentlemen, gentlemen,” Hoya stepped in, waving her hands to disperse their back and forth. “Brothers, boys,” she sighed, “there’s a much simpler way to handle this.”

Florian,“huh?”

Sorrel, “there is?”

“There is,” Hoya nodded with a small smile. “Since you’ve opened the basket, you should know what's in it, right?” At her prompt, Doe seamlessly opened the lid again, giving the brothers a peek as the carefully wrapped, carefully plated platters of food from a rainbow of starters to well seasoned mains and the most mouthwatering looking desserts.

Oh, how those who had had only coffee, cold sandwiches and chocolate bars all week would brawl to the finish for it!

Ah! Speaking off! The two brothers looked at each other again and Hoya could almost see the dangerous bolts of lightning shooting out of their eyes and causing the most unfriendly sparks to fly.

Not waiting for them to blast the other’s head of in their little brawls that were always nothing more than whimsical fiction, Hoya had Doe slide the basket in front of her brothers. “It's yours, really. I had no intention of letting you fight  for it.”

Two pairs of obsidian eyes looked at her cautiously.

Like there was no accusatory meaning behind their stares, Hoya smiled innocently. “I came to bring you food…for a small favour. Only a little one…” To demonstrate how minuscule her request was, Hoya pinched her left thumb and index finger together until the space between them was barely a millimetre high.

It really was only a small favour. A tiny thing they wouldn’t even need for lunch from their favourite lunchtime  eatery, that was two hours away and only accepted pre-orders. Oh, and it's that same restaurant that closed…just about…now.

Hoya stealthily pulled the basket towards herself.

The four eyes opposite her looked at the time, then at her face, before quietly landing on the basket as a tacit understanding formed.

“What’s the catch?” Florian, once again, was the first to concede.

“A party,” Hoya answered and finished her cup of tea.For a moment, her eyes wandered over to the pastry case at the front of the cafe, but in the end, she resisted the temptation. She was on a tight schedule and…why couldn’t she get one to go? Thoughts for later, thoughts for later. She lowered her voice so that only the three of them could hear, “something both of you might have heard of or been invited to recently. Lots of investors, lots of funds, high profile enough that its on a need to know basis.”

“Hoya,” Sorrel whispered and exchanged a look with Florian that was different from the earlier playfulness and the willingness to indulge her as a younger sister. Clearly, from her hinting, it was something serious, and if she, Hoya Gold, had no information on a gathering, then…

“I’m not on the need to know list.” Hoya could understand that much.Phrases like ‘private investors’’ and ‘military interest’ always had that danger and secrecy to them, and for what it was worth, from their perspective it might have been safer to keep her out of it.  Still, she couldn't help but think ‘way to hurt a socialite.’

Dead-ended, Hoya could only relinquish the goods and console herself with a little something from the cake shelf before heading out.

“You’re leaving? Just like that?” Florian’s thick brown bent a little uncomfortably. “You don’t have to give this to us…” From the look on his face, it was clear that he felt a little bad. Perhaps it was now in his makeup as the oldest brother. It was just troublesome that this instinct cropped up only when he was actually helpless.

“Its fine,” Hoya stood up from the seat she had occupied and Doe silently fetched her bag from the side. “I said it's yours, anyway.”

“Well, thanks,” Sorrel muttered with his lips pressed into a displeased, thin line.

Ah, these boys, Hoya shook her head.

Hmn, honestly, she would have let them be, but if they really wanted to help…Right, it hit Hoya just as a group of engineers walked by, their voices slightly loud and filled with boisterous banter that clearly came from the cups of whatever bitter bean brew they were having.

“If you end up going to this thing that’s not happening,” Hoya walked closer to them and bent slightly, “I’d like you to keep an eye on a certain very young, very talented Major General.”

Sorrel looked at her inquisitorially, “the young Major General? You know him?”

“Mnnn,” the noise Hoya made was vague at best,  neither denying or admitting anything. “I’m just a little interested.”