From Sirio's diary
Months have passed, and it's finally time for Winterfest again. This is one of my favourite holidays, and it is for the rest of the family too, and we totally got distracted by the decorations in no time.
Maki, Helios and I got busy decorating the tree early in the morning, while Alba woke up even before us to prepare lunch. She really cares about making the best roast turkey in this house's memory, and the more time passes, the more I would say she really enjoys cooking.
She joined us hours later, already dressed up for the occasion.
Alba: Happy Winterfest, dad!
Sirio: The smell coming from the oven is just delicious, you did a great job with that turkey!
Alba: Thanks, dad!
Sirio: Also, just out of curiosity... Why aren't you wearing the red dress, the one you like so much?
Alba: Uh, no, this time I asked aunts Halley and Sophia for a hand to find something a little more... modern, so to speak.
She was very insecure, almost awkward, as she tried to justify her change of dress. What was going on?
Sirio: (perplexed) Okay, it may be more modern, but are you really sure you like that dress?
Alba: (unconvinced) … Of course I do, why shouldn't it?.
I admit I'm a little confused by Alba right now, I should probably talk to Maki about it… But I think I'll have to wait until tonight to do that, the guests are arriving.
Sirio: C'mon, the food is ready!
Olivier: For sure you invited a lot of people also this time!
Sirio: It may be a bit crowded sometimes, you're right, but in the end it's more fun for everyone this way, isn't it?
Olivier: (unconvinced) ... Of course, Mr Miller.
Maki: You've been looking at the decorations for a while, what do you make of them?
Olivier: Well... For sure it's not something it may be seen often in a house. There really are a lot of different colours in here, it's really... remarkable.
It is quite clear to me that, despite his attempts to appear kind and polite, Olivier doesn't really like our house.
Olivier: You're really beautiful today, you know?
Alba: Thanks! And happy Winterfest!
Olivier: Happy Winterfest to you too!
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During the celebrations, both Maki and I had the opportunity to talk to this guy, Olivier, for a while, and we could also see the way he interacted with Alba. He definitively gave us a different vibe than what we made out of Alba's descriptions, Maki and I talked about it a lot and we had exactly the same impression. And we also agreed that it was a good idea to discuss about it with our daughter too...
Alba: (yawning) Good morning! What's with those faces, do you have something to say?
Maki: We wanted to talk to you a little about this Olivier, there are a couple of things that leave us a little... perplexed.
Alba: Oh. Why? What's happened?
Maki: Well, for example, why did you suddenly decide to dress like that? Isn't it because that's what he likes, right?
Alba: What? I don't understand, they seem quite normal clothes to me, many girls dress like this every day... Don't these clothes look nice?
Maki: Alba... You've never liked wearing makeup except for parties, and the same applies to skirts. It just seems like a quite drastic change for you, you know?
Sirio: I see it too, since you started dressing like that you are also much more tense, I see a lot of orange around you that wasn't there before...
Alba : …
Sirio: ... and you also seem much more insecure than before, I almost read it like you were afraid of disappointing someone.
Alba: What would you like to do with this interrogation, exactly? Put doubts in my head?
Maki: Of course not! We just wanted to remind you that it's not fair for you to strive to change just to please someone else. It's important to be able to be yourself, don't you agree?
Alba: …
I didn't perceive anything from Alba which made me think she may have gotten mad with us, she seemed to have understood that we were sincerely worried for her. But I'm not sure she really understood what we meant, because she left simply saying:
Alba: Well, you don't need to worry so much about me, really! I'm happy, really!
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From Alba's diary
I really don't understand why my parents decided to tell me those things, what's the point? Just to push away the bad thoughts from my head, I went into the garden to pull some weeds. Being outdoors usually helps me reason about things.
To be fair, doing anything outdoors is very uncomfortable when wearing this skirt, this is probably one reason why I rarely wore any in the past... Probably such skirts aren't really meant for this.
But this won't be an issue, I wasn't planning on gardening all day anyway, I have big plans for tonight! Lily invited me to Sim City karaoke night, how could I say no?
Lily: I'm quite sure you don't even remember Sim City anymore, you were so little when we moved out! Everything may seem so sparkling to you in here, isn't it?
Alba: Yes, it's a very cool city!
Sometimes it's a real advantage to be born in Sim City, even if I don't even remember the years I spent in here. Thanks to this small detail, in fact, I have a Sim City passport by default and can travel around the world much more easily than the majority of the inhabitants of New Sixam. The people here seem slightly annoyed when they see that I'm blue, but Lily staring at them with truce eyes is usually enough to make them turn away.
Alba: And this karaoke looks beautiful! Come to think of it, it's been a while since the last time I went to karaoke, you know?
Lily: What, seriously? But why, you love karaoke!
Alba: Well, usually Olivier suggests doing other things, and he's also quite busy studying, so we just don't have time for that.
Mirko: Why don't you propose it to him, then? It's not up to him to decide everything you do, isn't it?
Alba: Well, maybe next time I could try...
Mirko: But...
Lily: Mirko, please, could you go get something to drink for everyone?
Saying this, Lily had given Mirko a look that seemed to say: "I need to talk to my sister for a moment, can you leave us alone for a bit?". Or at least that's how he seemed to interpret it, because he responded with a sympathetic look and walked away without comment.
Lily: C'mon Alba, try to show off what you're capable of! You may like Olivier, but you can't let anyone push you to abandon what you like or change your plans, can you?
Alba: …
Lily: You've always been a bit like this, now that I think about it, you've never been able to say no to people. Well, no one actually likes being told no, but you should also try to remember that your opinion matters just like everyone else's, you know?
Alba: But I…
Lily: The worst thing that may happen is that he decides to dump you, but you know what? If he can't appreciate you for who you really are, it's probably for the best, for everyone!
Alba: …
I didn't manage to answer back, I felt like my head was full of thoughts and I didn't know what to say.
First mom and dad and then Lily, why did everyone want to put a thousand doubts about Olivier in my head?
More to get myself out of that silence full of questions than anything else, I had decided to rush to the karaoke machine the moment the person who was singing walked away.
I really have to admit that I missed singing at the karaoke a lot, I didn't realize how much until I picked up the microphone again and started the first music track!
But now I couldn't help thinking... What else may I be missing?
I wonder what Olivier actually likes. I hope he likes Alba even though he doesn’t like her favorite dress or her house much. This is an interesting mystery.
ReplyDeleteAlba’s parents and Lily have a point. She’s changing a lot for Olivier and if the changes are making her tense or uncomfortable, she should reconsider them. I’m glad to see her pick up a microphone again.