THE DINING ROOM was dimly lit to nai nai's approval, with some newly lit candlelight on the tables, flames dancing in the air like ballerinas in scarlet. Livia watched for a moment, transfixed, before the callings of her mother from the kitchen called her away.
As Pamela's cooking could only be described as abominable, Livia had been recruited as the fourth member of the kitchen staff. Auntie Xu was checking her red braised pork, slow cooking on the stove. Her mother, upon seeing her grow in, threw some Chinese leaf in front of her.
"Cut it the way I taught you, and wash it too," she commanded. "Auntie Xu needs half of it in her pork and I need half of it as well."
Livia saw no point in protests, and she quickly went to help with that. It was by no means hard labour anyways, and was fairly easy to deal with. Within a little while she'd sorted the sliced Chinese leaves in two piles, pushing one to Auntie Xu and handing the other to her mother.
"Anything else?" Livia asked, because she might as well make herself helpful and save herself from some embarrassment when Pamela was inevitably called on to perform and she could do nothing but clap. She could at least mention, if that happened, that she'd helped in the kitchen to prepare the food.
Nai nai turned to face her. "Livia," she barked, "you remember how to make tomato with fried egg?"
"I'd be an idiot not to." It was arguably the most iconic and easiest Chinese dish that could be cooked, but it was also easily one of the most delicious.
Nai nai nodded. "You are not one, I assume. The tomatoes are diced over there. Eggs are in the fridge. Five eggs. There's an empty stove next to the one Auntie Xu is using."
Auntie Xu glanced over her shoulders. "I just need this to slow cook! The stove is all yours, Livia."
Half an hour later, as Livia delivered a satisfactory tomato with fried egg to nai nai, she was dismissed from the kitchen to take care of herself and welcome the guests, who would be arriving soon. Livia rushed upstairs and wetted her hair slightly, since it had already become greasy from her short time spent in the kitchen. She wore little makeup, since it was her home and she needed to look relatively comfortable. Still, she took out her Chanel eyeshadow palette to touch up on the glitter around her eyes, and reapplied her MAC lipstick.
She wore a vest with long, loose jeans, and tied her hair up in a high messy bun. Relaxed and casual, but detailed enough that it would work for a dinner occasion such as this one.
This was hardly the first time a dinner like this had been thrown in their humble little abode.
The first guests arrived at five forty-five, fifteen minutes before the time they'd previously agreed on. Unsurprisingly, this was their neighbours, the Calvert-Egertons. Mrs Calvert-Egerton immediately handed the two girls a bag each, both with her signature MH printed in gold in the middle.
"Some clothes from my latest collection," she declared, "that I thought fit the two of you." This happened every year. Every time Mrs Calvert-Egerton found clothes that fit any of them, she'd save them up until the summer. From the other bags Mr Calvert-Egerton was struggling to handle, she assumed that some had been prepared for the others and perhaps even the parents as well.
With a bright beam on her face and carefully ignoring Amphion and Zeth, Livia welcomed them into the living room, where her father was waiting. Leaving the parents in the hands of her father, Livia made a beeline for Victoire.
"How's my favourite little girl in the world?"
Pamela's voice sounded from beside her, "I thought that was me, Liv."
YOU ARE READING
hexes for exes
Teen FictionEVERY SUMMER, four families make their yearly exodus to the British seaside town of Briarville. For Livia Wong, the trip had been tradition ever since she could remember. Summer was always spent alongside the pristine beaches with the dreamy-hued su...
