August 2023 - Summer Special Side Story (Part 2)

Here's the second part of the Summer Special Side Story! 💖

Click here for Part 1.

* * * *

Getting up, you decide to try helping Santana prepare the BBQ lunch. They are pulling out the burger patties, waiting for the grill to heat up a bit more before putting a couple on it. Immediately, the smell of grilled beef wafts up to your nose.

“Hey, Santana,” you greet them as you stop beside them. “Do you need any help with anything?”

“Hey!” They nod at you. “I don’t really need any help right now. Although, maybe you can fetch your uncle and his boyfriend over?”

“Sure,” you reply.

“Oh also, what do you want on your burger by the way?” they ask.

“I’m okay with everything, except pickles and tomatoes,” you explain.

“Gotcha,” Santana nods as they flip a burger patty. “Your burger should be ready by the time you come back.”

“Thanks!” you say as you turn and start making your way to the bar.

The seaside bar has mostly open walls, providing natural lighting and fresh seaside air and breeze. There are quite a number of patrons just lounging inside, but it doesn’t take too long for you to find the familiar and towering figure of Uncle Luka sitting at the bar with Jackal leaning on his shoulder.

As you get near them, you hear what they’re talking about.

“Alright, I think that’s enough alcohol for you for the whole day, Tyoma,” your uncle says, moving the glass of drink to the side, out of Jackal’s range.

“Noo… One more sip… One more sip, and then I’m done. I promise,” Jackal whines pleadingly, words slurring a bit against each other as he hugs your uncle’s forearm.

Luka sighs, “Fine. One sip and that’s all, okay?” He hands the glass to his boyfriend.

Within the blink of an eye, Jackal takes the glass to his mouth. Throwing his head back, he swiftly gulped down the drink in one go.

“Hey—” your uncle gasps, grabbing the glass quickly, frowning as he looks at the now empty glass and then his boyfriend.

Jackal, in the meantime, only grins cheekily. “One sip.”

You decide it’s a good time to step in. “Hey, Uncle Luka, Uncle Jackal,” you greet, patting Uncle Luka’s shoulder amicably.

Luka turns to face you and so does Jackal, whose face is pretty flushed now. “Oh, hey, Sasha. What’s up?”

“I’m here to fetch you guys for lunchtime and we have started grilling,” you tell them enthusiastically.

“Aww, are you guys inviting us to have lunch together?” Jackal cooes. “That’s sweet of you. Of course, we accept!”

“Yeah, we are coming. Let me just pay the bill first,” Uncle Luka mutters, digging for his wallet and flagging down the bartender for the bill.

After that’s all done, the three of you make your way back to the group. Rin is helping Santana with the burgers, assembling them beautifully while Santana focuses on grilling more patties and sausages. Noticing you approaching, Rin hands you a paper plate with your burger on it.

“Yours,” they say. “No pickles and tomatoes, right?”

“Perfect,” you smile as you take it. “Thanks.”

“Oh, also, instead of ketchup and mustard, I used the special homemade garlic aioli I made this morning. Let me know how it tastes,” they whisper conspiratorially.

You take a bite and oh… it’s gotta be one of the best burgers you’ve tasted. The beef patty is juicy and perfectly seasoned and the garlic aioli gives it that bit of extra kick of flavour that tastes way better than ketchup and mustard.

“Whoa, it tastes great, Rin,” you tell them and you see them preen from the compliment. Turning to Santana, you also praise them, “You grilled this patty better than most restaurants, Santana.”

“Aw, thanks,” they say, scratching the back of their head bashfully. “Glad you like it!”

Attracted by the savoury smell of the burger, Jackal stands by the grill, eying the food hungrily. “Can I have one too, please?” he asks.

“Of course!” Santana chirps. “How would you like your burger?”

“Raw and bloody,” Jackal grins sharply.

Santana blinks before chuckling nervously, “I think I can’t give that to you based on good conscience alone, sir.”

Luka steps over, dragging his boyfriend away so he can stop bothering Santana. “Sorry, don’t mind him. He’s a bit of a troublemaker when drunk. As for our burgers, we’ll take it just like… normal I guess. We’ll leave the details to your good judgment. Thank you.”

“Of course…” Santana trails off and only stares in confusion as Luka pulls Jackal for a relaxing stroll by the sea.

You walk over to the cooler box to grab something to drink with your burger, but Ash is already bent over it, mulling on which drink to get. They look up at you as you approach, their face lighting up.

“Hey, Sasha. How’s the burger?” they ask.

“Really damn good,” you answer honestly before taking another bite.

“Huh, I know Rin is a good cook, but Santana? It’s a bit of a surprise to me honestly,” they say. “By the way, what do you want to drink?”

Before you can answer, a group of young people, followed by another group of teenagers, run past, talking to each other excitedly. You, Ash, and Skylar—who has dealt with the group of fans earlier—all look at where they are going.

The two groups melt into a bigger crowd that seems to surround something or someone.. You wonder what is happening but also have no desire to go there and leave your burger to get cold.

It seems Skylar is curious as well and luckily for them, they just need to fly up high enough and hover close to the site. You even see them wave their hand before flying back with a smile on their face.

“What the hell is happening over there?” Ash asks, looking at Skylar curiously.

“It seems there’s a photoshoot going on there,” Skylar replies.

“Ah,” you reply. “Whose is it? I feel like a fourth of the beachgoers flock there. Must be someone pretty famous.”

A tinge of tenseness infects Skylar’s wide grin. “Uh… How do I say this? It’s your mom, Sasha,” they sigh finally.

You choke on your burger a bit and Ash quickly hands you a bottle of diet coke, making sure to open it first for you. You quickly take a huge gulp which forces the remaining bits lodged in your throat down.

“Did you tell her that we’re here?” you croak, sending an accusatory look at Skylar.

They raise their hands in surrender. “No! I swear I didn’t. I did hear her telling me about her upcoming photoshoot but I didn’t know it’s going to be here as well. I guess it’s just a coincidence.”

“Did she see you? I saw you waving your hand,” you ask again.

Skylar scratches the back of their neck nervously. “Haha, yeah, she happened to look up and saw me. So I just waved at her in greeting.”

“Great. Now, she knows we’re most likely here as well,” Ash groans, bringing their palm to their face.

“Let’s hope she won’t come here then,” Rin pipes in as they bring Skylar’s and Ash’s burgers before going to grab their own.

As the four of you start your lunch, you call out to Santana to invite them too. They tell you to not wait for them and to start first. They’ll be joining soon after they finish cooking their own burger and both your uncle’s and Jackal’s.

A couple of minutes in, you notice someone approaching your group out of the corner of your eye, and so do Ash, Skylar, and Rin. Your heart sinks a bit as you notice that it is indeed your mother. How she even managed to slip away from the throng of her onlookers and fans? You have no idea.

“Oh, so it was you, Skylar,” she greets Skylar. “At first, I wasn’t sure whether it was you who was hovering above me. Thought my eyes were deceiving me.”

“It’s common for eyesight to deteriorate with age,” Rin comments cheekily. “I remember having to convince my grandfather to get a pair of prescription glasses.”

Ash snickers quietly beside you.

“Thank you for the unsolicited advice,” your mother says in a saccharine voice, smile obviously strained.

Skylar’s mouth is agape from the exchange and they quickly try to redirect the conversation back to safer waters. “So, Yvette, how did you even manage to get here without any of your fans noticing? I might need to take notes,” they chuckle.

Your mother’s face lights up. “Oh! I just did the good ol’ misdirect-and-slip-away with my Illusion power. So, sorry, can’t really teach you the trick with this one,” she grins playfully, which makes her look younger than her age. “Although you can always fly away.”

“Oh, yeah. But I always feel bad—” Skylar is cut off as your uncle and Jackal pop up out of thin air with Jackal still clutching onto your uncle’s arm like a koala. And boy, your uncle doesn’t look pleased at all as he glowers down at your mother.

But instead of being deterred, your mother flashes him an eerily fake smile. “Ah, Luka! Didn’t know you were here as well. What a pleasant surprise.”

You see Uncle Luka’s eye twitch almost imperceptibly, probably from the fact that she called him by his first name as if the two of them were on a first-name basis.

Jackal squints at her. “Oh are you the witch Luka has been talking about?”

You almost choke on your drink from the blunt statement. Your mother’s smile now looks almost more like a snarl now. “I’m afraid I don’t know who you are nor have I ever seen you around before. Although, I did hear rumours that Luka Morozov is no longer single. I couldn’t believe it until now.” She gestures at Jackal.

“You don’t know me? Good,” Jackal answers.

“My friends and colleagues have speculated on the identity of Luka’s partner or even whether the rumours are even true in the first place. It seems I’ll have to be the bearer of bad news and dash their hopes of bagging one of the city’s most wanted bachelors,” she sighs exagerratedly before adding, “Although, I applaud you for succeeding where others fail. Maybe being a nobody is the key after all.”

Before Jackal can answer the insult, Luka interjects, “If your friends and colleagues are remotely similar to you, then they never have any chance to begin with. Now, let’s cut to the chase, and let me ask you: What are you doing here?”

“Oh, I was having a photoshoot there,” she replies nonchalantly, pointing at the crowd still gathered. “And I saw Skylar, so I decided to come here to greet them and it turns out, my child’s also here!”

“Your child…?” Uncle Luka growls quietly, and you quickly intervene before he pounces on your mother.

“Well, we are just enjoying the beach before summer ends,” you say awkwardly to her. “It’s a nice day.”

She turns to you with a soft and genuine smile. “It is! And I’m glad to see you well and making new friends other than these two.” She gestures at Ash and Rin.

Ash’s face twisted and you guess if they were not currently chewing on their burger, they’d have something snarky to say. Thankfully, Santana comes to the rescue—most likely unintentionally—as they come bringing Uncle Luka and Jackal’s burgers and their own. They stop in their tracks though as they notice the tense atmosphere and that your mother is present.

“Uh, hi, Ms. Toussaint,” they greet politely. “I didn’t know you’d be joining us for lunch”

“Oh, no, no,” your mother says. “I’ll not be here for long—”

“Thank God,” Ash mutters under their breath.

Your mother continues as if Ash hasn’t said anything. “I’m just here to say hi to Skylar and check up on Sasha.” She turns to you and steps closer to where you’re seated. You almost jolt as she strokes your hair lovingly. “Have you made sure to put on sunscreen? And drink a lot. It’s a hot day.”

“Alright, mom,” you whine before catching yourself as you realize what you’ve just done. You glance up at her and you see her surprised face morphs into a joyous one with a smile wider than the ones she has shown in front of the camera. “Uh, I mean, yeah, I’ve done all of that. Don’t worry,” you quickly try to amend, but the damage has been done.

The moment is broken by your mother’s phone ringing in her handbag. Her face falls as she reaches into the bag and checks her phone. “Well, it seems I have to go now,” she sighs before dropping the still-ringing phone back, not bothering to answer it. “You have fun now, darling,” she smiles, patting your head one more time before turning around and making her way back to where she came from.

You and the rest of your group watch her retreating back quietly until Skylar decides to break the awkward silence first. “Did you just—”

“Please, don’t,” you cut them off.

They raise their hands in surrender. “Alright, alright, I won’t bring it up again today.”

“Or ever,” you add.

“No promises,” they say under their breath before stuffing their mouth with a huge bite of the burger.