Troubles at Home - Chasing Normal, Arc 7

Scene 42: Boiling Over

The rest of the month dragged on as Travis continued to fail at finding ways to escape the apartment under her mother's creative security measures. Things finally came to a head when the studio president called. Shiri answered the phone, expecting to find the president apologetic and groveling. Instead, her face turned several shades of red, although none of it could be heard in her voice as she first refused to hand her phone over to her daughter, and then as she assured the president that Travis took her apprenticeship very seriously and wouldn't miss another day.

And Travis didn't. Her father walked her to work everyday, and met her at the end of the day to walk her home. He wasn't any happier than Travis was about the situation, but it gave them time to actually sit down and talk, something Travis had never really had with her father.

On the first morning after the month passed, Shiri dressed up in her flashiest dress and had her hair and nails done. Travis trudged along behind her into the studio.

Shiri had to stop at the receptionist's desk to pick up her badge. "Oh, I'm sorry, sugar, but I don't have it. Mr. Shiratori does." Lorraine didn't sound the least bit sorry, but Shiri waved her off and started for the door. The locked door.

Travis was still standing at the desk, waiting to see how long it would take her mother to remember that when her mother whined, "Travis." The teen rolled her eyes and walked over to let them both in. She started for the stairwell to head upstairs to her workstation, but her mother grabbed her arm. "You can't expect me to go to the president's office alone."

"That solidarity thing, right?" Her mother glared and then headed for the office, and Travis followed her quietly.

The president was in fact holding Shiri's badge and waiting for her. He acknowledged the apprentice with a bit of surprise. "Travis? Is something wrong?"

"No. Mom just asked me to come for moral support."

"Ah, I see. An interesting move from a woman who kept her daughter hostage in her own home." Shiri's eyes widened at the insult. "You can go upstairs, Travis." The president turned back to Shiri. "You can go home. We've found another actress who can handle the role without risking shutting down the studio."

Shiri was on her feet, but Travis slipped through the door quickly to avoid what was about to happen. She didn't envy the studio president one bit. Her mother's voice followed her down the hallway, and Travis could only assume it was carrying into the arena, too.

By the time she sat down at her workstation, there were murmurs President Shiratori had to have Shiri Ando removed from the studio by multiple security guards. Travis just kept her eyes focused on her monitor and hummed to shut out the gossip around her.

==

The closer the end of the work day crept, the more Travis' stomach tightened into knots. She wondered if her father was going to show up to escort her home. She wondered what was going to happen at home that night. Her imagination kept creating bigger, more emotional scenes until she finally couldn't handle it any more and went to hide in the upper catwalk above the arena.

The door squeaked quietly above her. "I thought that might be you."

Travis wiped her eyes and looked up, "Was I being too loud?"

Will sat down next to her and smiled, "We could see the light from the hallway. We were shooting a dark scene."

"Oh." Travis looked down at her hands. "Sorry."

"Don't worry about it. I'm guessing this is about your mom?"

Travis nodded.

"What's going to happen when you get home?"

"I don't know. I don't want to go."

"Where do you want to go?"

Travis thought for a moment, and then smiled at Will.

==

Several minutes later, she slipped out of the catwalk behind Will and snuck back into the animator workspace just long enough to grab her belongings. Then, she made her way out of the back of the studio and headed for the edge of the sector.

She arrived at her destination and rang the doorbell. Opa opened the door. "Travis? Come in. We weren't expecting you."

"I know. I'm sorry." Travis walked in past her grandfather. "Is it all right if I stay here for a bit? Things are weird at home."

"Of course," he took her bag and headed up to the guest room that doubled as her room.

Over dinner, she explained everything that had happened to her grandparents. They were sympathetic, and assured her she could stay with them as long as she needed to. But that night in her warm, cozy bed, she realized hiding in her grandparents' house wasn't a good long-term solution.