Fly Me To The Moon

...a little more than two years ago...

"Harold!"

Harold froze as he heard his name through the intercom. When the Vice President of the Executive Board used that tone, all hell was about to break loose!

He bolted out of his chair by his desk and rushed to the door of his shared office, another secretary, grabbing his grey jacket in the process. Straightening his tie, he turned his face side to side glancing at his reflection, in the fancy mirror that was occupying a tiny space on the wall next to the door. Seeing all was well with his attire, he clapped his hands loudly together as he walked through the door.

Secretary Park jumped at the sound of his officemate's hands and eyes wide he clasped his chest with one hand. As if to steady his heart.

'I really should retire,' he thought. If only his daughter's college were not so expensive. He was going to be the father of a future heart surgeon. It was worth it, he thinks as he smirks at the office door. He wondered how the meeting was.

"Vice President Seo-?" he started and broke off when he saw the room was empty.

Timothy stared at the file in front of him. Unbelievable is the word he would use at that moment. He was flabbergasted. Seo Timothy was never at a loss for words. Sure, he was very detailed, even to a point where he was irritated with himself but he had to be patient with this, he kept reminding himself. The CEO was not going to handle this well! But Timothy felt like he was drowning here under his father and uncle and he needed a change. A big one. And now he had it! It's 2020 for God's sake, not the 1900's!

"Tim?"

He glanced up in surprise at Harold, suddenly remembering that he had called him in a few minutes back. Harold was the only person he trusted in this company, hell, even in his family! But still, he was cautious about the meeting, even though Harold knew about it. It had nothing to do with not trusting his best friend and everything to do with the ears and eyes that surround them.

He leaned back on his chair and loosened his tie looking up at Harold who was standing on the other side of his desk. He slowly pushed the file towards Harold tapping it a few times beneath his fingers, "They agreed Harold."

The twenty-eight-year-old, watched his secretary's face go from questioning, to surprise, to full-blown shock. His eyes bulged out of their sockets as his mouth grew slack.

A wide smile quickly spread its way across Timothy's face as he looked at his now rapidly blinking eyed friend.

"What? They did? You didn't mishear?" his secretary stuttered continuing, "Timothy! What would your father say? Your uncle? Oh...your mother. Forget her, your father will kill you!"

Still no response from Timothy he stuttered on, "You're- We're really doing this? How?"

Of course, Harold had asked him all these questions before and Timothy had answered all. No, his father might not approve as this company was in insurance, not designs. His mother always agreed with whatever decisions her husband and brother made. And yes, clearly, he was going to really do this.

Step one: the business idea in his head.

Step two: getting someone to agree to it. And he had his operation and one prospective company in mind. And they just agreed!

Step three: break it to his family that he was leaving the company!

Step three was going to be the most difficult.

___

Timothy had just signed up, not literally as yet, to design ships. Planes. A long-awaited deal was about to happen but the United States was still wondering if South Korea could afford aircraft carriers in the long term. It was an investment-worthy of their money. Other than the United States, France is the only other country that maintained the first-rate naval aviation compatibility since World War two and South Korea is somewhat smaller in size. After the deal was made, Timothy was the one they chose to do the design. Timothy really hopes that he would be able to bring South Korea to the top like Great Britain and India, which have maintained carrier forces with few interruptions. He hoped to not struggle like some countries that started great and were barely able to maintain capabilities, either during gaps overtime or having to suspend the program altogether, if and when things don't go as planned.

___

Timothy didn't believe in the action but still, he crossed his fingers under the table as his family sat down to dinner that night. His mother did not allow any business to be discussed at her table and so the family talked about everything else but. Like his uncle, Ha-Neul, the company's President.

He thought it was time he got married. Ha-Neul brought that to the attention of Na-ree, his sister who was also Timothy's mother. As she was his elder, it was recognized that she would be responsible for his future bride.

"Na-na, I'm getting old. I should get married now, what about your friend Suzy? Is she still single?"

Timothy almost choked on his wine. Suzy was his mother's long-ago friend who Timothy has always suspected held the affection of his uncle. He was very much doubtful that anyone knew how Ha-Neul felt. The problem was his uncle's age. He was five years older than Timothy and Suzy was his mother's age!

Na-ree smiled at her brother. Timothy was sure that his mother thought that he was only teasing.

"Ahaha. Ha-Neul, don't speak about your elders that way. It's disrespectful."

Ha-Neul pouted at her. When it came to business, his uncle was a mean shark but at home, Na-ree treated him like a baby. Timothy really felt like he had a brother in his uncle growing up but things changed over the years. Now he felt like he was the older one. Sometimes he felt embarrassed by his uncle's behavior when people were around.

Once Timothy had decided to approach him, obviously, he was drunk, about his childlike behavior and Ha-Neul asked him if he was jealous. Of course, he denied it but maybe he was a bit. That was when his uncle got serious about the company and became the President. That's when he really saw his uncle for the adult he really was. And the affectionate person he longed to be. Timothy realized too that his uncle was just lonely and it made him feel like a goof for his previous accusations. But he put it all behind him as a youth. And now he knew better.

"Ma. I know someone who would go out with uncle."

"A blind date? Really?" his mother cried, her face all bright as she wiped the corners of her mouth delicately with her napkin. His father looked across the table at him sternly. "I don't think so. He doesn't keep good company."

"Dad."

"I said-" his mother cut his father off with, "When?" and looked at Tim for his response. Times like this he wished he lived with his grandparents.

His father had caught him one time at his university, in a very compromising situation with another student and since then it's like Timothy only knew evil, dishonest and vile people.

"Yes. I want to go on this date. Timothy knows many beautiful women."

His uncle's eyes were now gleaming with excitement and so was his mother's. His father threw him a death glare. Ignoring him, he sent out a text.

'Hey, Jae-yi is still single?'

Exactly one minute later he got a reply.

'Oh. You want to date her?'

'Stop it. No. I want to set up my uncle with her.'

'Oh. She's on a blind date tonight.'

'What? She better not enjoy that date. What about tomorrow night?'

'Uh...let me text her.'

Thirty seconds later he got a message.

'She's bored, so yeah.'

"You have a date tomorrow night."

"Yessss. I love you bro," was his uncle's happy reply.

"You're gonna love her. She's pretty. You might as well make the wedding invitations now."

"Really! Is she pretty?" his beautiful mother questioned.

"Yes, ma."

"What do you know about pretty?" came his father's gruff and very rhetorical question.

Why rhetorical?

Because of the compromising situation that his father caught him in was with a guy. Sweet innocent Harry. And then he tried to stage another situation with a female and it disgusted his father. It even disgusted him. Looking at his father's appearance now, Timothy didn't think he wanted to answer him, let alone tell him he was giving a resignation notice.

Siri stared at the perfection that was in her arms. The beautiful sea-blue eyes were looking directly into hers. She was mesmerized. How can one be so perfect? Then her thoughts took a dark turn as she remembered her dead brother and his dead wife. The baby was now orphaned because of the plane crash two weeks before. Even the beast that caused the crash was an innocent baby once.

She wept.

For herself.

For the babe in her arms.

Her parents.

The brother she lost.

Her best friend.

How were they going to get through this? Raising a baby cost so much money. Then the baby would start school, even more money. Then it becomes a teenager, even more money than she ever could make. Then college. Her parents had her late in their life and thus too old to work. Sure, they would help her but it was mostly up to her. Her brother was the one who usually paid for everything.

Her brain had been calculating for the past week all the finances she would need. After college, she had no work experience anywhere except at a coffee shop. She was so worried about her nephew. Would she be a good aunt and parent figure? Sure, she was a great aunt but that was because her nephew's real parents were there before. Now they were gone. Would she be good enough? Would her parents be good enough?

The ringing of her cell phone broke off her tears and thoughts. The screen flash 'Mother'. She pressed the answer icon and put it on speaker as to not smear her phone with the liquid from her face.

"Honey. I can't find my salad bowl. Do you have it?"

Her sister-in-law had borrowed it the day before their flight. But she didn't tell that to her mother for she knew her mother knew. It was just her way of dealing with her grief. Adjusting the baby in her arms she instead said, "Yes, I borrowed it. I'll bring it by this evening."

"Okay, dear."

She packed her overnight bag into the car next to the baby's bag. She was moving out of the apartment by the end of the week. An apartment she first shared with her best friend, Ashley then her brother when he married her and moved in. Sure, at first it was slightly weird seeing them but they had never dated. In fact, they got married within two months of seeing each other the first time and Siri now had Ashley as a sister.

Now it was just her and Nathan. So, they were moving back home with her parents and that's where they were, since the day of the crash. She needed a good night's rest too as she had an interview the next morning.

That night Siri heard her mother weeping and it set off another set of tears from her as well. She hugged a sleeping Nathan, next to her on the bed taking comfort in his soft innocent smell.

___

A few days later her mother told her about the airline's insurance. Or lack of. They refused a settlement because they claimed that her brother lied about being a private pilot. Her mother had met with the lawyer of the company and he made a serious allegation about her brother.

Siri called the number on the card that the man gave to her mother and the person on the other end did nothing but anger her. Apparently, if you are a private or recreational pilot, it's important to be upfront about it when shopping for your policy. If you lie on your insurance application and are caught, it could lead to serious legal problems, and your chances of receiving coverage if you were to die are very slim, she was told.

But her brother didn't lie. She knew because he had the same insurance from when he was in training and they assured him that he had coverage if he paid a higher premium.

It was fraud to the highest degree. And now once again she had to change her plan.

When Siri was in high school, she met Ashley. Back then she wanted nothing more than to be a detective after all the Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys, Sherlock Holmes books she read, and movies about solved crime. She vowed then she would get started on the unsolved cases so the family of the loved ones could find peace.

But being with Ashley changed her. When they applied to the same college and got in, everything changed. She then wanted to be a barrister franchise owner. She and Ash together as partners. Then that changed when Ashley met her brother Rick. After they finished college, Ashley left everything to focus on her married life and be a homemaker.

Siri once again changed and also put her business administration degree on pause when Ashley became pregnant with Nathan. She had a very difficult pregnancy and almost died giving birth. Siri made up her mind to make sure her best friend, sister-in-law, and mother of her nephew was safe and healthy before she went back to her studies.

Her brother though grateful made her study part-time.

A new set of tears streamed down her face as she thought of her brother. She will never see him again. Nathan will never meet his dad again. He would never meet his mum again. She hugged the baby closer to her as she sobbed into his tiny form.

Nathan, clueless to what his aunt was crying for, grabbed onto her hair and sucked on the strands, contented for now. His innocent mind oblivious to the thoughts running through her brain.

Franchise management and entrepreneurship... now what? she wondered. She had taken up a part-time job at a coffee shop for the experience of it. She loved Ashley but she felt a bit betrayed by her and her brother as he was the one that made Ashley change their plans. Not forcefully but still.

She had to reset her life. Because the two people she loved, fell in love with each other. Siri didn't know if she despised love or if she was looking forward to it. This much she knew- love betrayed her. And she knew if she did fall in love, she probably most likely would change her mind about it. And she didn't want to change for love. She liked who she was now. So, did she look forward to letting people down if love made her rethink everything she did? Every life decision she would make? She figured that much by observing people around her. Like Ashley. So- no. She had no intentions of falling in love.

She forgave them for falling in love... eventually, although they never knew how she felt.

Then they had the baby. And Siri had another change. She now wanted to be the best aunt and babysitter anyone could ever ask for.

Then they died. Siri changed again. She was now the guardian of six months old baby Nathan. And could no longer play around with jobs. She had to get serious about her life for her nephew.

The following weeks were very tiring and satisfying for both Siri and her parents. They got to know Nathan in a different way. Felt his cuteness in a different way. He was almost a perfect baby. Like when he cried for his parents Siri would give him a shirt or blanket from his parents and that would comfort him. A trick her mother taught her.

Or when he started to teeth and had a fever and he cried but Siri felt his pain. She stayed up changing soiled diapers, wiping the sweat off his soft delicate skin, ensuring his medication was given on time and keeping him in a mother-like grip in her arms when he cried. She also learned that sometimes he cried when she was hugging him too much.

Like last week she got such a headache from his constant crying and her worrying that she also started crying. Which stunned him, making Siri think that she needed to continue crying to comfort him. Her mother had simply taken him and placed him on the baby mat.

As it turned out, she just needed to put him down. He wanted to crawl on the floor and she was making him fussy by her constant cuddling. Which in turn made her cry more because now she thought she was overbearing.

Now, this insurance situation would affect Nathan. And Siri had to change again. She would get to the bottom of this, for her aching parents but most importantly, for her nephew, she swore. But first a job.

Almost two months later, she was hired as a trainee, for a branch outlet, of the said insurance company.

"Uncle. Let's eat," Timothy called out to Ha-Neul, who was getting into the vehicle.

They had just finished a meeting and he was famished.

"Why are you so excited this afternoon?" his uncle chided him turning to face him inside the vehicle. Timothy didn't answer and was silent all the way to the restaurant, two minutes away.

After being shown to their table the waitress took their order, swaying her hips as she walked away. They both noticed but Ha-Neul also noticed that his nephew wasn't paying attention to those hips. He knew something was on his nephew's mind.

"C'mon... Tell me."

"Uncle, I have been thinking of moving out."

Ha-Neul, who was in the process of drinking water, almost dropped his glass. He stared at his nephew as another waitress rushed over to clean up the tiny spill. Both were silent until she left. But Ha-Neul had gathered his thoughts by then thinking his nephew was joking.

"I'm your friend Timothy. Your brother. Not a reporter that's making a tiff. Tell me what's this about. Is there a woman in your life?"

"What should I say, uncle? Tell me, so I can tell you."

Ha-Neul leaned back on his chair, giving out a heavy breath.

"Look. If there is a woman-"

"What do you know about women?" Timothy cut him off.

"Tim, just because you don't see me with millions of women," he was referring to Timothy, "that doesn't mean that I don't know how women think. I have a woman in mind but we can't be together and I don't put my personal life out there for everyone to view it."

Timothy knew he was referring to his mother's friend.

"Uncle. I'm serious."

"About what?"

"Moving out."

Moving out of your family home was almost unheard of as a single eligible man. Maybe if he was getting married- Ha-Neul realized then that Tim might have been serious about the woman, he was talking about earlier.

"To go where?"

"On my own."

"On your own?"

"Yes."

"Where?"

"My great-grandparents," he deadpanned.

"Gran-" Ha-Neul straightened then loosened his tie. His nephew wasn't talking about his father's parents who were dead nor their parents who were also dead. The remaining family members scattered around not too close to each other. His brother-in-law was a very strict person, who did not tolerate laziness and he considered his family as lazy. Ha-Neul only saw them maybe once in five years. His nephew barely knew them himself as he shared his father's view about them. A view that Ha-Neul also shared.

Not them.

His nephew meant on his mother's side of the family; Ha-Nuel's grandparents. And they lived in America. The United States where Timothy's dad hated- so there really wasn't any woman in Tim's life it dawned on him.

Timothy entwined his fingers on the table giving his uncle a sober look. He needed to drive him with another blow.

"What if it was Hannah?" he provoked him.

"What?"

His uncle still hadn't recovered from the previous bomb.

"What if I like Hannah?"

"Hannah, my- my Hannah? My blind date?"

Ha-Neul's eyes widened. Now Timothy leaned back in his chair too, watching his uncle make a decision on something that didn't matter to him. That shut him up until the food arrived.

"She's yours."

Timothy glanced up.

'What now?'

His uncle's words shocked him.

"Just say you are and she is yours."

"What?" Timothy asked frowning.

"Are you in love with Hannah?"

No, he wasn't in love with Hannah. For goodness sake, she was the cousin of his best friend. She was like a sister to him. An older sister. And his uncle seemed to like Hannah from what he had said after the date. They had even exchanged numbers and been on two more.

"Are you uncle?"

"Me? No!"

"Ha-Neul, I know about Suzy."

His uncle paused his eating to answer. "Timothy. I don't know what it is you think you-"

"I know you love her."

Ha-Neul's eyes widened but still, he was quick to recover his surprise.

"Love? I really don't know about that. Please don't meddle in grown peop-"

"I'm not grown?"

"You are but you need guidance throu-"

"Maybe I can be the one to guide you through life uncle. I'm more experienced than you. Don't give me advice. I introduced you to Hannah because I like her."

His uncle's eyes widened even more.

"What say you, uncle?"

"Timothy, are you mocking me?"

"Uncle. Keep your advice. If I want it, I'll ask for it."

Ha-Neul slammed his hand down on the table, rattling the utensils. "You spoiled... Do you have feelings for Hannah?"

Timothy hid a smile by turning his face to the side. Just as he'd hoped. He knew Hannah could do it. Even he would be tempted to fall in love with Hannah, if not for Harry. He pushed his chair back and stood up.

"I'll eat at home. I'll get a taxi."

He knew his uncle would pay for the meal they hadn't eaten although he was sure his appetite was gone by now.

"Timothy!"

He ignored his uncle and walked out of the restaurant and into the awaiting car. His mind already occupied with his design for the aircraft carrier. Short and vertical landings for the ships were on his brain. A 30,000-ton level aircraft carrier that can transport military forces and equipment was what they had in mind for him and his team.

His long-awaited dream was becoming a reality and his committee was hoping to join forces with Japan.

He needed a bigger team, asap.

"Harry. You need to book flights."

Harold looked at the man next to him in the backseat of the car. Curious about why he questioned the destination as he pulled out a book from his breast pocket to jot it down.

"America."

Harold was taken a bit by surprise by his boss's answer but learned over the years to not show much facial reactions. He knew of course about the meeting they had to eventually attend with their new plans but he thought it wouldn't be for at least a few months from now.

"North or South?"

Harold really hated when he had to question everything. Couldn't he have just told him everything in detail? Now he had to ask date and time. He paused his writing for a few seconds to see if Timothy would give him the information.

Nothing.

"Date?" he asked in a monotone.

"Ah. Assemble a team for us. Four people. That's six including you and me both."

Harold shook his head. No details. Still, they were in the presence of the driver and needed to be professional as possible. I cannot slug him over the head Harry reminded himself.

"Team? "

"Yes."

Still nothing. Harold gritted his teeth. Rubbing his temples, he let out a silent breath. He wrote 'assemble team' on the bottom of the page, circling it.

"When shall I book the flight, Sir?"

"Oh yes. After we assemble our team, Harold. Obviously. I thought that was clear?"

Harold blinked a few times turning to face a smiling Timothy. Still, he asked politely because the driver was there. Third-party viewing was not part of their personal relationship. In the presence of others, they were always business.

"The booking Sir? How long?"

"Harold. You jester. In about a month from now."

So he needed a team for his workshop that needed to be small and trusted. Obviously, he would have to ensure they were trusted completely. Tim would need a personal assistant and he didn't know if he was going - Harold's thoughts were interrupted.

"Actually, I shall go first to arrange things with my grandfather then we would assemble the team."

"Lawyer too sir?"

By 'I' Timothy meant Harold too. 'Why does he always drag me into his family drama,' Harold was wondering when his friend startled him by saying, "Oh. You need to learn to drive. I hate it when we have an audience."

The audience part wasn't the startling part. It was the driving part, for Harry had never driven in his entire life.