PART 1
In the nicest neighborhood of a small but rich city, stood a big and lavish mansion. Lan moved to this mansion for almost a year. His mother, Mrs. Nguyen remarried Mr. Andersen as her second husband after a nasty divorce from his abusive dad. Mr. Andersen’s first name is Claus and he is about 45 years old. His body is very muscular and lean showing that he took good care of it. His face structure is strong and very manly with a clean-shaven look that made him very popular among the ladies. Not only his appearance is on top shade, but he is also one of the most successful businessmen in the whole city, and also one of the richest. His fashion sense is on point too. Claus is one of those classical gentlemen whose suits are also their casual clothes. Branded suits, matching ties, and shining shoes are Mr. Andersen’s signatures. Lan thought it is very neat of his stepfather. Besides who would not appreciate a man in a luxury suit and tie.Claus met Lan’s mother through his sister, Ingrid, who is a close friend of hers. They dated for more than a year and decided to get marry with the blessing of all their family members, including Lan and Claus’ only son. This new stepbrother of Lan is four years older than him. His name is Otis. Otis is the only child of Claus and his deceased wife, a native Jordanian woman. She passed away only five years after given birth to their only son due to leukemia. Otis was raised by his dad and grew up to be exactly like him, a Claus mini-me. Although only 25 years of age, Otis was already a dapper gentleman and young aspiring businessman. He is the CEO of one of his father’s subsidiary company which makes him the most eligible young man in the whole town. Otis has an Adonis appearance, inheriting both his parents’ best genes. But the best thing about Otis is that he is not a spoiled rich kid that was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. Instead, he is a very down-to-earth guy, very friendly and adorable. In fact, both father and son were awarded Most Honorary Citizens many years in a row by the majority of the town population. People keep saying that Lan’s mother was the luckiest girl that can steal the heart of a perfect man despite being a single mom herself. Against the stigma of stepdad/stepmom versus stepchildren, the four of them got along pretty well as a loving family.
Although became the wife of a rich man, the new Mrs. Andersen still lingers to her old self. As a single mom, she had to work extra to make ends meet and raise her child. Therefore, being idle is not her thing. After becoming the mistress of the house, she kept the kitchen and laundry room to herself, wanting to make the most delicious foods and the tidiest clothes for her husband and sons. Lan’s stepfather is a very neat person and he obsesses with cleanness. He showers more than three times a day and uses more sanitizer than anyone ever needed. The weirdest thing about him is that he always wears socks and gloves even at home because he doesn’t want to touch dirty surfaces. Because of the need to wear socks most of the time, Claus wears a special kind of socks that mostly see-through, very light, and breezy. Lan heard he said it sheer socks. They go all the way up to his knee, being held by something called garters. During the winter season, Claus wears another pair of gold-toe dress socks over the sheer ones. He changed his socks regularly to keep them extra clean. Otis also wears the same type of socks with his dad, “like father, like son”, Lan guessed. However, his stepbrother also wears athletic knee-high socks since he plays many different types of sports, such as tennis, basketball, and soccer. On the contrary with his dad though, Otis is way messier with his accessories. From time to time, Mrs. Nhu asked Lan to come into Otis’ room and fish the dirty clothes out since Otis was a workaholic he barely had time to taking care of them himself. When Lan found out about the pile of socks Otis threw under his bed, he almost fainted. They were so filthy, some of them smell like blue cheese, especially the sports socks. Lan resented Otis about this so much. How come a guy that is so handsome and genuine can be this dirty? Maybe that was why he hasn’t had a girlfriend as of right now. Still, despite these tiny quirks, the life of the Nguyen-Andersen family was pretty normal and upbeat, no-one knows there would be a big storm on its way to hit the peaceful family.
TBC
