Chapter 127 - Coping with Stress

Jasper couldn't believe it. Thirty-eight degrees fever.

Orita looked slightly worried and Wilmer frowned. Jenna told the boy that he had to call in sick for a week.

"The doctor said that it was stress-induced," the lady butler reported and Jasper coughed.

It was ridiculous! Just yesterday, he was telling Scarlet and Alex that he wanted to create a building block game similar to Legos with children friendly art styles and a very light story-line for optional quests. Elfie had started to work on the program kernel, whatever that meant.

"I'm fine, I can still work..." Jasper retorted weakly and Alex shook her head by the door. Scarlet felt slightly sorry for the boy who was desperately trying to convince the a.d.u.l.ts that he was still well enough to walk.

Elfie sighed. "He's much too stressed lately. This sick won't go away until he finds a way to de-stress..."

Scarlet looked at the programmer. "How can we help him?"

Alex winced as Claire forcefully shoved Jasper back to bed and threatened to tie him to it if he wouldn't stop struggling. Elfie blinked. Weren't maids supposed to be nice to their young masters and mistresses? Many things were indeed different in the Wilde family.

While the ladies fussed over Jasper and forced the boy to rest, Wilmer went to work. Today, the children were staying at home, mandatory orders from Orita who thought they were overworking. Alex didn't mind it as staying home gave her more time to work on her art projects. Scarlet decided to stay in her room and edit her draft for the new book but Elfie was lost. What was he supposed to do now?

As the hacker went to Scarlet's room because Jasper was sick and he shouldn't be disturbing the resting boy, Elfie wondered if there was a way he could help. Unlike Scarlet, the other two friends of his looked like they were incredibly stressed for some reason. Scarlet had only recently gotten out of the cast and was walking again but Elfie didn't think she would be walking for very long with the rate of how she constantly neglected her health and worked non-stop like Jasper.

With nothing better to do, Elfie did what Scarlet was usually good at doing - research. Thank goodness for the internet in this day and age that had just about every stupid question humans would ask because right now, Elfie wanted to find out answers to a very dumb question given the current situation.

"How to handle stress" was the title of his search and the hacker was rather impressed by the number of search results ranging from articles in women e-magazines and forum discussions. Elfie clicked on the first search and made a face at the suggestions.

Suggestion #1: Keep a positive attitude.

Elfie shook his head. Given how stubborn those two were, a positive attitude reinforcement was the least of the priorities. If anything, the hacker wished they would stop being so positive and taking on so many tasks.

Suggestion #2: Learn relaxation techniques such as yoga and meditation.

Again, Elfie thought that it was highly unsuitable for the people in question. Alex was rather dreamy and can often be found drifting into space but Scarlet and Jasper were very focussed people who might actually dedicate time to focus on being relaxed which would, in turn, create a different sort of stress from the idea of wasting time instead. Elfie scratched that out and moved to the next point.

Suggestion #3: Eat healthy well-balanced meals and exercise regularly.

This is already taken care of by a very dutiful lady butler and head maid. Thanks to the Wilde Family's wealth, the children were never lacking in this area. Elfie tried joining them for self-defence lessons once and promptly swore never to do it again. How all three children coped with such a brutal training regime went beyond Elfie whose motto was to always fight his battles behind a screen.

Suggestion #4: Make time for hobbies.

Elfie blinked. For some reason, everyone in the Wilde household has a ton of hobbies. Alex loved painting and drawing. Scarlet was into writing and composing lyrics. Jasper was into reading and gaming. Elfie was the only one without much of a hobby. He spent all his time on a computer if he wasn't eating, bathing or sleeping. Maybe he should get to that instead.

Suggestion #5: Improve time management skills, learn to say no to requests that will create more stress on top of the current workload.

Elfie hummed. This is exactly what Scarlet and Jasper needed to learn. If there was anything the hacker learnt about these two highly stressed individuals, it was their inability to say no. Lin Lin's request to form a band had somehow become a regular activity and commitment. Claire's martial art classes and training session from the self-defence lessons had incorporated itself into their lives without them knowing. The internship was treating them more like full-time junior staff instead of interns and yet neither of them said a word of complaint about it.

Now that it was decided, Elfie made a mental note to talk to Alex about it. That girl was actually good at refusing things she doesn't want to do. If Scarlet and Jasper weren't going to learn how to reject requests, it would be up to Elfie and Alex to do so on their behalf.

With that in mind and a hobby to find for himself, Elfie left Scarlet's room to check on the sick Jasper before finding Alex.

The artist was playing with some colour mixture when she heard someone knocking on her door. Puzzled, Alex opened it to find a sheepish programmer who carried his laptop with him.

"Hello? Was Scarlet's room not to your liking?"

Elfie shook his head. "No, it was nice. However, I've come to make a deal with you. It's about the stress levels of Scarlet and Jasper who have not been taking care of themselves very well."

Hearing that, Alex invited Elfie in who took a seat on the floor, avoiding the mess as best as he could. Once he was nicely settled in her room, Elfie shared with the artist about his research. Alex waited patiently for the hacker to conclude his report and was silent the whole time.

"I understand where you're coming from," she told Elfie. "However, I don't think I can help them cope with their stress. After all, they're also fighting very hard for their dreams like us but in a different manner. Saying no to opportunities on their behalf is akin to killing them. I don't want to be hated."

Elfie deflated. "Then what should we do? At this rate, it's not going to be just Jasper. Scarlet would fall ill from stress too."

Alex smiled and patted the boy on his shoulder. "Don't worry about it. The best way to relieve stress is to spend time with friends together. I've seen my mother do this. She schedules a ladies' tea party from time to time when she has things she needs to get off her chest. We can do something similar."

"A ladies' tea party?" Elfie sounded sceptical but Alex was very certain.

The Wilde princess told Elfie what she heard from her mother about how the tea party goes about. Sometimes they would engage in relaxing activities like a spa or a manicure session while talking about various things on their minds that have been bothering them. After that, they would go for luxurious food or sinful ones as Orita called them and sometimes they end with retail therapy.

When Elfie heard it, he could only curse the spoiled attitudes of rich folks to afford that kind of lifestyle. He knows that Danny often copes with cigarettes and while it wasn't healthy, it was a far cheaper alternative than doing what Orita did once a month. Still, when in Rome, do as the Romans do.

"I see. Perhaps we could plan something like that for them. Do you think we should ask the other boys from the E.C. Class to join us? I'm thinking of hosting a barbecue at a seaside chalet instead because we have a lot more people than your mother's tea party group."

Excited, Alex agreed and spent that afternoon plotting away with the hacker. He might not have found a new hobby but he was happy enough that there would be an afternoon that he didn't have to spend idling in front of a screen for a change. It was a good change and Elfie was thankful for it.