"Hurry!" James was whining as I made cookies for him. He had woken me up just to bake cookies for him and he was so impatient. Who knew he missed my cookies so much? It took us some time to find the kitchen as Emma and Reggie were nowhere to be found.
"Almost ready."
"Quickly!" He whined again.
"What are you? A pregnant lady? Why are you suddenly craving cookies." I asked as I placed my creation on the oven tray.
"I don't know, I just love your cookies."
"They are the best, right?"
"Uh-huh!" Reggie and Emma came into the kitchen then.
"There you are! What are you doing?" Reggie asked.
"Making cookies. Where were you guys?" I asked.
"Around. Mrs Wagner arrives today, so all hands were needed in preparing the house for her arrival."
"Do you have any idea when she will be here?"
"Claire?!" James fussed.
"Sorry." I hurriedly put the cookies in the oven and set the timer. "Just give it sometime, okay?" He nodded. I turned to Emma for my reply.
"Your Dad left for the airport already. So, I'm guessing any moment now."
"Hi!" We all turned to the voice. A tall lady with dark hair, green eyes and really really gorgeous features stood by the door. Even in her jeans and purple turtleneck sweater, she looked like something off a Vogue magazine.
I knew who she was immediately... Abigail!
"Good morning Miss Abigail." Reggie and Emma chorused. James was smiling at her, I didn't know why he was smiling but it made me jealous really quick.
"Good morning Reggie, Hi Emma. Claire, James! I'm so glad to finally meet you." Before I could think, she was already hugging me. I pulled away sharply.
"You grew up so much! And so pretty too." Her smile was really wide. She must be faking it; no one gives such a big smile to someone they don't even know.
"Abigail! Dad told me you're his cool childhood friend." James was bouncing, seeking her attention. She swatted to his height and laughed. Even her laugh sounded like chocolate!
"Don't listen to him, I wasn't cool at all."
"That's not what he said. He said you gave a big bully a wedgie! And you kicked his ass really hard." She laughed again, looking embarrassed.
"I was in the forth grade then, it was a long time ago. I was a tomboy in my childhood."
"Wow! And I thought you can't get any more amazing! You keep surprising me." Emma commented, looking dreamy.
"Do you still kick ass?" James asked, his eyes were nearly popping out of their sockets.
"No, James. Men respect themselves around me."
"I can't imagine why." I muttered under my breath but she heard me and looked up at me, still smiling.
"I made cookies and brownies." She said, looking away. Reggie, Emma and James dived for the bag she came in with.
"Your cookies are always delicious. I could eat them forever." Emma was saying as she grabbed a cookie. Reggie settled for a brownie while she gave James a cookie.
"Whoa whoa, James, you can't have those. Your cookies are almost ready." I objected, snatching the cookie from his hand.
"But I can't wait any longer. I'll still eat them, I promise." He fussed, snatching it back.
"It's okay Claire. I'll put yours in a jar and keep it in his room, he can have them whenever." I didn't like it, I didn't like it at all, but I had no reason to say no.
Reggie took the bag of cookies and brownies to the dining room and James and Emma followed her. I was left alone with little-miss-perfect.
"Do you need my help?" I ignored her as I waited for the oven timer to go off.
"I have a feeling that you are mad at me for something."
"You think?" I said sarcastically.
"Claire, we just met. What could you possibly hate about me already?" Oh, wouldn't she love to know. The timer went off immediately. I turned it off and opened the door.
"Why don't you go to James and try to buy his affection with your tomboy stories? Don't think that I..."
"Stop!" She yelled, but it was already too late. I used my barehands to get the tray of cookies out, my barehands! It took me a moment to actually feel the pain as I dropped everything on the floor.
"Ow! It stings!" I bit my lips together to stop myself from screaming. It was so painful!
"Let me see." Abigail came over, trying to check out the burn.
"Don't touch me!" I snapped and moved away, cooling my hands with my breath.
"Try putting it under running water to cool it off."
"Don't talk to me! This is your fault." I ran away to my room, ignoring Emma who tried to stop me. I sat on the rug, cradling my hands. I couldn't think clearly, I could only feel the pain.
"Show me your hands." Dad was next to me in a flash, he looked angry and caring at the same time.
"I'm fine, it'll..."
"What the hell got into you?" He half yelled. I was taken aback, I didn't expect him to be so... Caring?
"I wasn't thinking and it's not like I wanted to get hurt in the first place! Just so you know, this is nothing compared to how much you hurt me. Now leave me alone!" I jerked off the floor and climbed my bed, hiding my hands.
A whole minute passed and I didn't hear anything. Then someone touched me lightly and I turned. It was Abigail, holding up a first aid kit.
"You know you're the least person I want near me right now."
"I can see that. I probably did something to make you dislike me, but let's not focus on that now. You have a burn, let's focus on attending to it." Without waiting for a reply, she made me sit up as she began to treat the burn gently.
"Don't worry, it'll heal." She said so softly that it broke all my defenses. I couldn't understand the kind of person she's. I've yelled at her, accused her and I've been really rude to her, but she just seems to totally like me. How's that even possible?
"Don't you ever get angry? Or maybe you're waiting to be alone, then you can think of a billion ways to kill me." Her hands paused. Clearly my words shocked her. I just needed to understand why she's so sweet to me.
"What goes on in that head of yours? Of course I get angry sometimes, but I can't really get angry at you. You've been through a lot and I know you're confused about my relationship with your Dad." She locked eyes with me, then back at my hands.
"We're just friends, best friends. He is practically my family and his Mom, his sister... they are mine too." She locked eyes with me again. "You and James are my family also. You really can't imagine how important you are to me... both of you." She looked back at my neatly bandaged hands.
"Your words hurt me, yes, but I can't blame you; you don't know what happened. I just want you to stop hurting..." She broke off and stood up.
"Just lie down, you don't have to do anything for a while." With that said, she left with the first aid kit. And I was left to feel like a fool! She didn't do anything to me and I've treated her like trash. If I had a best friend, I'd love their family too.
"The amount of care and kindness I've gotten from Abigail these few minutes is more than I've ever gotten from my Mom in all my fourteen years." I thought aloud. Tears stung my eyes; I've been a fool, a fool with a big mouth.
Someone knocked lightly and came in. Dad.
"How are your hands?" I held them up so he could see the bandage.
"Abigail says they will heal." He smiled a little, standing there.
"I'm sorry I yelled. It's just that it's your first official day here and you got hurt; I can't... I just..."
"I understand. I'm sorry I scared you, I really wasn't thinking straight when I took the tray out." He nodded, saying nothing. It got awkward.
"Emma said you went to the airport, where's grandma?"
"They missed the flight. Antonio went missing all of a sudden."
"Who is Antonio?"
"Luciana's son, Jacey's big brother. He's a few months older than you." Ooh, I liked how that sounded. Maybe we'll hit it off and become besties. Wait, missing??
"Have they found him?"
"Yeah. He was actually on the roof, away from their noise. Antonio likes his peace and quiet." Oh, does that mean he's like Jason? A private person?
"They'll be here soon. You should rest in the meantime. I'll tell Emma to send up your breakfast." He paused, looking at my hands. "You'll probably need to be fed, do you want me to do it or do you want Emma to do it?" I scoffed, flushing a little.
"Trust me, having Emma feed me is less embarrassing than having you feed me." His smile stretched into a grin. He looked really pleased.
"I have no problem with that. You're speaking to me normally again, it's a relief." This time, I fully flushed and looked away.
"I'll call Emma." He said with a laugh and left.
ClaireEmma came in almost immediately, followed closely by a few other staff as they carried shopping bags."What are those?" I asked as I sat up."Starter clothes and accessories for you. Mrs Hart will be here later today to help you shop for your preferred clothes.""I don't understand." The other staff put down the bags by my huge closet and left without a word."Someone is coming here to help me shop? Is there a mall inside here?" That cracked her up; it took her two long minutes to compose herself."No, you'll select on her magazine and tablet, then she'll deliver them to you. If you choose something that isn't in her boutique, she'll order them. The point is, you don't have to go anywhere, whatever you want will be handed over to you."I didn't like how that sounded; it made me feel like plastic... Ugh, it's hard to explain. What's harder is being a rich man's kid."I'll get you your breakfast, do you want
The bath was oddly less embarrassing, probably because Emma had her eyes closed to make me more comfortable. I was almost done, just to wash my hair was left when Jacey came back but stood at the other side of the bathroom door."Hurry up! They'll be here soon.""In a minute." Emma answered. She quickly washed my hair, rinsed it up and gave me a towel before she finally opened her eyes."Better?" She asked with a smirk."Yes, thank you.""Any century now!" Jacey said from the other side of the door.A few minutes later, I was in my denim shorts as Emma helped me dry my hair."Remind me to add hairdryer and body lotion to your shopping list." I nodded to Emma; she had to borrow a hairdryer from one of the staff that lived in the mansion."They're here!" Jacey suddenly sprung up from her position on my bed."How can you tell? Do you hear voices?" She rolled her eyes at my questions."Will you just come already?" She
MattI couldn't tell what my Mom was thinking; trying to call Doris names in front of the kids. Sometimes, she can be really hard to understand, it's no wonder James stayed away from her. Just when Claire's beginning to warm up to me, she wants to ruin it and take me back to square one again.I wasn't even one to vent my anger, I always leave the arguments and the harsh words to Luciana."Could you be any less impossible, Mom? What was that back there?" Luciana began as soon as we got into the green house. Abigail and I sat down at the tea table and watched Mom and Luciana yell at each other; it was getting old."Can't you at least buy a heart? It's barely two weeks since those kids lost their mother and now they are turning to their Dad's family for support, you want them to find out that you hate their mother? How terrible is that?""Luciana please be quiet, I'm not going to argue with you right now." That was new! Mom never misses
"How's that possible? He's so little.""Well, that's what the doctor said." Claire snapped at Abigail. I could see that it was a hard topic for her, hell; it was hard for me too."It just started one day; he had a fever so I went down to the pharmacy to get him some drugs, when I got back, Frank and Mom were fighting, right in front of him. When I took him away to his room, I noticed that he wasn't moving at all, it was as if he paused in time." She stopped and looked at me. "That was two years ago. The doctor said it's really rare for kids, yet here we are."Damn! Why does everything have to be so wrong? Schizophrenia? Isn't that just too much?"He's coming back." Claire muttered under her breath so that only we heard her. James blinked twice, then stretched."Claire!" He sounded cheerful. "There are so many pictures of you here and none of me.""Sorry, Buddy. It's just that Dad doesn't have any of your pictures.""What about t
ClaireAs much as Jacey couldn't stop talking, Antonio couldn't even say a word. All day, I've tried different ways to get him to talk to me but it was as if I was talking to a rock. He never responded and I couldn't take it personal because he didn't speak to anyone else either. Maybe it was his thing, the deep melancholy. But I couldn't give up on being great friends with him; it made more sense since he's only a few months older than me.The next morning, after I had gotten ready to leave for my old home, I decided to ask Antonio to join me. Even though I told my Dad I would go and was very stubborn about it, it spooked me out to go back there. I would have easily asked Jacey but she's just ten and she mentioned going somewhere with Grandma. Dad had insisted that I take a bodyguard or he'd ask some cops to escort me but I turned him down flat; I made him promise to let me do it myself.He would have kept pestering me if Abigail hadn't interve
I put my hands over my mouth to suppress the frightened cry that left my lips. I was looking at him, I was looking at my mother's killer. I pressed my eyes closed to calm myself down, and when I reopened them, Jason was already making his way towards Frank with a kitchen knife. I didn't know what was going on in his head; was he about to commit murder? I turned to Antonio, he had his eyes fixed on Jason but he made no attempt to stop him."Jason, stop!" I screamed, going after him. Frank opened his eyes immediately and in a flash, he went for the knife, fighting to get it out of Jason's grasp. I stopped in my tracks, unable to do anything. I turned to Antonio, only to find out that he was gone! Gone to where?! I just couldn't imagine Antonio running away, more like fleeing and leaving me to deal with the situation myself.Jason successfully pushed Frank away from him as he stood beside me, reaching for my hand."Clary? Who's this brat?" Frank was panting hard, m
MattIt was bad enough that I couldn't discourage Claire from going back to the murderer's house; I also had to deal with my jackass business partner Nathaniel, who just wouldn't stay away from Abigail. Don't get me wrong, I know she doesn't belong to me and she's a free woman; yet it's so annoying to see him all over her.Abigail doesn't even like him! I mean, she's definitely not entertaining his flirting.But, it would have been a whole lot better if she was speaking properly to me. Forget about speaking properly, she was clearly avoiding me; speaking formally to me, barely touching me. In fact, she only made physically contact with me when she pushed me out of Claire's room, every other time, she either looked away from me or spoke with monosyllables.I didn't know what her deal was and she also refused to tell me. I felt I did something wrong, but how do I apologise for something I don't even know about?
As expected, Abigail focused solely on James and I didn't get any chance to talk to her at all. I didn't want to say anything in front of James but I needed to know what her problem was. When she wouldn't give me even the tiniest attention, I left them alone and stayed in my study room burying myself in work.I called Antonio again and asked how Claire was doing. She was still unconscious. It worried me but since Antonio assured me she'll be fine, I had to wait for morning; no matter how tormenting it was. Usually, it's times like this I have Abigail beside me. Now, I'm alone and Abigail somehow hates me. We've never argued before so seriously, never. It felt as if we're just going around in circles.I couldn't remember doing anything wrong, so why did she want to break up? Why am I saying breakup? We're not dating, right? Do I want to date her though? Yeah, definitely. Forget about dating, I want to marry her. She's the only person I want by my side every second.