Four years ago
NoahHeidi and I used to run every morning before I left for college but now, she’s in bad shape. That’s mostly due to the fact that she probably stopped running the moment I wasn’t around to push her again. She’s the last of all my siblings and also the sweetest. Heidi couldn’t hurt a fly but that doesn’t mean people won’t want to hurt her. Sadly, they’d most likely take her sweetness for naïveté and try to hurt her in unimaginable ways. I have two sisters, Heidi and Gwen. Gwen is the feisty one and as much as I also take her on runs like this, she can pretty much hold her own so I focus a lot more on Heidi. I won’t let anyone hurt her“Can we stop already?”, she asks, bending over her knees to get more air into her lungs“Come on, just ten more blocks”She groans“Let’s just take a break please”“No.. Now take five more breaths and let’s move on”. I continue jogging ahead without really waiting for her. She catches up and stays a few paces behind me. We reach a turn and I bump into a girl that’s walking a bit too fast. She looks up and I stop for a minute. You know when they say the darker the eyes, the harder to read? Well, I used to think that maybe if the eyes were a bit lighter, then we can probably be able to read it more but no, these girls eyes have to be the lightest shade of brown I’ve ever seen, almost transparent, and yet, I find it extremely difficult to see any emotions through them. The underside of her eyes are puffy which means she might have been crying but besides that one tell, there’s nothing else to indicate she was.“Sorry, wasn’t looking”, she apologizes but i find it hard to reply, I just fix my eyes on her before Heidi speaks up instead“It’s okay. We’re sorry too. We didn’t see you coming”The girl doesn’t wait for a second, she dashes past us at the same pace she was going earlier. I’m worried about her but I don’t tell that to Heidi who hits my chest with a water bottle“Come on, let’s go”, she prompts and I follow, not putting too much thought on the earlier encounter <<>>Tatum: Four years ago“Princess”I turn, my head hurts and the knocking from dad isn’t making it any better. I cried way toomuch the night before and I really wish I could sleep this headache off for the entire day“Come on Tate, we have to be out soon. The young master of the manor would be arriving today”That springs me up from bed and I wince as I remember the pounding in my head. I rush up from the bed and dash to the door, unlocking it and running past dad who still stands with his fist to the door.“Goodmorning to you too”, he calls after me. I don’t respond though. The bathroom still has steam in it which means dad must have had his bath not too long ago. I don’t wait for the water to heat again, I turn on the shower to bathe shower quickly then dash to my room afterwards. Putting on my clothes is a bit of problem since I’m being too hasty. I tell myself to calm down, that I still have time but I can’t help it. It’s been almost 6 months since I last saw Nigel. I can’t take another second. I proceed to hastily put on my underwear, jeans and snickers then I walk out of my room while still trying to put on a baggy checkered shirt and struggling even harder to button up. Dad isn’t in the living room when I get there so he’s probably left for his morning trim. Or maybe Bridget assembled all the staff to give them a rundown of activities for welcoming Nigel. Personally, I think it’s over the top but what do I know? I’m not rich.I go to meet Nana at the kitchen, she’s the head cook and basically the caretaker for the entire household. She’s kneading some dough when I walk in to kiss her chubby cheeks. She’s a cute old lady with a lot of bite in her.“How’s it going Nana?”. I ask, situating myself on the counter stool and stealing an apple from the fruit basket. The moment I take the first bite from it, she whips around, fast as lightning and smacks my hand. The apple falls from my hand and I’m about to complain when she turns back to the sink, picks and apple and offers it to me.“Eat this one instead, those ones aren’t fresh”I melt a little at her efforts. Nana has been working here since before I was born and she’s always cared for me for as long as I remember. Made sure I was fed, fed me even more when my mood was down. She broke rules for me and basically took me as her own daughter after mom died. I love her to bits.“Do you know when Nigel would be here?”, I ask around a mouthful of apple.“Not sure but he should be here by noon, why do you ask?”. I’m not sure if I’m imagining the knowing tone she uses“Uhm, nothing really, just wanted to keep up with the affairs of the house”, I answer.“Ofcourse” It almost sounds like she’s mocking me. I can hear the smile in her voice. Some times I’m almost sure Nana knows about Nigel and me but we both just ignore it. It’s the thing we never speak about.“What is she doing here?”. That loud shrilly voice could only belong to one person, Carrito. Little mistress of the manor and the little mistress isn’t happyHere goes.Four years agoTatumIt’s been two weeks since the day I tried to break up with Nigel. I couldn’t do it that day and still haven’t been able to do it. He’s been busy, more than before. Going on trips to and from San Francisco, trying to speed up the process of opening his own firm. I hardly see him these days, we hardly communicate except for the few calls and messages, keeping me updated on his whereabouts and activities. I appreciate it, all of them. Dad has been busy as well. He hasn’t asked me if I broke up with Nigel, he hasn’t asked anything about my relationship and I don’t know how long he’ll hold off the conversation, how much longer I’d have that freedom. Either way, I’m definitely not prepared to answer the question. I just hope he remains occupied and doesn’t ask. Bridget has been quiet. She hasn’t called me to her office again, I haven’t seen her around either. Carrito started college recently so she’s been at school for the past few weeks and Kate, Nigel and I haven’t t
Four years agoTate:I wake from my slumber, stretching and slowly opening my eyes only to see dads eyes already on me. He’s leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed. I sit up, throwing suspicious glances his way.“Being creepy doesn’t suit you, dad”, I say, if not for anything, then to avert his strong gaze from me. He doesn’t.“There’s Tylenol on the nightstand”, he says instead, pointing towards the glass of water and card of drugs beside me. I’m confused at first, but I recall that I cried myself to sleep the night before and judging from the raging headache I’m suffering, dad was really nice to bring me the pills. I stick one pill in my mouth, swallowing it down with the water. Dad uncrosses his arms and makes his way towards me, sitting on the edge of my bed and staring at me.“We need to talk”, he says and I groan.“Too early daddy. I’m exhausted”. I’m honestly not, but I’m not ready for heavy talk. “Sleep later. We talk now”. His tone leaves no room for argument.
Present NoahI take Tatum to my apartment after we leave the supermarket. She doesn’t complain which makes me realize that she always intended to cook here anyways.When I put in my code, I open the door for her and she waltzes in, her confidence captivating. Stepping in and locking the door behind me, I see her reach into one of her jacket pockets and grabbing a chocolate bar.How did she get it? She walks to the kitchen counter and prepares a pot of boiling water. When I get to the kitchen, she barely looks up at me when she instructs me to place the groceries on the counter, chewing on her chocolate bar.“How can I help?”, I ask and she shakes her head.“Just go get changed. You must be tired. I’m good here”I don’t bother arguing even if I actually want to help because if there’s one thing I’ve learned with Tatum so far, it’s that she does things on her own terms and hardly gives space for arguments. So I go into my room, change and pull out my laptop, working for a few minutes
Tatum: Four years agoNigel leads me into his room and closes the door behind us, locking it. He rests his forehead against the door, breathing heavily. When he turns to face me, anger and pain fill his eyes."You should've listened to me, Tate. If you had, I would've taken care of her and none of this would've happened.""Your mother threw a 1kg glass frame at me, barely missing my head by an inch, Nigel! This happened because she's crazy, not because I spoke up.""Mother has anger issues," he defensively states, infuriating me."Anger issues?" I incredulously ask. "Don’t pretend like you didn’t see her try to kill me, you even called her out on it so don’t fucking pretend, Nigel!""For fucks sake, Tate. You know she would never approve of our relationship, and you only made it worse by insulting her."I scoff in disbelief, speechless. How dare he defend her?"Let me check if you're hurt," he says, moving closer, his gaze fixed on my shoulder."Get away from me." I push him aside and
Noah: Present "Shall I drop you off at the restaurant, or would you like to go straight home?" Tatum turns to answer my question."Drop me off at the restaurant. I need to wrap things up with Dotty and go over what I discussed with Sophie.""Did you guys finalize the menu?"She shakes her head. "No, not yet. But that's why we'll meet up again.""Hmm." I pull up at the restaurant about five minutes later, and Tatum steps out with a goodbye. I wait for about a minute, then restart the engine, and as I'm about to pull out, I see Tatum hurriedly stepping out of the double doors. There's a panicked look on her face, and without thinking too much, I step out of the car just in time for her to basically fly into me."Dot-Dotty is...," she rushes out frantically but chokes on the words."Tatum, calm down," I say, and she does. I take her hand to lead her back inside, already knowing that something is wrong, and it probably has to do with Dorothy. Sure enough, Dorothy is slumped over on one o
Tatum: Four years ago.I'm floating. At least, it feels like I am. I have no idea where I am, and my mind is foggy. But slowly, I start to come to, and I feel my body being moved around. I'm being carried. I reach out my hand to touch him."Nigel?""Shh, go back to sleep, baby. I'll take you to bed."Sure enough, he puts me down on a bed that I recognize as the one in the cottage. Suddenly, my mind clears up completely, and I remember the events that led up to this moment — Kate, getting caught by Bridget, and Nigel's promise to meet me at the cottage. However, he never came as soon as he promised. I fell asleep waiting for him."Where were you?" I ask him. "What time is it?""A little past midnight," he replies, ignoring my first question.I sit up and persist, "Where were you?"He doesn't respond."You promised you were going to meet me here right away.""I know, baby, and I'm sorry. I got caught up," he sighs frustratedly."In Kate?" I ask scornfully. His surprise is evident, even