"Wake up, sleeping beauty!"
The birds chirped outside the glass window of the room of Anderson mansion which belonged to none other than, Zaria Smith. The rays from the hot sun glazed the window glass, greatly.
Too shiny!
It made her stir in her sleep as she quickly yanked the light pink quilt over her head.
She was seconds away to close her eyes again when she heard her maidservant, Elizabeth Jones, commonly known as Lisa in her friends, called her out.
"Ria, come on, get up! It's afternoon already." Of course, it was a lie. Madam Anderson had told Lisa to wake Zaria early today. Lisa knew Zaria would not awaken that easily.
Elizabeth and Zaria were the best of friends of the same age. They did not care about the master-servant relation between them. What mattered to them the most was their strong friendship which had been built for the past couple of years with their close bond of sharing things.
In a nutshell, both girls had each other's back.
Elizabeth was brought five years back in the Anderson mansion for Zaria as her playmate. She was timid at first but came out of her shell when she immersed herself among the lives of people living in the Anderson mansion, and vice versa.
"Lisa, please, let me sleep. I was awake the whole night for that eyesore assignment. I want to rest. No, I need some rest!" Lisa only shook her head.
It was common for Ria to say this every morning.
And, for every subject.
But, Physics was something Zaria despised with her whole being. No matter how much time she invested in it, she could never be able to understand the subject, but she did get good grades.
She also had some prejudice against Isaac Newton and apples. Oh her rotten luck!
"No means no. Madam Anderson has instructed me to wake you, so get up." Now Zaria had opened her right eye a little.
Lisa smiled. Finally!
'After all the hard work.'
Madam Anderson was the best friend of Zaria's late mother, Cassandra Smith.
Madam Anderson was a kind woman who had always treated Zaria fairly and had given her the love of a parent from the moment she brought Zaria home with her when she was informed that her beloved best friend had left the world along with her husband in an accident, leaving a bundle of sunshine alone in this cruel, selfish world.
At that moment, Madam Anderson wanted to protect her from all the evil in the world.
Madam Anderson, who was also known as Mia Anderson had never forced Zaria to call her mother, instead, she told Zaria that she could call her whatever she would like, so Zaria insisted on calling Madam Anderson, her aunt.
Aunt Mia and her husband, Master Anderson, her Uncle John had always treated her like she was their own, and so was Zaria.
They were like her parents and meant the whole world to her. She could do everything for them.
It was rare for Aunt Mia to request her presence at the breakfast table this morning as she always had told Zaria to take her time in getting up, as well as Master Anderson.
The Anderson couple knew Zaria was getting spoilt with such concessions, but the loving parents in them always got in between and told them to give everything she wanted.
If she wanted any dress, she could have it. If she wanted any perfume, she could have it. If she wanted the whole world, the Anderson couple would give it to her without missing a heartbeat. That much, she was loved by the Anderson couple.
But waking her up in the morning, seemed rather important. It aroused her interest.
"Why, is something the matter?" Zaria's voice was still groggy as she had not woken up clearly.
Lisa shrugged, "I don't know. She hasn't told anything to me yet, but I heard the other servants talking about some high esteemed guest coming here over today."
"Oh," Zaria said plainly. Some guest coming here at the Anderson mansion was nothing special to her.
It was the most common thing. Meetings, discussions, eating with business partners.
It was not like her childhood sweetheart was coming.
Since her aunt had told her to, then naturally she had to attend. She yawned and outstretched her body, getting up from the bed. Her white sleeping gown had creases, resulting in changing of sleeping positions the whole night.
Did she care?
No.
The world was not perfect anyway.
Her thick hazelnut wavy strands blocked the sight in front of her and she stumbled across the bedpost. She had a lavish four-poster bed like a princess, just like her name.
Lisa was horrified. This girl...
Not a day would pass when Ria had not been clumsy.
She was clumsy and she was born clumsy, and she was proud of that.
"Heavens! Ria, you're a young lady. You need to watch your steps when you walk. What if something happened?" Yes, one thing in Lisa was, she was always that melodramatically naggy.
If Zaria was conscious enough, then she would have rolled her eyes at Lisa, but she loved Elizabeth like her sister, her closet confidant.
"Yes, yes." Zaria waved her hand leisurely and proceeded to move to her attached bathroom for a quick shower.
She had the habit of taking showers whenever she woke up. At any hour because it kept her fresh.
Around 20 minutes later, she came out from her bathroom with her hair and body wrapped up in a pure white towel. Her face was still flushed red due to the warm water. Some water droplets were falling from her hair strands on the ground.
A dress was already prepared by Lisa for her. It was a teal pink floral dress for her, her favourite colour.
Pink had always been her favourite colour. No matter what shades.
It gave her a princess feeling.
She made her way to the staircase and her gaze tried to find her aunt, but aunt was nowhere to be found.
Hmmm, then maybe she was at-
She took her route to the kitchen.
As Zaria made her way to the kitchen, she saw the kitchen maids hurriedly working like machines. She was baffled. It was not like that the maids slacked off usually, but it was strange today. What was going on? "Hey, Felicia, what's going on?" She asked another maid who she considered her friend, but Zaria's relation with her was not that strong as that of hers with Lisa as they were bosom friends. Felicia, a sweet little girl with bright orange hair and chubby cheeks full of freckles, was seventeen years old, working as a part-time servant at Anderson's mansion to unhinged the economic burden of her parents. She was a high school student, but her hard work still could not be compared with most people. She worked hard to earn with good and fair means. Felicia was startled to see the young miss up so close. Not that her young miss looked like a creep wh
When Aunt Mia refused to tell her anything with a smile, Zaria guessed that the person coming at the Anderson mansion was not that much of a significant figure in Mia Anderson's eyes. After all, only some people could catch her aunt's eyes. In her mind, Zaria simply just did not want to pay attention to that stranger because she was growing green with envy as she kept looking around. She could not bear anyone receiving the treatment as her. Because of that person, everyone was playing riddles with her! She hated riddles. She liked everything easygoing. That was one of the qualities of her Elian. He was easygoing, so she also loved easygoing things. Easy to have her hands-on, easy to read, easy to understand, easy to see, and easy to get along with. 'If that whosoever guest were to be a pers
She reached the man in no time. Hell hath no fury as a woman scorned. She now believed it was all true. What she felt right at this moment was like a mother whose child was being bullied by the big wicked monster! "What a daring person you are! You, strange guy, what have you done to my baby!? Don't you know you can't touch someone's possessions? I must say you dare to do this. Wait, just let me call someone here." The man was flabbergasted to see a girl dashing toward him with puffed cheeks. It was normal for him to receive proposals from the foreign girls whether the adults or younger ones when he was abroad studying and would be approached with peculiar strategies which could make any male have shivers, but this time this girl's eyes had nothing but wrath for him. He felt addled for a moment, but then he realized the little flower pot in his h
He stood there, dazed. He did not expect the spoilt girl he thought would apologize to him this easily. No girl could ask for forgiveness this easily, or admit that she was at fault. He could proudly say that he was experienced in this department. Seeing her embarrassed expression was an amusement for him. He wanted to see that more often in the future. Would that be called bullying? He realized he was still grinning. Perhaps, that was because he had come back after so many years? He shook his head and took steps near to his haven. Thousands of memories came by in his mind about this place. Nothing had changed. It was all the same. The familiar air, the familiar feeling. It was the place where he took his first steps, the place where he learnt to go to school from; th
Was he her Elian? Her Elian Anderson? Were uncle and aunt joking? She flipped her head right and left to see some kind of a hidden camera, but found none. So, it was true. It was her Elian. She was floating in the air in her mind. Now that she knew it was him, she found this man more charming than before. It would not be called cheating anymore. Because this man was her knight. Not only his face she was attracted to, but also to his aura. An easygoing, understanding, and calm aura which she adored most in people around her. All the menacing intentions she had for him, turned into a pure blissful smile, bringing the angel in her out. She still remembered how scared she was when she entered here, and how he teased her calling her a crybaby.
Madam Anderson took both her son and future daughter-in-law's hands in her own and pulled them together to sit with her on different sofas. Elian alone, and Zaria with her. As usual, her husband gladly followed her and sat on another sofa. For Zaria, it was surely awkward. How could she not feel restless when Elian Anderson was sitting right in front of her? From time to time, their eyes met and Elian would smile at her and she would avert her eyes with her scarlet hot cheeks. She still could not look at him in the eyes! Why did he get so handsome? It was his fault! Madam Anderson since forever, wanted this. She resembled an excited child who had been given candy for her accomplishment and hard work after the exams. She wanted a great result. She cleared h
When Elian just left for his room, the shyness of Zaria started to fly away. But still the thought of seeing and having Elian up so near her, her cheeks heated again, so she put her hands to cool them.Foo. Foo.You are an adult, Ria. Act like one.Excusing herself to her room, a minute passed or two, she was found squealing and jumping on the bed.Elian came back.Elian talked to her.Elian smiled at her.Elian teased her.Exhausted, she finally threw herself on her bed. She grabbed a pillow and hugged it closely to her chest, biting her lips in utter exhilaration. Her eyes, glimmering with her pure, innocent dreams and hope.She still could not believe that he was here."Don't be sad. I'll be back again to you, little lady Ria." She could hear his words in her ears.It was the time he
The faster she ran upstairs in her sandals with a tray in her hands, the more sound she produced. Now, everyone in the Anderson mansion knew she was holding a tray. Not looking into their prying eyes, she kept walking forward and forward. Knocking gently on the door, she expected Elian to be awakened by now, but who would have thought that he was still sleeping like there was no tomorrow. Oh, she forgot. He was a heavy sleeper. "Elian, are you awake?" Zaria's voice was gentle and soft as a feather. Very gentle which was a little incredulous. If someone on her campus were to watch her like this gentle, they would feel dizzy. Gentle Ria was totally different from the Indifferent Bossy Ria. Everyone remembered how she beat a boy when she was in her sixth grade and