"Henry. Go show Redah to her room." My grandmother called out to the old man in the butler suit.
I've never actually seen anyone wear one before. Did this mean my grandmother was rich?
My parents weren't rich as far as I knew. They were just normal. I was normal. But my grandmother and this mansion I was in, didn't seem... normal at all.
Did my father run away from home and live the life of an average normal person? Is that the reason why my grandmother never approved of my parents' marriage? Is that why we lived away from her all my life and never spoke of her?
But now this grandmother of mine had sent a letter to have me live with her. And for her to tell me I was not allowed to leave until she approved, seemed very scary. Did this mean I was trapped here?
"Please, follow me, Miss Redah."
All I could do was nod and follow the old man. I was too nervous and afraid of my grandmother to speak my mind or say anything.
The stairs were long and a little tiring but the man in the butler suit, called Henry, had been kind enough to hold my suitcase for me. I would have felt bad about it, but I was too alarmed at how easily Mr Henry had picked up my suitcase and held it to his body. It was as if it were empty.
For an old man, he seemed too strong.
When he led me to the room I would stay in, I was shocked at the size of it. Was this a bedroom? It was five times the size of my room at home. Although, I guess this would be my home from now on.
When Mr Henry put down my suitcase, he stood by the open door and gave me a small nod before he closed the door. I thought maybe he would say something, anything, but I guess not.
Being in a place that wasn't home, felt lonely. I would be living here from now on and who knows when I could leave. But I could leave when I became an adult, right? .... Right?
I didn't want to think more about this, so I let myself collapse on the bed and close my eyes.
Just months ago, my life was completely normal, I even had a boy ask me out for the first time in my life. I've never been asked out before. I even said yes to him. My very first boyfriend. But after my parents received grandmother's letter, I broke it off with him. I didn't even get to find out what it was like to date. It was cut so short.
My mother told me we came from a complicated family and that I would need to live with grandmother and they don't know for how long. So, of course, I would need to break off my relations. It would be irresponsible to make promises I didn't know if I could keep.
My father was the one who was the quietest.
My mother was the one who explained to me that I would need grandmother's approval if I wanted to be free from the responsibilities of the Ellis family. She said that although grandmother didn't approve of father's marriage choice, she let him go free but he would never be able to use the Ellis family wealth.
What a secret to keep from your child, right?
But strangely enough, when I looked into my mother's eyes, it felt like there was still more things that were hidden from me.
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