My punishment season ended when Margaret received a phone call.
I had never been thankful for Juliet like I did at the moment. Margaret had withdrawn her hold on the whip, she quickly collected the device from Juliet and walked away.
I knew better than to stay sprawled on the floor despite the bruises and soreness that were excruciating as ever. I sauntered to the kitchen in an attempt to make lunch.
I looked around the sparkling tidy environment. I loved cooking, cutting, chopping ingredients into chunks was the best part of my day. The counter was wiped clean, rugs and kitchen equipment and tools neatly set up.
Juliet littered the kitchen whenever she was in. It was my job to keep everything in check. We might not be high-class business owners but we had enough to take care of the family and for a maid as well. I had made the mistake of suggesting Margaret hire someone so I could rest but it ended in me having scars all over my body and Margaret yelling at me all day.
I got to work. Getting the tomatoes from the refrigerator, I got ahold of the chopping-board and knife. I had no idea what I was preparing but I cut the tomatoes in half and went ahead for the onions.
I was almost done with the onions when Juliet barged in inanimate.
“Get ready,” she proclaimed. I looked vaguely at her.
When she noticed my expression she rolled her eyes and explained in an annoying voice. “We are having dinner with Mr.Ian and his son. Daddy called mom few minutes ago and informed her of the good news. They’re very respectable, and his son will likely take interest in me. After all, I’m prettier and smarter. I heard girls drool at the sight—”
I stopped listening, too ingulfed in my thoughts to care. I understood why Juliet would be enthusiastic to welcome noble families as such. She got to seat on the table with them, and fawn over their expensive attires and lucullan lifestyles. On numerous occasions, I served. Margaret either introduced me as a maid or skipped that part.
My stomach cried out at the thought of dinner. I haven’t eaten anything since yesterday’s lunch. Margaret made sure I learned my lesson, part of which included that I had absolutely no right to eat except left overs.
“Witch!” Juliet snarled irritatingly.
A laugh almost escaped me. Juliet was one of those that liked to talk about stuff all the time—show off—and would get mad when they weren’t listened to.
“I wouldn’t waste my time talking to you, I have to get ready for the meeting with Allen,” she dreamingly said.
I had no idea who Allen was, inquiring about him would only lead to humiliation.
Just when I thought she was done and would likely retire to her room, Juliet walked briskly until she was few feet away from me. “Do you know why he would chat me and not you?”
I dared not to answer. You see, Juliet thought I was envious of her. That was why she rubbed it on my face whenever she could.
“Witch!” she was getting mad at my lack of response. I stepped back afraid of what was coming next. We all knew boys preferred her to me, she had fancy dresses and elegance. I was merely a stack of bones, thin over the years and dressed awfully.
“Allen is a business tycoon. Former CEO of Ian Tech Industry—a blooming business in the world.” She waved her latest iPhone in my face. I gulped hard and anticipated her next move.
“You wouldn’t know because you don’t own a cell-phone. Witch.” She tapped her phone against my chest hard. I was breathing heavy, and tightened my grip on the counter.
I wasn’t permitted to own a cell phone. Margaret decided I wasn’t worthy of it. The first time my phone was seized by her during junior high, I spent the following year weeping in my room.
I couldn’t contact my best friends—Indiana and Grace.
“Don’t disgrace mom. Also do whatever you can to stay out of sight. You wouldn’t want to get in trouble would you?” she flipped her curly blonde hair.
She walked away not before warning me. “Keep your creepy eyes off Allen.”
Juliet always targeted the upper class business men. Whenever father would invite his friends for dinner, Juliet stuck around displaying her charms. Once one of the men was staring intently at me, I had no idea why he was interested in me. Turned out, he was only staring due to a huge gash in my worn-out shirts.
Juliet misunderstood and claimed I was seducing him. I starved for three whole days and was forced to kneel and beg for Juliet’s forgiveness.
In the distance, I could hear Juliet squealing no doubt at a
new dress that was bought specially for the dinner.
“Cheryl,” Margaret called out. My legs were about to give out in anticipation. Margaret rarely called for me solely if I was in trouble, otherwise she would send Juliet.
I managed to walk without my legs giving out. Margaret was seated on the sofa with both legs rested on the center table. Juliet was standing smiling at a beautiful dark-pink dress that still had a tag.
“You called for me.” I announced my presence. My heart was pounding uncontrollably, my legs nearly gave out the more I advanced.
“Rat.”
I flinched at the tone of her voice.
“I assume Juliet had informed you of our honorable guests.”
I nodded quickly.
“Good,” she remarked satisfied.
“I will like you to stay in your best behavior. Only serve when you’re told to, don’t stick around. Go away as soon as you were done with your service.”
My eyes were casted down—looking at Margaret would only evoke punishments and disobedience.
“Now, go and prepare dinner.”
Just when I was about to head to the kitchen, the doorbell rang.
Who could that be?
Indiana and Grace stood docilely by the door.My hold on the doorknob intensified, I was afraid to look behind me to Margaret who sat gracefully asking at intervals who was there. I stepped down shielding my best friends from her view. Margaret had warned me against bringing intruders into her household—and by intruders she meant my two best friends. “What are you guys doing here?” I whispered-yelled. I closed the door behind me. “We decided to visit you, since you know—” Indiana started.I knew I was a shitty best friend. I rarely hung out with my friends. Margaret was to blame for it, she made sure I had no time to spare. I go to bed late everyday and wake up early in the morning to continue with the house chores. Grace was looking down. She was the sensitive one out of us all. I couldn’t help but be guilty.“This is unfair,” Grace whispered. I looked behind. Somehow we were all waiting for Margaret to emerge behind the sealed doors. “We don’t hang out anymore because of your
Margaret called for me with a flicker of her hands. I took a hold of the dishes and placed it at the center of the table. Allen’s eyes were still on me, his presence was making me awfully uncomfortable. Yet, I ignored his stares and poured the elderly man—probably his father—wine. “Sister,” she announced. Her eyes were looking so intensely at me that I squinched. I wasn’t surprised that I was acknowlged. After all, father was present and any form of degrading would only cause trouble to Margaret and Juliet. Juliet took Margaret’s pampering tendencies towards her for granted. She showed it off whenever she got the chance to do so. In all this, I never blamed her for taking our parent’s attention.She raised her head high and elegantly sat watching intently at Allen. She would nudge him and point at a random dish. Allen would nod without saying a word. I rarely saw dad, he was always travelling abroad dealing with one business or the other to earn a livelihood. Yet, he never got the
Margaret dismissed me for the night. I should be grateful that I was left off the hook, but I couldn’t shake the suspicious glare Juliet sent my way. It was a warning to stay away from Allen. We all knew Allen wouldn’t settle for anything less as me. Juliet was up to his standards, she fit all the requirements to stay beside him. I lied on the soft bed, my back was hurting from the beatings and standing while they ate. I felt bad for declining father’s offer to join them, at least I could’ve eaten something. My stomach growled, I pressed a hands suppressing it. The guest were probably downstairs or gone, I didn’t know what time it was. I had no clocks on the wall or a phone to look at. It had been a few minutes not sure but I suddenly felt thirsty and decided to stroll to the kitchen. The dinning room was empty, which meant the guests had called it a night. As for Margaret and Juliet I had no idea where they were but I hopped they were asleep. I looked at Juliet’s picture that
It wasn’t a surprise that Juliet would take a liking to Allen at the first meeting, but the request for marriage took me off guard. My hand shook and I did all I could to stay balanced, and hidden from their view.Juliet knelt down before Margaret sobbing while the latter comforted her by running her hands through her hair. They were waiting for father who after the departure of our honorable guests had taken the pleasure to escort them out. My eyes flickered between Margaret and Juliet. I couldn’t comprehend why I felt so disappointed when Juliet declared her interest in Allen. Those glances he stole my way during dinner was nothing, I was a nobody and he couldn’t possibly fancy me. Juliet had everything he desired in a woman, yet I couldn’t help the jealously in me. It was the first time that someone had taken the time to look at me with keen interest. Father appeared disheveled, his tie was loosened and it looked like he would pass out any minute from fatigue. We were all wa
“Get up witch,” Juliet seized the duvet, the sun shine through the half-opened window, goosebumps were all over me as I struggled to get myself warm by tightly hugging myself. “Good morning Juliet,” I murmured. Curtsey was on one of the many things Margaret emphasized on. “Didn’t you hear me the first time? I said wake up witch.” And I thought Father considering to meet with the Ian’s for a marriage proposal was supposed to brighten her mood. I rushed out of the bed and ran like my life depended on it to the kitchen—I wouldn’t take any chances with Margaret, not after getting on the phone with my best friends. Oh no, Indiana, I felt like a terrible friend. I always knew I wasn’t entitled to have companies but deep down, I wanted to have friends like a normal young adult. As much as I enjoyed cooking, I couldn’t ignore the soreness from running errands. “Good morning Father,” I greeted while placing the plates on the wooden family dinning table. He hummed in acknowledgement. Jul
Dinner was grilled fish served with sauce and plenty lemons. And for dessert it was chocolate cake. What I learned about the Ians was their love for elegance—everything must be in order. Also, the unspeakable of eating without talking. I devoured the dishes without appearing too desperate. Not having proper meals for days and then sitting at a large table, accompanied by all varieties of foods that could be swapped for another within the blink of an eye. I also learned that Allen detested garlic. He also had a habit of smelling the food before eating to detect the presence of garlic. Juliet was her usually cocky self, laughing in an unnecessarily high pitched annoying voice every few minutes. She also tried to engage Allen in conversations as much as she could. I knew what Allen and I had was nothing. It was the spur of the moment, but it gave me hope. I knew I was a hopeless romantic when I went through all the books in the library during high school. “Here,” Allen handed me
I was on the phone with Indiana three days after the dinner. To cut the story short, Juliet got engaged to Allen and the wedding was set for four months. “Juliet is planning to have the best wedding of the century. I mean I have nothing against her wedding but I will hate to have to serve wine for rich snotty brats that probably had people wiped their butts everyday.”“Look at the bright side Cher, you will get rid of the bitch—” when she said the word ‘bitch’ she made sure it was so low that if I hadn’t predicted her I wouldn’t have guessed.Indiana was unique in her own way, while Grace was the quiet type we were the life of the party. Speaking of Grace, “Is Grace mad at me?” It wasn’t often that I got the chance to speak with them. I hated the fact that I had to sneak before properly talking them—the distance created the drift in our friendship. “She is fine. Her mom’s always busy, she has night shifts now and Grace has to take care of her sister Mia, you know how that girl can
Ever since I was born, it had always been the sequence of events; getting punished daily for the petty mistakes I made. Margaret said I’m non-complaint and to make sure I stayed out of trouble she had to discipline me. Juliet and I were never alike. She preferred to stay in the shadows of Margaret—since she claimed that I had no privilege to refer to her as a mom—while I do things my own way. So far, that had gotten me into more troubles than I can count. I paused my movement on the broom, the tiled floor looking anew. I could hear footsteps approaching. I steadied myself getting ready for Margaret’s wraths and if I were unlucky, a few strokes of cane.Before I could make a run for the door, Margaret stomped in with two whips in hand and Juliet trailing behind her clenching the hem of her dress with a barbarous glare. Margaret looked around, heaved a sigh and uttered with potency. “How many times have I told you not to defy my orders? I sheltered you, took care of you when you wer