Three

"Natie!" Anelia called out to her sister, who was in her bedroom. She moved about the kitchen, as she finished up preparing their supper. 

The kitchen was a rather small space that consisted of, well just the basics. If you could call it that. A four-plate stove stood by one corner, just behind the door which led to the dining room. 

Just opposite the stove was the sink, above which was a large window that provided a 

beautiful view of their very colourful yard. Just near the sink was the kitchen unit. In the middle, stood a small table with four chairs. And that was about it. 

Of course before, their kitchen and their house as a whole, were once fully furnished. Well, they sure were far much better furnished than they currently were. However, circumstances had driven her to sell some of the valuable furniture. There was no point in living comfortably, with no food on the table.

Anelia gulped the surge of pain she suddenly felt. She had never envisioned this kind of life, three years back. She had always imagined that things would play out okay. That she would grow up happily with her family right by her side.

She still could not grasp the idea of never seeing her parents again. Never hearing her mother's soft laugh and her father's animated voice whilst watching a football match on the television. The warmth they brought into their home.

She sighed, deeply lost in her thoughts. It felt like one big nightmare to her and how she longed to wake up. 

"Are you okay?" She heard the quiet voice of Natalie.

She quickly got her feelings back in check, plasted a smile on her lips. She turned to her curious little sister. Natie stood by the door, looking warily and worriedly at Anelia. Anelia was not surprised however, at her younger sister's display of worry towards her.

Pretty much nothing went past Natalie Telford unnoticed. She was a very observant and utterly intelligent young person and this was one of the other countless times that Natalie had asked her older sister if she was okay or not. 

Natalie did not act her age. Period. While most girls her age would probably be too busy watching some Disney show on the television and possibly throwing a tantrum over the kind of food on the table and a multiple other things she could actually list down, Natalie was always considerate.

Never once throwing a tantrum or passing a single negative comment on the food Anelia provided for them both. She knew and accepted their life for the reality that it was. However, instead of Anelia being happy over Natalie's behaviour, she only managed to worry even further about her sister.

"Of course," Anelia answered cooly. "Food's ready. I hope you're hungry because I made your favourite."

Clearly Natalie was not convinced as she continued to hover by the threshold, watching her sister move about their kitchen.

"I'm fine, really. You need to stop worrying about me and more about the food, which by the way, is getting colder by the second," she smiled genuinely at Natalie. 

Still, Natalie was not convinced.

Anelia sighed and placed the sauce she had just taken from the kitchen unit, on the table.

"Come here," she said, whilst opening her arms wide.

Natalie came into her sister's arms and they hugged tightly. Her head lay just under her sister's chin. She felt like if her big sister was not worrying about them, then she was equally worrying about something to do with her work.

Anelia held her sister at arms' length and placed a kiss on her forehead. She playfully placed a finger on her temple and uncreased the small frown that had formed on her young face.

"Stop worrying so much!" She exclaimed playfully. "And no more frowning, okay?" Promise me."

Natalie's gaze roamed over Anelia's face searching for any form of worry only to see that her sister looked at her with love and only a smile. There was no sign of anything being wrong, so she finally caved in.

"Fine. I won't worry so much. At least I'll try not to," she muttered the last part looking away.

Anelia laughed softly and shook her head. 

"And?" 

"And I'll stop frowning," she sighed deeply. "Frowns are not cool. I heard you the first time."

"Good! Now come, let's eat. I made your favourite," she looked expectantly at Natalie. Wait for it.

"Why didn't you tell me," Natalie gasped while dragging out a chair and immediately sitting down. Her mood had quickly escalated to that of a child who had just gotten his favourite toy. Let's just say that Natalie really loved her food. 

Anelia just did not have the heart to tell her sister that she had in fact already told her, seeing as how the girl could not wait to dig in. She smiled at her sister, a complete replica of their mother. It was like looking at a younger version of her. Every time Anelia looked at Natalie, it felt like their mother was somehow still here.

It truly felt like she looked and behaved so much more like their mother with every passing day. She felt like she could look at her talk all day and still not get tired of it. She was pretty and would grow to be a very beautiful and bold young woman one day. One with a big heart too.

They ate and talked about this and that. Natalie offered to do the dishes afterwards. She always offered to help out a lot, now that Anelia thought about it. And once she set her mind to doing something, there was no stopping Natalie.

So while Natalie washed the dishes, Anelia headed to the laundry room. She was about to finish up with the packing, when her phone rang. 

"Hey," she greeted her friend Emma. She was well, her friend plus colleague. Emma also worked at the Hotel. Difference was, she worked as a receptionist and was a member of the Dappers. Well, Emma was one beautiful person. No wonder she was part of the group.

However, it went without saying that she was also someone who was friendly too. I mean why else would someone like her be friends with Anelia. 

"Hey yourself, A. What happened to us meeting after work?" She cut to the chase. That was actually one of her commendable traits. Emma never beat around the bush and man was she painfully direct. It was like there was no filter when it came to her. Yes, she swore a lot.

"Hello? You there?" Anelia jumped at the shrill voice that sounded through the speaker.

"Yup. Look, I totally forgot. Sorry," Anelia knew that her friend was one to prefer directness so she never bothered with sugar coating her replies. And to her defense, she really had forgotten about their said meeting.

"What do you mean you forgot?" She demanded. "You have any idea how many hours I waited for you to show up?" She shouted into the phone, followed by a string of colourful words. Anelia winced and pulled her phone away from her ear.

Now, she really felt bad although it had in all honesty slipped her mind. All because of him! She clenched her teeth thinking back to that encounter with that man.

"I can explain," she said to her friend who was now breathing heavily through the phone. 

"No shit sherlock! I would just love NOT to hear your explanation!"

"I got busy at work, okay? I had to clean the penthouse today and let's just say things may have gotten a little eventful," she rubbed her forehead as she felt the start of a headache.

"What do you mean eventful? Did something happen?" Emma asked calmly. Anelia really could not keep up with her friend's mood swings. One minute she was all but ready to bite her head off, the next she was concerned like a mother-hen.

Anelia thought hard about whether or not to tell her friend about what happened roughly a few hours ago. Was it really important? And most importantly, who in the world was that man?

"If you call having to clean the penthouse all by yourself because surprisingly Veronica couldn't make it eventful then yeah. It was eventful," she said cooly, managing to tell her only half of the truth over what she had truly meant by eventful.

"Tell me you're joking! You had to clean the freaking penthouse by your f*cking self?"

Anelia once again found herself pulling the phone away from her poor ear. It was really starting to become a routine. Emma calls, she pulls the phone away from her ear!

"Yup," she said, popped the p in an attempt to sound unaffected by the entire ordeal. She had to act so because acting up on the matter would be like urging the dragon to blow fire. The dragon in this case being her not so level-headed friend, Emma.

"And you're okay with it? A, you need to stand up for yourself. These people cannot keep on trampling on you like this. Remember what happened last time?"

She winced as she remembered at the only one time she had had an encounter with one of the Dappers. His name alone incited in her an unwanted feeling of hate. Hate was unhealthy.

See, when Anelia first worked at La Vida, she wasn't a cleaner per se. She was actually a member of the room-service team. Her job was pretty simple. Just deliver the guests' food and wait for their next call.

It was going well until Trey Whitmore came along. Up to present, she still rued the day that she met that lying bastard. See, he had taken an interest in Anelia and had tried time and again to ask her out. Anelia had flat out rejected every attempt he elicited towards her.

The guy clearly was one very persistent man, because no matter how many times she said no, he kept on seeking her out and trying to buy her gifts. Obviously she didn't let any of the gifts lure her into agreeing but man, he still would not take no for an answer. It got to a point where Anelia felt like wherever she so much as turned, he was there in her line of vision.

She felt like he would not let her breath, without him being in her personal space. One day she got so fed up that she yelled at him right in front of quite a lot of workers during their lunch break. She should have known that he was not going to take it lying down, when he clenched his teeth and simply walked away.

The Dappers or should she say Troy, being influential and all, had pulled some strings and the next thing she knew she had been downgraded to a cleaner, without so much as an explanation. Of course she had her suspicions that consisted of a certain male with a wounded ego.

The bastard himself, confirmed her suspicions a few days later when they met in one of the corridors. 

"Having fun with the dirt, I take it," he had remarked with a stupid smirk on his face, no doubt referring to her job.

And you know what they say. Once bitten, twice shy. She could not afford to get on the wrong side of any one of those Dappers. She had had her lesson and learned it good. If fighting back and voicing her thoughts meant losing her job, she might as well be mute the entire time she worked at La Vida.

"Of course I haven't forgotten which is why I'm letting it go," she answered softly.

"Bullshit! I know that beneath the timid exterior you display, there is a strong woman with a fiery spirit. A, you have to fight back! Otherwise, this will go on and God knows what else they're gonna do."

"I know, okay. But I can't lose this job. I need this job. More than anything. And you know how those guys can be manipulative Emma. Besides, I really didn't mind. The penthouse is never dirty anyway," she told her friend, her phone now balanced between her shoulder and her head, swiftly continuing with the packing.

Her friend sighed in surrender. "Fine! But one of these days, I swear that they're gonna get what they deserve. Take it from me!" She exclaimed heartily.

Anelia chuckled. Knowing Emma, she was capable of doing exactly as she said. 

"I would love to see the day but it's not worth it," she advised her dear friend. "Now, I'd love to sit and hear you talk about all the different ways you'd kill the Dappers, but I really have to pack and get these clothes in order by tonight."

"Alright, A. Say hie to my favourite girl. Tell her I'm buying her something nice this weekend. As a matter of fact, we're having a girls' out this weekend!"

"Sounds nice but I really have to go. We'll talk more tomorrow."

"Okay. Goodnight."

Her phone beeped as the call ended. She placed her phone on the counter and finished packing their clothes. When she stepped into Natie's room, she smiled at the familiar sight that was before her eyes. Her sister was fast asleep, splayed out on her bed with a bunch of books all around her. If Natie was not helping out with the house chores, she definitely was in her room engrossed in her books.

 Anelia packed her books and placed the pile just near her bed. She carefully tucked Natie in, making sure not to wake her up. Placing a strand of loose hair behind her ear, she placed a soft kiss on her forehead. 

She finally finished placing Natie's clothes neatly on the shelves and retreated to her own room, closing the door with a soft thud. A shower later, Anelia was ready for bed. She instantly dozed off as soon as she laid her head on the pillow.