Family

She woke up from the sound of her alarm. Rubbing off the sleep from her eyes she went inside the bathroom. After the shower, she wrapped the towel around her wet body and started brushing her teeth. She stepped out of the bathroom and got dressed in white jeans shorts and a light pink shirt. She opened her suitcase and took out all her neatly folded clothes and started stacking them inside the wardrobe. The dresses she got for work were hung in their place. For the shoes, she chose the lowest drawer.

She put the books on the bookshelf. She hadn't brought many things with her, only those that she needed the most. She put her makeup and accessories on the dresser. She gathered her hair in a ponytail and left two loose strands on her face. She put on her lenses and did light makeup.

She picked up her phone and dialed a number. She chewed her lower lip and walked towards the window. She removed the curtain from the window. It was a bright sunny day. The roads were busy, covered with so many cars- honking and honking and honking. She put on the curtain on the window again and walked toward her bed. She lied down on it, her feet touching the floor.

The person on the other side picked up the phone.

“Hello, dearest.” An elderly voice spoke.

“Good morning, nana.” She chirped.

“You reached safely?”

“I would have called you yesterday but it was very late. I’m all fine here.”

“Did you have your breakfast?” She asked.

“No, I was just going out for groceries and things.” She chuckled.

“Richard helped you with everything? Was there any kind of problem?” She asked with concern.

“No, nana. Mr. Grace had prepared everything for me just like you asked him to do.”

Her grandmother sighed in relief. “Good.”

“Okay then, I’ll call you later. I love you.” She brightly said.

“I love you too, dearest.” She said and hung up the call.

She looked at her reflection in the mirror once again. She slipped into her blue Toms and took her tote bag and put her wallet, house keys, perfume, tint, and mobile in it. All those things without which she couldn’t go anywhere. She took her sunglasses and after locking the door behind her she walked towards the stairwell.

Two elderly women were sitting in the lobby. She passed through the glass door and turned on the GPS on her mobile. A coffee shop was a 10 minutes' walk from her building. She started walking down the street following directions on her phone.

*

The bells jingled as she entered the shop. It was not that much crowded as she thought it would be. She took a seat beside the window. The waiter came and asked for her order.

She read the menu, "I would like to have blue berry pancakes and um, sausages." She said after a second. "Anything else?" The waiter asked as he noted her order on a small notepad. "Do you have – um… strawberry milkshake?" She questioned.

"Yes, of course." The waiter said. "Okay, add that too with extra sugar and a lot of whipped cream." She tapped her fingers on the table. He gave her a small smile and walked away.

As the waiter left, she searched for the online departmental stores for groceries and placed the order for all the things she needed.

She placed her phone aside and started tapping her fingers on the table again. The waiter came back with her breakfast. It looked delicious. She smelled it and started eating. The milkshake has just the right amount of sweetness. She licked her lips after drinking it. After eating all the food, she paid the bill and left.

*

It was almost noon when she left the coffee shop. She started moving back to the building when she saw a girl with bright pink hair, walking out of the salon with her mom.

"I'm very disappointed in you, Gabby." The woman huffed. "But mom..." Gabby whined walking behind her. "I didn't permit you to put a whole paintbox on your head." She crossed her hands on her chest and gave her a disapproving look.

"Oh! come on mom! I'm about to graduate from high school and here you are treating me like a twelve-year-old." Gabby put her hand in the air and said dramatically.  "After all, I'm your favorite child." She batted her eyelashes.

"No comments. I’m extremely disappointed in you right now!" Her mom made a skeptical face and started walking away from where Penelope was standing.

Penelope looked down at her feet and started moving towards her building. It felt like time had stopped for a while or had started passing slow.

Flashback

"Oh my God, what have you done to your hair, Josephine!" Jane said in a high-pitched tone as her elder daughter entered the home with her hair covered in bright red color, followed by her little sister, Penelope.

"What mom? Geez. Stop overreacting." Josephine rolled her eyes and entered the kitchen swaying her long now-red-blonde-hair. She took out a water bottle from the refrigerator and directly drank water from it. "Your dad would be furious." Jane placed her hand on her forehead.

Josephine put the bottle back in the refrigerator and closed it. She turned around, "Yeah. He surely would be furious." and rolled her eyes. "As if he is interested and involved in our lives, mom!" She nearly raised her voice. “You should not talk about your father like that.” She tried to hushed her.

"I don’t know why did you even mention his name? I’m trying to live my life the way I want! And he’s not a part of it.” She was on the brink of her sanity. “Stop before you regret it!” She warned her. “He's never around, mom! Can’t you see it? I'm telling you he's cheating on you since Penny is born and--" She was cut off by her mother's slap.

Penelope was standing in the doorway of the kitchen, terrified by her mother's action. Though she was in her freshmen year of high school she still had a sensitive heart.

"Stop talking shit like that. Don't you dare to tell me what he is doing!" Jane said furiously. "Go to your room this instant!" She ordered.

Josephine had her hand on her cheek while her eyes became glossy. She stomped out of the kitchen and ran upstairs. She slammed the door behind her. “YOU’RE GROUNDED FOR TWO WEEKS!” She shouted at the top of her lungs.

She turned around and sighed when she saw Penelope standing in the hallway. She asked her if she wanted something to eat. She shook her head and pressed her lips into a thin line.

"Okay, you can go to your room," said Jane. Penelope nodded and slowly walked towards her room with a heavy heart.

*

Her face showed no emotions as she entered the building. She pressed the button of the elevator and waited for it to open. She entered the elevator followed by a lady in a red sundress holding two big paper bags.

The door closed and the woman said in a chirpy voice "Oh hello there, are you new here?"

Penelope looked at her and nodded. "Are you upset?" The woman looked at her face and said with a worried expression.

"Oh no..." She put her thoughts at the back of her mind. The door opened and they both stepped out of the elevator. "You're Mrs. Lumen?" Penelope asked.

"Yes, how do you know?" The woman smiled. "Mr. Grace told me about you. I'm Penelope. I just came here last night.” She introduced herself. “May I?" She said and pointed towards the bag. Mrs. Lumen handed her a bag.

"Call me Hailey." She gave her a warm smile. Penelope felt cheerful.

"You’re not from New York?” Hailey asked as she opened the door of her apartment. "Washington." She replied and followed her inside the house.

The house was a little bigger than Penny's house. It had 2 bedrooms and instead of a balcony, there was a window bay in the living room.

Hailey took the bag from her hand and moved into the kitchen. She had put her heart into decorating the house.

Penelope moved around and saw the pictures hanging on the wall. Hailey, her husband, and their 2 children. She admiringly looked at them. “They are identical twins!” She surprisingly said. “I’m a twin too. I have a brother. Shaun.” She smiled. “Woah.” Penelope grinned widely. “I don’t know why but I like twins so much.” She clapped her hands in excitement.

"Would you like some tea?" Asked Hailey as she walked towards the kitchen.

"Yeah?" She turned her head towards her. "Oh, no, please. I just had breakfast. Thank you for asking."

"Oh, don't be so formal." Hailey waved her hand in the air. "So, why'd you come here? In New York?"

"For work." She sat on the couch beside her. "I have done architectural engineering."

"Ah right." Hailey's eyes brighten up and she grinned. "What about your family?"

"Family?"

"Yeah, your siblings and parents... They are back there in Washington? Do you have any twins in your family?" She asked interestedly.

Her heart skipped a beat. She wasn't looking forward to this conversation happening. She looked away without saying anything for moments. "Penelope?" Hailey put a hand on her shoulder. "It's okay if you don't want to tell." She thought she might have said something wrong.

"I- I have… no family back there." She said in a low voice, looking down at her lap, fidgeting with her fingers. "No family? What do you mean by that?" She immediately regretted asking this question. “I’m so, so sorry. I must have not said it like that.” She was very embarrassed about asking a question like that. Penelope slowly nodded her head. "My parents passed away in an accident when I was little.” The air became thick due to the unwanted tension and none of them were saying anything.

"I- uh..." Hailey looked embarrassed. "Oh-- no that's fine. Don't be embarrassed about asking about something you didn’t know." She shook her head and said with a reassuring smile. “I have a grandmother though. My nana. Back there in Washington.”

“That- That’s so great.” She almost stuttered, didn’t know what else to say.

"So, you are a twin… Tell me about it. How does it feel to be like that?" She smiled and pointed towards the pictures on the wall.

Hailey smiled and began to talk about her twin brother and her boys who were currently out with their father enjoying the weekend and she took a day off from parenting and wanted to stay at home.

*

It was almost 4 p.m. and by then they had eaten homemade biscuits, baked by Hailey and some lemonade. Hailey had shown Penelope the photo album of her kids and told her the complete story about how she got married to a doctor.

Penelope's phone buzzed in her pocket. It was a call from the departmental store to inform her that her package would be delivered in 10 minutes. She stood up and told Hailey why she had to leave now and thanked her for the biscuits and lemonade.

"Pfft. Don't be so formal. I suggest that you should have dinner with us sometime. Whenever you're free." Hailey smiled widely. "Yeah sure." Penelope grinned and said goodbye. She shut the door behind her and unlocked her apartment.

***