I quickly slipped into the clown's costume which was a whacky, rainbow coloured outfit with frills at the end of the sleeves and pants. The makeup artist coloured my face with white paint and a bright, red ball was fixed on my nose. He pulled my hair into a right bun, setting it neatly with hairspray. My skin felt chalky, my head hurt for the tightness of the bun and the ridiculous clothes were itchy. Still, I felt like I was on top of the world."Georgia," I heard Clark's voice and I whirled around."How do I look?" I wiggled my eyebrows confidently, inwardly cringing at the feel of the crumbling paint.Clark just nodded and said, "Ian and I'll be in the audience, you just have to appear on stage.""What should I do? Maybe juggle with knives or play with fire---""That's what you're not supposed to do. You can dance around or make faces like you usually do. Just don't do anything stupid, okay? I don't want you doing anything that will hurt you," he said with a hint of sincerity in hi
I was not dumb. I could find the answers to most of the conundrums. Ally was the fiancé of Clark who chickened out in their wedding day. She left Clark for another boy and that boy was my brother Zach. And they all once lived under my grandfather's roof, so that made Robert my grandfather!Holy shit!My mother never mentioned her father was a millionaire nor did my brother. Life was so unfair, but I knew why I was forbidden to not associate with my grandparents. My grandfather who was most likely Robert, abandoned my mum after they got the news that she was pregnant at a young age. My mum sought shelter in my father's home and with her already saved funds [which was a lot since her family was super rich] she completed her education.My mum was so mad at Zach when he left us to go to college in London and live with our grandparents. My grandparents readily accepted him as a sign of seeking forgiveness from my mum. I was never allowed to meet them since my mum thought that like Zach, I
"Brownie, why did you?" I whispered to myself, slipping into my boots."What? What happened? Did something happen to Clark?" Ally asked, her voice laced with worry which made me boil in anger."You have no right to act all worried and anxious! Don't forget that you're the one responsible for this, you little shit!" I hissed and furiously tied my lace. She wasn't entirely to blame, it was Clark's choice to do what he did, but I couldn't help myself. I was so angry, so angry at myself and at the world."I . . . I didn't mean to . . . I just loved him---""Oh, save it! Now get out of my way, I need money for the taxi. Zach, where is your wallet?" I snapped and shoved Ally away who squeaked like a little squirrel.Zach didn't know what to do. He stood there like a concrete pillar, obviously freaked out by the fact that Clark was in the hospital because of them.Clark attempted suicide, stupid Clark. How could he? How could he leave me just like that? Maybe I didn't matter to him at all. W
"Out of my way, bitch!" I shoved Ally away and grabbed a tub of ice cream from the refrigerator."Enough, George. You're taking this too far. Stop talking to Ally like that, she'll be our family soon," Zach said sternly and I showed him my middle finger."I don't give a damn about-wait . . . family?""Yes, we're going to get married soon," Zach announced and had the audacity to grin cheekily at Ally."What? You think so?" I laughed dryly and licked the spoon full of strawberry ice cream. "I feel so sorry to burst your bubble, brother dear. But don't trust that bitch, she'll bail out on you at the very last second.""I have heard enough, George. Whatever happened was in the past and you have no right to meddle into that. That was our problem, not yours. You weren't even here at that time, so quit getting mad at everyone like you're involved in this which you're clearly not," Zach snapped at me and I knew he had a valid point."Right." I sighed audibly in defeat and Zach quirked an eyeb
"You George. What brings you here?" Robert asked in a bewildered tone as I walked in glowing like a sunflower in my yellow dress."To meet Brownie, where's he?""Resting in his room," Robert said quickly and paused. "And . . . I uh want to talk to you about all this.""Oh, yeah yeah. You being my grandfather and all. What a small world!" I laughed awkwardly, but he didn't laugh, so there was this sad silence which made me want to stab myself. "Okay, we'll talk later."I turned away and ran upstairs when suddenly, Robert called out, "George!""Yeah?" I stopped halfway and looked down at him.He cleared his throat and said, "You look er . . . nice.""I know right!" I beamed and my eyebrows knotted in confusion when I could notice the conflict and struggle written all over his face. "What's wrong? Is my dress over the top or is the makeup too much? I knew I had to wipe off the excess lipstick, makes me look like some kind of prostitute.""No!" Robert denied, pinched the bridge of his nos
"George, your brother is going all bonkers. I'm sorry, but you have to come back. You can't stay at Clark's mansion anymore. He's threatening to tell your dad that you're not staying with him, but at some guy's place," Ally whispered worriedly and I huffed in frustration."Fine, let him tell dad," I said stubbornly."What---" Ally was cut off by some shuffling noises and suddenly I heard Zach's thundering voice, "Come back, George! You cannot stay with that man alone! Come back or---""Grandpa, the one I never knew about invited me to stay over, so I'm not alone here with him. Anyway, you can tell dad, I don't mind," I said boldly and encouraged him further, "Go on, tell dad. I'm only staying with my grandpa, I'm not whoring myself to a brothel.""What?" I could hear the confusion laced in his voice. "Fine, I'll tell dad and you'll be sent packing back---""Before we reach there, there's this one tiny detail you need to know. If you tell dad about this, then I would tell him about how
"Robert erm grandpa . . . I don't know what to call you," I said nervously and sat on the couch."You can call me anything you like, it doesn't matter. What does matter is . . . what do you feel about all this?" Robert asked curiously while putting down some books on the desk and I shrugged."It's all weird and I honestly don't know what to feel. I like you because you're nice to me and I dislike you because you weren't nice to my mum," I said bluntly and he sighed wearily. "Like come on, you shouldn't have done that . . . She needed support then.""That's fair, although I did apologise to your mum after your brother was born. We didn't mean to abandon her, it was just a lot to take in," he said earnestly and my eyebrows furrowed in confusion."Then why did you abandon her if you didn't mean to?""It's because your mother, George, had great plans for her future. She was very ambitious and then suddenly getting pregnant at what? Sixteen? It felt like we failed to raise her properly,"
I sneezed. I sneezed right on poor Ian's pretty face."I-I'm sorry," I stuttered and smiled sheepishly when Ian slowly wiped his face with a handkerchief."It's okay." He chuckled, leaned backwards on the wooden bench and I could sense some disappointment.But I was glad that I sneezed harshly and broke the almost kiss attempt by Ian. I didn't know what I would have done if I hadn't sneezed, but kissing Ian felt wrong in some way. Ian was extremely attractive and sweet, however, it just didn't feel right. It felt like I was being a disloyal hoe to a particular cold, impeccable, aloof, handsome, delicious, fine male specimen and that I would run out of adjectives describing him."Let's have lunch Ian, I'm hungry," I changed the topic, grabbing Ian's hand and pulling him up with me to avoid the awkwardness of our close proximity and almost kiss. "We'll go to that fancy restaurant I saw the other day. It's down the lane, on the way to the mansion. Call Brownie there, he must be hungry t