Where My Heart Used To Reside

Chapter 2

   When I woke up in the morning, I felt unfamiliar with my surrounding. It took a while for me to realise that I lived with my father now after my mother had been comatose and the death of my stepfather. Tears stung my eyes at that realisation. They threatened to fall down, but I wouldn't let them. I had cried a lot yesterday, so today, I was going to change that frown upside down.

   At breakfast, I came to know that we actually had maids here, who worked on weekdays from morning to evening. I came yesterday when it was late evening and they were preparing to go home. That's why I didn't see them in the house.

   There was a maid whom I used to see when I was a kid. It was fascinating that she was still working for us. She was so loyal. Her name was Layla and right now, she was cooking breakfast. I had always loved her style of cooking.

   I made friends with the other new maids easily and it was hard to believe, considering how timid I was. Nevertheless, they were all very kind-hearted and amiable.

   "You know... It's been a while since we last interacted with a female resident in this house," one maid said.

   "Yeah, since Rosalind got married and moved out, we only saw the men around the house."

   We talked in the kitchen as they prepared breakfast and then stopped for a moment when Gabriel walked past, giving us an emotionless glance.

   "I'm glad that I have female friends to talk to in here," I stated, making them nod their heads in agreement.

   I wanted to help at first, but they told me to sit and wait for the others in the dining room. Thus, I did.

   Sitting at the table alone made me think of the time when my mother, Michael and I would have breakfast together. Although Michael had to go to work early, he still managed to spend time with us and that was very meaningful. Mum and I would prepare breakfast, like pancakes or scrambled eggs whilst talking about what we would do after this. After Michael had done dressing up for work, we would finally eat together at the table, which was full of home-made food and hot beverage.

   "Sab... Sabrina!"

   I was brought to reality with a snap of fingers in front of my face. Blinking my eyes, I focused them and saw Andreas.

   "Were you daydreaming just now?" asked Andreas amusedly as he took a seat beside me.

   I blushed and shook my head whilst Andreas just laughed at me.

   A few minutes later, the others came and joined us. As usual, I didn't talk much and when Dad told me that we were going to buy glasses this morning, I just nodded and hummed in response.

   After that, Felix and Gabriel went off to work; Andreas went to the university; and Daniel went to school. Now, it's just me and Dad. He told me to get ready while he waited in the living room, probably watching news.

   I wore long-sleeved red shirt to cover the bruises on my arms and a dark skirt with leggings. I also chose to put on a pair of ankle boots. Lastly, I completed the look by tying up my blonde hair into a ponytail. I realised that I was the only blonde in this family. They all had brown hair. Whether the colour was light or dark, it was still brown like our father's hair and it was also obvious that I had a different mother from my siblings because my mother was blonde. It was the colour of our eyes that made us similar. Felix, Gabriel and I had our father's eyes: electric blue, whilst Rosalind, Andreas and Daniel had their mother's: hazel. That's what they told me. Honestly, I had never met their mother. They only told me that Dad and she got divorced when Daniel was 2 years old and she took the latter with her. After I was born, Daniel sometimes came to stay with us for a few days, but then Dad took him in permanently and took custody of him. I still didn't know what actually had happened between my father and his ex-wife because I was still a toddler at that time and no one would want to explain everything to me.