Mr. Harsh & Her

Chapter 3

Rachel's POV 

I stepped out of the bus and again picked up a newspaper from the newspaper stand. Tonight was a bit cooler than the rest and a beautiful breeze was present. I let my long brown hair loose from the tight bun and ruffled it out. It was constantly up and tied that I was beginning to lose my curls.

I decided to stop by the pharmacy before I went back to the apartment to get myself some cheap supplements for energy. While I was at it, I decided to get grandma some booster shots as well. 

She wasn't doing great at all and to be honest, I feared the worst. The neighbour, Mrs. Allen, who was also quite old and enjoying her retirement checked on grandma every few hours for me.

When I reached the apartment, before I could step in, 2 shadows disappeared down the hallway out of my sight. It was so sudden and creepy.

I took of my shoes and neatly placed them on the side after I closed the old, creaky door. It was Wednesday which meant that today I had to give grandma a bath. Due to her frail stance from the cancer, the doctor recommended a bath every second day.

I went into her room and checked on her. She was awake but resting with her oxygen mask on. Lung cancer was the absolute worst.

I was never extremely close to my grandma, we hardly ever spoke however she was the only person I could call family and who provided me with my necessities. I don't think she ever took a particular liking towards me either, I was a burden at the end of the day.

I guess this is my way of repaying her back. Its so uncanny how the tables have turned but I'll happily take care of her because I was grateful. She could have left me on the street whenever she felt like but she never did.

After I gave her a bath, changed the sheets and fed her some soup, I decided to take a little nap before taking care of myself. I settled on the couch as I had been doing for the past 14 years and grabbed the thin blanket and pillow from the cabinet before dosing off.

*  *  *

I was tending to Lilly, trying to get her to latch onto the milk bottle but she refused. She was extremely irritable and I didn't know what to do. Madison was out as usual, Mrs. Ashford being the grandma, never even acknowledge the baby and Yvette couldn't get enough of telling me how useless I was.

I was on my own.

"Come on, sweetheart," I cooed as I adjusted her in my hand, "Please drink," I gently whispered. She babbled for a bit before finally latching onto the nip of the bottle and started drinking. I sighed in relief and took a seat on the rocking chair with Lilly in arms.

I looked at her lovingly, my heart full of warmth. I look forward to being a mother and having children of my own someday. I felt it would close the emptiness in my heart to have someone to call my own. It was one of my greatest dreams.

When Lilly finished with her feed I stood up and gently rubbed her back waiting for her to burp before I put her down to nap.

Today was my turn to help senior Mr. Ashford with his lunch. I needed to prep everything for him in the sunroom and then also organize the pantry. Hugo, the chef, gave me a list early this morning of how he wants things done. 

Everything ingredient coordinated, labelled in a certain coloured font and stacked away alphabetically. It would take me a minimum of 5 hours to do all of that given that the pantry was enormous. It was a whole room and a bit more.

I closed Lilly's door and headed downstairs. Mr. and Mrs. Ashford were waltzing into the dining room to have lunch and the other maids scurried to serve them.