Finding Tasha

Chapter 10: Clumsy

It only took me a minute to spot Lucas. He was sitting on the barstool at the parlor, judging by the look on his face, he was probably wasted. His back cut a sorry figure and I could feel the melancholy in his eyes even from afar.

Since his problem was none of my business, I decided to leave before he notices me. Without sparing him another glance, I turned around and headed back to my room.
..

No matter how hard I tried I just couldn't fall asleep. His lonely back kept appearing in my mind and I couldn't shake it off.

It was quite obvious that being imprisoned in this mansion was never his intention, from what I had noticed so far it looked like things were beyond what it appears to be.

However much I tried to make myself think he was just drinking for the sake if it or just for fun, I couldn't help but catch on the sad vibes he was giving off earlier, and I was almost sure he was drinking because he was unhappy. He was drowning his sorrows in alcohol.
..
Third person POV

But was that going to work? Since he was going to wake up feeling like shit the next day, then what was the point of even trying to temporarily numb the pain? Tasha had always been a logical person, and she would rarely do things without thinking of the benefits and consequences. It was just the way she was thought since young.

She decided not to overthink it since it was clearly none of her business. And eventually, after the tossing and turning, she finally fell asleep.
...

It had become more of a habit for Lucas every night, to turn the same music on loudest as he sipped alcohol. Tasha had witnessed him doing that many times that it was no longer a surprise to her.

As usual, she just minded her business and left him to himself. Since the parlor was on the way to the hallway, there was no way she could avoid seeing him.

Her life here had taken a turn for the better, as the butler had granted her request for a sewing machine and even went a little overboard. The day after she requested the machines, he had a room converted to a studio for her, and it had everything she could ever need.

Of course, it didn't go for free as he assigned her to a task, which was monitoring Lucas's movements and reporting it back to him.

She didn't see the big deal in it, since he pretty much did the same thing every day, plus it wasn't like he asked her to figure out what he does behind closed doors. She accepted the offer willingly because she thought it was too easy. But now that she went through her 'note' and saw that all the entries were filled with him being drunk and wasted while listening to a particular song and nothing else, she started to feel worried.

She doubted the Butler, whose name she later found out to be Lincoln would be happy with her progress so far. Suddenly, she heard a crash sound from downstairs, and she knew that was her chance to finally make an appearance, so she peeled the quilt off her and rushed downstairs in her pajamas.

She tiptoed to the bar and hid in a corner with her diary and pen, ready to take records of any strange movements or words.

A plan formed up in her head and she smirked as she concluded to wait till he was totally spent then use the opportunity to investigate him. That way, she could quench her thirst for gossip and get him to answer the questions on her mind.

After waiting for about an hour, her legs was starting to feel numb but luckily, Lucas was starting to look wasted so much that he couldn't even keep his eyes open. When she saw him try to support himself with the barstool, she hurriedly backed to a corner and watched him like a hawk. She thought he was about to leave, but what followed was another crash.

When she poked her head out, she saw him sprawled on the cold tiles, unconscious. She felt it was a pity since she definitely wasn't going to be getting answers tonight with him in this condition, but as she turned around, she decided against it.

The tiles were awfully cold today, and she was afraid he would catch a cold. Although she wasn't Holy Mary and she sure as hell held grudges, her mind still told her it wasn't the right thing leaving him there to himself, so she gritted her teeth and stomped towards where he was.

"Be thankful that am in a good mood today bastard" she mumbled as she was sure he couldn't hear her.

She tried pulling him up by his arms, but he just wouldn't bulge. Rather, she crashed into his heavy chest instead. She forced herself to think straight and focus on getting him up. After about thirty minutes, she successfully dragged him to the couch.

Also, she went back to her room and grabbed a neat blanket before covering him with it. She supported his head with a pillow and straightened out his legs in a comfortable condition.

As she was about to turn around to leave his eyes suddenly shot open, and he stared at her for a while before mouthing something.

Tasha had to strain her ears to understand that he was saying thank you and as she started to think he had a conscience after all, what followed it made her frown.

"I am sorry, am sorry please forgive me, Sarah"

Who was Sarah? His girlfriend? His ex? Damn, she suddenly felt like she should have just left him to sleep there instead.

Rolling her eyes, Tasha glanced at him one more time before untangling his hands from her wrist and left for her room.

...

After rolling back and forth for a few minutes without getting any sleep, Tasha yelled in frustration into her pillow as she held the comforter over her chest. She had been having sleepless nights for the past few days now, and she didn't know why.

'Sarah! Sarah!' the name kept ringing in her ears, and she couldn't bring herself to stop thinking about it. Who was Sarah? Why was she even concerned about who she was, she could be his girlfriend for all she cared. Oop. The last sentence left a bitter taste on her tongue, and she groaned again.

'I do not care. I seriously do not care. I don't care' she kept repeating the mantra in her head and like a miracle, it worked because after a few minutes she finally fell asleep.

...

If there was anything Tasha hated the most in the world, then it would be doing her own laundry. After a few weeks of not washing her clothes, she had a pile sitting in the bathroom entrance.

She wasn't really concerned about it, till she started to realize that she only had about four tees left. And after that, unless she could go around the house in a blanket, there was literally nothing she could wear.

She spent her time on the vanity, though she rarely used it as she thought about how she could do her laundry. She had never actually taken a personal tour of the house. Aside from her room, the kitchen, the dining and the living room, she wasn't familiar with the other rooms in the house. Not like she would even care about what was behind those doors anyway.

She decided to talk to Lucas about it, which was going to be hard since she hardly sees him, but it was worth giving a try. She would just have to settle for recycling her dirty clothes for the meantime! No big deal.

With that in mind, she hurriedly dressed up and headed downstairs as it was already past ten, past the usual time she always had breakfast.