The Echoes of Solitude

Chapter Fifteen

Authors note at the bottom!

*Has not been edited*

The sound of Marie's singing greeted me as I entered the house. I kicked off my shoes at the front door and followed the soft tune of Michael Bublé and Marie which drifted throughout the rooms. Marie stopped singing and smiled brightly at me when she saw me standing in the kitchen doorway.

"Ally, my dear, How are you this morning? How was last night?" She asked pleasantly as she placed the kettle down. She picked up a pale green coffee cup from the bench and held it gently between her delicate fingers.

"I'm ok, thank you." I replied and smiled at Marie as I walked over to where she was standing, "and it was pretty good Cora and I just watched a bunch of movies and ate lots of junk food."

I reached up and grabbed a cup from the cabinet beside the window. I could see that the sun was beginning to rise over the water, its rays lightening up the little kitchen. The heavy rain had finally disappeared throughout the night. Turning around, I picked up the coffee jug, poured myself a cup, and leaned up against the counter.

Marie smiled brightly at me. "That's lovely dear, I'm glad you had a wonderful time," Marie said as I took a sip of my drink. She walked over to the dining table and sat on the white chair, crossing her ankles and focusing on me. "What are your plans for this evening?"

I lifted the coffee cup up to my nose, smelling the sweet aroma of coffee. "I am finishing a little bit later than normal at work today as a couple of staff members are away sick, a nasty bug has been going around. Why's that?"

Marie lifted her cup to her mouth, took a sip, and swallowed before she spoke. "Martha has invited us around for dinner. I am going around there this afternoon to help her with her garden and she said she wants to cook dinner for more than one person. So she has invited both of us. You don't have to go if you don't want to of course, or if you have other plans."

"Oh, no, I have no plans. It sounds lovely. I can come around after I finish work."

"Wonderful!" Marie said with a genuine smile, "Martha will be pleased."

___

"Good morning, again, sunshine!" Cora greeted with a huge grin plastered on her face. She shut her front door behind her and made her way down the path to where I was waiting for her. She was wearing a white off-the-shoulder top, denim shorts, and black flats, whilst holding two drink bottles in her hands. She stretched out her hand and passed me one.

"Good morning," I answered with a laugh as we began to walk down the path toward our work. I looked down at the drink bottle in confusion and then back up at Cora. "What is this for?" I asked, the confusion evident in my voice.

Cora shrugged her shoulders. "Mum started watching that new cooking show with Melinda Buyers in it after you left this morning and decided that she would make smoothies alongside her. When I left she told me to give you one, so I have no idea if it tastes okay. You don't have to drink it if you don't want to but I do apologise in advance if it's horrible."

"Oh! I'm sure it will taste okay, believe me when I say that I have had food throughout my life that could rival food out of a trashcan." I shuddered at the thought of the horrible food I had endured over the past years. Some of the foster homes that I had been in lacked the culinary skill of cooking any form of decent and edible meals. "Honestly, I have had some terrible, uneditable concoctions that you wouldn't even classify as food," I said as I twisted the lid off and took a sip. The cool and sweet liquid hit the back of my throat, the berry flavour dancing on my tongue. I smiled in encouragement at Cora, and she took her own sip. "This is actually really good," I said as I took another sip. "I have no idea what you were worried about."