Falling from the Top

Chapter 21

Waking up was usually something I was pretty good at. I mean, I turned off the incessant noise of my alarm clock and rested in my bed for a while before heading to the bathroom. I was quite a morning person and feeling grumpy early in the morning wasn't my thing. And yet, that morning I felt like yelling at someone.

Truth be told, it had been a bad week. A month had passed since Christmas Day and winter was at its peek. And the cold weather clearly didn't help with my mood. This week especially. Even though Ava was trying to be nice, she simply managed to get on my nerves with her air of know-it-all and Linda just couldn't cut it. She was going on and on about her 'dream of being student body president'. Lame and if you asked me, it was a ridiculous dream. People saw in her a stupid cheerleader, not a someone they could trust. The only person I could bare the presence of was Jelena. Her honest personality was something that lacked in my other relationships.

Etienne had been missing all week and not seeing him brought a loneliness I didn't not recognise. He had been sick, a nasty cold he told me, and I wasn't sure he was coming today for tutoring. Though, I had my hopes up.

I picked myself up and headed to the washroom, before heading downstairs. In the kitchen, the lovely smell of freshly backed cookies awaken my senses. Lucinda was there, silently working her way in the familiar kitchen. I observed her for a moment and noticed the sad expression she held. Her face was broken into a frown and her lips were bent downwards. The emptiness in her eyes was the most shocking, as she usually had a spark of malice in her gaze. I was confused.

I cleared my throat and leaned against the doorframe. She turned around, a bright smile invading her face. I couldn't help but wonder if that smile, that unique smile of hers, was sincere. I smiled back weakly.

"Hola! How are you doing today?"

"I'm alright. A bit grumpy, I have to say." For the last few days, I had taken accustom to share with Lucinda my every mood and inner feelings. The good thing about her was that she always listened calmly and never judged. For instance, when I told her that in 8th grade I pushed Cherry over a bench because her push up bra was working better than mine, she simply smiled and shook her head clearly amused by my stupidity. My mother would've accused me of being crazy and bought me a new bra, but then again she was the one who raised me so her opinion didn't matter.

Lucinda patted my arm and pushed a plate full of cookies in front of my nose. "Here. Eat. It's good for the soul."

More like bad for my thighs, I thought. But I didn't want to think that way anymore. So what if I had an extra size? I always thought skinny jeans looked better on girls with curvy hips. I ate the cookies, one after the other until the plate was left only covered with crumbs. I sighed satisfied. Lucinda had kept me company all through out my breakfast, talking cheerfully about her sons and her husband. Listening to her, I wondered what could bring such a painful expression to her face. Suddenly, I found a possibility.

"Lucinda, be honest with me. Do you like working here?" I interrupted her mid sentence.

She turned to me, clearly surprised. Once she recovered from her shock, she came and sat opposite to me on the same kitchen table. She grabbed my hands and enveloped them in hers. "Of course, I like working here. I wouldn't have stayed so long if I didn't like it. Besides, you're here now."

I frowned. "What do you mean?"

She squeezed my hands. "Well, you keep me company, you chat with me. I like it. And you eat the food I make. Finally!" She bursted out laughing.

I laughed with her, since laughter was contagious. But I still had, in my mind, her mysterious expression of sadness. Maybe it is nothing. I tried to convince myself and yet, it kept bugging me. I looked at the time.