Emancipation

four

The first day in the mansion goes uneventful. Like I expected, Chloe doesn't care to talk to me in James' absence and I appreciate her keeping the distance. It helps me keep to myself.

I round up the mansion, and realise that the kitchen is behind where the large dining table is set. Mrs. George cooks the three meals of the day, and also manages to keep the house perfect with help from her co-worker. She's a sweet woman, with a tinge of white in her brown hair.

Mark is the driver, but I believe that James treats him more than that, which I appreciate on his part. The lower division is divided between the dining area and the living room which is vast and covers the middle area, at least most of it.

First floor is divided into two wings, left being Chloe's and right being Carrack's. Everyone in this house loves their privacy and that's why respects each other's rules. Second floor is reserved to James, while the two bedrooms are divided, there's another small bedroom as a guest room. On the ground floor, there's a room behind the living room area which is made up into an office so that Carrack and James can work from home sometime.

I can't begin to imagine how I plan on spending every day in this house without having a company to communicate with. I don't have any best friend I could chat with, I had friends in college but our talks were limited till that arena.

Jeremy is himself in senior year of high school, so he's especially busy with that. My mother and I talk in the afternoon, for about fifteen minutes as I update her about how life has been. She tells me that father is doing well, and I listen to her patiently. That's the only relief I get.

By evening, I engross myself in making my bedroom into as homey as possible. I arrange my clothes in the closet after trying on everything, making sure that if something doesn't fit, it can be exchanged. Most of the clothes fit, except two dresses which are too tight on the bust. The cloth literally clings to my skin, and I look like a hooker wearing it.

There's a knock on the bathroom door just as I am about to slip out of the dress but I stop when James enters. He opens his mouth to speak but his words get caught up when his eyes lingers down on my dress. I feel more exposed in front of him than I ever have, so I cross my arms in front of me. Which proves to worsen the problem so I just let my hands hang loose by the side.

"I was trying on the dresses to make sure they fit before hanging them in the closet." I explain and it snaps him out of his daze as he meets my eye.

He was staring! I clear my throat and he nods, looking anywhere but me.

"Dinner's ready." He says, his voice heavy before he disappears behind the door.

I immediately pull over the dress and change into a pair of jeans and a shirt. When I reach downstairs, James tries his best not to meet my eye and I do the same. We sit by each other's side so that helps a little. Carrack sits in the center chair while Chloe sits across James.

I notice that everyone is dressed formally except me, and that's exactly when Chloe speaks, "It would have been nice if you could've worn a dress. It's your first dinner with us as a family." She points out, her voice sweet but I notice the taunt behind the tone.

"I.. I didn't know. I am sorry. And I don't have many things to choose from." I say and James coughs from my side.

"You can go shopping tomorrow if you'd like." He offers and I nod.

We eat the rest of the dinner in silence. The dessert is served, and I have the chocolate brownie with ice cream. I stand up to clean my plates when Mrs. George's coworker, Shanley comes to take it from my hands but I slowly shake my head.