Diamonds Dancing

Four

The next morning, she woke up bright and early. And by early, she was up well before the crack of dawn.

Looking at herself in the full-length mirror, her eyes roamed over her casual attire. After a long needed shower in scalding hot water, Rika had decided to wake up extra early so she could decide an appropriate outfit, and make a good impression on the children she would be caring for.

She looked at her simple wrap dress, it was a light blue shade and reached mid thigh, hugging her chest area and flaring out at her hips. It was the perfect sundress.

The skin on her nose wrinkled as she scrunched her nose, she had no idea she even owned the cutesy dress. It wasn't something she remembered shopping for.

Perhaps, it were a gift from her late foster grandma?

Before her passing, the elderly lady had left all of her most prized possessions to the troubled orphan. Rika still could not believe it, she had remembered the day so fondly. Her eyes flashed onto the pendant around her delicate neck, she hated the way her bones stuck out, but her frown was replaced by a faint smile. Raising her hand, her fingers skimmed over the chain in memory.

She made a silent prayer, giving her thanks for surviving another day—most importantly, praying for her foster-grandma.

Once she had chosen her footwear, which consisted of some beat up white trainers, she had made it into the kitchen.

Rika was still getting used to everything in the Ivanov residence, as she passed the many faces of the staff that were wide awake, she smiled at each one. And she didn't forget to greet them all with a chirpy 'good morning!'

Entering the large kitchen, she was more than happy to find it empty.

It was nearing somewhere around six am, she figured the cook would arrive much later. As she searched through the many cabinets, opening and closing every one, she started to make note of what breakfast items she could find.

After reading through both of the files throughly, she had come to find that Janessa preferred to eat light in the mornings whereas Lilia enjoyed her breakfast time. Of course, with no sight of nuts due to her allergy, Rika managed to gather some ingredients and placed them down on the island in the middle of the kitchen.

It was a humongous kitchen, unlike a traditional homely kitchen, everything was covered in steel metal making it a more practical space. She assumed that Mr. Ivanov would not make it down to breakfast from what her daily itinerary told her, he usually worked in the early hours and returned home for dinner.

However, despite the fact he most likely would not be around for breakfast, she made enough food for three people and more. She struggled trying to turn the cooker on, but eventually she figured it out and started to cook up a storm.

By the time she had finished, the smell of french toast and syrup wafted around the air. She had decided to make Janessa something sweet, and for Lilia, she had attempted to create a quiche biscuit containing bacon, cheddar and chives. Quiche biscuits were the very thing she had loved to eat as a kid, not only were they packed in protein, but it would be more than enough to keep the kids full for a few hours.

Setting down the late of the orange juices down on the bar area, she untucked both bar stools and stared at the food. Content was written across her reddened face, her long hair was falling out of her makeshift low bun.

She didn't know what else to do, and so she found herself sitting on the opposite end of the kitchen with a freshly made cup of coffee in her hands. The silence felt good, for once, she felt relaxed with no care in the world.