~~Ashley’s POV~~
I’d taken a picture of a portion of my diary where Miss Antonia’s address was penned down and that was what I used to find my way around. The GPS tracker saved me a lot of stress, all I had to do was walk down the street while inspecting the house numbers.
The neighborhood’s peace was captivating. Befitting of Antonia’s character, I thought. If I lived in such a neighborhood, my palpitations may go away by even a small measure, who knows?
“21,” I mumbled, looking vertically at the golden-plated number in my way. Next to the wall was a small wicket gate where I could see a distorted reflection of myself.
I paused and looked around once more. The vegetation of each house I passed until I got here gave the neighborhood a greeny atmosphere because they weren’t gated. But this one was. The gate looked strange actually. I took a few steps back and scanned the wall on the other side for an entrance, and there was nothing. I brought my narrowed eyes back to the oddly looking wicket gate, not sure if it was a “push” or “pull.” What was I even thinking? All I had to do was knock.
I crossed the distance between me and the gate and raised my hand to knock. Just then, it came open like someone pulled from inside but at the same time, I did not sense an extra presence. I stole one more glance at the house number to confirm I was indeed at the right place before taking careful advancing steps. Immediately I got in, the gate closed, or should I say… locked? I heard the lock click. I jerked at how sudden its movement was.
The scent that crossed my nostrils at that point was unexplainable. I could feel my heartbeat slowing down, even though it wasn’t by a considerable degree. I closed my eyes and just inhaled the heavenly scent that made me feel more at ease. Using my eyes to scan, I found out I was standing on a walkway amidst a different world of flowers! The sun was already setting so it was a bit dark. But at this point, the beautiful colors that flashed my eyes seemed to provide lighting on a whole new level to this place.
“What is all this?!” I didn’t know when I said that out loud. I wasn’t a fan of flowers or nature, but this sure felt different, and surreal. The scent was captivating, and the view, amazing! The flowers’ arrangement didn’t feel like something left to chance, but something put together by a delicate work of art, making them appealing to the eyes. The different colors were used to create patterns – roses, butterflies, hearts, and some others – that weren’t just beautiful, but captivating. At this point, my indifference to flowers didn’t matter, I just liked what I saw.
“I see you finally came.” I heard a soothing voice cut through the relaxing silence and then turned around to see. The lady was standing next to the swing, at the far right corner of the house, watering the flowers. Even the way she did was appealing to look at. She was wearing a white sleeveless loose gown made of silk, complemented by her silk hair flowing smoothly to her waist. The breeze created ripples at the back of what looked like a nightgown, betraying her curves. She turned around.
“Miss Antonia?” I creased my brows in surprise then widened my eyes when I recalled whose house I just walked into. “Miss Antonia!” I hailed on coming back to my senses. I could not believe I almost forgot why I came for a second there. Was there some kind of black magic there?
My eyes unknowingly fell on her cleavage standing out behind the V-neck. And as a lady, not going to lie, I felt a little bit intimidated. I didn’t think I’d look that appealing in such clothes. But I hadn’t also given it any thought before. ‘Maybe I couldn’t?’
“I suspected you’d come.” She walked into a small door behind the swing I assumed to be a store room.
Like the glass structure sitting there was invisible all this while, I finally came to notice her house. “Wow.” my jaw dropped a few inches. It was a simple yet refined structure, befitting her character. The house had two floors, the anterior part was covered with transparent glass, baring the insides to me. ‘Maybe she could make them blur if she wanted.’ I approached the house to feed my eyes. There wasn’t a single flower in it. ‘Strange.’ For one living in an ocean of flowers, I assumed the insides would be the same. I traveled around the house with my eyes.
“Are you just going to stand there?” she asked again, showing up with two mugs in her hand. I looked at her then at the house. Was there a secret entrance?
I encroached grassy floor as it was the only means to get to her. I sat beside her on the swing.
“Here.”
“Thanks.” I took a mug from her. I adjusted like I was feeling uneasy, held the base of the mug to my right hand like I didn’t know what to do, and moved my lips back and forth like the words about to come through were heavy. “Your house is lovely.” I just had to admit. That was the first compliment I was making in ages, it felt heavy at first but light afterward.
“Thanks.”
“I see you love flowers.”
“I don’t.”
I winced with a scowl, confused. How could she not love flowers? “You don’t?”
“No, I don’t.”
“Then why do you have flowers everywhere?”
“They’re for you.” I winced again with raised brows then tilted to look at her.
“For me?” Was she being serious? ‘Who plants flowers in their houses for others?’
“They’re not regular flowers. I call them my special spell.” Thought as much. “I knew you’d come looking for me someday. I needed this place to be relaxing for you. It’s part of my job,” she explained professionally. ‘It sure is, miss ‘best in Chicago.’’ Forgetting my purpose when I came in was proof of that.
“So you went through the stress of planting this? What if my dad ended up calling off the contract?”
“I’d simply leave it to whoever buys out this place.” I stared in admiration. I didn’t give her my respect. Yet saying she earned it would be a misstatement. She stole it! Yes, she did. Not knowing when and how I could already feel respect for her carved into my chest.
But then, I had a lot of questions for her already. She knew how to keep conversations without trying. ‘Is this not your house? Would you simply leave this beautiful place to another? Do you have another place?’
“You weren’t able to sleep last night, right?” she blurted before I could even process the order my questions would come in. I almost forgot why I came. Again. She then kept the mug down and looked at me intently for the first time since my coming.
I wasn’t surprised. She was the unpredictable “best-in-Chicago” to me. I still had to ask anyway. “How did you know?”
“Your eyes?” I touched them and they were fine. What did she mean?
“What do you mean?”
“It’s either you suck at makeup, or you used a fake concealer.” Well, neither was the case. She just had good eyes like my mom or could discern as a psychologist. She rubbed her thumb against my undereye and held it to my face.
“There’s nothing.” I shrugged indifferently. See? The makeup was just fine!
“Oh…” She giggled lightly.
Silence…
“I saw the news. You probably visited the scene with that detective guy of yours. And perhaps couldn’t get much sleep because you were busy reliving the 18th of July in your head.” Was she a witch? I didn’t know much about her, so that suspicion may not have been out of place. But in contrast, she knew almost all she needed to, about me. Like she cast a spell on me, she managed to fish out information about me, Makayla, and Carson with ease. A woman of a few words and substance, I’d like to simply call “crazy.” But still, her imagination was wild. How could she make perfect guesses out of the blue?
“You’re right,” I simply said, at a loss for words.
“I’m right?!” she exclaimed. Yup, that’s right. I almost forgot. She… was… crazy! I paused with the cup just an inch away from my mouth and just stared at her in amazement. I huffed, shook my head, and took my first sip. The taste that hit my tongue was out of this world, simply divine. Whatever she put in the cup was good!
“Mmhh…” I winced, taking a closer look at its content. I didn’t give it much thought when I put it in my mouth at first, I was taken aback.
“Chamomile tea.”
“Chamomile tea?” I was doubtful because it never tasted this good. That was part of the first medicine my mom tried but its awful taste didn’t let me continue.
“This one’s different, right?” As if she read my thoughts.
I nodded, taking several sips afterward. “What did you put in it?”
“My little secret.”
“Well, it’s quite obvious you have a lot to say seeing you came looking for me. So…” She kept down her mug and gave me a look that said ‘The floor is set.’ I knew it was finally time to pour out my heart. I think it’s always at this moment I was spellbound. The spell that made me say even the things I didn’t want to. “What happened yesterday?”
“I literally begged for sleep last night,” I started on a dramatic note. “I usually wouldn’t care but yesterday was different! I almost had an episode but managed to suppress it before it spiraled out of control. But then, it didn’t go away entirely. It placed me between a hard rock and a stone. I felt choked and restless, desperate to just fall asleep and forget. That’s right. The headphones. They didn’t work. I couldn’t even relax let alone fall asleep. I even took the sleeping pi – ” I cut my rambling when I said shoot something I didn’t want to. She warned me never to take those pills again. I pouted my lips and read her expression to see if she noticed I said something off.
She did nothing but flash me a mysterious smile I couldn’t read. “Do you wish to fall asleep?”
***
I woke up feeling refreshed. The sheets made it even harder to get off. I only wiggled lazily, inhaling the mild floral scent that grazed my nose. I looked around and saw that the glass was blurred as I couldn’t see anything outside. My guess was right. Rolling my eyeballs casually, they looked out the windows only to see the dark clouds. “Shit!” I jolted at once! I picked up my phone lying next to me on the footstool and facepalmed myself in utter shock when I saw the time. By the time I woke up, it was past 8! I’d slept for roughly three hours. I quickly jumped down from the bed, picked up my bag, and dashed out. I saw a stairway leading downstairs and just followed.
“You’re up?” Miss Antonia asked when I ran into her living room. She was actually in the kitchen, an extension of the living room, just beside the stairway demarcated with a glass wall.
“I’ll see you later,” I said and ran off. Having had a tour around the house earlier, I could tell with ease where the front door was. My mom must be worried by now. I’d seen fifty missed calls! I was wondering how she managed to put me to sleep but searching my memories for that right now was a luxury I couldn’t afford. I needed to be home the next second if possible.
Running out of the street, I found Carson’s car parked then remembered he’d come with me. I checked my phone and confirmed some of those calls were from him. ‘Why didn’t he come looking for me?’
I immediately opened the car and got in the passenger’s seat. He was sleeping peacefully with his head against the steering wheel.
“Carson.” I nudged. “Carson.”
He moved sluggishly before raising his head.
“Let’s go.” I crossed my seatbelt.
“You’re awake,” he said groggily. Did he know I was asleep? I was acting as normal as I could.
“Your therapist said you were asleep when I checked the last time,” he explained, rubbing his eyes. Was this guy for real? I didn’t tell him the address to avoid him looking for me. No way he came looking for me by going from house to house.
“Did you knock on every door?”
“You wouldn’t tell me where you were going. I had to.” He started the car. I hope he didn’t see me sleeping.
“I didn’t know you looked so pretty when you sleep.” I swung my head sharply to him with raised eyebrows and a widened glare. Dude, please! Could you stop seeing me at my worst? He looked like he was having real fun teasing me right now. The wrinkles around his eyes and the bulging of his cheek were proofs of that. I felt embarrassed at the thought of him watching me sleep. ‘Oh good Lord!’
Why was he looking so excited? ‘Could he have kissed me?’ a soft gasp escaped my lips when that thought crept in as I moved one hand slowly to feel my lips. ‘Or my forehead?’ I moved my hand to my forehead. I shook off the thoughts actively before curling back to relax. I didn’t ask. I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself if I confirmed he did, I’d rather remain in the dark. I didn’t even want him to know I’d gone to see my therapist in the first place. ‘Good riddance!’
My house…
Just when we were driving in, I saw Maverick parking the car and coming out. That’s right, I hadn’t even seen Miss Antonia’s car in her compound. That’s by the way. What did Maverick plan on telling my mom about my whereabouts?
“I’ll get down now. You don’t have to come in.” I unbuckled my seatbelts hurriedly, ready to jump down any moment from now.
“Won’t you like me to see your mom? You’re home late.”
“Thanks but I’ll have to decline. Get some sleep, Carson. I’ll take it from here.” I insisted still hung up on Maverick making his way to the front door.
“But…” I jumped down the moment he parked.
“Maverick!” I hailed right on time, just before he knocked on the door. I discharged Carson because I didn’t want to complicate things any further. I wanted it to seem like I just came home late and that’s all. I was too blank to come up with any lies at that moment. Luck was indeed smiling at me when I saw Maverick drive in the same time.
“Where have you been?!” He gaped. I’m sure he must have racked his brains tirelessly for the perfect excuse to give.
“I’m here now.” I walked past and opened the door.
“Ashley!” my mom hailed and rushed to me. “Where have you been?!” she cried.
“We had an extra meeting for a project.”
Raising her doubtful gaze to Maverick, “What would you like to eat?” she asked me, not bringing it down.
“Anything will do.” I just wanted that moment to pass without having to spew more lies. “Maverick did nothing. It’s all my fault,” I dragged those eyes of hers down again. You could easily confuse that with me being considerate but that was light years away from being the case. I knew from her eyes she suspected Maverick and not me. The next thing would be to tell my dad to fire him. And then what next? They get me a new driver who’d be obsessed with me and the rules? Hell no! Maverick’s nonchalance was plenty. Maybe I didn’t even have to be wary of him anymore.
“I’ll be in my room.”