2 weeks later
This sight of Daniel's face greeted me as I opened my eyes. He was lying on his stomach, his mouth slightly open as he slept with his arm wrapped around me tightly. It was still dark outside and the clock on the wall read 5:28 AM.
I really didn't want to get up but I had to. I let out a yawn and I felt Daniel move. His hand slowly slides down my stomach and comes to rest between my thighs. I immediately pull his hand away and sit up, pressing the sheet to my chest. I needed to be in the kitchen by six.
"Stay," he said in a warm, raspy voice that sends nerves dancing up my spine.
"I have to be in the kitchen by six," I said even though he knows this.
I glance back at him and his smile sends my mind into an uncontrolled, captivated spiral. He pulls me down and kisses me hard, his fingers running down the valley between my breasts.
"You don't have to," he said after pulled back just as there is a loud knock on the door.
"Enny, it's five-thirty." It's Clareta.
He reluctantly falls onto his back and curses. He scrubs at his face before he lets out an exasperated sigh.
"I'm coming," I say loud enough for Clareta to hear before I climb out of bed.
I picked up our clothes that were scattered on the floor and dropped them in the laundry basket before heading into the bathroom. I stepped into the shower after brushing my teeth, sighing at the feel of warm water on my face.
The glass door of the shower slides open as I'm massaging my scalp with shampoo. Daniel grins at me and I grin back before he slides the door close. Maybe I can be a little late.
------
We were late. Clareta was smiling like a maniac when I stepped into the living room. I ignored as I walked over to the shoe rack and picked a pair of trainers to wear. We began to wait for Alison to come down after I wore the shoes. Alison, Clareta and I worked in the kitchen in the morning and evening, helped with planting and sometimes helped with livestock.
Faye and Hae In also worked in the kitchen but only in the afternoon and evening. Cass went on scouting runs and stood guard in the guard posts while Daniel, Ezra, Zeke stood guard in the guard posts. They had also wanted to go on scouting runs but Caldwell and Cass were having none of it, so they helped in the kitchen sometimes.
"Hot damn," she finally said and I looked at her. "What was that guy doing to you?"
I was taken aback. "What?"
She scoffed. "What do you mean what? Everyone in the house knew what. Pretty sure Eloise next door even knows what."
My eyes widened and my mouth fell open. I could feel the blush creeping in my cheeks as I closed my mouth then looked at my feet before glancing back up to her. "Did Alison –"
"She slept like log," she waved me off.
Alison had slept in Clareta's room last night because she didn't want to sleep alone. Ezra and Cass were currently on guard duty and they had taken Jack with them while Zeke and Hae In shared a room.
"You should change out of those shorts if you don't want Tatyana's mum asking why you have bruises on your knees."
I looked at my knees and groaned when I saw that she was right. I took off the sandals as Alison came downstairs.
"Morning," she mumbled as she rubbed her eyes. "... Enny, what happened to your knees?"
"She prayed in the shower," Clareta said bluntly and I gave her a horrified look to which she shrugged in response.
Alison looked confused as I rushed past her and up the stairs to change my shorts. I quickly put on some jeans and ran down the stairs, passing Hae In who gave me a glare and chucked the water bottle in her hand at me. It narrowly missed me and I stuck my tongue out at her before I joined Alison and Clareta at the door.
The world was silent when we stepped outside. The street was as dark as some old-school black and white movie. The air felt refrigerated as we greeted the people who jogged past us. Their names had finally stuck in my memory at one point.
Our walk was quick and the outlines of the houses had become clear when we got to the street the kitchen was in. It was actually a bungalow which had been emptied of furniture that was converted into the kitchen. There were sixteen cooks. Eight cooked in the morning, ten cooked in the afternoon and thirteen cooked in the evening. We were always shuffled. Sometimes, I had the entire day off.
The car that took the food to the dining hall was outside the house when we got there and two of the cooks were loading boxes of food into the boot. I waved at the two cooks, Tara and Amber, before we stepped into the compound.
"Hey girls," Tatyana's mum, Mrs. Turbina, waved at us from the porch and we walked over to her.
"Caldwell is going on a scouting run today so he asked me to prepare breakfast early," she said. "I forgot to tell you, sorry. You guys can go back home."
Clareta gave me a look as her eyes lit up and she tried not to smile. Wesley and Kayden had told us that some of the estate residents sneak out of the estate at times and we had been invited to join them. They only snuck out when Caldwell went on scouting runs. They had also told us not to let Tatyana or her mum find out. Apparently, Mrs. Turbina and her daughter are gossips and they don't want their escapades getting back to Caldwell.
"Is something wrong, Clareta?"
"Oh, no. Nothing... I just remembered something Enny did this morning," she said, no longer hiding her smile and I shot her a glare.
What the hell?!
"What did she do?" the woman asked inquisitively and my glare intensified.
Don't you dare.
"She prayed in the shower," Alison blurted out.
I was mortified, frozen to the spot. I couldn't believe Alison had just said that. Everyone would know I 'prayed' in the shower by tomorrow.
The woman gave me a confused look. "I don't understand."
And I hope you never will.
She immediately ducked into the building when someone called her and I angrily punched Clareta in the arm before stomping out of the compound with Alison in tow.
"I'm sorry. I'm so so sorry," she said when she caught up to me while clutching her arm. "I didn't know what else to say. I'll do whatever you want."
My hands squeezed into fists. "You're lucky she didn't understand what you meant."
"Is it bad to pray in the shower?" Alison asked but the last thing I felt like doing was laughing.