I slowly pulled the doorknob and peeked at the crevice between the door and its frame. 'It is kind of nerve-wracking. This is my first time leaving the room I treated as a sanctuary, so I am kind of nervous..'
Oh, ugh!
The moment I laid my eyes at the scenery behind the door, I almost immediately got blinded. The place reeked of gold. The couch was colored gold, the table was gold, the lamps were gold, everything was gold that I thought my eyes would turn into gold if I were not careful. 'Is it really the right decision to step outside?'
~GGGggGGgrrRgGG~
As if answering my question, my tummy grumbled like a thunder in the midst of a thunderstorm.
'Ugh!', I thought. My eyes twitched before I, unconsciously, tiptoed my way towards the kitchen like a thief and immediately rummaged it for anything that I could eat.
I think it's been weeks since the last time this body consumed anything, no wonder I feel like dying... It's a wonder how I'm still walking, to be honest...
I jugged several glasses of water first before continuing my scavenger hunt.
I found several eggs lying somewhere and immediately snatched them towards the frying pan. Tossed two breads inside the toaster, and brewed coffee in the process.
Damn... the scent permeating in the air is making me drool real hard.
Gulping every now and then, I continued to multi-task. After a few more drool-wiping, my breakfast was finally ready to be devoured.
"Oh no, why does this simple meal look really delicious right now...", I said, feeling dizzy. "Oh, how I can clearly imagine myself smiling like a pervert at this very moment. How could you do this to me, my dear breakfast..."
I picked the toast with a trembling hand and slowly took a bite.
'Oh what is this heavenly taste~ The perfect crunchiness of the outside with the perfect softness of the inside~', I exaggerated before picking up my fork to cut the eggs in half.
The yolk's beautiful spread on the plate was like a work of art.
I brought the said art towards my mouth and was immediately—
~Ding~
My eyes widened as I flinched with a start before looking towards the opening elevator door.
There, a woman in her late 40s and two girls who looked the same age as Soleil entered the penthouse before halting midway, when they saw me eating my breakfast on the kitchen's island table.
'Right. There are these people. People who work for Soleil as this place's caretakers. However, they do not really have the best relationship with Soleil, rather, I feel like they detest her like everybody else. Apart from doing their duties, maintaining the house and preparing Soleil's everyday meal, they never really cared for her. They were also oblivious of the fact that their employer died inside her bedroom a long time ago because they were unaware of Soleil's fever. She never told them anyway, and for some unknown reason, Soleil hated the idea of letting other people step inside her bedroom, so without her permission, the three of them could not enter her room the past few weeks. They were also unaware that she was staying inside her bedroom the whole time and thought that she stayed out without their knowledge because they never saw even her shadow for a month.', I mentally sighed.
"Join me.?" I muttered before continuing my meal, earning a surprised look from them. 'Oh well. I guess that's to be expected considering the fact that Soleil treated them as if they were air up until today.', I sighed once more.
'I'll finish this fast and go back inside the bedroom. I don't really want to cause any unnecessary discomfort between us.', I thought as I almost gobbled the whole plate.
"Uhm. What do you want to eat for lunch, young miss?", I glanced at the woman who asked.
After finishing my meal in a second, I stood up and grabbed my coffee. "Anything.", I answered before withdrawing back to the bedroom.
After closing the door, I went straight to the ground to ceiling window and stared at the mesmerizing view that one of the highest building of this city could give.
Sipping my morning coffee, I could finally feel my nerves really calm down.
Looking out from this height, I can only be reminded of the peace I felt when I was falling back then.
'How about experiencing that again?', an idea suddenly popped inside my head. 'I'm dead anyway. I'm just residing inside someone else's body without their permission... I can't even understand what this incident wants to tell me... That I need to fulfill Soleil's dying wish? That I was given another chance to live? That I should live this life the way I wanted? I don't know... but what I do know... is that I'm tired. I don't have the motivation to live another lifetime anymore. The embers of hope that I was desperately protecting in my past life is now completely doused... I can't see any reason to continue living... more so, as someone who I haven't even met before... I'm tired of playing pretend... I just...'
"...I just want to rest...", I mumbled under my breath as I tightened my grip on the cup.
Drowning myself with my thoughts, it took several rings for me to notice that the phone on top of the bedside table was ringing non-stop.
I blinked for a couple of times to compose myself before walking towards the sound and picking Soleil's phone up.
[Ms. Manager]
...huh...
I stared at the id name for a couple of seconds before swiping the screen.
Before I could even utter a single sound, the person at the other line celebrated with — "OH MY GOD! I FINALLY GOT A HOLD OF YOU, MS. KIM! I'VE BEEN TEXTING AND CALLING YOU SINCE EARLIER THIS MORNING BUT NO ONE'S ANSWERIIINNnNnNnGgg~ I WAS GOING CRAZY. SURELY, YOU HAVEN'T FORGOTTEN ABOUT YOUR ITINERARY TODAY, HAVE YOU?... UH, HELLO?? IS ANYBODY THERE?? MS. KIM?? HI??"
I blinked from her sudden attack, before being able to respond. "Uh, hi. Yes, I'm here."
Silence..
I furrowed. "Hi?"
"..O-Oh! Yeah, hi, I-I mean.. Hi.... Uhm.."
So she's still there. "I'm sorry but could you please tell me what our plan today is, I seem to have completely forgotten about it.", in fact I don't even know what date today is, so how am I supposed to remember something Soleil deemed unimportant?
Yes, everything work-related is unimportant to her.
"Oh, uhm, yes, of course! Uhh, it's the thing we talked about a month ago?.. You, visiting the selected orphanage to help with a donation? It's... It's to increase your reputation.", she answered with obvious hesitance in her voice.
Donating to an orphanage to increase her ruined reputation, huh. Right. Although Soleil is the only young miss of this country's most prestigious family, she took the path of being an actress on a whim instead of helping her family in their business. Her (mediocre-at-best) acting cannot really pay her humongous bills, that's why until now, she's still depending on her family's hard earned money.
This has always been a known topic inside the entertainment world, however, this was not really enough reason to sully her reputation.
It was her personality that dragged her down.
She was very picky of her scripts (albeit the fact that she would butcher any role anyway), she would involve herself with the pettiest fights, she would hurt people she doesn't like, and even use her family's power to remove people from a project's cast or use it to demand her name to be included in the cast. It came to the point that everyone started wishing that Soleil would not take interest in them or their works.
However, what really frustrated everyone was the fact that they could not disagree with whatever she says, for if they do, her family would immediately step in and that would cost them their careers. Her parents would do anything for her even at the cost of tarnishing their family's surname. There even came a time when a huge internal conflict started inside the company because of this fact. It was to the point that her two brothers could not take it anymore and talked to her about it. Soleil being the prideful Soleil that she was, took their advices as something too upsetting and too offensive; and since that day, she refused to talk to any of them.
*sighs* My head hurts.
"What time should I go to the company?"
"I understand, I'll tell the preside—.... huh?..."
Silence...
"Uhh, Ms. Kim is going?", she asked.
"Am I not supposed to?" I frowned, I think I'm having troubles understanding this lady.
"Oh... OH!! OF COURSE!! YES!! UHM, I'LL PICK YOU UP IN AN HOUR, INSTEAD. NO NEED TO BOTHER GOING HERE."
"I understand. See you at nine, then."
"YES, SURELY. BYE."
*sigghhhss* A phone call drained me to this extent, what more when I meet her in person later. *sighs* Her energy is just too much for me...
My eyes drooped down to the carpeted floor.
'An orphanage huh... Sure brings back a lot of memories...', I thought before deciding to stop myself from reminiscing an old memory before I could even start to.
"Anyway, I still have a full hour before the manager gets here. What should I do with that much free time?", I mumbled.
'...Should I notify the three that I won't make it to lunch?... I feel awkward tho... Ah, whatever.', I rolled my eyes and decided to walk out of the bedroom with my now empty cup.
I went straight to the kitchen sink, put down the cup, muttered a—"No need to cook me lunch. I'll be out."—enough for the three of them to hear, and immediately retreated back to the bedroom.
'*Sighs* Should I nap for a little while?', I thought on the way towards my sanctuary.
×××
Matilda's POV
I stared at the young miss' closed door.
"..Wh..What just happened?", one of the twins, Annie, muttered.
"I.. I think the young miss just told us not bother ourselves 'cause she won't be here later anyways?? Or maybe I was just hallucinating??", the other, Amy, answered with uncertainty.
"But that's what I understood as well???", they looked at each other with confusion.
'I, as well, am confused at the young miss' actions today. Describing her actions odd is an understatement. I have watched over her since she was young but she have never ever cooked her own meal and she have never talked to us people who she deemed as lower than her.
But she did so today.
Did something good happen to her this morning? Or maybe the past weeks? Where have she gone for almost a month anyway?
Nevermind that, this needs to be reported to the madam. The young miss is starting to open her heart to us, this good news will surely please the madam who has been feeling down these days. I am sure that the young miss will reach out to them anytime soon.'
I slightly smiled at the thought before going back to cleaning. "I am sure the young miss will talk to us more if we continue to work harder. So will the both of you still remain dilly dallying over there?", I said causing the twins to suddenly burn with determination.
"No, ma'am!", said Annie.
"I'm so gonna make this place shine without a single speck of dust!", Amy seconded.
'These girls, really.', I chuckled at their antics. '...but I sure do hope that young miss will continue acting like this.'