"Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune without the words, And never stops at all,"
~Emily Dickinson
***
Evie was rendered speechless.
Heck, she even had a nary idea on how to ditch the halloween party without Morgan getting suspicious.
No matter what she would reason out, she was a hundred percent sure that Morgan's gonna drag her ass to the party one way or another.
Why was she even feeling that way? It was just Ethan for goodness sake!
She inhaled a huge amount of air after forgetting to breathe for a second.
"Watch out!"
If not for Morgan, she would have been hit by a red SUV which passed them while they're walking back to the mansion. She wasn't in her sane self. It's like the mere presence of Ethan after almost a month of not seeing him sucked all her rational thoughts.
As they sauntered the gate, the guard smiled at them... at Morgan, and they gave him a nod.
Evie didn't realize how exhausted she was until she arrived at her room and her eyes caught sight of her bed. But as much as she wanted to jump on her bed and lay there; retrospect some things and device a plan on how to escape the party, she was dripping in sweat and kind of smelled. Unless, that poignant sweaty smell was Morgan. Haha.
After grabbing her towel and spare clothes, she proceeded to the bathroom and sudsed her body to get rid of all the dust and sweat that stuck to her during their hike. She kinda hoped that the cold bath would also erase the jittery feeling from the earlier encounter.
While Evie's bathing, Morgan informed her that she'd just tour around the mansion. But who was she kidding? She just wanted to gawk at Paul's portraits in the living room and maybe slightly admire the interior of the room, but the gawking part was the main agenda.
When Evie's done changing into her decent clothes—unlike her baggy clothes which she coincidentally decided to wear when she met Ethan after a month—she descended the stairs and went to the kitchen, only to find Morgan leaning on the countertop while chitchatting with Rosalinda—the cook. It seemed that they're laughing at something that Morgan said.
"I ditched him after that though. I couldn't take it." Their hilarity filled the four corners of the room.
Evie was quite surprised to see Rosalinda laughing with other people; the widowed chef usually looked like the heavens crash landed on her. A frown was always etched on her wrinkly face. And when the other helpers messed up some things in the kitchen, she would scowl at them like they committed a horrible crime that should be penalized with death; if you consider using the wrong cutlery a heinous crime. It is also the reason why they prefer cleaning the toilet and wiping a hundred antiques in the living room rather than helping in the kitchen. Evie witnessed how terrifying Rosalinda can be.
Now, looking at her while laughing and friendly made it seemed... unnatural and juxtaposition.
Imagine a lone wolf playing with a chihuahua. That's how uncanny and unorthodox the whole situation was.
Not that Rosalinda looked like an actual wolf and Morgan resembled a chihuahua (though she would make a cute one), but personality wise.
Wow. Morgan must be really good at socializing. She did manage to make the grumpy woman talk, more so, laugh!
After sitting on one of the high stools, Evie asked, "What's up?"
With joyful tears brimming her eyes, Morgan looked at her. "Remember that guy who I met in Bumble?" She burst out laughing again. Her eyes barely showing.
Evie looked up for a second. "The one with the lobster?" She frowned after remembering the creepy guy.
"Yup. That's the one."
A few weeks back, Morgan met a guy in Bumble and being the crazy person she was, she hastily agreed to meet with him; hoping to find her prince charming (yeah right).
Yep he was hot. He had a nice built. But he was a freaking horny dunce. Apparently, he began touching himself while they were eating because the moist lobster turned him on. His weirdness didn't stop there, he was even proud to out in the open how much he couldn't wait to 'bang' Morgan because she was more appealing and appetizing than the dead lobster—verbatim.
She cringed again at the thought. After Morgan told her the story, it made her think more lowly of the male population. What an uncultured and bawdy sex-starved swine!
It was a good thing that her friend deftly managed to leave the restaurant before anything had gone sideways.
The pungent smell of toasted bread and butter brought Evie back to earth. Her stomach roiled like a reflex.
"Hey, I was thinking about us going shopping today," said Morgan while grabbing the plateful of yummy goodness.
With wary eyes, Evie looked at her. "Yeah, right." She rolled her eyes and dragged the plate towards her. "I'm not falling for that one, again."
It's a trap! It's a deathly ruse.
The last time they went shopping, Morgan practically dragged Evie to every store on sight. With Evie's financial status, she just opted to buy a keychain for her keys. And tell you what? Roaming the mall all day and skipping lunch just to end up with a keychain after? Definitely not worth the ulcer.
Morgan has the tendency to go frenzy every time there's a sale in Nordstrom and Hollister. She was a difficult woman whenever she's on shopping mode.
"Swear, I'll let you eat."
"Uh huh... no."
"I'll treat you to your favorite ice cream parlor!" Insisted Morgan—obviously laid her power card to try to convince Evie.
With acquiescence, Evie grunted. "Fine. But we go home before night falls. I still have to finish some work due this Monday."
"Sure! Sure!" Morgan assented cheerfully.
They began masticating their breakfast and later on went to a nearby mall.
A lot of stores were still fixing their place since the mall just opened. There were a few people roaming around the palatial grounds of the modern establishment.
Like an automatic machine, Morgan started dragging Evie to a store named in French that she can't even pronounce; something like Ouevre. She wasn't sure as Morgan didn't give her a chance to properly read the name.
After several minutes of sifting through the racks of overly priced clothes, she sat on a padded bench and waited for Morgan to finish trying on dresses—like a boyfriend. She won't even be surprised if other customers would think that they're a lesbian couple.
'Oh well, Morgan is not an awful sight after all.'
They stopped at almost every store but just as what Morgan promised to her, they also had a pizza break.
Among all the stores they entered, it was the ice cream parlor that Evie felt genuine happiness.
She ordered her favorite ice cream and more of her favorite ice cream until her stomach was really full and her throat threatened to vomit everything. Gluttony is bad folks. Don't follow Evie.
When the clock hit four in the afternoon, both Evie and Morgan left the mall. They strode passed several people waiting for their services.
Morgan parked her car in the leftmost corner of the parking area to shade it under an Aspen tree.
Almost reaching the car, Evie saw a woman, who was probably in her 60s, selling various newspapers on the periphery of the mall. The woman was frail looking with shriveled skin. The once sable blackness of her hair gone as white pigments replaced its roots.
Evie felt a squeeze in her heart.
She felt sad for the lone woman; still working hard even at her old age.
Surprisingly, she found herself walking towards the old lady. Morgan, seeing where she was going, followed.
Evie cleared her throat which caught the old lady's attention. "Hi, how are you?" She said while mustering her friendliest smile.
"I'm good. How are you?" The old lady reciprocated the smile. Despite the lack of customers during a palpable cold weather, the old lady's smile radiated warmth and optimism.
"I'm good. Aren't you cold?" She asked, her voice laced with concern.
The old lady laughed like she found the question funny; which made Evie wonder at the reaction. "I grew up in Fairbanks, Alaska, particularly near the northern lights. It snows there like almost every month. This cold weather is just a piece of cake, dear."
Evie nodded in amazement. "That's good to hear. But it seems like no one is buying much of your newspapers."
"Ah yes. Why do Americans despise the cold so much? And, with all the new phones, no one really buys newspaper anymore, except for people of my age." The old lady tried to sound amused but the hint of sadness was evident in her voice.
"What I can do to help you?"
The old lady shifted on her seat. "No, no. There's no need to. Some people still occasionally stop here to buy."
But Evie was stubborn in a good-natured way. She fished out her wallet and grabbed several bucks. "Here, take it ma'am."
The old lady refused it but Evie was insistent.
"To save you some time, I'll just gonna buy newspaper worth a hundred dollars. In that case, I'm not giving you the money for free. I just need a lot of newspaper."
The old lady wanted to refuse but she sensed that Evie was not gonna give up. She sighed and started wrapping the bundle of newspapers.
Morgan also bought the remaining newspapers.
"Thank you my dears. I'm Julie."
"I'm Evie and this is Morgan. You're welcome. Hope to bump into you soon." Both girls waved goodbye while carrying each bundle of newspapers. They didn't know what to do with the bundle, but seeing the bundle of joy plastered on Julie's face was more worthwhile.
"Now what do we do with these?" Morgan asked as they reached the car. Her small hands gripping the thin rope that was holding the newspapers together from falling to the pavement.
She thought for a few seconds before giving an answer. "We sell these and give the money to the homeless people." Evie drawled. That way, they'll be able to help more people with their efforts.
The car puttered to life as Morgan turned the ignition.
"I didn't know you had it in you to be a philanthropist Eve." Morgan said with awe.
While looking at the busy streets, she said, "I didn't know it too until today."
That afternoon, they spent the remaining daylight selling newspapers to random strangers while brandishing their most effective weapon—Morgan's charm—until the light illuminating the surroundings vanished into oblivion as dusk settled.
***
The cold land breeze blew the silk curtains of Evie's room.
Hugging herself, Evie closed the open window and went to her bathroom to draw herself a nice warm bath. Just to avoid soreness from their unplanned jogging earlier that day.
After lighting the lavender-scented candle and filling up the tub with water, she sprinkled a generous amount of bath salt.
Feeling a wee bit fancy, she also tried a green bath bomb which resulted to a green explosion. The tub now looked like the forest vomited directly on it.
Evie slipped out from her robe. The silk cloth felt soft as it brushed her skin and fell to the cold granite floor.
Checking the temperature, she dipped her hand into the water. When the temperature was right, she entered the tub; causing the water to spill.
She started relaxing, warmth slowly soothing her skin. The bath salt slightly tickled her skin as it gradually dissolved.
The bathroom smelled like a glen of fresh flowers in the morning mist.
As she stared at the empty ceiling above her, hundreds of thoughts flooded her mind.
'Should I really attend the party?'
'But Ethan's there and I don't like his effect on me!'
'Ugh! Morgan and her stupid antics.'
'Why am I even so affected by Ethan? I don't even like him that much.'
'Okay, he's hot but duh he's a helluva jerk!'
She moved a bit, adjusting her back on the surface. More water overflowed.
'Enough about Ethan.'
'I haven't seen mysterious guy for weeks now. When can I see him again?'
'Stupid deadlines.'
'Why horizon? That's so unusual for a name.'
Evie already tried searching for people named horizon on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram but still nothing sensible came up.
After an hour of soaking in the tub, Evie put on her pajamas and blowdried her hair. She doesn't like sleeping with wet hair. It gets tangled the morning after and it's proven to be bad for your body.
Evie also did her work for an hour until she felt her stomach growled. She sorta skipped dinner since the ice cream wasn't gone just yet in her intestines when she came home from selling newspapers.
She grabbed a few bites of cinnamon bread in the kitchen and drank a glass of low-fat milk.
After quenching her stomach's cravings, she returned to her room.
On her way to her room, she knocked on her Uncle's room but no one answered. It seemed like her Uncle won't be back till tomorrow for the shoot. Oh well. He's already a big boy.
She immediately went to her bed and put on her eye-mask. It helped her sleep better. Void of nightmares and all.
Before she fell into a deep slumber, a thought lingered on her mind.
'By now, he must be looking for his cuff bracelet. I just have to wait for the right time to finally know him.'
Evie slept peacefully that night; totally oblivious that the 'right time' she was thinking about was fast approaching than what she anticipated.
And she wasn't gonna like it.