I woke up with a start, an irritating ringing in my ears. What the hell was that?
"Good morning, Makayla," Chase entered my room carrying the silver platter that I've gradually grown accustomed to over the past couple of days, along with the deep voice that woke me around the same time every day. But this time was different. Over the past few days things seemed to be normal, and although I still didn't talk to him much, I felt much more comfortable around him. Or so I thought.
"Good morning, Chase," He gave me a soft smile, his white teeth gleaming from the sunlight that escaped cracks in the blinds. "What's for breakfast today?" I asked gently. I fiddled with my fingers, the dream from the previous night gnawed at my brain, making me anxious.
"Bacon, eggs, toast, and some fruit, with a side of orange juice," He gently placed the platter on the white bedside table and bowed. "Now I must get going, there is quite a bit that needs done today in preparation for Jackson's birthday party. I shall return in a while to retrieve your utensils, please enjoy your breakfast."
Chase turned to leave, "Wait, Chase I have a question." His steady pace ceased as he turned around to face me.
"Yes, my lady, is there something you're missing? Perhaps you need salt or something to strengthen the flavor of your food?" He stood in place, arms carefully placed behind his back, standing up straight.
"Why did you react the way you did when Mrs. Lewis and James came over the other day? What I mean is- uh, why did you seem so- so mad about whatever James said? And I had a dream and there was a guy- a guy that looked just like you," Chase immediately stiffened, jaw clenched, eyes widened.
"Makayla I- no- I'm sorry," he bowed this time keeping his head towards the ground, his actions seeming out of the ordinary, "the thing is, I can't tell you why because although I know the answer myself, I've been told I am not supposed to tell you anything, that could possibly do worse than what I've already done. I'm sorry I just." He began to choke up and shut his mouth into a thin line. He had visibly begun to shake. Confusion enveloped my mind.
"What do you mean you aren't supposed to tell me anything? That you could do worse than you've already done?" Chase looked up at me immediately, his green eyes visibly fear stricken. He swallowed hard and stared at me, his usually calm facade broken for yet another time.
"Makayla I can't tell you, I'm sorry," He bowed yet again then turned towards the door, clearing his throat. "We'll continue this conversation another time. When you're ready to talk. I have many things to do, I must get them done," His voice had suddenly grown cold, and I was left there in utter confusion.
"I'm ready to hear what you have to say now Chase," as he pulled the golden handle of the door open, he shot an icy stare back at me.
"Makayla, if I were to answer all of your questions now, they would break you." My eyes shot open in an instant. What the hell does he mean? With that he exited the room shutting the door a little too harshly behind him.
I was annoyed to say the least. I felt betrayed. My family was obviously doing the very thing I never thought they would. They were keeping something from me; however, I had no idea as to what it could be. And Chase, a man whom I'd never met before in my life seemed to be the key to every little thing I couldn't remember. But that key wouldn't lead me to my treasure, at least not now.
I ate my breakfast in silence, my head jumbled up with thoughts of what my parents could be hiding from me and the dream I had. The entire thing infuriated me. I decided that at some point I needed to talk to them and get to the bottom of this situation. I had absolutely no clue on how to bring it up though.
I finished my food then changed into a pair of black ripped up jeans and a light grey tank top that fit snugly on me. I felt distraught, hurt, and everything felt so confusing that it caused my head to ache once again. The simplicity of my life was beginning to falter. What was the reason behind me having these dreams that were like distant memories?
I made my way down to the first floor to look for my parents. I searched its entirety in an attempt to find my parents, but they were nowhere to be seen. However, I did find the birthday boy Jackson playing in the spacious living room with several of his toys.
"Shouldn't you be playing with your toys in your room?" I asked Jackson as I approached him he looked up, smiling widely while holding his small red truck.
"Mommy and daddy said I can play out here today since it's my birthday!" His bright blue eyes lit up as he said this, I couldn't help but smile in return.
"Speaking of which," I sat down on the hardwood floor beside him, "where are they?" I looked at him with curiosity and played with one of the ringlets in his hair.
"They had to go to work," he spoke sadly and looked at the truck in his petite hands, "they said they probably won't be home to celebrate my birthday either so- so they said you, me and Chase are all going to be here by ourselves to celebrate." His voice had begun to shake as he stared at me with tear filled eyes. "They're never home for my birthday though," Jackson smiled sadly at his own realization.
"I know, it's always been just you and me, huh bubba?" I hugged him tightly as he began to cry in my arms. "I'm sorry," I whispered to him quietly as I rocked him lightly back and forth in my arms. Why did they always do this? I thought to myself as anger welled inside of me.
Suddenly the smell of strawberry cake wafted into my nostrils. "Hey Jackson," I spoke softly, poking the top of his head. "You smell that?" I asked him and he looked at me then smiled widely yet again. "That smells like cake, should we go see where Chase is? We can all have a little party for your birthday, all three of us," I smiled at him, helping him to stand. As hurt as I was by my parents' actions along with my confusion regarding Chase, it was Jackson's birthday. So, for now, I decided to keep my mouth shut.
We walked from the living room, down the hall, and to the large kitchen. Upon entering we saw the stove light on with a round cake baking inside. Chase was cutting up vegetables, faster than anyone I've ever seen. In a big white bowl to his right there was freshly made dough, beside that on a cutting board were decent sized pepperonis. Almost immediately after I had observed this, Jackson ran up behind Chase and enveloped his legs with his arms, startling him. Causing Chase to accidentally cut his hand open.
"Jackson," I said, scolding him. "You should know better than to sneak up on someone when they're doing something. Specifically, when they're cooking." I shook my head at him as he quickly released Chase from his grip.
"I'm sorry," he said looking down, I told him it was alright and that he should be more careful next time. I looked up at Chase to see him grabbing a paper towel, holding it to the fresh cut on his hand. "Ah, are you alright?" I said, grabbing his wrist to try to get a look at the wound on his right hand.
"I'm fine," he said gently and looked at me with soft eyes. "If you'll excuse me, I'll go take care of this," he attempted to hurry away but I pulled him back by his arm, ruffling his perfect suit.
"I'll take care of it, it's partially my fault you got cut anyway, Jackson, can you go grab the first aid kid from the bathroom please?" I asked him softly; he nodded his head quickly and rushed to the bathroom. I lead Chase over to the silver sink to rinse out the wound. He attempted to protest, saying he could take care of himself, but I just stared at him blankly. "Just because you're a butler, doesn't mean you have to do everything on your own." His mossy eyes stared into me, registering that I was being fully serious.
I turned on the steel faucet, gradually making the water warm, letting it run. I removed the paper towel from Chase's hand, placing it on the left side of the counter. I made him place his hand under the steady flow. He winced at the sudden burn that enveloped the wound when the water fell on it, but eventually relaxed. As the crimson blood began to get stripped away, I could see that the wound, which was fairly deep and long, had already begun to heal at its edges. I stared at the cut in disbelief before removing Chase's hand from the water and getting another paper towel to apply pressure to it.
I said nothing all the while, feeling much more confused about everything after what I had just witnessed. He was completely calm though, not seeming to have a care in the world about what I just saw. Jackson returned a few seconds after that with the first aid kit. "Thank you Buba," he just smiled at me and nodded.
I didn't know what to do about his "wound." It looked merely like a cat scratch now and I thought I was for sure going insane. Decidedly, I placed a band aid on it so Jackson wouldn't think anything weird of it. My eyes made their way from Chase's hand to his face. Unlike James, his features weren't as harsh, he was clearly built, and had a prominent jawline. However, he wasn't super tan, nor did he have highly defined cheekbones. His teeth were pearly white though and his eyes the most gorgeous shade of green I had ever seen.
I quickly averted my gaze when his eyes met mine yet again. Jackson was sitting on a stool that stood tall beside the counter, staring at the food on it. "What are you making Chase?" He asked excitedly, Chase turned to him smiling.
"Well since it's your birthday, I thought I'd make you a cake and cook some pizza, because I know how much you love pizza." He smiled and Jackson squealed a bit at the thought. "It's homemade as well," he stated as he left me at the sink to continue his cutting of vegetables.
"Do you need any help, just so everything gets finished faster?" I asked him as I stood with my back against the cool surface of the counter.
"Well, you could start making frosting for his cake, I'm thinking colors that are similar to that of his red truck," he said as he finished chopping up an onion. I nodded in agreement and began to make vanilla buttercream frosting.
After Jackson's many taste tests, we had finally finished the frosting while Chase completed making a pizza that looked absolutely delicious. Chase's normally perfect attire was beginning to wrinkle at certain areas.
"Why don't you change into something more comfortable?" I asked him quietly. "You don't always have to dress that way; I mean unless my parents are here of course." He looked at me, eyebrows raised as he cut slices of freshly baked pizza.
"I don't think that'd be okay," he replied. "It'd be unfit."
"You wearing that to a child's birthday party with only two other people is unfit," I replied back to him jokingly, shaking my head. "But if you really wish to wear that, go ahead." He finished cutting the pizza into slices, then he placed the pizza cutter into the sink to wash it.
"I guess it wouldn't hurt," he mumbled. "I'll be back then, feel free to start frosting the cake," he grabbed his gloves off of the granite counter and walked down the hallway into what I assumed was his room in this house.
"Sissy, I want pizzaaaaaa," Jackson whined at me, I just rolled my eyes and chuckled. I opened the cabinet door to pull out one of the small colorful plastic plates that Jackson used. I placed it on top of the smooth surface of the counter, retrieving a piece of pizza for him.
"Here you go, if you want any more once you finish that piece, just ask, okay?" My heart felt warm as he excitedly took the piece.
Eventually, I made my way to the cake which had been pulled out of the oven, putting it on top of the cake rack to frost it. Here and there I would take some small sampling tastes of the frosting to make sure it was good in flavor, not to my surprise, it was delicious. It was of course Chase's recipe, not my own, but nonetheless, it was worth it to make.
Jackson took one bite of his pizza, his eyes widened in surprise at the immaculate flavor that flooded his taste buds. He looked at the pizza with newfound hunger and began to gulp it down. After a while, he had finished his third slice of pizza and I had done my best at frosting his birthday cake, which in my opinion, didn't look too shabby.
Chase eventually returned from changing his clothes, and very clearly, he took a quick shower. He looked extremely uncomfortable as he stood, running his hands through his wet hair in anxious movements. I analyzed him closely; he was now wearing a black shirt with blue jeans and pure black vans. Water dripped slowly down his face because of the droplets in his hair. He seemed much more attractive in his natural attire than his formal one. At that point I realized that he really looked like a teenager, someone my age. Which made me question more why Chase was working for my family at all.
"Have you eaten yet?" His deep voice cut through my thoughts.
"No I haven't, I just finished frosting the cake." Chase nodded at my words and uncertainly made his way over to sit by Jackson. "Are you going to eat anything?" I asked him, he shrugged his broad shoulders and rubbed his eyes.
"I'm not very hungry to be honest," He stated. He began to speak with Jackson after that and all I heard were the hushed tones of their voices. I couldn't make out their words, however, I didn't care all that much as long as they were enjoying themselves.
I grabbed a white porcelain plate from the wooden cabinet. Then proceeded to place a few slices of pizza on it. After this I made my way to the stools, sitting beside Chase as I did so. The two kept talking in hushed tones which made me suspicious.
As soon as I took one small bite of my pizza Jackson immediately jumped up, running out the sliding back door in front of us. Chase followed swiftly behind him, both of them leaving me in the dust. He turned around waving his arm to me, as if to say come on. I grabbed the cool plate, hurriedly, attempting not to drop my pizza as I chased after them.
"Hey, come back you guys I just barely got my food," I spoke with my mouth full of only partially chewed pizza. I kicked my black flip flops off into the green grass trying my best to catch them as quickly as possible. I saw them both plop into the grass simultaneously, laughing, and smiling with pure joy.
At that moment my heart began to pound wildly as I stared at Chase laughing and smiling with my younger brother. In a way, it seemed as though they'd known each other forever. Jackson normally wasn't comfortable around new people at all. So the fact that he and Chase got along made me happy, allowing me to forget about the problems of that day. I plopped myself down beside them laying on my back, with my pizza plate sitting on my stomach. I grinned as well feeling happiness flood through me.
"You guys could have at least waited for me," I said slightly out of breath.
"That would have gone against our plans, huh Jackson?" Jackson nodded his head wildly as we all lay in the green grass. The sky was clear, as the sun's rays kissed our skin. I closed my eyes, munching on my piece of pizza, allowing the sun's warmth to envelope me. The taste of the pizza, the warmth of the air and the quiet toned birds chirping off in the distance made me feel at ease.
"This pizza is really good," I stated as I lay there slowly chewing, savoring each bite I took. We laid there for a long while, eventually, I had finished eating my pizza and the now empty plate sat beside me in the cool grass.
The sun had risen much higher in the sky, and I was almost certain Jackson and Chase must have fallen asleep because they were so quiet. When I sat up to check, it was evident Jackson had fallen asleep as drool had begun to flow out of his mouth, but Chase lay there in complete silence staring at the sky. His green eyes were much more vibrant in the sunlight. When the light hit them, it revealed each individual shade of that dark yet light color. His complexion was crystal clear as well.
His forest colored eyes landed on my own, a perplexed look touching his face. He sat up quickly wiping the grass off of the back of his slightly wrinkled shirt then proceeded to clear his throat.
"Is there anything you need?" He asked me, his face was slightly flushed as he glanced my way.
"Ah, no I'm fine," I replied, realizing that for the past five minutes I had been staring at Chase in one of his most vulnerable states. As we continued to stare at one another I found that my heart seemed to be beating a million miles an hour. What the hell is wrong with me? I questioned myself. I found myself leaning closer to him, the air around us growing hotter. What if he can hear my heart beat? He looked at me with longing eyes, I could only imagine how red my face was at that time. He looked at my lips and I looked at his. They looked soft and pink in contrast to his lightly tanned skin.
At the realization of what was about to unfold, I moved back and averted my gaze. My heart was still beating too quickly, I felt like I couldn't breathe. I could feel Chase's gaze on my skin like hot iron. I glanced back over noticing how quickly he averted his eyes, filled with slight disappointment.
"Chase I-" My eyes looked to the side, seeing if Jackson was still asleep, to my surprise he was gone. "Where's Jackson?" Chase whipped around; his breathing had gone ragged.
"He was just here- I-" The snap of a twig caused us both to spin our heads towards that direction. The faint outline of my little brother could be seen vanishing into the darkness of the forest.