"W-ha-t what? Did you just say? D-did you hear her, honey?" Mrs Benny's scrunched-up face turned into anger as she now glared at Thalia Mirabel. But Thalia Mirabel could care less about what the woman thought, either about her fashion sense or her personality. 'I am done pleasing people who, in general, are nasty, especially those who feel entitled!' Thalia Mirabel thought to herself,
She stared straight at Mrs Benny as she felt the slight evening breeze ruffled through her hair. The autumn chill raised some goosebumps on her exposed legs, but the breeze felt so good, and she didn't want any external nobodies to ruin it. 'How good it felt to be free!' she thought.
Thalia Mirabel did not provide any response to Mrs Benny's question, not that she felt obliged to do that because it had been intended to be a sarcastic rhetorical one. Thalia Mirabel was in no mood to entertain any nonsense from anyone, but she would try to make and live amicably with anyone she came across.
Mr Benny seemed amicable enough, and that was all she needed. Just one 'kind' person was enough to make any situation better! In the past, if she had gotten at least one person-, Thalia Mirabel let her thoughts hang and sent a grateful smile towards Mr Benny as he indicated to her and ignored his wife,
"Mrs Trimshaw, if you, please follow me, I'll get you acquainted with the home."
They ignored Mrs Benny, who had her mouth open at the level of 'disrespect' she had been shown and followed Mr Benny for a brief tour of their new home.
"I'll show you around a few places as it is not possible to finish touring the place tonight. You must be tired after such a long day. We are currently in Trimshaw Hills, and as the name suggests, this is one of the estates that Mr Trimshaw owns; he uses this residence as his urban home, especially when he has business to handle at the headquarters … this is more often than he would prefer, though …" Mr Benny paused in his steps with a chuckle.
Then he continued as they walked through a small archway into the house. "The house is about 36,000 sq feet. We have eighteen bathrooms and ten bedrooms. As you saw from the outside, it has four levels and -"
Thalia Mirabel zoned out when they entered the entrance hall, because she was awed beyond words!
"Wow!" Collin's small voice echoed beside her as he clutched his tablet with one hand and his mother's hands with his other.
It was a large space that seemed to cut across all four floors of the building! A colossal chandelier hung down and spanned across two of the floors. It was S-shaped and absolutely fit the luxurious room with its elegant design, like shimmering water droplets that looked like crystal stones or diamonds.
That crystal chandelier was absolutely fantastic! It reflected and refracted against its own lights, creating a wonderful view, especially against the night sky that could be seen through the plain large glass windows. And the chandelier perfectly fitted the high ceiling of the hall as well as the twin staircase that cascaded from the fourth floor, crisscrossed on the second and then flowed down gracefully to where they stood.
A small glass elevator was seen right in front of her but was somewhat nestled at the back of the interesting-looking stairs. A grand piano was nestled right beneath the chandelier.
"He sure likes his black and white!" she said out loud, and this drew a smile from Mr Benny, who had stopped his verbal tour to let the mistress take in the new surroundings herself "…this place is breathtaking!" she whispered to herself as she turned slowly and studied the hall. Mr Benny was already used to the home and its extravagance but he was indulgent enough of his new mistress as she took everything in.
"I'll take you to the young master's room, and then I'll take you to the master's bedr-"
Mr Benny started but was stopped halfway through as Thalia Mirabel snapped out and stated factually but firmly, "I will be sleeping in the same room as my son, so please take us there."
"As you wish, Mrs Trimshaw," Mr Benny bowed and then started up the stairs. He paused as if he had changed his mind and directed them to the elevator. They got off on the second floor, and he opened one of the doors for them. "Please use the phone in the room to reach us if you need us. Just dial '001', or just '1', and that should suffice", Mr Benny added.
Thalia Mirabel thanked him, and soon, only the mother and son were left in there. There was a backpack on the bed in the room, which Thalia Mirabel identified as her son's. She was about to call them when,
'Knock, knock,' a pleasant-looking maid entered and brought in Thalia Mirabel's backpack as well. The mother and child duo had only come in with two backpacks, and those contained all they owned in this world. The maid placed the bag on a dresser on the side of the room, and another pushed a trolley into the room. It had light snacks, a glass of milk and fruit juice on it.
"Mrs Trimshaw, you can leave this outside the room when you're done eating, and we'll come to get it. May I ask if you would like or need anything else, Mrs Trimshaw?" the girl asked. Thalia Mirabel shook her head in response and instead thanked her. The two maids bowed and quietly left the room, closing the door behind them.
Finally, alone with her son, Thalia Mirabel slowly walked around the room and observed the surroundings.
The vastness of the 'child's' room was not lost on Thalia Mirabel, but at this moment, she had somewhat accepted the level of luxury being displayed in the mansion, so she tried not to react as much; besides, she never cared much for riches anyway.
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