The approaching footsteps made her head turn in the direction of the door immediately. She knew who it was even before he appeared at the door.
There he was standing at the door with two bouquets in his hand, a Caucasian middle-aged man. His satisfying smile when he saw her made the girl dashed towards him.
"Dad!', she chirped as she flew into her dad's arms.
He immediately put the flowers on a table next to him to pick up his precious daughter, their giggle instantly alerted the woman in the kitchen.
"It smells delicious in here, she is making magic again in there isn't she?", beamed the man as he watched his daughter nod yes.
Again, a hearty giggle.
She finally came out of the kitchen, a middle-aged brown-skinned woman with a round attractive face that could melt any man's heart. As if he had just fallen in love with her again as she walked towards him with a smile on her face, the man forgot about his daughter for a second as he met up with his wife and gave her the warm hug she had been missing since he had been gone.
The girl smiled from ear to ear as she watched her parents being lovey-dovey even at their age, Her heart felt at ease, and she knew at that moment that she loved her life with them next to her.
"I got you this pretty flower, your favorite flower", the man said as he picked one of the bouquets and handed it over to his wife, while still smiling happily.
"And here for you my little angel", he said almost immediately before he got penalized by his goofy daughter.
The expression on the woman's face said it all, she loved the flower and the man right in front of her, and she would not ask for anything else than this beautiful moment. Watching her husband and her daughter smelling the flower together and giggling is like a dream happening right in her eyes.
"Let us eat guys, made the favorite soup you two liked", she said before turning to put the flower in an empty vase on the table.
"Okay Mom, let us go, Dad, I will carry your bag in your room", the girl said as she took the bag from her dad and dashed towards his room while giggling with laughter, getting to the room, she dropped his bag on the bed and was ready to head back to join her family.
She opened the door and her eyes immediately went from smiling to confused.
Everything was empty, there was nothing but empty spaces, What was going on? Where is her family? She just laughed with her dad and mom and now she can not see any of them and the furniture is gone too.
Her eyes immediately filled with tears as she searched around the empty house, her loud calling of her parents left an echo.
"Mom!!!! Dad!!!!"
"Mo..MOM!..."
"DADDD!!!!"
..
…
….
The loud honking cars from outside her window immediately woke her up.
"It was all a dream", she sadly said as her eyes were now opened. She lay down there staring at her ceiling.
"Of course, it is a dream, My life is not that dreamy, and I am not that little, I am an average 18-year-old California girl".
She finally moved her body as she got up and put her foot on the cold ground, She felt the coldness right away but her mind was fixed on the dream.
"It's been a long time since I had a dream about them, especially a happy one, it seemed real. I miss them, I miss Dad the most and yes I miss him more than I miss Mom and you are probably wondering why I miss my dad and who I am. I am going to tell you my story".
"My name is…."
"MAISY!!!!, GET YOUR BLACK ASS UP, I NEED MY BREAKFAST".
The loud yell from the house made the girl give her a soft sigh.
"Guess I won't need to say my name anymore, when I was 10… my mom left, she left me and Dad and it was hard, really hard for the both of us".
She turned her head to the clock next to her bed and the time made her fly up.
"SHOOT I AM LATE", she said almost yelling.
"Give me a little time I need to get ready to work, Yes I work in a Cafe shop and I am 10 minutes late, that is not good".
"MAISY. I DON'T WANT TO REPEAT YOUR NAME BEFORE YOU COME OUT OF THERE! OR I AM COMING TO PULL YOU OUT OF THERE"
After a little time of huffing and puffing, she got ready and since it was winter, she wore her blue sweatshirt and pair of jeans.
"Yes, that was Aunt Rose, the yelling lady".
She picked up her bag and looked in the mirror.
"She took me in after my dad died, he died when I was just about to get into high school, I do not know the cause of his death but he got sick, and the hospital could not save him, I mean my mom heard the news but she never showed her face, never did and I know he would have love to see her again, something about one-sided love".
Maisy sighed as there was silence in the room, She stood there and could still feel the hurt in her chest, Yes it has been years since he died but the hurt remains unhealed.
She finally got out of the room.
The smell of the cigarette smoke that had taken over everywhere got in her nose.
"I am not surprised about that, it is an everyday thing, at this rate, I should not use cologne anymore, the smell of cigarettes is gracing me, thanks Aunt Rose".
The woman saw her coming down the stairs, she smirked and puffed out the smoke in her mouth.
"Good Morning Aunt Rose", greeted Maisy.
"There is absolutely nothing good about this morning, it would have been good if your black ass had woken up earlier and made me breakfast, but now you would hit me with the OH I HAVE WORK BS, and I don't care, but what do I do? I have not even said a thing and you are already looking at me with those sly eyes, light out at 11 pm, but No! I never knew it would be this hard to raise a teenager, I never....."
"Yes, that is so Aunt Rose, She would nag for 10 minutes or when I am lucky enough it could last for 5 to 8 minutes… she is my dad step sister, She used to be so sweet when I was little but I guess people change after all, I was extremely rest assured it was her I would live with since no family want to take me in after dad lost our house and died, but…. Yeah, this… let me keep listening to her yell at me, I think I have 3 minutes left"
Aunt Rose continued, "You knew I would be hungry but instead you were so selfish that you slept so late and now I am going to be hungry all morning".
"UMM, maybe drop the cigarette and go, cook, you are grown, am I right?".
The lady noticed she had been yelling for almost 10 minutes and Maisy had not given her a reply, she stopped and took another puff of the cigarette.
"I will make sure to make you a meal when I am back Aunt Rose, Pardon me this time, I am super late and my boss might kill me", Maisy finally said as she hurried out before the lady could say anything.
"I AM SUPER LATE, I AM GETTING FIRED"
(15 minutes later)
Maisy hurried into the Cafe Shop and immediately saw her boss's eyes on her as she walked in, Her heart was beating so fast that she could think it would fall off.
"Omg, what do I do? I can't get FIRED!!!!"