Chapter 3: Chapter 2
"Here's where she meets Prince Charming, but she won't discover that it's him 'til chapter three!" -Belle (The Beauty and the Beast)
Francesca
"Brandon, I told you Juliet was allowed to play in the garden. We have to be at my parents' house in twenty minutes, and now she needs another bath. You know how she is with baths. It could take hours," I scold him.
" Hun, I will get her in the bath, and this is what we get for not having another girl, she has grown up with four brothers, what did you expect?" he mentioned.
" I thought we'd get a sweet little girl who liked to play with dolls and thought boys had cooties," I replied.
"That's it," he says then picks me up and twirls me around. He brings me down to his face and we just stare at each other. I lean in to kiss him but we were interrupted by our "adorable" daughter.
"Ewwwww! Carter, Andrew, Liam, Sam, Mom, and Dad are kissing!" Our little girl screamed at her brothers. The boys run down and shout, " Dogpile!" Then my husband and I were squished under the weight of all of our kids.
I jerk up with the hope that yesterday was just a nightmare. I take a look at the walls surrounding my bed and see that my hopes were wrong. I was living who-knows-where, and I was married to a monster. I pulled the quilt off myself and get up. I went around pulling open the doors trying to find the bathroom. Closet, linen cabinet, towel cabinet...I need one of those, second closet, balcony, and finally the bathroom. I walk into the bathroom and think my whole room back home could have fit in here. I walk over to, I guess my vanity now and look at myself in the mirror. The makeup I had been wearing yesterday stained my face, my eyes were puffy and bloodshot, and my hair was all over the place. I go back out to my room and pull my bag out from under my bed. I open it, hoping I could take my toiletries out without breaking down…again, but as soon as I pulled the zipper down completely, the floodgates opened.
Of course, like an idiot, I put all my pictures and trinkets on top. I took out the picture of Ellie and me when we graduated from grad school. I put it down on the bed and picked up the picture of Brandon kissing me on the pier, I remembered this day vividly.
We had only been dating a few months and on a holiday Ellie, Brandon and I were walking around an almost empty town. We stopped to look at the storm churn the waters into a swelling mess. Brandon came up behind me and pushed me slightly. I screamed from the sudden movement, but his arms steadied me. He turned me around and laughed at my downtrodden face, he then kissed me and that made me automatically smile. Ellie took the opportunity to take a picture of us; I didn't know that little detail until she told us later that day.
I threw the photo onto my bed, quickly pulled my toiletries out, then ran straight into the bathroom. I put my stuff down on the vanity and grabbed what I needed, and put in the shower. Once I had all my things out, I stripped down and put a towel around myself. I put my hand under the showerhead, to test the temperature. Once it was warm enough, I drop my towel and hop into the spray of water. I let my tense muscles relax under the warm water.
Once I had washed my self sufficiently, I turned the shower off and got out. I grabbed my towel off the ground and dried myself with it. Once I was dry, I wrapped a new, dry towel around myself and walked back out to the bedroom. As I walked out of the steamy bathroom, I see a tray of food and a new outfit on a small silver tray. I walk over and pick up the shirt. I look at it for a few seconds then decide it's cute, so I am going to wear it. I put my undergarments on, then slip on the shirt and a pair of yoga pants, that fit perfectly. Ok, that is not creepy or disturbing at all. How in the world did they know my sizes... I pushed the thoughts off and walked back into the bathroom. I put my hair in a messy bun, brushed my teeth, and put on some lipgloss. I went back into my room and opened the lid on the tray of food. I see waffles, a bowl of mixed fruits, a glass of orange juice, and a cup of coffee black. Well, whoever prepared this was most definitely a woman, no guy could have done this kind of thing, and who could have guessed that I needed a cup of black coffee after the day I had yesterday. I dove into the masterpiece, and after I finished, I had almost worked enough courage to want to explore my half of the house. Scott made it very clear yesterday that he was to, under no circumstances, see me on his side of the house...well, see me at all, anytime, anywhere.
I walked up to my door and just stared at the door handle. I was an unwanted guest here. I may be Scott's "wife", but I knew I wasn't wanted. I didn't want to be here, and he didn't want me here. All I can do now is try to make some kind of happiness in my new life, and maybe the woman who made my breakfast this morning could be someone I can confide in this empty dark house. I mustered up all the courage I had left, turned the doorknob, and walked out.
I wandered the hallways trying to find someone but not knowing where I was going wasn't a help. Opened a number of doors that I hid bedrooms, bathrooms, or lithe closest. None of the rooms looked quite the other and the uniqueness of each one was refreshing. Maybe I would move to one of these rooms instead...I finally found the set of stairs I had run up last night, and I went down them. Once I was at the bottom, I went towards the left, remembering that to the right is where Scott stays. I only had to go a short way before I heard people talking. I followed the voices until I was met with a beautiful kitchen, with two women talking happily amongst themselves. They hadn't noticed I had come in, so they kept talking. Before I could decide to interrupt them I hear something rather worrying.
" Well, I don't know what she will be like, but I hope she isn't one of those women who thinks their husband should do everything for them," one of them says.
" I don't think that she is. The way we saw her run off yesterday, something tells me that she doesn't want to be here anymore than he wants her here," the other one disclosed. I guess I should stop them before they start thinking I'm some mean, old dragon lady...I know that is kind of far fetched.
"Ummm, do you two ladies live here?" I asked. They stopped talking and turned around.
" Yes Miss, we are part of the cooking and cleaning staff chosen for your side of the house," the one on the left said. They both looked petrified.
" No need for the formalities ladies. I'm not into to all that stuff and honestly, it makes me feel old. My name is Francesca, what're yours?" I said.
" My name is Victoria," the woman on the left says.
" And my name is Alexandra," the other one says.
" Well, now that we know each other's names, why don't we do something? What is it you do for fun around here?" I asked.
" Well...I guess we could go to the library. There are books from every era in there. Would you like that Mis... I mean Francesca?" Alexandra asked me.
" That would be perfect. I love to read. There are so many different places you can go when you put yourself in the shoes of the characters and I could definitely use an escape right about now," I say and they look at me with a smile. They start walking, and I follow not wanting to get lost...again. They take me farther away from my side of the house, and I began to get worried.
"Excuse me, Victoria, but we are going towards Scott's side of the house, and I don't want to find out what he will do to me when he finds me somewhere he specifically said to stay out of," I say and stop walking.
" Francesca, I can assure you that the library is not on his side of the house. It is in the middle near the ballroom," Victoria replies.
I take a deep breath and start to walk again. We walk a short while from there until I am met with a tall, strong oak door. I push it open and I can contest to the fact that the girls weren't exaggerating. There were six walls with multiple levels full of books. I walk into the magnificent room in awe.
" How will I ever find the book I want to read, there are so many," I ask. Alexandra smiles at me.
"All books are in order by the year and alphabetically. The higher the level you, the older the books get. "A", starts on the right side of the room, and then you just follow the alphabet all the way around," Alexandra replied.
" Ok, now let's find three copies of the same book, that we all would like to read and we can read it together. At home, my friends and I would all read the same book, then we would get together every week while we were reading and talk about the book so far…," I trail off, as I remember that this was my home now, and I wouldn't see them ever again.
" So, how do you feel about doing that?" I ask them.
" That would be so much fun! My friends and I used to do that back in Germany," Alexandra said.
" I guess I just lived a very boring, lonely life in London because I have never done anything like this," Victoria said.
With the mentioning where they came from, reminded me that I had no idea to where my parents had shipped me off. Not that I cared, the farther away from them the better, but I was human...I was curious.
"Guys, do you happen to know where we are?" I asked
" We are in Wick, Scotland. About 45 minutes outside of town. The Jackson family have always enjoyed their solitude," Alexandra replies.
"Has the Jackson family always lived here?" I ask, wanting to play out my hunch.
" Yes, the Jackson's have roots here dating back a very long time," Victoria replied as she looked at me. No doubt that I had my thinking face on right now.
"Would you like to see the family tree?" she asked and I nodded.
She went up the stairs to the sixth level, all the way to the last shelf from the top in the last letter. She pulled out a very worn, big leather book. Once the book was balanced in her small arms, she made her way over to the stairs. She walked back down and set it on the study table. I sat in the chair that was in front of the table and looked down at the book. It had a large, metal buckle holding it closed, there were small pieces sticking out of all sides and the leather had begun to disintegrate. It is obvious that this book had seen many centuries and had been to hell, and back. I pulled the buckle open and flipped through the pages. Let's get cracking...
" Francesca, I don't mean to pry, but what is it you are looking for?" Alexandra asked.
" My family has always been very secretive. They haven't told me anything about where my grandparents were from, why I had to get married, or anything about their past. There must a connection to this family and I want to find it. It may explain why I'm here. The only way I can do that is finding out who my great grandparents and grandparents were," I said.
I looked and flipped through the worn pages trying to find any signs of my mother's maiden name. Well, that was one thing I had found out by myself. My mom really should have found a better place to stash her birth certificate. Macpherson...Robertson...oh bingo, Sinclair. I followed the lines of my family straight to my mother. I went up one generation and found her mother and father's names, then went one up and found their parents' names. I knew it, they lived here and my parents didn't even tell me that they existed. I can't believe they didn't tell me... I start to look around for a pen and a piece of paper when someone taps my shoulder.
" Miss um...," I hear one of the girls say from behind me.
"Girls, what did I say about calling me, Miss?" I ask them.
I get no response, so I turn around and see a furious Scott. I stand up and put the book behind my back.
" What did I tell you?!" he asked enraged. I gave him no response.
" I thought I made myself very clear, but I see that you didn't understand. I didn't want to see you or hear from you! Now get out of my sight," he said.
I grabbed the arms of my maids and jogged out of the library. I walked swiftly back to my side of the house and went straight for my room. I shut the door behind me. I look to see my maid's expressions. Sure as hell, they matched mine. I put the book on my desk and sat down on my bed. I felt my heart racing, my short breaths, and the beads of sweat running down my forehead. I could feel the tears building up behind my eyes.
"That will be all for today ladies, please leave me to my thoughts," I state coldly. I looked away from both of them. I didn't want them to see me like this again.
" Francesc-" Victoria began.
" I said that will be all," I commanded.
I don't even look up, but I know they left because I heard my door shut. I sat down on the edge of my bed and let the quiet tears fall down my face. I laid down and prayed that I wouldn't have to go through that ever again. I wasn't even tired, but I fell asleep, full of sadness. I would have to wake up the next morning living in the same house as a man who hates my guts and I was scared; he scared me today. I shouldn't have to be scared of my "husband", but the truth is he terrifies me.
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Scott
" Scott, the least you could do is talk to her. I saw her face yesterday after you shouted at her. You scared her half to death, even her ladies maids were petrified. You could try being nicer," Spencer said, scolding me like a child.
" I'm not talking to her. I'm sure you would feel the same way if you had to get married. Spence, I've never had a girlfriend after...you know, and I never thought of getting another one. Now, my father had me marry someone whom I didn't even know. I hate the thought of her. Heck, I even hate her," I declare.
" Scott Anthony Jackson! Get over yourself. That is your wife; now apologize to her, and be a man instead of a damn pansy!" he said.
This is what I loved about having him as my partner and my friend, he didn't give a flying fuck who I was. He would tell me off any day.
" Ok! Geez, I will apologize, but that is all. I won't be saying anything else and I won't be talking to her ever again," I state.
" That's better. Baby steps... Now back to the matter at hand, how are we supposed to win this case? They have a lot of evidence stacked against our client," he said.
"The evidence they have isn't concrete. They have a tape of him leaving his loft at 10:30, which is the time of the murder, but that's the thing it would've taken him hours to paint the mural of his wife on the floor. He didn't go back to the loft until the next morning, finding his dead wife," I said as I laid out the facts.
" Spence, do you think that you could get your hands on the security tape the police collected?" I asked.
" Yeah, I can't think of why not," he replied.
" Good, now to go home. Thanks to you, I now have to go talk to my wife," I say.
I put emphasis on the word wife because even though we share the same last name now and have rings on our ring fingers, it doesn't mean we were married. You have to be in love with someone to be married, not in a literal sense, but in a sense of wanting to be married. I walk out of my office and walk over to her side of the house. I then remember I don't know where she was; come to think of it, I didn't know a thing about her. I walk around until I hear voices coming from the kitchen.
" Vicky, what are you doing?! That is not how you use the blender!" someone said.
"Alex, I'm sure she can...Aaaah! Shut it off! Shut that damn thing off!" Someone else said.
What am I doing? This is ridiculous, no one is ever going to be her, and I will never care for anyone else, not after everything that I went through. This is just how it has to be…
I walk back over to my side and walk into my personal study. I was doing exactly what I always did when I felt something I threw myself into my work. This is something that my father showed me how to do quite well…
Oh, Claire, why did I have to choose you….
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