Victorie plus N

Chapter 25: Tomorrow

Lolita's house.

It's not a house. It's not a manor. It's a mansion.

Like, an actual mansion. Eight stories. Massive. Marble.

It's hard to take in.

"Whoah," is all I say, standing in front of the house- mansion- with Teddy.

"Her parents are pretty wealthy," he says.

I give him a look. "Pretty."

"Fine, very."

"I thought so."

"Yeah," he looks at me. "Well, want to head in, then?"

"Yeah."

"Great."

We've been avoiding topics that have to do with anything going on with what's happening right now. So we've also been avoiding each other because are lives seems to revolve around the bad things going on. And we've barely said anything to each other.

We silently open the doors and head inside. No servants greet us. Just... silence.

Marble floors and ceiling, white walls, borders trimmed with gold paint, a grand staircase in front of us -also marble- with a red velvet carpet. White marble columns decorating the foyer. It's a Hollywood-Celebrity's-Mansion kind of mansion. It's like a dream.

"Should we just...." I trail off as I circle around in my spot.

Teddy clears his throat. "Let's head up to the drawing-room branching off her room. They're probably all there. Usually, the servants never come to greet us. I think they think of us as pests. We're not," he gives a small smile.

I want to ask him what he means by that, but I decide now is not the time. Which it isn't, of course.

He walks up the staircase in front of us and I file in behind him. We finally walk into a large room with shelves of books covering two walls, red velvet chairs the same color as the rug on the staircase, and several little brown coffee tables. This is like its own little library.

Lolita is there, but she's the only one.

"Where is everyone else?" Teddy asks her, as we stand in front of the door, not knowing what to do really.

She shrugs, putting down the book she was reading. I didn't know she read anything. "No idea, let's just start."

She gets up from her seat and we follow her down the hall, up some stairs, and into a giant room filled floor to ceiling with books. There are even one of those swirly staircase-things that goes around in circles up to a second floor in the library. Because the library is big enough to have a second floor. And a third. And a chandelier shaped like a huge, upside-down tree. And I thought Grandfather's library was big.

"This... Is so cool," I tell Lolita.

She shrugs again. "I guess."

I try not to comment on how ungrateful she is. Even though I really want to. Why does she have to be so... rude? Well, at least she's helping us.

"The family journals are on the third floor," she says, walking up the staircase, "I'll take the middle, Teddy, take the right, and... Victorie, take the left."

Did she literally just forget my name right there? Wow, that's nice.

"Okay," Teddy responds.

We head to our designated places. I've been assigned ten shelves. This will take a year.

I sigh and start.

Hours later, I'm finally done with the... second shelf.

Lolita looks at us. "Okay, that's enough it's, like, 9 o'clock," she checks her Apple watch.

I sigh gratefully and reshelve the book I just finished, then walk over to her.

"I got through two shelves," I tell her when I reach her.

"Three," Teddy says, approaching us.

She purses her lips. "One."

Teddy bites his lip. "That's good," he nods, "We'll do more tomorrow."

"Tomorrow," she repeats.

"Tomorrow," I finish.

Tomorrow could be the end of the world for all we knew.