A Taste of Candor

Chapter 2

~Tahlia.

Every morning, it seemed as if there were a race for which would wake me up first—the rays of the rising sun filtering through my window blinds, or the aroma of a delicious breakfast cooking downstairs. As it turned out, this morning, the sun won that race, so I sat up in bed with a yawn and rubbed my groggy eyes.

After silently giving thanks to the Lord for a new day, I let out a sigh and extricated myself from the safety and comfort of my covers. One could say I had a fairly standard post-awakening regiment, which involved reading a Psalm or two, and perhaps a chapter from somewhere else in the Scriptures if I wished. Following that would be the process of dressing myself and applying cosmetics. After all, living in an affluent household such as the one headed by my father, Phillip Paige, entailed responsibilities, one of those being retaining a presentable image from the moment one stepped out of their bedroom.

I took about twenty minutes to complete my regiment, after which I emerged to the smells of freshly baked bread, eggs, and savory bacon, all mingled together into one pleasant whole. With a contented smile, I made my way downstairs to the lavish dining room.

As it turned out, I had been the last to arrive. Both my parents and my four brothers had already seated themselves and currently engaged in excited conversation as they waited for our service staff to bring out breakfast. My father noticed my arrival first, and with a wide grin, he rose to bless me with one of his big, warm embraces that I missed so much whenever military service called him away for a time. Needless to say, I returned the favor with as much vigor as I had in my still-sleepy body.

"I hope you slept well, dear?" Father asked while peering into my eyes.

I nodded and flashed my teeth at him before obeying his cue to take a seat. "I did; thank you."

Once I made eye contact with my mother, she leaned forward and spoke. "Keene called earlier. He said he found a new fishing spot he'd like to show you. He'll come by at 10:30, if you'd like."

"I'd love that!"

Mother nodded and rose up. "I'll tell him that, then. Don't start without me."

Father chuckled. "You know we'd never do that, love."

After Mother left the room, one of my brothers smirked and glanced up at Father. "You should fill Tahlia in on what happened last night."

"It's no laughing matter, Andrew." Father chided before folding his hands and glancing my way. "We lost our lead saxophonist last night. He walked out after throwing a big fuss about his pay."

"Oh." I said simply. I did remember having heard some distant shouting as I'd been trying to fall asleep the night prior, but hadn't been sure if it had been in our house to begin with. "That's unfortunate."

"But that's not the interesting part." Andrew said, his mischievous expression still lingering despite Father's rebuke, "Don't you remember what he said to mother?"

"The things he said were shameful even to remember, much less repeat." Father said while shaking his head ruefully, "If he hadn't walked out on his own, I would have fired him for speaking of your mother in that manner."

I laughed and eyed Andrew playfully. "You truly do wallow in gossip like a woman, don't you?"

Andrew's eyes flashed with annoyance. "I'm not like a woman; I just thought it was amusing."

"I thought it was utterly disrespectful." Father said, "There's nothing entertaining about it, to me."

"So, will the guild send us a replacement?" I asked in order to steer the conversation into practicality.

"I haven't called them yet. We still have yet to pay our monthly fee, so I was planning on killing two birds with one stone. In fact ... you'll already be out and about, Tahlia. Maybe you could make a stop at the guild office after fishing?"

I nodded vigorously. "I'd be glad to do that if Keene's fine with another stop."

Mother returned once I finished talking, and immediately after that, breakfast arrived at the table. We ate heartily, our dining punctuated by bits of ordinary conversation one could easily forget about the moment they finished hearing it. After we finished, I headed to my room to pack up my painting supplies to bring along to Keene's new fishing spot.

My best friend, Keene Abrams had attempted more than once to convince me to share his enthusiasm for fishing, but I truly found the activity more fun to watch than to engage in. However, my artist's eye saw opportunity in the scenic landscapes around the various lakes and riversides he picked for a fishing spot, so I'd begun bringing art supplies along to capture the beauty on my canvas. Keene had called our arrangement a "symbiotic relationship", and I would call that an accurate characterization.

Father had on many occasions suggested that our relationship was symbiotic in other ways as well, but there was simply no truth to that. Keene was my friend, and I was his; nothing more.

At any rate, after gathering my supplies, I added a light coat to my outfit. Then, realizing I had ten minutes more to wait, I read two chapters of a romance novel I'd been working through, full of cliches, but also written in a humorous tone that managed to redeem its lack of originality in the plot. And then 10:30 struck, so I headed out, kissed my parents goodbye, and headed out the door of the Paige mansion. 

* * * * * 

A/N: Pretty short, I know, but now we've met our female lead as well! Hope you like Tahlia so far (pictured at the top of the chapter), and if you did, please remember to vote and comment. ❤️

What're your overall impressions of the Paige family so far? 

And for our random question...how many languages do you speak?

(My answer won't be super interesting, since I only know English. I just don't have much of anyone to talk to in any other languages, so it'd be more difficult to learn without that kind of practice. 😂)

And with that, I take my leave! Hope you have a great week, and I'll see you in next week's update!