AROUND THE HEART IN 80 DAYS

Nine

The state of mind affects one's rest period. Then again, almost everything has to do with one's state of mind.
People failed to estimate the powers granted to the human race in the form of the mind, maybe that was why so many motivational speakers overemphasized on that fact. The Mind is the greatest superpower.

And that must have been why Jackie felt she'd died and gone to heaven. She was sure there was -though out of her memory- some time in life she'd woken in peace and tranquillity.

The new environment she'd slept in and woken to was still an incredible thing to digest. To think that this exact time, the previous week, her step-mother had whined her to death concerning leaky pipes in the kitchen and how Fiona had gone in search of a renowned plumber in town (two days prior).

She inhaled the fresh scent of 'new' and looked at the stucco white Plaster of Paris her new room beheld. She stretched out fully with her back still on the soft mattress, her arms stretched all the way at a one sixty-five degree angle from her body, so as to let allowance between her arms and the headboard, then she let her limbs stretch so far that her toes curled. It was a daily routine for sure, but Lord! She had never felt so good doing it.

Then she knelt and prayed a good morning, for she knew her grandmother Constanza would be forever pissed off if she didn't.

Jackie was in a state of luck. She was glad that she had begun her unpacking process the day before, almost immediately after Edrei had left the house. The wardrobe space was way bigger than all her clothes, but that was of little inportance, at least her clothes and shoes were arranged. Her toiletries were set as well, her yoga mat sat in a corner of the room though.

All that was left were her baking equipment.

When Rebecca had called last night to check on her, she had added that the gas stove in the kitchen had an electric oven, to Jackie's delight. Of course, the sister had asked after her brother and Jackie replied with hidden nonchalance, that Edrei hadn't come home yet.

Now she didn't blame the man who had just included her in a shoving game with his sister, le Langue du Français all over the air between them as if she wasn't in the room, it was all too shocking for him and it was only natural to react in such a way. She would be equally mad if the roles had been switched and some young guy was being forced upon her... or a step-family being forced upon her.
The picture of the bust of Mariana taking up 50% of the man's living room made her understand him more.
That late woman had been a regal goddess with elegance from the top of her glorious brunette hair to her sharp, perfectly filed nails. If anything, both she and Rebecca were overstepping their boundaries.

They initially thought Edrei might have run away at night but after a thorough search of his drawers (with Rebecca's permission and Jackie's reluctance), they were relieved to find his supposed important papers as well as every single one of his belongings.

Till that morning, the owner of the house had still not shown up. And Jacqueline could not care less.

Yes, she was here on a mission, but the normalcy in her knew it was unfair to force feeling on someone else. She would do him the favour of being totally invisible. He was giving her a comfortable apartment for goodness' sake. If she wanted to repay him in the only way she could, maybe she could cook him something from time to time, get some flavour to his life in the very least.

Pushing all worrisome thoughts aside, she decided to focus on the better opportunities, like going on to achieve her nirvana in the wonderful form of yoga. She couldn't go to the gym because she was still settling in but that was compensated in his wonderful backyard, simple greens and interlocks. Her happiness even blinded her from the neighbours on each side over the fence. Yoga was a low sport, they wouldn't mind.
She made herself feel alive, her Low Lunges had an overly extra arch to it, there was an over split in her Single Leg Downward Dog left and right and her forehead gladly kissed her knees in the Big Toes Pose Variation.
Then she browsed through her business page on her Instagram. Of course she was still settling in and would definitely not take orders that day but it was satisfying to see people ordering from her.