The House of Love

Ch6: Stranger

As the gates of Fate shut themselves up again, Mia found herself back at her not-so-sweet home, the Oliver House Orphanage. She was sitting on an unnaturally cold chair and across the desk in front of her, sat the man that had acted like a shadow over Mia's life for the past 10 years.

"So? Do you have anything to say for yourself?" Mia heard him say. She shifted her gaze towards the open window that provided the otherwise suffocating room with frequent gusts of cold, but fresh, wind. She could see a dead tree standing outside the window and somehow it looked more alive than the room she was in. It even looked more alive than she felt herself. It all felt like a bad dream that somehow never wanted to end. But she knew she was alive. She knew it because she could feel her tired heart beating… bleeding inside her.

"Well? I need an answer!" she heard him say again.

She looked back at him but she couldn't muster up enough energy to answer his silly infuriating questions.

Why does he think she ran out of this hellhole? Of course, she went to look for the boy that this literal piece of crap tortured for hours and probably made him run away forever. Why does he think that this hellhole is worth staying? Why does he think she'll just start chatting with him after all that he has done and answer all his answers? Why does he have such ridiculously high expectations from her? 

She said none of this of course. She just stared into his eyes with a blank face. Maybe all these outrageous questions were written all over her face, because the very next thing that happened, made her think that Mr. Oliver knew exactly what she had been thinking about.

A flash of a hand, a striking pain across the left side of her face, a force that threw her off the chair and the next thing she felt was the cold floor of Mr. Oliver's office. He had slapped her so hard across the face that she had fallen to the floor. She felt something hot trickling down her cheeks and over her eyelids. She opened her eyes to find her vision all red and blurry. She could faintly see Mr. Oliver walking towards her and she could hoist herself up, he caught hold of her hair and pinned her to the wall. She winced once, but she found herself staring into Mr. Oliver's eyes again. She was not afraid , not today, not anymore.

"What are you looking at?!" he asked. She saw him pulling his hand up again to strike her once more. She could see his face contorting in indescribable anger and he was just about to hit her again when -

KNOCK! KNOCK!

"Stand up! Now!" Mr. Oliver hissed in a hurried whisper and let go off Mia's hair.

She picked herself up and stood near the door. Her face ached so bad that it hurt to even look around. Mr. Oliver went back to her seat on the other side of the table and gestured at Mia to open the door. Mia unwillingly did it and Mr. Oliver said, "Come in!"
There was a faint click and the door opened.

"Good Morning Mr. Oliver!" said someone from outside the door.
"Good morning. Come in please. How can I help you?" Mr. Oliver replied.
A man in a black suit came in and sat down at the table.
"Actually," the man continued, "I am making a documentary on the various orphanages in the state. I've found out that this is the only orphanage in this town and it has been successfully taking care of unfortunate children for the past 3o years. Hence… ha ha… couldn't resist coming here."

There was a sudden excited twinkle in Mr. Oliver's eyes, as he observed the possibility of him finally earning his long awaited fame through the situation. He took a minute and then replied confidently.

"Oh that sounds wonderful! We're honoured that you've chosen to make a documentary about our humble establishment. You can stay here as long as you like. My secretary will show you to your quarters."
"Thank you so much Mr. Oliver! And I apologise for causing you such trouble. I'll be out of your hair as soon as my work is done."
"No no! The honour is ours… Mr…?"
"Oh sorry! I forgot to introduce myself. It's Walker. Charles Walker" the man replied. He was looking around the room when he saw Mia standing beside the door.
"Oh my god! What has happened to you?! You're bleeding!" He exclaimed after seeing Mia's injured head.
"Ah actually she fell down the stairs this morning. I just called her to give her a quick first aid."  Mr. Oliver replied before Mia could say a word. He even went to get his first- aid kit from the next room, giving Mia a death stare on his way out.

Mia looked at the stranger and saw him staring right at her.

Wait a second. She knew this man. It was the same person she bumped into, earlier that morning.
What was he doing here?!

Mia was absolutely clueless, but felt a little relaxed when the man gave her a reassuring smile.
Mr. Oliver came back as quickly as he had left. Surprisingly, he even had an actual first aid kit in his hand. He gestured at Mia to go near him.

Mia felt her feet freezing in their place, as she struggled to decide if she wanted to go anywhere near that demon of a person.

To Mia's surprise, she didn't have to decide at all.
"Mr. Oliver, would you mind if I did it? I love kids and since, I'll be here for a while, I may as well assist you a bit" said Charles, suddenly.
"Oh! Yeah… Of course Mr. Walker. Go ahead" answered Mr. Oliver, relieved that he didn't have to contribute to this nonsense.
"Come here young lady… It'll be fine in a jiffy!" said Charles, smiling reassuringly at Mia.

She hesitated at first, but something about this man was relaxing enough to calm her nerves down. She went to him and he tended to the wound on her forehead.
Mia stared at the stranger who, for some reason, was being the most gentle while tending to her would. She couldn't understand it. Never in her entire life had she seen a person being this kind to her. She pondered for a bit, but never understood the probable reason behind this kindness. She wondered if he wanted something in return. But no demand of that sort ever came.

He was being kind… for no reason… but why… how…

"There you go! It's all good now!" said Charles, as he finished dressing her wound.
"...thank you…" Mia whispered, still unsure of everything.
"Mention not! Just be careful from now on and remember to rest for a few days."
Mia nodded and looked at Mr. Oliver.
She saw him giving her a death stare and pretending to smile.
"Okay so I guess you should go back to your dormitory now Mia. Take some… rest… ha ha" he said, standing up.
Mia walked out of the door and just before shutting it close, she noticed the stranger smiling at her again.

Strange, isn't it? Kindness… such a wonderful thing. It comes to some people naturally and some are apparently just devoid of it. It's a funny thing for sure. It's free to give… but only some do. It's because it's not completely free, is it? It takes a lot of courage and strength of heart to be kind to people. It's easy to be cruel, but to be kind to the most insignificant of people is what makes kindness the most precious.

But the question is… Can strangers be kind to you when the people you have known your entire life aren't? And are those strangers really strangers who fail to treat you without kindness?

Mia smiled to herself on her way to the dormitory. Life doesn't stop teaching you even in the hardest of times. It only gets harder to learn.