Roxana De La Cruz

16. Oh No

Five years later. 

An English woman, reasonably tall, wearing a dark grey coat and naturally wavy blonde hair falling to her shoulders, made her way to the sizeable charcoal-coloured house on the polished street. 

Fortunately, Rowen Matthews, currently studying for her master's, found a part-time job that paid exceptionally well. 

She looked up at the house, confused about how a single mother, her daughter, and a couple of maids would need such a large house. 

For ordinary people like Rowen, she would never be able to reach such wealth to own such a thing. She rolled her eyes. She had been tutoring for a few years now and had met her fair share of wealthy and high-class families; some were nice, but she could tell when their friendliness disappeared. 

I'm tutoring a little rich girl and have already experienced enough to know what not to do. 

"Alright, Rowen, just smile and get through today's session!" 

After knocking on the door, a maid let her in.

~

She was led to what looked like the main living room, and there she saw just how grand and extravagant the inside of the house looked. Paintings adorned the scarlet room, and the furniture looked clean but with a slight touch of traditional English design, complementing the fireplace up front. 

She was ushered to sit down and wait for the young lady - whom she was paid to teach. 

Rowen did not know why, but she hadn't felt so anxious before, even in the homes of other affluent families. 

"Forgive me, did you wait long?" A gentle young girl's voice sounded in the doorway. 

Her head moved toward the voice, and there, Rowen saw an average-height young Asian girl - perhaps of East Asian origin, but she did not know - she had a small, oval face with soft features and round dark brown eyes. Her hair was a mixture of light and dark brown as it was neatly braided in a fishtail braid that sat on her right shoulder, and curtain bangs complemented her soft look. She wore a light pink dress covered with flowers that ended on her knees and matching shoes. 

From the way she stood at the doorway with her hands tied gracefully in front of her and looking at Rowen expectantly, there was nothing better to describe this girl in one word: elegant. 

"Oh no, it's quite alright. I just got here. Is your name perhaps Roxana?" 

"Yes, my Grandaunt said I'd be meeting my new English Tutor, and you are..?" 

Now fully standing, Rowen warmly introduced herself, "Yes, I am your new English Tutor. My name is Rowen Williams, but you can call me Rowen. Why don't you sit down? I usually start my first lessons trying to get to know my students and introducing the material I'm about to teach you." 

When the girl walked over to where she was standing, she sat opposite her in the middle of the living room. 

Rowen discovered that the girl - Roxana - didn't have many hobbies outside of subject work, that or she was still uncomfortable sharing too much with Rowen. She had also discovered that Delores Reyes wasn't her mother but her Grandaunt by how she addressed her. 

Did her parents die? What kind of circumstance would have happened for a young girl like her to be given to her Grandaunt if something had happened to her mother and father? If anything, usually, aunts and uncles should have been the first choice, right? 

But Rowen chose to stop pondering over such thoughts; that wasn't her job or business. 

The more she looked at Roxana, the more she noticed how, despite the harsh makeup on her face, it still could not hide the shadows under her eyes and the way her eyes drooped, but she chose to ignore it.