His Wet Nurse

The Brick Mansion (1)

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The Volkswagen stopped at the front of the building.
Its engines gruntled like a rickety old thing. It was beautiful inside, with firm seats but the outside said otherwise.

When it had pulled up to pick Jema from the park, she had thought somehow she'd been propelled back to the eighties. Not until Otis the driver referred to her by name did she realize it was her awaited ride.

With her suitcase by the side, Jema stared at the two-story brick mansion which stood in the middle of a vast greenery. It would be her new home, her escape.

The double doors clicked open and an older woman whom she recognized as Madame Evana strode gently towards her. "Jen! Welcome,"

Jema's smile weakened, she didn't think that the lady who had spent months convincing her to take up this job hardly knew her name.
"Jema." she corrected, but the older lady seemed to ignore her words; rather she instructed Ottis to help bring in the suitcase.

Jema cuddled herself, noting how cold the environment was. Luckily for her, inside was warm, and smelt of different delicious flavors one could think of.

"It's nice to finally meet you in person, dear, you look so much like your mother." Evana gushed with clapped hands.

"Actually, I took after my late father. Everyone says that." Jema corrected with a straight face. Madame Evana made a face but went on with her warm welcome.

"I'll show you to your room dear, I know it was a long hectic journey and Hartwood is a very far drive from here. How are the locals? Do they still drink from the streams and hop on carriages going to town?"

Jema scoffed in her mind, the old lady must've thought they were still stuck in the ancient era. "Times have changed. We have technologies just like you urban people and we know what a bus is."

"Oh," Was the woman's dry response.

She led them through spiral stairs and a long corridor. They had at least met two intersections by the time they got to her supposedly private apartment. Jema wasn't sure she would learn to navigate her way in time but the lady filled her doubts.

"I'll have a map of the mansion sent to your phone very soon. It's a grand old house and can be confusing," she said, rattling the key in the hole.

The door let open to a large space, larger than what Jema was used to back home. Her boots made hooting sounds on the floor but it didn't interrupt her dazed mind.

The peach-colored walls blended easily with the coffee rails of the bed. The white chest by the bedside, the gray rug beside the bed, a huge wardrobe that could fit a hundred outfits, and a standing mirror were all placed to perfection.

Jema sighed at her reflection in the mirror, she was a shadow of her former self. Nothing was appealing about a once chirpy school teacher like her. She used to be better than this.

Her eyes fell on the white double door by her left, it held a little corridor with pairs of chairs and a table. The scene beneath was... glorious.

A pond with white ducklings walking behind their mother. The air was fresh and cold but she loved to watch the sunset from where she stood. Madame Evana lured her out of her fantasyland as she spoke abruptly.