A Journey, A Coincidence, A Memory

Chapter 26: Maisie

January 21, 2022, 3:30 pm

It turns out I know this lady and apparently, Richard does too.

Actually, this lady is my mom's colleague in London and I remember meeting her when I was three. Her name is Mrs. Caroline and I have no idea how she knows Richard, but I should probably ask instead of guessing.

"How do you know her?" I ask Richard who is shocked from recognizing Mrs. Caroline.

"She's my aunt," he responds.

"Oh, cool then. She's my mom's colleague."

"Never knew that."

"You two know each other?" Mrs. Caroline asks.

"Actually we do. In fact, we live in the same city, the same school and it is kind of a coincidence that we both know you," I say.

"Wow, you two have grown a lot," she blurted.

"It's been years, what else?" Richard says.

"How are you even here, Richard? Maisie explained her whole story to me, but it didn't include you," Mrs. Caroline wondered.

"I noticed that Maisie and Lara were here, so I came to help."

"Who's Lara?"

"One of our friends, who we're looking for."

"Yeah, I'm looking for her too," I say.

"Okay then, I'll help too," she volunteers.

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We reach the end of Westminster Bridge and walk alongside the Tate Modern. We pass through Big Ben which is already ringing its bell at 4:00 pm. But Lara is still nowhere to be seen. I'm starting to wonder where she is since we missed our flight.

"It's getting late and cold; we should get going. We'll look for her tomorrow," Mrs. Caroline announces.

"But to where? I have nowhere to stay," I complain.

"You can stay at my house; I have plenty of guest rooms."

"Yup, her house is a mansion," Richard adds.

"Really? Then count me in." I simper.

We approach a parking lot and Mrs. Caroline leads us to a car. It's an attractive white Porsche and we are told to sit in it. Mrs. Caroline then drives us to her house.

I whisper to Richard, "Your aunt must be rich!"

"Well, she actually really is. Wait till you see her house," he replies.

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We approach a giant white modern mansion and park the car in a huge garage full of other mind-blowing cars. I can't believe I'm actually seeing a Bugatti car.

We get ourselves out of the car and make our way to the main gate of the mansion. It's surrounded by spellbinding greenery and spectacular flowers.

My mind, curious, tells my mouth to say out some words to Richard, "What do your aunt and uncle work as that they are so rich?"

"They are owners of a big company, that's basically why," he explains.

We enter the mansion and get a whole new view. It's a high-tech mansion with modern furniture. Not exactly as I expected; mansions are usually royal-like, but this is even better.

"Want to see something?" Mrs. Caroline asks.

"Of course," I reply impatiently.

Mrs. Caroline leads us into a room with a shiny white door. In the room, I go speechless.

"An actual home cinema!" I scream out.

A girl, with strawberry blonde hair, comes into the room and asks, "Who screamed, Mom?"

"Just a friend of your cousin, coming to stay here," Mrs. Caroline replies.

"Who's she?" I ask.

"That's Rose; my daughter."

Richard looks terrified right now and I have no idea why.

"So that is Richard; I knew it," Rose says.

I could assume that Richard saw Rose and maybe didn't reveal his identity much? That's what I could tell.

"Rose, could you please show Richard and Maisie to their rooms?" Mrs. Caroline asks.

"Sure." Rose leads us into a hallway with lots of doors. She points to a room which is mine and one which is Richard's. "Before I let you in your rooms, you got to tell me your whole story of how you ended up here; especially you, Richard," she instructs.

"Yeah, okay," Richard replies ironically.

And we spend that afternoon explaining our story to Rose who later goes out, and searches for Lara.