Heartbroken

Chapter 19: Allegra

 "Your room is just down the hall," the butler said, turning to walk out of the room that Mercy was already playing in.

"Will you be okay in here?" I asked, watching as she jumped on the bed, bouncing the pillows onto the floor. She nodded, giggling. I shut the door.

"How long have you been here?" I asked George.

"I remember the births of Mr. Chans' children."

"Children?" I remembered that day where Milo had taken me to the cemetery, certain that he had a sister, though his father seemed to refute that. "So Milo has a sibling?"

"In a sense, yes." George inclined his head. "But I can't tell you much more than that. If you want more information, ask someone who actually knows. Here we are." He pulled a key from one of his inside coat pockets, handing it to me. If you have any questions, I am down the hall, the first right. Young Milo's room is just above yours." He left.

I examined the key, the golden notches down the side, the round end. A cursive 'a' had been scratched into the head, and a keyring wrapped around the hole in the top. I shoved it into the doorknob, twisting. A waft of air hit me in the face, smelling of pure sunshine. A candle sat on a dresser right next to the door, standing up to my shoulders. The walls were painted a cream color, and were occupied with blue color coded paintings and quotes. The bed stood to the right side, the covers matching with the code, a mountain of pillows placed delicately, even though they would be jumbled about during the night. A desk occupied the other side, and on top of it was a computer and other small bits and bobbles. A turquoise rug sat in the very middle of the room, and a window seat adorned with white and blue pillows stared out into the front yard, the fountain's water shining in the afternoon light. A walk-in closet was just across from the bed, and another door stood next to that.

My jaw dropped as I spun myself, staring at every inch. I pushed the bed experimentally before falling onto my back. Star lights hung from the ceiling on small chords that were barely noticeable, and a lamp stood on the bed stand that shone a bright light in the shape of a star on the ceiling. I found myself smiling as I got up to turn the lights on. I played with the dimness before settling on the dimmest one.

I felt like singing, and I hadn't even explored the bathroom yet. I'm pretty sure that's what the other door on the side of the room leads to. I pressed my palms to my eyes, pinching myself to make sure that this is reality. That I'm not just in a fairy tale, and that I'm not just an orphan who got lucky. When I opened my eyes, everything was still there. I didn't know whether I felt relieved or disappointed.

Living with my aunt and uncle was hard, but it was simple. I earned my own money, bought my own food and clothes, and looked after Mercy. No matter how many beatings I took, I had learned something from living like that. I was completely independent, and now that things had changed, I wondered of life would become easier or harder. Giving up control can be harder than some might think.

A knock came through the door before Mercy burst into the room, her cheeks rosy and smiling.

"Allegra!" she tackled me onto the bed, hugging me around the middle. "Aren't you glad that we're here?" she practically yelled, pulling on my shirt and forcing me to look down at her. I smiled. "Mr. George said that I can eat whatever I want whenever I want! He even said that he would put a mini refrigerator in my room!"

"Really?" I exclaimed, surprised.

"Come see! Come see!" she hopped off me, pulling my hand and dragging me out of the room. I barely had time to turn off the light and shut the door. Mercy's room was just as decked out as mine, if not a little more. Butterflies flew across her multicolored walls, and stuffed animals occupied an entire shelf. It definitely had more of a young, energized feeling to it. Mercy proceeded to introduce me to every one of her stuffed animals, the names complimenting one of the physical aspects of the animal. 'Fluffy, Snowy, Happy,' etc.

I played with Mercy and her stuffed animals for a while longer before she decided to explore the entire house to look for more toys. With the room now missing her bright personality, I set all the animals back on their shelves, switching the light off and turning to look at the room again. Her new room. I shut the door.

With Mercy gone, I took my own chance to walk through halls, watching through the windows as the sun set. I let myself stand there, my hands in my pockets, the sun shining a colorful mural on the walls. I walked up the stairs to see if the view was better there. I passed a couple doors, and remembered what George had told me earlier about Milo's sibling, and I wondered if Milo knew. A white light filtered underneath one of the doors, so I walked up to it and wrapped my knuckles against the wood.

"Who is it?" Milo's voice called, distracted.

"Allegra,"

There was a short silence before Milo appeared in front of me.

"Hey," he greeted, pulling his hand behind him and rubbing the back of his neck.

"Hey." I rocked back and forth on the balls of my feet. "Can I talk to you about something?"

He shrugged, opening the door wider so that I could walk past him into the room. I tried to ignore the piles of clothes in every corner, but it was the books that were completely in control. They were scattered everywhere, with no rhyme or reason. Milo took a seat in the chair in front of his desk.

"What are you doing?" I asked, looking at his computer screen.

"Software programing." He slid to the side so I could see.

"How do you do that?"

"I took a class once," he replied offhandedly.

"I don't know what it is about you, Milo, but somehow you are able to do things better than anyone else."

He looked sheepishly off to the side. "What did you need?"

"Right. I was talking with George earlier, and he said something about your sister. I was wondering if you knew about that."

Milo sighed, folding his arms. "Yeah, I did."

"You did?"

He grimaced. "It turns out that my dad had an affair with another woman. Annalisa was the daughter of another, whereas I am the son of my mother, Rose. What makes it all worse is that the other woman was my moms sister, Rachel."

"I'm so sorry, I didn't realize." I looked down. Milo waved his hand as if to say that it didn't matter. "Where is Rachel now?"

"No idea, but I'm sure that she has a lot of other kids."

"Did she have more than just one with your dad?"

"Not that I know of. But if she's done it before, then she'll definitely do it again." he said, bitterly.

"That explains why your father wouldn't tell you about her," I thought, mostly to myself. Milo nodded.

"And it also explains why I've never met my sister. Rachel must have taken her into custody when my dad left."

"Did your dad leave Rachel then? To marry your mom?"

"Yeah, but I'm not all that convinced that my parents were actually married."

"A lot of people who aren't married have kids."

"Yes, but I'm pretty sure that if my dad didn't actually marry her, it was to keep himself safe."

"How so?"

"I don't know, but my father only ever thinks of himself."