Arranged To Be His

Chapter 3

The next morning, I laid in bed, wearily staring at the ceiling. I had barely gotten any sleep the night before. For some unexplainable reason, I couldn't stop thinking about the woman from yesterday and that black file. A part of me knew I was overthinking and that it wasn't something that I should have been thinking about as much I had been. Maybe it was because I had a very strong feeling it wasn't just another file with random papers compiled inside of it. It felt important for some reason.

I sluggishly removed the covers and got up. Another boring day, I thought. Another day of taking orders, dealing with rude customers and doing house chores. I longed for something different, something exciting, something to get rid of this mundane life, this robotic routine and something that would give me a better sense of purpose. Surely this couldn't be all there was to my life, just the repetition of the same actions every day like clockwork.

"Can you make scrambled eggs for me today?" My sister, Janie asked as she struggled to put on her socks.

I took out the pan from one of the kitchen cabinets and ignited the flame on the rusty stove that looked like it was centuries old. It was worn out and overused.

"What do you want for breakfast?" I asked my father who sat on one of the couches, reading the newspaper.

"The same old boiled eggs with toast." He replied without looking at me.

"You?" I turned my attention towards my mother who was brushing through Janie's hair, trying so hard to get rid of all the knots and tangles. Janie had pretty hair. Thick and voluminous. Though it was more prone to tangling up, and was rough and dry some days but it was beautiful nonetheless. She was entirely beautiful.

I had heard from several distant family members and family friends of how I had an attractive face, how my doe eyes looked even bigger because of my long lashes, of how I had perfectly plump lips. But what they failed to notice was that those lips would rarely ever smile. That those lips uttered nothing but dissatisfaction towards my life, towards this world and everyone living in it. The doe eyes that they loved to talk about hid more pain and sadness than they could ever imagine and that those lashes had been wet with tears more times than they could count.

Janie was a different kind of beautiful. She didn't have conventional features. They were unique and distinctive but complimented one another perfectly. But that wasn't all that made her beautiful. She had a wonderful personality to complement the exceptionally good looks that she had been blessed with. With the type of positivity that she emitted, no one could ever resist wanting to get to know her better.

I set the plates on the coffee table in front of the sofas where my father sat, still reading the newspaper, my mother also going through one of them as she sat beside him and my sister all dressed up and ready for school.

I returned to the kitchen, quickly fixing myself a marmalade sandwich before I wrapped it in tissue and put it in my bag.

"I'm leaving," I said without looking back.

"Honey? Can you please take tomorrow off? Or ask to leave early. We have plans." She smiled and then continued eating.

I wanted to ask her why and question her about the plans we had but I knew any question directed towards her would remain unanswered. Daughters weren't supposed to question their parents in our household. They were rarely informed of any family matter unless absolutely necessary.

The day at work was like any other. I took orders, handed out coffees and occasionally cleaned tables and coffee spills. As I stood behind the counter, waiting for another customer to walk in, I started thinking of all the things that had been happening lately. One thought lead to another and soon I found myself lost in a random train of thoughts. It wasn't until I heard someone clear their throat that I snapped back to reality.