“Elly!” It was Sebastian again.
I stuck my head out of the window. “Sebastian? Uh…what’s going on?”
“Buenos días!” Sebastian shouted. At this, all the men beside him turned to look at me as if on cue and echoed Sebastian’s good-morning call in unison. They would’ve made a great choir.
“Buenos días!” I waved back at them, suddenly feeling very awkward sitting there in my bright yellow checkered pajamas. Why I ever thought this was an acceptable set to take with me to a hotel where at any moment the fire alarm may go off and I’d be forced to go stand in some back alley? Even worse, I brought these with me to wear in a mansion!
Then again, there was practically no appropriate outfit in my entire suitcase to wear here.The jeans-and-tee look doesn’t exactly scream blending-in, especially where a plate probably cost more than I paid for my entire outfit…
I blushed. Why did I even care to blend in?This is all fake, anyway. I just have to sit it out in these four walls and then I’ll never have to see Sebastian or his family ever again.
“Would you like to come downstairs? I have something to show you.” Sebastian was grinning as he gestured for me to join him
It’s so hard to understand what he is thinking.
Snap out of it, Elly,I chastised myself.At least one thing is certain. He is not thinking about you.
“Erm…sure.” I waved at Sebastian and the men and slowly raised myself off the windowsill. I glanced around the room. I hadn’t given it much thought when Sebastian showed me into it yesterday, too exhausted from the day’s socializing. I barely had enough energy to crawl into the shower, into my pajamas, and finally under the covers of the bed. Now, I surveyed the ensuite guest bedroom in what Sebastian called the west wing of his house. Sorry, mansion.
He called this room the Rose Room.
“Since you seem to have a taste for roses,” he had said when we’d first walked in. The walls were painted a delicate pink, an almost-not-there color. I say “room” but it was three rooms, really. A bedroom, a sitting room, and a bathroom. The area covered was bigger than that of my entire house back in Florida. The bathroom on its own was bigger than my bedroom. You could host a dance party beside the jacuzzi bath.
I walked across the bedroom’s large earthy rug, that matched the crystals of the stunning chandelier hanging over the foot of the bed. The ceiling was covered by a painting featuring a goddess of unknown origin walking through a garden of roses. From the king-sized bed, I had spent minute after minute staring at the small details of each petal of the painting until my eyelids grew too heavy to remain open.
I made a mental note to make time to unpack my suitcase. For now, I pulled out my trusty jeans and T-shirt and padded over to the bathroom. I left the engagement ring carefully locked up in one of the bedside drawers. There was no need for that today, I hoped.
But there may be a need for a bath tonight.
I limped my way to the door. Inside these four walls with a bad leg, there wasn’t much else to do. And try my best not to think about the one thought that I was keeping locked deep inside me. The one played out in the nightmares I’d been having the past few nights, in which I place my tennis racket down on the ground and never pick it up again.
* * *
Sebastian glanced up from a clipboard he was studying as I approached him. My knee felt very stiff. I needed to start doing those exercises the doctor had recommended. No, I needed to have that surgery. But that would have to wait until after mom’s surgery. If we could afford it.
“Good morning,” he said. “Did you sleep well?”
“Yes, thank you,” I said, my eyes taking in the scene. Whatever was going on, it looked like the men had finished measuring the distance, judging by the white painted lines they had drawn on the ground. The men were now filling in the boxes they had plotted out with artificial grass.
“I chose artificial so that we won’t have to wait a month for the grass to grow. But it’s the best you can buy in the market now. This brand is made specifically to be kinder for those with joint and limb complaints, the absorption of impact is incredible and the traction percentage is some of the best.” Sebastian was reading off his clipboard.
I merely nodded to be polite. I couldn’t understand why he was so excited about artificial grass. Was he starting a mini-golf club?
“You don’t like it?” he asked. “I will have the men measure out another one with real grass at the back so that in a month you can take your pick of both surfaces. Do you like it, though?” Sebastian's eyes were all on me now, waiting impatiently for an answer.
How did he do that, I wondered. Look so together, so controlled, so…sleek, even in a casual tracksuit? He must have been up for hours already even though it was only eight a.m., standing amid soil being dug up and tossed around, in the unyielding humidity and now the heat of the sun’s rays. And yet…he looked cool as a cucumber. Not a bead of sweat on his face.
Meanwhile, I’d only just come outside and my hair was already a bush growing every which way, sweat dripping down my forehead.
Sebastian cocked his head, and I suddenly realized I’d been staring at him straight for the last few minutes. Specifically, at his hair. I blinked and turned back to neutral territory. The men and their progress with the super-special artificial grass.
“To be honest, I’m a little confused as to what you’re building here,” I admitted sheepishly.
Sebastian chuckled. “Don’t tell me you haven’t figured it out?”
Figured out what?I furrowed my eyebrows.What is he talking about?
“I wanted it to be a surprise, but with the digging and the machines and drills…yeah, that wasn’t going to happen.” He shaded his eyes from the glare of the sun as he looked over whatever his secret surprise was supposed to be…