The Forbidden Apple

Chapter 2

Kiara:

“How’d it go?” Grace asked when I entered the house. She was yet to see me since she was in the living room. I could tell by her nearing footsteps that she was walking toward me, her expression had changed from excited to worried the second she laid eyes on me. I didn’t blame her, I knew that I was nowhere near being in a good state. Hell, I was far away from that.

“What happened?” Grace asked. My eyes were bloodshot red from crying, and it wasn’t out of heartbreak, I honestly couldn’t care less about Thomas, sure I liked him, but that was all that there was. I didn’t fall in love with him, I was just looking for a man who fit mother’s ‘perfect man’ criteria. His words broke me far beyond comparison and the thing is, I couldn’t say anything about them. I was there for money and he was there for pleasure.

“Nothing love, don’t worry about it” I said taking off my coat and heels.

“Nothing? Kiara your eyes are swollen from crying, please talk to me” Grace begged looking me in the eye. I shook my head, remembering Thomas's harsh words to me, the pity or disrespect some had in their eyes. Everything was coming to me kicking me in the gut with every passing second. I knew that the media might even talk about this and that itself worried me. My reputation would be in stake and if Mrs. Iris saw the news then there was no way that she would let me work in her house. Especially not to serve her guests.

“Thomas just saw me as a pawn. He asked me to come with him to his house because it was ‘empty’ and he wanted to have his way with me. K was just for his pleasure, he didn’t see me as anything else” I said looking at my sister. I was expecting her to tell me ‘I told you so’ because she technically has, many times. But it was me who refused to believe it, and now my dignity was stepped on. Yes, my intentions toward being with the man weren’t exactly the purest. But I never saw him as a bank account. Hell, I was choosing him because I knew that my mum wouldn’t accept me being with any other man otherwise, I was also hoping that I would maybe fall in love with him in the future. That option too, went down in vain.

“I know you warned me and that I didn’t listen but…”

“But nothing, how about we watch a movie? Get rid of this bad boy energy. You’ve got a big day tomorrow, and we don’t want to ruin it with a dickhead that didn’t deserve you” she said smiling “but I will say a quick I told you so because I did”

I laughed and wiped my tears with the back of my hand making my sister smile and wrap her arms around me, hugging me tightly. I was thankful for her being here with me, the girl left her home, family, and friends because of me. Mum had punished her because I fell in love. But she never once rubbed it in my face, on the contrary, she always supported me no matter what, and knowing the state that I was in when we first got here, she always and I mean always stood behind and supported me through every decision I made.

“You go freshen up, wear something comfortable, I’ll make us some hot chocolate” Grace said softly. My eyes widened upon hearing that she’ll be entering the kitchen, but she rolled her eyes at me making me laugh.

“I’ve made drinks before, don’t worry, I won’t be burning your kitchen” she rolled her eyes making me laugh. She was never one to cook or enter the kitchen unless she was helping prepare the kitchen. For known reasons but I preferred keeping the kitchen intact for as long as we lived in this house.

“I won’t be long” I said entering my bedroom. Choosing my clothes before entering the bathroom and stripping out of what I was wearing for the cursed date that I went to.

“Alright, shower up then choose the movie while I get everything ready”

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“Grace! You have to wake up, come on!” I said waking my sister up who seemed to have a tractor sleeping on top of her as she refused to open her eyes “Grace Adams, either you wake up or please help me God, I will pour this cold-water bucket on you”

“You wouldn’t dare!” Her eyes snapped open to find that I did have a water bucket by my side and was willing to pour it on her if she didn’t wake up. Especially since I’ve been waking her up for the past fifteen minutes, and she had to be at work in an hour. Therefore she needed to be sure to catch the bus stop, otherwise the girl would seriously be late.

“Good morning to you too” I rolled my eyes at her, she smiled cheekily before glaring at me for waking her up with such a threat. But it wasn’t like she gave me another option. I didn’t want her losing her very first job on her first week.

“Get up, we fell asleep watching the movie and you need to get ready for work. I’ll go prepare breakfast” I said looking at her. I was still wearing a long-sleeved baby pink shirt which reached my mid-thighs, socks, and no pants. But then again, that didn’t make a difference as it was only Grace and I in the house.

“Okay” Grace said checking the watch realizing why I woke her up in a rush. Of course, the girl would never put an alarm, which meant that it was up to me to wake her up. I didn’t mind though, I was a big sister for a reason, note the sarcasm.

I prepared eye eggs and turkey bacon, grilled toast, and poured us both glasses of orange juice while the water was heating up to make us both mugs of coffee.

“Is that turkey bacon I’m smelling?” Grace said a few minutes later as I was setting everything on the table. I hummed in response finding her fixing her hair by the door mirror.

“I love you!” She said excitedly making me laugh as she sat and we started eating making sure to keep careful eye on the watch as we didn’t want her to be late for work.

“When are you going to the Brooke house?” Grace asked as she got up after finishing her breakfast wanting to wash the dish.

“Don’t worry, I got it…” I told her turning off the water faucet “at around eleven, I’ll just fix everything up here then I’ll get going”

“Okay, call me and tell me what happens, and if they mistreat you just leave, these are rich people and I don’t trust them” Grace winked, I rolled my eyes reading her underline words. Especially since the bastard was technically their son. But this was work I was talking about and I wasn’t going to let my emotions get in the way of a golden chance like this one. Not again anyway.

“Bye love” I said giving her a lunch bag which I had prepared for her. She clapped her hands in excitement. I prepared it knowing that she probably spent the whole day yesterday without anything to eat as she was too lazy to prepare anything, and knowing my sister, she wouldn’t want to be spending unnecessary money on junk food. Hence was why I made her something to eat while she was there until she came home to find a proper meal to have as lunch.

“Bye, I’ll call you when I get there” Grace said kissing my cheek before closing the door. I handed her the house keys, As of course, she was going to forget them had I not handed them to her, she smiled cheekily at me before I locked the door behind her using my own keys.

I looked at the messed-up living room and drew myself a plan to get everything done before leaving the house, not wanting to put pressure on my sister when she got back from work. I knew that working from nine till five and getting home at almost six is exhausting, she might as well find the house tidy.

“Well Kiara, time to get things done”

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“Um, is this the Brooke house?” I asked a maid who opened the door for me. This place was a mansion not a house. Despite Mrs. Iris giving me her driver’s number, I preferred coming here with a taxi. If I lost the job because of what happened yesterday. I’d simply manage to find my way back home myself.

“You must be Kiara” the maid said calmly. Her brown eyes cold as she looked me up and down, I was wearing blue jeans and a white buttoned up shirt which had its sleeves rolled up, my hair was left in its natural curls. I nodded at her and she moved away from the door to allow me to walk inside.

I waited for her to close the door and followed her inside the mansion. My eyes widening as I looked at the expensive chandeliers, couches, dining table, different paintings, carpets, plush pillows, the garden which seemed to be endless, everything in that house spoke money and power, how were these people not from the royal family was the first question that swarmed my mind.

“These are your office clothes” she said handing me a black pants and white shirt “and this is for you to wear today for the reception Mrs. Iris has, go wear change, the bathroom is the third door to the right, and I’ll let you know what you need to do. Oh, and please tie your hair in a bun”

Nodding as I took in her instructions, not having anything to say. I smiled at her and went to the bathroom, following her guidance. Taking a breath of relief when I saw that I didn’t lose the job. I put on the white knee long short sleeved dress and what looked like a white waist apron, I tied my hair in a bun and checked my appearance smiling as I felt satisfied with my look, my makeup was a lighter shade from yesterday’s though I made sure to spark up my blue eyes.

“Maria?” I said calling her, entering the kitchen to find her looking at me with a raised eyebrow, wanting to know why I had called her “I was just wondering where I could put my clothes?”

My voice was hesitant as I asked. She gave me a small smile and opened a closet handing me a small black bag “you can keep the bag, Mrs. Iris already knew that you would probably need it”

“Thank you” I said smiling. I put my folded clothes inside it, my phone was inside the dress pocket, and I surprised that the dress had one to begin with. I put the bag back in the closet where Maria had taken it out, and Maria smiled as I closed the closet.

“These are the juices, you go around the women offering them to her, from right to left, usually Mrs. Iris is sitting on the far left, which means that since she’s the hostess of the reception. She’s the last to be offered” Maria explained showing me the crystal glass cups which were filled with what looked like different fruit juices, and I nodded

“We need to take these out, Mrs. Iris should be down soon to check how everything’s set, therefor we need to be quick before the guests arrive” Maria said and I nodded taking two plates in my hands. Holding them up expertly, working at the restaurant proved worthy.

I helped Maria set the table in no time and we were done before Mrs. Iris came down, Maria smiled in satisfaction with me and I found myself returning the smile as Mrs. Iris walked down the stairs to find me.

“Kiara darling, how are you?” Mrs. Iris smiled. My heart raced as I worried about her talking about anything, but the smile on her face told me that so far, everything was going good.

“I’m fine Mrs. Iris, looking dashing as always” I complemented her. She wore a white long dress, which exposed her breast finely, her collarbone popping up.

“Merci” she smiled at me “Maria dear, did you explain everything that Kiara needs to do?”

“I have Mrs. Iris” Maria said nodding her head.

“You can count on me Mrs. Iris; I won’t let you down”

“I’m sure you will not dear, tomorrow you’ll be at the office of my husband at eight, he goes in at eight-fifteen, have nuts and coffee on his desk. He’ll already have had breakfast at home, but he will need snacks, try making sure that he doesn’t have too much sugar” she said carefully and I found myself admiring her care for her husband. Making a mental note of everything she said, I smiled and nodded at her.

“I’ll be sure to have everything as you wish Mrs. Iris, thank you for your guidance” I said politely. She raised an eyebrow at me and nodded satisfied by my answer.

The doorbell rang interrupting us, and Maria went to open the door while I followed her to take the guest’s jackets. Hanging them like Maria did in the closet which was by the door.

All while Mrs. Iris kept her eyes on me…