7 yrs, Gone and Forgotten

Chapter 2: Routine and Commands

     “I brought the wine!” Mandy shouted from the door as she entered the house while I was setting the table for dinner.

      “Something smells delicious,” Theo hummed from behind her.

     “Smells like Fettuccine,” Scott boasted.

     “Come on guys, I will get the glasses, you all take a seat.” I danced back to the kitchen while they all took their seats.

      Walking back into the dining area I couldn’t help but smile at my little family, the four of us were always together. We ate our meals together, we laughed together, and we even cried together when needed. We all shared responsibilities in the home, and we all respected each other’s privacy. True I didn’t know what life was before I found them, but it couldn’t have been good considering the way I was found, but now life was good, and that was the way it was going to stay.

     “There’s the birthday girl,” Mandy ran and wrapped her arms around my neck causing me to almost drop the wine glasses.

      Mandy was Italian and everything about her beautiful physique told you so with just one look. Her skin was the perfect olive color and flawless, she stood five six barefoot, the raven hair and those mocha-colored eyes made her look like a model but fierce at the same time.

     I gently hugged her back and kissed her cheek, “Thanks.” I motioned to the table, “Now let’s eat.”

    We spent the next bit eating our dinner and laughing while Mandy told us about her latest fiasco at the office with a seamstress and model. Then we laughed some more as Theo told us his story of trying to help an old lady across the road on his way home, and her beating him with her bag because she thought he was some kind of p*****t.

     Once we had ate and cleaned up, we decided to spend the evening on the terrace in our loungers with our bottle of wine. I sat silently and listened to the three of them chit chat while my mind raced a thousand miles away to a land unknown, a life unknown, a past in the darkness. Although I really couldn’t imagine anything about who I might have been I always seemed to think about lots of people around me, lots of friends, a lost prince charming, a beautiful life.  

      The clearing of a throat gained my attention, and I turned my head to see Scott staring at me. I smiled at him and cleared my throat. “Yes?”

      “So, I called that company back today and we will be offering the detail to them?” He said kind of demanding.

     I shrugged my shoulder, maybe she got under his skin too, was all I could think. “Okay, just let me know the dates and I will put them on the calendar.”

     “Well, there is a little more to it than that.” Theo piped in which got my attention.

     “What do you mean?” I asked sitting up and swinging my legs over so I could look straight at them.

     “The company is from the states, and they are traveling here, we came highly recommended by one of the companies we have worked with here. If they are happy with our work, then they will be wanting us to travel there to set up consulting and training within their company.” Theo explained.

     It didn’t seem that complicated but when I looked over to Scott, I could see his jaw tick and it looked like he was ready to explode. I cleared my throat and he finally made eye contact with me, his expression was blank to the untrained eye, but I could read him better than most, and I knew something was up. He finally opened his mouth to speak, “The lady you spoke to is the co-owner of the company, she expects you to be at the dinner and she expects an apology for today’s behavior on the phone.”

      His comment caught me completely off guard as I took a sip of my drink and spewed it all over everyone. “You can’t be serious?” I laughed but quit soon after when I realized I was the only one laughing.

    “Very!” He spat out.

     I calmly sat my glass down and placed my hands on my knees and leaned forward looking him straight in the eye so he could see how serious my next statement was, “I don’t mind going to the dinner because I am in this business with you guys, however if you think that I will in anyway apologize for something that I am not in the wrong with, you are deadly wrong. I owe her no apology and will not submit to a self-righteous woman who thinks she is better than me or who thinks that I owe her.” I calmly sat back straight and smiled, more at myself than anything. For the first time ever I sounded confident, I sounded like me. I frowned inwardly, sounded like me, what did that thought even mean?

    Scott stood up and pulled me to my feet by my arm and got nose to nose with me, and if he was a dragon, I am pretty sure he would have been breathing fire right then. “You will go, you will apologize, this means a lot to the company, and I am ordering you to do it.”

     I noticed Theo stand up out of the corner of my eye and reach for Scott but before he could pull him away, I jerked my arm free and grabbed his shirt with both hands slightly knocking him off balance as I glared in his eyes and gritted my teeth. “You listen to me, all of you listen to me, and listen good. I may not know who I am, I may not know where I came from, but one thing I know to my deepest roots is I am not a coward, I am not a pushover, and I am most certainly not anyone’s toy or puppet.” I took one hand off his shirt and tapped my finger to his temple, “Now get it through that thick head of yours, if I was in the wrong I would be the first to apologize, however what you are asking is more or less for me to submit to someone for something I didn’t do, and that my friend will never happen, not for you, not for anyone.” I let go of his shirt while shoving him back and he stumbled back down into his seat. I straightened my shirt and let out a deep breath. “Now if you will all excuse me, I think I will call it a night. I don’t want to see not one of you until daybreak.” And that was my last words as I stormed off to my room.

     In my room, standing in front of the mirror trying to calm myself, and staring at my reflection, I let my eyes roam over myself. My blue eyes seemed brighter than I had ever seen, my long dirty blond hair that had taken years to grow back out after it had been shaved off seemed to be a bit on the wild side as it frayed from the braid down my back, but it looked shiny and full of life. My skin that always seemed to be dull and pale suddenly looked full of color and glowing. The scars that laced my body looked to be fading more than they had in years.

     Standing there in that moment something seemed to be happening inside me that I didn’t even know how to explain. My body felt more alive, more powerful, stronger than ever. My mind seemed sharper and clearer, and my heart was beating stronger and with more passion than I had ever felt. I couldn’t help wondering why I suddenly felt like I was changing, why did I not only feel different but to look at myself I looked different.

     I turned the light off and crawled under the covers as I turned to look out the window into the dark night. I don’t know what happened in the day that made me feel that way, and why did I feel like I was just getting a glimpse of who I might have been? Most importantly why did I feel like things were fixing to change soon, and it would be an equal part of good and bad.