Chapter Three
Scarlett
I feel like a little kid as I see that we’re getting closer to the house. The climate is so different from New York in Rowtons. The Porsches, Ferraris and other expensive models all flood the roads as the odd cyclist passes by in hot pants and caps.
I do miss the town that I used to spend my summer vacations as a kid. I hated as I got older and mom used to take us to the Caribbean. I used to consider Rowtons as my second home. The place that I could have pool parties and catch up with other kids that I hadn’t seen all year long. Back then the summer vacations didn’t seem long enough.
“We’re nearly there,” Daniel announces on the intercom.
“I know,” I beam as I see us approaching the gate. I take in the beautiful green scenery of the conifers and the roses which are neatly displayed next to it. Aunt Betty planted the conifers because she said that she wanted to have some privacy. Even though it’s a mile between the gate and her house. The ‘Young Residence’ sign hangs over it and as we drive down the pebbled lane towards it, all my fears about staying here this week are washed away. It’s nearing seven, but the sun is still strong as I think about Rowtons and all it has to offer. The house, which Aunt Betty calls home has ten bedrooms, a sauna, an outdoor as well as an indoor swimming pool. Luxuries that I used to be accustomed to, before I stood up to my family and said that I had a life with Sam.
I laugh at the irony of it all. To think that I’d turned my back on this life, as I roll down the window and the sun beams hit the inside of the limo. Living in New York has its benefits during the summer, but the winters are too cold, unlike in Rowtons when winter is merely fifteen degrees rarely less. Aunt Betty’s waiting for me outside on the stairs of her mansion. One of many that she owns. She invested heavily when my uncle died of cancer. She said that it was her way of dealing with her loss, especially seeing as she had no children. A choice that they both made and she said that she never regretted it seeing as she had a niece who spent her summers with her most of the time.
She looks flawless and the irony of her telling me that this could be her last year feels like a joke. No one knows her true age apart from mom, but she forgets and constantly confuses it with how old Aunt Betty should be and her actual age.
It’s irrelevant because even with her pale skin, even though she lives in such a hot climate she could easily be mistaken for a woman in her forties. She says that most of it’s to do with her healthy lifestyle. She’s never drank alcohol, smoked or even tried any form of drugs. She believes in healthy living and is a guru at yoga. She looks beautiful in a sequence black dress and the last time I saw her she had splatters of gray in her hair, which seemed to have all disappeared.
“Auntie,” I beam as Daniel stops the car and I don’t wait for him to open my door. She draws near.
“Scarlett,” she wraps her arms around me. “I’m so glad that you came. I was getting worried that you may change your mind.”
“I spoke to you last night, this morning and even in the car. Why did you get worried?”
“I don’t know dear. At this age, you worry about everything. You’ll know when you get there.”
She pats me on the back, but as much as she likes to pretend that she’s the eccentric aunt. I think that sometimes it’s all an act. She knows, I can see it in her eyes.
She cups my chin, “You’re as beautiful as a flower and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.”
Yep, she definitely knows and I want to cry into her arms and tell her that the last few weeks have been horrible. That I’ve been living a nightmare with my eyes wide open.
“We need to get you inside and dressed up.”
“Oh, I thought that I could go like this.”
She tuts and says, “You could dear, but you won’t. Wait until you see the dress that I picked out for you.”
I sigh, “But it may not fit. I’ve gone up a couple of sizes.”
She wraps her hand around my waist, “I can see that dear. I can hardly put my arm around you anymore. Don’t worry, I’m sure that I got the size right.”
“Aunt Betty…”
“Don’t. I need to go to the back, make sure that everything’s set-up for later. You have exactly one hour before the guests arrive.”
I’m trying to catch my breath and keep up with her as she leads us away from the limo. I didn’t even have a chance to thank Daniel as he whisks past us holding my bag. That’s when she points to it, “Why did you bring things with you?”
“Because I have clothes and my Mac.”
She shakes her head, “You didn’t come here to work and I think judging by the size of the dress. You need some new clothes. I already went shopping for you.”
“Aunt Betty,” because I’m a bit annoyed. She’s treating me like a little kid. I’m a grown woman and right now I feel like leaving here.
“I have clothes and things that I need to take care off. I’m not a kid anymore. Stop treating me like one.” I move away from her, temptation settles in for Daniel to take me back to Gretchen and I regret leaving in the first place. If this is what the week’s going to be like then it really wasn’t a good idea for me to come here in the first place. I punish myself every day, by looking in the mirror and reminding myself that I’ve given out my heart and let someone tread all over me.
“That’s good!”
She starts to laugh hysterically.
“For a moment I was thinking that you’ll turn out like your mom and none of the Young spirit’s inside of you. Don’t make anyone make you feel that you’re not worth or you don’t know your own mind. We all make mistakes dear. That’s the beauty of life. We just have to live and move on from them.”
She was tricking me, testing to see if I would stand up to her. I wasn’t scared of her, just myself at the moment. I’ve been so vulnerable for far too long. For years I’ve lost myself, I’ve been living in the shadows of another who didn’t respect let alone love me.
“Now, I’m going… you take care you hear.”
I stand like a lost child, nothing about the house looks familiar anymore. I stop and look at the Mahogany Tischler windows and doors that allow the light to beam into the hallway. It's as if the hallway has doubled in size. Maybe it hasn't and it's just the reconstructive changes that she's made to the place. The once wooden stair rails have been replaced with a dark iron metal spiral pattern which leads upstairs. I wonder if my room's still the same. The walls have been replaced with a white ceramic pattern with pictures of our family hanging on the walls. I feel like Alice in Wonderland as I grab a hold of the rail and start to tread slowly on the light brown carpet which covers only the center of the staircase. The exposes the natural dark mahogany which lies underneath. Everything about this house has been changed, I can tell as I look up at the high ceiling and see unfamiliar chandeliers and a mosaic pattern which surrounds it.
Daniel heads back down, “It’s all been reconstructed, you’ll see when you get upstairs. She’s redone every inch of this place. I left your luggage in your room.”
“Is that still in the same place?”
He smiles as he gently pats my hand, which is firmly on the rail.
“Yes, but you’ll love it. She had builders in here restoring every part of the house. She said that she wanted something new. Something to make it feel as if she’s going through a new chapter.”
That feels a bit deep and I wonder if at last Daniel and Aunt Betty are going to admit that they have more than a working relationship.
It’s as if he controls his thoughts as he blurts out, “Anyway, I’m sure about that. I’ll see you later then.”
I want to stop him as he brushes past me and then heads down the stairs. This place used to be my comfort zone even more than my own family house. Now, I feel like a stranger in a hotel. Unclear where to go next, but as I walk up the stairs and approach my room. I don’t even feel like going back to Gretchen as I see the pictures on my walls.
Paintings that I used to do when I was here during the summer some of them neatly hanging up and others in some kind of artist pattern up and down the walls. She turned my room into an impersonal one and made my room into a home. That’s what it used to be when I was a kid. Dad would frown at the idea that I wanted to be an artist, and mom would just about agree with everything that my dad said.
Aunt Betty said she never had to, because she was her mom’s younger sister. She had the authority to put him in his place. He is a bully, which is why he hated Sam. Looking back at my relationship now, I can see that Sam was a carbon copy of my dad. Not one that lead me and looked out for me, but just controlled me. The same way that dad does with mom.
I notice that on the gold throw sitting on top of the bed, there’s a pink dress. I hold it up and admire its beauty with the lace backless top and the chiffon skirt that flows to the bottom of my feet. I laugh at the idea that Aunt Betty went shopping and happened to get a dress which is exactly the right size and as I lift up my arms and discard my existing tight, black number. I put on the pink dress and somehow in the midst of all this anxiety. I feel like Cinderella as I spin around in it. I have on a black bra and realize that there’s a matching bra and panties set to go with it. It’s as if she thought of everything, I should be mad at her, but as I look at my painting from my first summer here as a teen.
I realize that I can’t be mad at her. She cares, so much so that she wanted me to feel at home. She just wants to take care of me. I should appreciate her. Rather than try and act as if I don’t need it right now.
I look at the time remembering that she said I had an hour left. Right now, I have forty-five minutes and counting. Cinderella’s going to a ball, and she’s certainly going to shine.