Episode 3: Her Family

Prior to the incident, Veronica had cut off the cost of the cupcakes from her monthly salary. She even had to pay for the bicycle’s repair work as it was the shop’s bicycle. Lily had nothing against Veronica. She was instead angered at the main reason of everything that happened. That stupid, snobbish, rich bastard. If only she could do something about it. That was another reason why she found it hard to let go. She could do nothing to fight back.

The night felt cold. It was raining mildly outside. As a matter of fact it had been raining since that afternoon. Winter would be coming real soon and the cupcake shop would be as busy as ever. This was no time to occupy her mind with such things, she thought. Lily pulled the thick blanket over her face. It felt very comfortable and she thought she could fall asleep in seconds, until her mother called her to dinner.

“Lily, dinner’s ready! You better come while the food’s still warm.”

Lily lived in the small apartment with her mother and younger sister, Daisy. Daisy is only 2 years younger than her, so they were very close. They often shared each other’s secrets, the latest gossips and stuff. It was hard to see them apart. Lily’s father was a clerk at a little cosmetics company. However he was rarely at home. Even if he managed to come home, he would be really drunk and messed up. Usually they hated when he was around. It was like hell, Daisy once complained to Lily. He would order them around and spoke harshly to their mother. Sometimes he would even beat her if she didn’t do things like he wanted.

Lily pitied her mother so much. That was one reason why she quit school in the first place and went to work instead. It was a very hard decision because she loved learning and gaining knowledge. Even her mother objected it the first time she voiced out her thoughts to her. But she couldn’t bear seeing her beloved family in that condition. By the way, she’s the eldest daughter, so she felt all the responsibility was on her shoulders.

“What’s with the face, Lily? You look messed up. Problem at work is it?” Daisy’s question snapped Lily into reality. She had been sitting like a stick at the table for quite some moment with a dreary looking face. Mother and Daisy silently waited for her answer as they ate their little meal of mashed potato, chicken soup and porridge.

“Oh, I was just err… deep in thought, that’s all.” She said and started spooning her portion of the porridge. Steam rose from the spoonful into the air. Lily carefully blew into it to cool it down.

“I think you’re too stressed out. You’ve been working very hard, dear. You should at least have some time for yourself.” Mother replied.

“I’m fine, mother, don’t worry. It’s nothing. Something just came into my mind, that’s all.”

They continued with their dinner happily, chatting about what happened during the day. Lily didn’t tell her mother about the accident at the mansion yet. She wasn’t sure if she should tell such things to the dear woman. So she decided that maybe she would save that for later. After finishing their dinner, Lily and Daisy washed all the dishes while Mother cleaned up their dining table.

*

To Be Continued...