What Do You Do?

In the Gilen mansion, things had calmed down slightly. Maggie, of course, was still fragile and heartbroken, but she was talking more, especially with Veronica, and would smile occasionally.

In this time, Veronica and Maggie had become exceptionally close. Although Veronica was old enough to be Maggie's mother, the relationship was more like siblings.

One point of concern for Veronica, however, was that Maggie didn't want to go outside. As someone who used to stay locked up in the mansion herself, Veronica knew how bad for one's mental health that was. But no matter what she said, Veronica could not convince Maggie to go out with her, mot even into the garden.

It seemed that Maggie had found somewhere she felt safe and was reluctant to leave.

"Maggie, how about we go and just sit on the bench over there? It's not ten meters from the back door, and it's in the warm sunlight."

"No!"

"But sunlight is very good for us, especially when we're feeling sad. The sunlight helps bodies produce vitamin D."

"NO!"

"Fine, fine, I'm sorry for pushing you; you know I just want what's best for you."

Such was a near daily occurrence in the house. Veronica was pleased that Maggie felt comfortable there, but she knew it couldn't last forever; she had to leave the house someday.

Naturally, Veronica also knew she couldn't force her out. As a former shut-in herself, she knew that forcing anything wouldn't help Maggie and would just undo any progress they'd made. She would become more obstinate and determined to stay indoors, to resist the 'mean adults'.

"So, what do you want to do today?"

"I don't want to watch another film."

"That's fine, we can do something else."

After not hearing from Maggie for a minute, Veronica asked probingly, "How about some baking?"

No response.

"Coloring?"

No response.

"Papier-mâché?"

No response.

"We can read a book then?" Veronica noticed a pattern. "Fine, we can just wait here until you decide on something."

She leaned back in the sofa and watched Maggie intently, awaiting her decision.

After a short while, about five minutes, Maggie turned to Veronica and asked, "What did you do before I came here? Do you not have to work?"

Veronica smiled at the innocent question. "I don't need to work very often. My parents worked very hard so that I wouldn't have to; they left me all this. When I do work, it's only to attend a few meetings, and they're not very important."

Maggie's mouth was shaped like an "O" as she listened to Veronica. "So, what do you do?"

"I sometimes go on dates with Roland, but I spend a lot of time on my computer, mostly."

"Is Roland your boyfriend?"

"Yes, he is, but we've known each other for years."

"Are you going to get married?"

Veronica blushed slightly at the question. "Hopefully, one day."

Maggie, oblivious to the emotion in Veronica's voice when she said that, breezed past the topic and asked, "So what do you do on your computer?"