Tour Day

Reluctantly getting off the bed and slightly twisting his neck, Jean contemplated on the matter.

'This is now my chance to confirm what lies behind that narrow gate.'

With that, he shook off his thoughts and headed for the door.

When the door flung open, Natalie was standing right in front of him, still donning an exquisite night dress. Shifting her gaze towards Jean, she studied him from head to toe, and then shrugged and raised an eyebrow.

Almost instantly, Jean gave way for her to enter his room, but to his surprise, Natalie remained unmoved. She then gave Jean a curious look, blinked a couple times and cleared her throat.

"Don't tell me is when you are waking up."

Upon hearing this, Jean suppressed a chuckle. What amused him was the fact that Natalie was still dressed in a night dress. A clear indication that she just got up, and yet she still had the guts to question Jean's waking hours.

'What a weird mom I have!'

Shaking his head in embarrassment, Jean lingered.

In an instance, Natalie's eyes narrowed as she stared at Jean.

"What is the meaning of that?"

With a confused expression, Jean frowned.

"…What, mom?"

At that moment, the corners of Natalie's mouth twitched.

"That head-shaking…. Is it an indication that you woke up earlier?"

Straightening his face, Jean gulped and scratched the back of his head.

"No! I just got up some moments ago."

Now walking past Jean into his room, Natalie walked towards Jean's bed and suddenly stopped. Without looking back, she said:

"I knew it. Your face explains everything."

Instantly, Jean flinched and quickly rubbed his face.

'So, she was just testing my honesty. I am really lucky to have told her the truth.'

Now turning around to face in Jean's direction, Natalie smiled darkly.

"Of course, you know what could have happened to you, only if you dared to lie to me."

Jean nodded, as a stifled smile appeared on his innocent bleak face.

Taking a few steps towards Jean, Natalie's gaze was now fixed on Jean's garments. Upon realizing this, Jean was startled for a bit. Gazing in Natalie's direction, Jean gave Natalie a furtive look.

After a few moments of tense silence, Natalie snorted.

"If you just got up a few moments ago as you just said, does this imply that you slept in the same clothes you traveled in?"

Jean struggled with anger, but didn't let it show on the surface. With a suppressed groan, he lingered for a moment.

'Honesty test again.'

"Yes, mom."

Natalie glowered at him.

"Why didn't you use the night dress?"

Jean scratched the back of his head in embarrassment.

"But I don't have one."

Natalie glared at Jean, forcing him to look away.

"It was in the bundle of clothes that I gave you yesterday. I bought it for you before we traveled here."

Jean's eyes gleamed with bewilderment.

"But…"

Natalie interjected, forcing Jean to leave his statement mid-way.

"I don't need to tell you everything. I need you to be very attentive. That's why I can't tell you some things."

With that, Natalie walked out of the room. She then stood in front of the door and without looking back, she said in a neutral tone:

"When you are done, come downstairs. Your service is required there."

Slamming the door behind her, Jean recoiled. He was just inches away from the door frame, so he did that just to make sure that the door didn't hit him in the face. Moments later, Jean heard her footsteps along the corridor as a confirmation of her departure.

'That was close. Was that a sign that I needed to move? This new lesson of her is going to be so tiresome. It is already hard for me to adjust to this.'

When he was sure that she was gone. He quickly returned and threw himself in the bed with resentment burning in his eyes. With gritted teeth, Jean muttered.

"What could be that that she is expecting me to go and do downstairs. Let it not be that I am going to clean the whole floor. We are yet to take breakfast, too. So, could it be that I was going to prepare breakfast?"

While still contemplating on the matter, a sudden realization struck him. He needed to prepare himself for the house tour. He opened the door of the indoor bathroom that Natalie had shown him the previous day. he then entered it. It was time to take a shower.

Some minutes later, Jean was standing in front of a mirror, just to the right of the wardrobe in his room. He was done preparing himself and was now wearing an emerald short and a black t-shirt.

Caressing his face with admiration, a broad smile shone on his face.

'I think mom would like this.'

 With a shrug, he turned away from the mirror and got out of the room.

At the door, he picked a pair of sandals, dusted them and lingered, as a distant look appeared on his bleak, innocent face.

'The bed…'

He had forgotten to spread his bed. With a groan, he quickly placed the sandals down and returned in the room. Getting in the room, he headed for the bed.

Some moments later, Jean was done spreading. He then walked out of the room, and on reaching the door, he paused for a bit. He tried figuring out what else he had forgotten, but discovered none. With a shrug, he quickly put on the sandals and headed downstairs.

On his way downstairs, he passed by Natalie's room. While there, he stopped for a moment. Threw a furtive look at the door and lingered.

'Should I check if she is still in her room?'

With a shrug, he turned and headed for the door. While at the door, he raised his hand to knock, but paused for a while.

'What if she is already out? She might be in, let me just try and see.'

With that, he knocked the door. After several fruitless knocks, he lowered his hand and grabbed the handle of the door, trying to push it open. The door was locked.

'I suspected this.'

Without wasting a single second, he let go the handle of the door, lunged forward and took a right turn. He was heading for the stairs.

Taking the last step off the stairs, something about the atmosphere downstairs had changed. It was permeated with a sweet aroma of some freshly cooked dishes. What surprised him though was the fact that the living room was vacant.

On the opposite wall, his eyes fell on a wall-clock.

'How comes I didn't notice this yesterday.'

Jean was right, because the wall-clock had been fixed on the wall by Natalie when she was arranging the living room.

The time on it read: 07: 07 AM

'So, mom could have knocked at my door at 6 AM. Still early, but from the way she sounded, I thought it was already 8 AM.'

At that moment, he heard a clangor from the right side of the stairs. Shifting his gaze in the direction of the sound, his sight caught Natalie seating on one of the wooden chairs placed around a round table of the same make. There were a half a dozen chairs surrounding the it. And on top of the table, there were a few dishes resting on it, and Natalie was already serving herself from one of them. She was putting on a pale blue cotton dress and indifferent to his gazes.

On seeing this, Jean couldn't help but gape in bewilderment.

Considering the fact that this space was located next to the rear door, Jean must have noticed it the previous day, when he went for an outside tour with Natalie through the door.

This was exactly what stupefied Jean. The previous day, Jean had noticed this space, but its current look was completely different from what it looked like the previous day.

'The furniture…'

That was exactly what had made the space look different. The previous day, the space was devoid of anything palpable. That could clearly explain why they took their supper in the living room.

'Where have the furniture come from. These surprises are getting out of hand. My mom has somehow changed. She has always been unpredictable with her actions, but since yesterday, I have seen a more unpredictable mom than the one I was used to.'

He was forced out of his reverie when Natalie's raspy voice called out.

"Jean, come over here!"

With a jolt, Jean blinked severally and moved in Natalie's direction. At that moment, he was stunned by the realization that he was drooling. His thoughts couldn't prevent him from craving for the foods set on the table standing in front of him.

Lowering himself in one of the chairs, Jean fixed his gaze on one of the dishes. It was containing several well baked pancakes, one of his favourites.

This small set-up reminded him of special occasions back in the village, where he could attend some events and get a chance to enjoy his favourite meals. And on the list, pancakes. His mom had prepared for him too at some point, but it was rare.

Natalie's mouth twitched as she shifted her gaze, to the pancakes and then to Jean.

"Welcome for the breakfast."

Jean shuddered, gulped and reluctantly gazed at Natalie, who was now filling one of the mugs with hot steaming coffee.

"Thanks, mom."

When they were done taking breakfast, Natalie ordered Jean to clear the table and take the utensils to the kitchen. The kitchen door stood just a couple meters away from the dining area. When he entered the Kitchen, he was dazed for a moment.

The kitchen was a modernized one with modern equipment like electric appliances such as; a freezer, blender, electric kettle and so on. It was strange to find such in this old design house.

When he was done, Natalie took him by the hand and looked him straight in the eyes.

"Are you ready for the tour?"

Jean faked a smile and nodded. In an instance, something ignited in his mind.

(^^^)