BOUNDARIES

“Mom?” I muttered under my breath with my eyes tightly pressed against their lids.

On days when I slept longer, my mother would come knocking on my door with all her might and after a cup of ginger and lemon tea, I would be cured of my hangover and would soon be ready to hit the bookstore.

The knocks persisted and every heavy pound on the door was accompanied by a strange feeling. When my eyes opened and met the chandelier dangling above her body, reality dawned on me.

I was not in my cozy room on the old street.

I was at the Pante mansion as a day-old bride and the last thing I remembered was eavesdropping on the conversation between my mother and Dona. I think I blacked out and just before my body hit the floor, I saw a reflection of Dominic, carrying me in his arms.

The knock on the door persisted.

I sprang up like a zombie and darted my gaze from left to right while taking on the chamber I had slept in. At this point, I care less about the knocks that are hitting the door with each passing second. I just needed to see my mother, get things straight and get the hell out of this room.

I shoved the sheets covering my waist down to my legs to the side and immediately got up from the floor. The bed was rumpled and empty. A glance at the king-size bed proved that Dominic wandered in his sleep and for a moment, I appreciated the comfort of the cold floor even though my back felt numb. This meant that he had dumped me on the floor when I slipped into shock. That was okay with me because the last thing I wanted to do was get into his bed.

“I’m coming!” I groaned with frustration etched in my voice.

I collected the sheets and dumped them on the bed then strode to the door with a tightened jaw.

When the door was pushed from the inside, the young maiden who had been knocking for the last two minutes gasped when she saw the way my brows were furrowed with rage.

“I’m very sorry, my lady. I didn’t mean to displease you. I..,” the maiden was saying with a lowered head and hands folded behind her when I interrupted.

“Enough! That’s just enough!” I cried out with my hands lifted.

The maiden quickly slipped into the room and carefully pulled the door shut behind her. I walked up to the bed and collapsed by the edge with my head in my hands.

One minute Igot married. The next minute I figured out that my so-called husband was hostile then I figured out that my beloved mother put me in this mess and now, there’s this maiden bothering me.

“What do you want?” I demanded after heaving a sigh.

The maiden was towering beside me with her head lowered.

“I said what do you want?” I snapped.

The maiden immediately lifted her head and cleared her throat loudly while her eyelashes flickered in anxiety. She was wearing a long shapeless brown gown and her black hair was tied into a loose bun. She had no earrings or makeup on and I couldn’t help but wonder whether it was a rule for all maidens at the Pante mansion to look miserable.

“I’m Mara. One of the maidens here. I was assigned to be your handmaid.” The maiden said, trying to sound calm and collected.

When I looked up at Mara, I saw a young woman about my age, struggling to please with every word and gesture. I shook my head as such scenes were ones I read in fairy tale books.

“I’m sorry if I woke you up, my lady. The thing is, breakfast is in thirty minutes and you need to be at the table before Dona shows up. When it comes to meals, the Pantes eat as a family and everyone must be at the table before Dona arrives. He comes to the table by 8 am.” Mara supplied.

I looked at the golden clock stuck to the wall by my left. It was 7:30 am. I turned to Mara with a tired expression.

“Just go away.”

Mara’s jaw almost dropped to the floor. “But my lady..” she began to protest.

I pointed at the door and Mara surrendered with an obedient nod. She turned around and aimed for the exit.

Mara had wanted to tell Denise about some of the services she’d gladly deliver at her beg and call. She also wanted to kneel at Denise’s feet and profess how worthy she feels for being picked by Dona himself to serve as the new daughter-in-law’s right-handmaid.

After Mara left, I moved to the door and rested her back against it.

“My lady? Are you kidding me? They want to shove a maid down my throat?” I sighed and began to mimic Mara in a calm tone. “ The Pantes eat breakfast together. You have to be ready in 30 minutes. Bla bla…

I sneered and was soon tapping my left leg slightly. An attitude I exhibit when I was nervous. I haven’t tapped my leg in a long while and now, it looks like my legs were going to ache because everything at the Pante mansion evoked anxiety in me.

My attention was drawn to the huge closet at the left side of the room toward the end. I walked toward it.

The Pante’s didn’t even allow me to carry a dress but how was I going to pack up when they kidnapped her? I decided to go through the closet, maybe I could see something decent to wear. I grabbed the closet handle and pulled it backward. My eyes widened when I saw the spectacle before me.

There were dresses lined up inside the closet and all the dresses were new. I arched my brow and then pulled out a black velvet gown. It was a vogue collection and it was a size 10.

“How on earth did they know?” I wondered out loud and began to check out the other exotic dresses. Seems like the Pantes had their eyes on me for quite a long because all the dresses were my size.

The top compartment carried toiletries and new sets of underwear. Denise concluded that Isolde and the other woman stocked the closet for her. Those women must have great tastes and when she looked down, she was greeted by different types of shoes ranging from flat wears, sandals, flops, and heels.

There was a demarcation in the large closet and it housed Dominic’s clothes. I sighed and was about to slam the closet shut when I noticed a cell phone lying next to the neatly folded pair of cotton tee shirts belonging to Dominic.

For twenty seconds, I kept looking at the phone without blinking.

“Fuck!” I mumbled and snatched the phone from its position.