The early morning breeze moved the curtains in Elizabeth's room, she stirred slightly muttering incoherently.
She and her family were on a cruise vacation, she was enjoying a sun bath on the ship deck, while her parents seemed to be chatting inside, everything just felt peaceful and right. Suddenly she woke up to herself on a deserted island, debris everywhere from what seemed to be... a shipwreck! anxiously, she got up "MUM... DAD.. MUM..DAD WHERE ARE YOU??" she searched everywhere but no... she was alone... broken as she knew she was utterly alone, on a deserted island with no desire to live, she decided to end it all as she sunk into the water, 'whoosh' suddenly her eyes shot open, she was breathing heavily. It was a dream she was all too familiar with, she longed for someone... not just anyone but one she could trust, someone she could tell about her problems, a shoulder to cry out her problems to, someone who would smile and tell her it's okay. It was times like this that made Elizabeth miss her parents, miss the good times they spent together. They were part of the three highly respected families in Steel city. The Andersons were wealthy and happy... well before the bad days hit, the happiness fading, love draining. Her parents had divorced but still lived under the same roof for the sake of face and her, but she was too young to understand at the time.
Her father died when she was in fifth grade. At the time she was in high school, her mother told her about the divorce saying that they fell out of love then she lost her too when she was to resume college leaving her an orphan. The pain of the truth was too much to bear, she kept falling in and out of depression and undergoing therapy until she finally accepted it.
Meghan and Irene were extremely beautiful teenage girls who were fraternal twins with different personalities. Meghan was the twin with a princess personality while Irene was the goth twin. Meghan with her bubbly personality always attracted boys attention in school while Irene hated boys, always insulting them at any chance.
Elizabeth and Clyde were best friends since high school all the way into college, and she had always loved him but he seemed to take her only as a friend. Due to a drunken accident back in college at a party, they both had sex. Clyde being Elizabeth's first...
When they both regained their senses, Clyde suggested they forget about it since it was an accident but due to the blood red sheets, Clyde didn't notice the stain on it. Elizabeth then kept her losing her v-card a secret not wanting to force a relationship between them. Meghan and Irene were Clyde's younger sisters, He had travelled to Australia and was arriving in Steel city by Friday. The twins had always spent the weekends at her place and due to Clyde's travel plans, their stay was naturally extended till he came back.
She propped herself up on her bed, the early Sunday morning was warm but she felt cold,
Despite the fact that Elizabeth was swimming in wealth, she was quite gentle on good days... under that demeanour was a short tempered woman who would stop at nothing to get what she wanted. Since her parents passed away, as their only heir, it was only right she inherited their wealth, giving her the privilege to continue her soft life of eat- sleep- shop- have fun- repeat.
Elizabeth had over twenty workers, from personal butler to maids, chefs, security men, bodyguards. She never felt the need to learn any chores at all cause why not, she's got a whole fortune to her name that could last a lifetime even if all she does is squander it. Thanks to the twins, the house was not as quiet as it used to. Unless on occasions when Annie Lawrence, Elizabeth's friend since college comes to visit for a while. She got out of bed, freshened up and went out, walking down the hallway tracing the familiar patterns of the walls that had been renovated, she remembered as a kid, she would run to her parents room down the hallway after having a nightmare or when she just wanted to play. She had renovated the house three weeks after her mother's passing ceremony because seeing it reminded her in everyway that she had lived a lie all her life.
As she reached the wide and exquisitely furnished living room displaying the good aesthetic of the owner, The twins were already awake and was watching Tv.
"Good morning" they greeted in unison
"Morning, did you sleep well?"
"Yes" Irene answered
"No" Meghan interjected
"Why?"
"My allergies acted up last night"
"Meghan! why didn't you tell me?, that could have been fatal, did you bring your pills? we need to go for a checkup" Elizabeth said anxiously checking her body for hives
"I'm fine Lizzy, I won't be here if I didn't bring them and you had gone to bed early last night" Meghan tried to lift the atmosphere
"Don't say that, your brother put you guys in my care and I promised to take care of you, I won't be able to explain it if some thing happened, what did you react to anyways?" Meghan said after she calmed down
"The cake I ate last night probably contained vanilla"
"Rest well, I'll go and inform the kitchen to dispose of anything that has vanilla in this house" Elizabeth said getting up to go to the kitchen
''Thank you" Meghan said
Elizabeth just smiled and headed to the kitchen.
Bella, one of the kitchen staff, was preparing breakfast,
"Bella... Bella...BELLA"
"Good morning ma'am" Bella snapped out of her daze and greeted
"Morning Bella, do I overwork you?, why were you in a daze like that? I called three times" Elizabeth reprimanded
"No ma'am, I'm sorry, it won't happen again" Bella pleaded
"that's good, are you almost done, I'm starving"
"almost done ma'am, would you like tea or coffee?"
"coffee"
"ok ma'am, here's your coffee" Bella poured her a cup of hot coffee looking like she had something to say
"thanks, Bella also make sure to get rid of anything that contains vanilla, Meghan's allergic, the cake last night contained vanilla, her sequel could have been fatal" Elizabeth instructed as she took her coffee
"I'm so sorry ma'am, I'll do that right away" the young maid said flustered
"Bella, you seem to have something to tell me earlier" Elizabeth said remembering the young girl's expression
"I...I...I.."
"You what, stop dawdling or I'll leave" Elizabeth said already heading to the door
"Ma'am, can i get my salary early?" Bella quickly said
"My elder brother had run into trouble with loan sharks, they held him captive and gave me a week to pay back the money or they'll sell his kidney, my brother only has one left, he had sold the other for our mum's hospital bills when we couldn't make ends meet" Bella burst into tears as she explained in one breath.
"Please ma'am, he's the only family I have left" she said sobbing loudly
"Why didn't you say so earlier, how much are you owing and how many days are left to make payment?" Elizabeth asked after calming the emotional girl
"1...1.8 million, we had only borrowed five hundred thousand but were five months behind on repayment so the interest piled up, and there's five days left to make payments'' Bella said hesitantly, she knew it was a huge amount and her salary was only two hundred thousand, barely enough to do anything.
"1.8million! and you want to use your salary of two hundred thousand to cover it within five days, do you plan to sell yourself to finish payments?" Elizabeth said harshly
Bella burst into tears as she heard those words, she knew she was right, she just didn't know what to do, she had started this job three months ago and couldn't possibly ask her boss for help, if it backfired she might be fired or jailed. Is there really no hope for them?
"alright, alright, stop crying, I'll transfer the money to your account after I eat, then you let your brother come work here after cleaning up" Elizabeth said
Bella froze at the words, she didn't expect her young miss to do that for someone she barely knew. Her eyes welled up again, with heart filled with gratitude, she hugged Elizabeth tightly
"thank you so much miss" Elizabeth stumbled at the force,
"ok, ok... I'm still hungry so hurry up"
"yes ma'am'' she said with dried up tears on her face and a bright smile