Imperfection Series

Chapter 2

Book 1 Chapter 1-01

A young girl rushed into a house in joy with a white envelope, it was her acceptance letter, she has been accepted in her dream school, University of California, she had worked really hard for it, had many sleepless nights because she was studying. As the only hope of the family, she didn't want to disappoint her hardworking mother who is the caretaker of the family. As she shut the door forcefully behind her, she regretted it immediately for the door fell off its hinges, "Christ Lillian, when are you going to learn to be gentle with this door" she muttered to herself before clasping the envelope under her armpit and gently but with a enough force to lift up the door, she perfectly fixed it into its hinges again.

She looked at her work with satisfaction before taking the envelope from her armpit and ran towards the kitchen. The floor creaked under feet like in horror movies but she paid no mind to it, she was quite used to it. The house looked clean but empty. It has only two single sofas, an old looking coffee table, the windows had little or no curtain on them. There was no television, no stereo or anything to make it look like a living room. As she ran into the kitchen, she paused, "oh, looks like mama isn't back yet" she whispered, tucking her wavy brunette hair behind her ear, her honey colored eyes scanned the whole kitchen before stopping on the vegetables on the kitchen counter.

She sighed then turn and left the kitchen, she entered the only door in the lobby, it's a room she shares with her mother. Her father had died when she was eight, although she still missed him but she remembers little of him. Her mother has been her all in all, the reason she finished high school now is her mother who works tirelessly at the Lockwood's mansion. Her father had worked there too and according to her mom, she said she had met her father there and they had fallen in love and gotten married.

She remembers little of the big house, she often visits there when she was little, she still remembers the kind man that often plays with her, he will carry her on his shoulder and run around the garden. He is the only one that plays with her, her parents were often busy that they only bring her to work and forget all about her. This kind man will often give her lollipops then play with her. She can still remember his face, his black hair, his blue eyes and his very soft beards that she often twists when they will be laying down on the soft grass. Although a little child but she never forgot the face of the man who showed her kindness.

There was also a boy in the house then but he was in high school and very much older than her, he always gifts her cupcakes and chocolates when he returns from school, and do play with her too. So many times she had heard him say he wished she was his sister.

Lilly smiled at the distant happy memories as she knelt down and brought out a safe box from under the bed, she gently opened the lid then place her envelope inside it with such gentleness like it's a delicate child that can't afford to be hurt. She knew there was a reason she stopped going to the mansion, she can't remember it vividly but she can still recall that she was playing hide and seek with the older boy in his room when they heard shouting, she had been scared and rushed out from her hiding place under the bed immediately. The boy had picked her up in his arms and left his room.

There was a woman shouting at the man who often plays with her, she had seen the man held the woman's hand and say something but the woman had slapped him causing the boy carrying her to take a sharp intake of breath, thereby making her wail. The woman had looked at her in disgust and had said something that made the boy's hold on her tightened but her mother had rushed out of somewhere and took her from the boy's hand. When she was being carried out, she looked back at the boy and had seen him fighting to hold back his tears, his very beautiful gray eyes that always look at her in complete gentleness and tenderness were red and the tears were threatening to fall down.

She had smiled and said sorry to him but he had only smiled painfully and waved at her, she waved back, promising to see him the next day. But after leaving through the door that day, she never went back. She was often left alone at home every day when her parents will go to work. She would stay hungry till when they will return late at night. Many times she had fallen asleep on the cold floor only to wake up with a cold the next day and for her to discover that her parents had left her alone again.

Many times she had wished for the arms of the young boy and for the lollipop of the man. Many times she had wished she was his sister too, and as a five year old child, the only warmth she had received where not from her parents but from a strange father and son who treated her like their own. Her lonely days ended when her parents came home one day and told her she would be going to school. She had been so happy for she thought she would see the boy, after all, he was the one that told her then that he often goes to school.

She had left for school happily the next day to see her handsome Prince, but all she saw where children like her and a big aunty they called teacher, she had searched everywhere that day but couldn't find him and had gone home and stayed up till midnight when her parents arrived and asked them about him. They told her she hadn't gotten to his stage in school yet and need to study hard in other to get to his school. That was where her zeal for education came from, she took school work seriously so that she can get to the stage of her Prince.

But the older she got, the more she understood, the man was Eric Lockwood, and the boy was Shane Lockwood. And through the help of a so called friend, she came to realize that her parents are servants for the Lockwood's. No wonder they were always busy whenever they went there. Her father was already dead, leaving only her and her mother. With time, she forgot about studying to meet her Prince but rather to grow big and have money so that her mother won't be a maid anymore. But sometimes, just like today, she would often remember far back, the father and son duo, who treated her kindly.