CHAPTER 3
GABRIELLA
The evening glow was beautiful. The sun was going away leaving its shadow behind. I walked into the apartment, turning the key behind me. The place was clean, laundry was arranged in a neat pile and the smell leaking out of the kitchen was divine. Grandma Gigi was home.
She stood in the small kitchen, a small smile on her face as she hummed and stirred the boiling soup. ''Ella, you're back, I'll bring your food upstairs''She hollered in her stern voice.
Her voice was always stern and hard. She was tough and strict but she had a soft side she never showed anyone.
After leaving the hospital, I realized I had nowhere to go. I walked around the city, wondering if the police were looking for me or not ๐ช๐ง ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต. But nothing came up. After walking for a long time and getting weird looks from everyone walking past me, I stopped under an umbrella to get shade from the sun. The weather in this place was the most unpredictable.
I hadn't thought this through. Maybe running away wasn't the best idea. ๐๐ฏ๐บ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ต๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ด๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฏ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ข๐ค๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ.
I jolted awake from the sound of people running and yelling. The temperature had dropped, and it was about to rain. How many hours had I slept for? People scurried on the street, trying to get home before the pour started. ''Hey you!'' a woman barked. I look up at the source of the voice. A woman stood to my side, a deep scowl on her face.
''Can't you see it's about to rain, go home'' she bit out. I stared at her, my throat refusing to push out the words my brain had processed ''Are you deaf? I said go home'' She glared at me, her hands on her hips, her flowy yellow dress swaying in the wind.
I sat down, trying to say something. I probably made her feel stupid. She scoffed, amazed that I was still sitting. ''Fine, don't go, stay for all I care'' She turned on her heel''I don't have anywhere to go''I pushed out, each word having more gap than required.
She stopped, turning around and focusing on me. Her gaze finally traveled down my body noticing my messy hair and stained shirt, her eyes softened for a second before they returned to their hard gaze. ''Come with me, if you want'' She muttered, turning on her heel and heading in a direction. I scurried after, desperation on my face as I struggled to match her pace even though I was a lot younger.
The creak of the stairs was loud as it held our weight, leading to the apartments. ''What's your name girl''she asked as she searched for her keys in the pockets of her dress. ''Ella'' I mumbled, dropping my gaze down at my dirty sneakers. ''Gigi, that's Grandma Gigi to you girl!'' she barked, opening the door to the apartment. I nodded quickly.
The apartment was small, but it was neat. It was obvious Grandma Gigi was a clean freak and liked to color code everything. "Leave your sneakers out in front" She announced placing her keys in a specific cabinet. "Don't need anything from your past life following you around " She gave me a meaningful look.
I nodded, setting my shoes outside. She was right, the last thing I needed was memories of him following me inside. I breathed in the clean scent of the apartment. This is what my life smelt like now, clean clothes and boiling soup and I loved it.