Judgment in Glass

Chapter 7 - The Turnaround

If that one morning was strange, the following day was even more peculiar. Rafina woke up, not quite knowing where she was. She made a strangled cry as she saw that she was in a large room. Everything was decked in black and gold, in the minimal style that she craved but could not pull off, what with having two sisters crammed with her in the same room.

In a panic, she got up and stumbled on the thick wool blanket. She landed on her palms and her knees. Ouch! Her sisters were nowhere in sight, and she was wearing silk. Silk! What in the hell was she doing wearing silk? She moved her hand down the cloth and could not help but admire it.

But where was she? Was this some kind of prison? A gilded cage? Where was she last night? The last thing she remembered was being at the antique shop, and yes, her life had gotten curious and curioser.

She went to the door, half-expecting it to be locked. It flew open. Easily. She went out and gasped at the wide hallway and the large staircase. It could not be. It looked like she was back at her old house, with its six bedrooms and three bathrooms.

Rafina slapped herself. When that did not work, she pinched her arms.

“Ow!” she cried.

Suddenly, she saw her sisters. They were coming out of their former rooms, dressed in silk pajamas.

“Good morning, Rafina. You look like you woke up on the wrong side of the bed.”

“Um, Fran. Why are we here?”

“What do you mean?” Francesca’s brow was furrowed, and she looked genuinely confused.

Theresa rushed to hug Rafina. The older sister did not know what to do except caress her sister’s long black hair. It was shiny, not knotted like the last time she saw it, which was just about yesterday.

“Something strange is going on, Franny. Do you not notice it?”

“Um. No,” Francesca abruptly replied, her fingers busy on her iPhone.

“How are you able to afford that?” Rafina asked.

Her sister just widened her eyes at her, her shoulders doing a quick, slightly annoyed shrug.

“Don’t tell me dad is also alive and well in this little dream,” Rafina found herself saying.

Her two sisters looked at her incredulously.

“Rafi, are you okay? Dad has been dead for years,” Francesca said, looking a little hurt.

Rafina looked down on Theresa, who was looking at her with wide eyes and mouth open.

“I am so sorry. I don’t know what happened to me today,” was all the eldest sister could say.

“Rafi, let’s go down. Mommy prepared breakfast. I could smell the pancakes that I asked her to make,” Theresa begged, jumping up and down.

They all then headed for the kitchen, with Rafina glancing here and there in fear and confusion. She did not know if she would be happy or scared when she saw her mother dressed like a 60s Stepford Wife in a dress with a Peter Pan collar. She was also wearing an apron and making pancakes!

Was she going nuts? Her or her mom? One of them - or both.

“Come, my dear,” her mother said to her. Rafina could swear that she was looking at her directly and not even glancing at her younger sisters. Her palms began to sweat.

“Um, maybe I should shower first. I have to get to work on time,” Rafina managed to say.

“Rafi, your work at the law firm isn’t until 9 am. It’s 6:30 am. Relax!”

What law firm? She almost asked that aloud but was glad that she held her tongue for once.

After breakfast, she showered. Then, she fiddled with the smartphone she found charging in her room. It was locked. She tried her usual PIN and was rewarded with it opening to reveal its contents.

Rafina went through the various messages and notes she made. She even searched her social media for clues. Apparently, she was a young lawyer working for the firm her dad used to work at. Did that mean that Roberta would be there, as well? It was not a pleasant thought.

She went to her closet and found that everything was color-coded. What happened to her? She took out a peach suit from the leftmost side. If she still organized the same way, the items she had not worn for a long time would be to the left. Then, as she moved against the wooden closet, her knee hit something – a button perhaps. The wardrobe opened up. It was a walk-in closet. She did not remember having one when she was younger, yet she was there – in the same house.

The walk-in closet had everything: more clothes, jewelry, and shoes. It was not something that Rafina had even considered having. She loathed dressing up when she was younger, rebelling against the social class that she was in. However, after experiencing poverty, this was heaven.

When she was ready, she went downstairs. It was still a little early, but she wanted to be prepared for more unexpected things.. How would she get there? Rafina was wearing a peach pencil skirt, matching blazer, and a lace white blouse underneath. She was also wearing four-inch heeled gold-toned shoes, which basically pushed her height up to past six feet tall. She paired everything with a gold purse where a credit card and some IDs settled in. What was she thinking? Was she supposed to walk in these?

She went to her youngest sister, who was getting ready for school, and whispered, “Theresa, how do I get to work? And um, no. Shh. Don’t tell anyone I asked.”

Theresa looked at her older sister with narrowed eyes, “Are you drunk, Rafi?”

“No. But I think I might as well be,” she answered truthfully, pinching her arms. Yep, she seemed to be very much awake. She could not figure out if she were in a good dream or a nightmare.

“Well, Rafi. Your keys to your car – the black one - should be on your table. Your bag with all your lawyer stuff is right on the chair in front of your computer desk.”

“Thank you, love!” she exclaimed, kissing her sister on the forehead and both cheeks. Rafina wondered about Theresa’s matter-of-fact handling of her question. It was as if she was expecting it - as if Rafi tended to be muddled all the time. She shook that thought out and struggled to go up to her room to collect her things. She thought it was lucky that she knew how to drive and remembered how to do so.

When she arrived at Todd and Parsons, she took a deep breath. How would she work as a lawyer when she could not even remember going to law school? She went inside, anyway. She was unsettled at how people were smiling at her as if she had answered their prayers.

“Good morning, Miss Todd.”

“Good morning.” Good morning, stranger, she thought.

“Good morning, Miss Todd.” Goodness, there was another one.

As she went through a flurry of greetings, she saw a familiar brown-haired head. Roberta! The young woman was working in one of the tiny cubicles in the firm. So, she was one of the paralegals in the firm.

Rafina had been busy considering Roberta, who had seemed too ashamed to look at her, that she almost did not notice the door with her name on it. The nameplate was black, and her name was in gold: Serafina M. E. Todd, Attorney at Law.

She went in, trying to look confident as she did so. Then, she went in front of the computer. For some reason, a surge of memories came rushing to her. Suddenly, she knew what files to open and what cases to work on. She also remembered which clients to call. It was an overwhelming rush of information that was triggered by sitting on her chair.

It was then that she remembered graduating from law school with honors. Her father was already dead but had left a considerable amount of money. Her mother was not a drunk. Instead, she went on therapy right after her father died.

Rafina wanted to cry. She badly hoped that it was not a dream or a bad joke, but something inside her told her something was not right. It could not be real – this, whatever it was. For now, though, she would enjoy it as much as she could.

She deserved it.

Apparently, she was a workaholic. She logged in before 9 am, typed legal documents, called and saw clients, and checked her schedules to go to court. The time went by swiftly. Rafina suspected it was something expected from her in this version of her world.

Suddenly, there was a knock at her door.

“Come in, Suzy.”

Suzy Albert was her secretary. She also stayed back a lot with her boss. Rafina guessed that Suzy had to go, and she did not mind it. It was late. She should go, too.

“Miss Todd, your boyfriend is waiting for you downstairs. He said you had plans.”

“What?”

A boyfriend? What was this? Was everything given to her like a neat little package with a ribbon on top? Who was her boyfriend in this world? Chris Evans? After all, it seemed that she was getting everything she wanted in this version of her world. She laughed at the silly thought. God forbid it would be Troy Atkins.

“Okay, tell him I’m going down in five minutes,” she said, trying not to sound freaked out.

Carrying all her things, she realized that her balance was getting better on heels. However, when she saw who was waiting for her in the reception hall, she almost slid down on the floor.

The tall man stood up. He looked handsome and dapper in a suit. His beard was trimmed neatly. It was Dragomir Kulic.