Episode 2 : Possibly heard
1538 Words
The kitchen had settled into a quieter rhythm.
The clatter of utensils softened, voices faded in and out, and the warmth from the stove filled the space in a way that felt oddly comforting. The door opened and Ezekiel came into the kitchen briefly to get a glass or two from the staff. It seemed like he had a visitor of his own. Kira didn’t look at him directly but she was looking at him from the corner of her eyes until he left the kitchen.The staff went out following after Ezekiel to serve Mrs Blackwood’s guests.
Tatiana leaned against the counter, sipping from her glass, her eyes drifting toward Kira with a knowing look.
“So…” she began, dragging the word slightly.
Kira didn’t look up immediately.
She already knew what was coming.
“What?” Kira asked, finally glancing at her.
Tatiana smirked.
“My cousin.”
Kira’s expression didn’t change much but there was a brief pause before she responded.
“What about him?”
Tatiana let out a small laugh, shaking her head.
“Don’t act like you weren’t looking.”
Kira exhaled softly, turning her glass slightly in her hand.
“I said he’s cute. That’s all.”
“Mm-hm,” Tatiana hummed, unconvinced. “Well… if you’re interested, I could always hook you two up.”
Kira’s eyes lifted immediately.
Not surprised.
Not amused either.
Just… still.
“Tia.”
There was something in her tone, soft but firm, enough to cut through the teasing.
Tatiana raised her hands slightly in mock surrender, still smiling.
“I’m joking.”
But Kira didn’t smile back.
“He’s a player,” Tatiana added more casually now, taking another sip. “Like… not even secretly. Everyone knows. Well except his mother.”
That made Kira pause.
Just for a second.
She looked away, her expression settling back into that familiar, unreadable calm.
“Then you should probably stop joking like that,” she said quietly.
Tatiana studied her for a moment, the teasing fading slightly.
“It’s not that serious,” she said. “I just thought…”
“I know what you thought,” Kira cut in gently.
Not harsh.
Just… controlled.
Silence lingered between them for a moment.
Not uncomfortable.
But not light either.
Then Kira leaned back slightly, her gaze drifting toward the doorway that led back into the house.
Her voice dropped, quieter now.
Almost thoughtful.
“He doesn’t seem like the type I’d take seriously anyway…Though he is my type physically.”
Tatiana watched her, a small smile returning but this time, it was different.
More curious.
“Good,” she said lightly. “Because he definitely isn’t the serious type.”
But Kira didn’t respond.
Her eyes had already shifted, just slightly,
as if part of her attention had wandered back to him.
And even she didn’t fully register it yet.
Kira found the kitchen quiet for a bit, and she wanted to break the silence. She thought of what happened the last time she saw her father…
And thought to share the story in which she teased her father because he wouldn’t stop probing into her love life.
The kitchen had grown warmer not from the stove, but from laughter.
Tatiana was already leaning forward, barely holding herself together as Kira spoke.
“So my dad kept asking,” Kira said, trying and failing to stay serious. “Hints, questions… you know how they do.”
Tatiana nodded, already smiling.
“And?”
Kira’s lips curved slightly.
“So I told him I was interested in one of his friends.”
There was a pause.
Then…
“What?” Tatiana burst out.
Kira laughed now, shaking her head.
“He froze. Completely. Then he started looking for pictures, evidence, trying to remind me the man has a wife, children…”
Tatiana clutched the counter, laughing harder.
“No way…”
“And I told him,” Kira continued, now fully amused, “‘I don’t mind being his mistress.’”
That did it.
Tatiana doubled over, laughter spilling out uncontrollably.
Kira joined in, the sound of it echoing through the kitchen, loud, free, unrestrained.
For a moment, nothing else existed.
Not the house.
Not the expectations.
Not the careful version of herself she usually carried.
Just laughter.
The kitchen staff, who had stepped out briefly, returned not long after, smiling at the scene, amused by the girls’ energy.
One of them spoke casually, almost as an afterthought.
“Madam has moved to the sitting room. Just beside here.”
The laughter didn’t stop immediately.
But Kira did.
It hit her all at once.
The sitting room.
Right next to the kitchen.
Her smile faded.
Her expression stilled.
Mrs. Blackwood.
The woman she respected.
The woman she had, in her mind, placed on a certain pedestal composed, refined, untouchable in a way.
And now…
possibly within earshot of everything.
Kira’s face went pale.
Tatiana was still laughing.
The staff too.
But Kira?
Kira saw it all play out in her head in seconds
The story.
The word mistress.
The tone.
The implication.
And worse…
the possibility that it could somehow be twisted… misunderstood…
connected.
To Ezekiel… especially since they did discuss the young man’s appearance and how she might have been interested in him.
“No,” she muttered under her breath.
Then suddenly
she dropped.
Gracefully? No.
Dramatically? Absolutely.
Kira collapsed to the floor in a perfectly exaggerated swoon.
There was a beat of silence.
Then…
laughter exploded again.
“Tia!” one of the staff called, laughing. “What happened to her?”
Tatiana, still catching her breath, looked down at Kira sprawled on the floor and shook her head.
“You’re so dramatic,” she said between laughs.
Kira didn’t move.
Didn’t open her eyes.
“If she heard that…” Kira murmured faintly, still committed to the act.
“She probably didn’t,” Tatiana replied, waving it off. “And even if she did, she won’t care.”
But Kira wasn’t convinced.
Not even a little.
Because in her world…
image mattered.
Perception mattered.
And the idea that Mrs. Blackwood might connect her to something so careless…
even jokingly…
made her stomach twist.
Meanwhile, the staff simply laughed, completely unaware of the real reason behind her sudden “collapse.”
To them, it was just harmless drama.
To Kira?
It was damage control.
Kira stayed on the floor a moment longer than necessary.
Not because she couldn’t get up
but because she was buying herself time to reset.
Then
something moved.
Her eyes narrowed slightly, catching a faint blur slipping beneath one of the kitchen tables.
She sat up immediately.
“Wait… is that a kitten?”
The excitement in her voice was instant, genuine, unguarded.
One of the staff smiled.
“Yes, it is.”
Kira was already on her feet now, all thoughts of Mrs. Blackwood momentarily forgotten.
She crouched slightly, peering under the table.
“Come here…” she murmured softly.
A small, hesitant shape shifted.
Then
a tiny kitten stepped out.
“Oh my God,” Kira breathed, her face lighting up in a way Tatiana had never seen before.
“What’s its name?” she asked, reaching out carefully.
“Mus,” one of the staff replied.
Kira blinked.
“Mus?” she repeated, tilting her head. “That’s its name?”
The staff exchanged amused looks.
“No,” one of them said. “That’s just what we call it.”
Kira looked down at the kitten again, gently scratching behind its ears as it leaned into her touch, already purring.
“Then what’s its actual name?”
“Wei,” they answered.
Kira paused.
“Wei?”
“Yes. Her father named it,” the staff added casually.
Kira let out a small, amused breath.
“That’s… unexpected.”
The kitten pressed closer into her hand, clearly enjoying the attention.
Kira smiled, softer now.
“What does it mean?”
“It’s Chinese,” one of them said. “He said it means… value. Or something like that.”
Kira’s brows drew together slightly.
“Wei…” she repeated under her breath.
There was something familiar about it.
Something she’d heard before
but not like this.
“I think I’ve heard that word,” she murmured. “In a movie or something… but it meant hello.”
Tatiana laughed lightly from behind her.
“You and your random references.”
Kira didn’t respond.
Her attention was fully on the kitten now.
She sat on the kitchen stool without hesitation, letting the small creature climb onto her lap.
It purred instantly, curling slightly as she stroked its back and scratched behind its ears.
For a moment
she looked completely different.
Relaxed.
Open.
Unaware of herself.
Time passed quietly. The kitten left Kira’s lap
The kitchen slowly emptied again until it was just the two of them.
Kira and Tatiana.
And the soft sound of a kitten purring somewhere underneath the counter.
Then
footsteps.
Familiar.
Measured.
Unhurried.
Kira didn’t look up immediately.
But Tatiana did.
And her expression shifted slightly.
Kira noticed.
She followed Tatiana’s gaze
slowly.
And there he was.
Ezekiel.
Standing at the entrance of the kitchen.
- Writer
