Page 47 of Distortion
My eyes survey the beautiful façade. My mom lived here while I was in The Heath. All that time I never even heard from her. Did she think of me, I wonder. Did she remember my birthdays? At Christmas every year, when she put Andrew and Jack’s presents under the tree, did she buy something for her actual daughter like she did for her step kids? Maybe a gift that was never given? Something that Stoke or the blanks never delivered to me at The Heath?
Wishful thinking.
Pushing the painful thoughts away, I trail behind Shade as the door to the house opens. I nod at the butler, acknowledging him properly. I didn’t the other day, I don’t think, even though I recognized him from when I was a kid.
‘Hi, Stevens,’ I mutter, forcing a small, tight smile.
‘Miss Marguerite,’ he answers with a small incline of his head.
I look around the large airy foyer thoughtfully. It looks largely the same.
I have a couple of things to do,’ Shade says, walking off without another word.
I stare after him for a moment. I suppose it’s a bit rude that he’s just taking off and not playing host. This isn’t my house, after all. But instead I’m surprised he even bothered to tell me where he was going. I’ve barely seen him since that first day, so this is new.
I turn to find that Stevens is gone as well, off doing whatever butlers do, I suppose. The gray marble stairs loom before me and I walk up them slowly, my shoes hardly making a sound. I get to the landing and follow the wide corridor to the end where a closed door awaits. I try thehandle and it opens easily, but where my bed and my bureau once were, there’s nothing. The room is empty. Even the pink wallpaper is gone. It’s just white walls and a light gray carpet, now.
How I begged my mom for that wallpaper when we first moved in. I even asked John, and I never spoke to him if I could help it. He made a big deal about it, of course. ‘Don’t get into trouble at school.’ ‘Make sure you talk politely to adults when you’re spoken to, and don’t forget to smile.’ Yada. Yada. Yada.
I close the door quietly and turn towards the room across from mine. My mom’s room. It didn’t occur to me as a kid that John and my mom having separate space even though they were married was weird, but maybe that’s just how rich people do things.
I open the door and frown. There’s nothing in this room either, except a bed and a vanity with a chair in front of it. Maybe she started sharing with John after all.
I walk back down the hallway to the first door and open it slowly. I know John isn’t here, but this is still his bedroom. I peer inside. It’s pretty nondescript actually. I leave the door wide as I go in, not wanting anyone to think I’m sneaking around if I’m found in here. I go into the bathroom, but it’s only men’s toiletries that I see on the side. The next room is large, I remember, though I only saw it once when we first got here and I was snooping around my new home. It was a dressing room before. I look inside and see it hasn’t changed much, but there are no woman’s clothes. It’s just rows of suits and shiny leather shoes.
I hear a creak behind me and look over my shoulder. It’s Shade. He quirks a brow at me.
‘Your mom’s room was down the hall,’ he says, eyes narrowing just a little.
‘I’m not trying to steal John’s ties, or something,’ I say, shaking my head at him. ‘I’m trying to find my mom’s things.’
He gives me a look. ‘They’re in her room, Daisy,’ he says like I’m the idiot.
Without giving me a chance to argue, he leaves the room and walks quickly down the hall. He throws open the door like he’s angry.
‘See?’ he begins but stops short.
I catch up and peek around him at the room as if it’s somehow changed in the past minute and half.
‘Stevens!’ he bellows, making me jump and cover my ears with a wince.
The butler appears on the landing near the stairs. ‘Sir?’
‘Where are Mrs. Novelle’s things?’
Stevens’ eyes flick to me, but his expression stays blank ... I think. ‘Mr. Novelle ordered her rooms to be cleared, sir.’
Shade frowns. ‘So soon after ...’
‘Yes, sir. He expressed an interest that it be done quickly.’ Stevens clears his throat. ‘If I may, sir, I believe he was quite stricken by the sudden ...’ his eyes flick to me, ‘passingof Mrs. Novelle. He asked for everything to be done as soon as possible.’
I take a step back, a feeling I don’t understand rising quickly. ‘Everything?’ I ask. My voice sounds shaky to my ears, and I make an effort to keep myself under control.
I feel Shade’s eyes on me, and Stevens winces enough for me to notice. He looks chagrined, actually, I think as I survey his features, searching for the facial markers that are typically so difficult for me.
‘I believe the closet hasn’t been finished yet, Miss Marguerite,’ he says quietly, not looking at me.
I nod and go back into the bare room, walking calmly, almost woodenly, over to the closet and opening it slowly. I take in a breath and then another quicker one when thesmell hits me. It’s not musty or damp, it’s her perfume. I’m transported for a second to a moment in the hotel the night before she left me at The Heath. She put her arms around me and, for a couple of seconds, I let her, I breathed in the smell of her. She whispered in my ear that she loved me and she knew I loved her, too. She told me to be careful.
