Page 29 of Sensing Selma
“I will let you know,” Mother finished with a shy grin.
“That’s right.” Ayra handed her a keycard.
“Holly, since we’ll be working together quite a bit, I put you closer to my quarters in room 377.”
“Great. I can’t wait to get started.” I eagerly took the keycard Ayra offered.
“And as for you, Susan, since you’ll be taking care of the financial aspect of this production, I’ve put you in room 327. You’ll be a few doors down from your mother, but the room has an adjacent office that is well equipped; phones, computers, printers...all that good stuff.”
“Thank you,” Susan quietly said.
“I’ll have your luggage brought up to you and my husband, Jai, and I will meet you for dinner in our private dining room. See you then.”
She left us and we boarded the elevator.
On the third floor we stepped out. Immediately opposite the elevator was a large floor-to-ceiling window that left us all in awe.
“Look at that,” Mother said as she wheeled her way to the window.
The grounds of Moon Manor were on full display below us. The gardens were immaculate and filled with brilliant colors. Beyond the gardens was the forest and beyond that the town of Derby and beyond that, Birmingham or Coventry, if we faced the south. Or perhaps Sheffield or Manchester if it was the north we were looking out at. I looked at the sun and determined that the window faced the east...towards Nottingham then.
“I bet on a clear day we could see Selma Sanctuary from up here,” I ventured.
Susan smiled but said nothing. Susan was pretty quiet on most days, but today Susan was being a little bit more quiet.Hard to explain, but something was off.
“I do believe that’s Selma Sanctuary right there,” I ventured again.Of course, I knew it was impossible to see our home from this far away.We were miles away.
Surely, I was way off course and Selma Sanctuary was in no way visible, but Susan said nothing to correct me.
“I think I may spend the better part of my days just sitting here looking out at all this splendor,” Mother said.
“Well,” I said, all glee and excitement as I skipped away. “I’m going to go see my room. See you later.”
*****
ISTRUGGLED TO FINDthe appropriate outfit to wear to dinner. Our quick expulsion from our house had left me with no time to change into anything adequate. Besides, the long drive out would have left me crinkled and wrinkled all the same.
Pulling items out of my suitcase, I considered many options. My bright yellow dress with white flowers would have been nice for lunch but seemed too vivid for dinner. Then I contemplated my plum sweater dress, but the evening was set to be rather warm, and I didn’t want to sweat in it. Then came my simple periwinkle sleeveless dress. It was classic, professional and this particular shade of blue was gorgeous on my pale skin.
After a quick shower, I slipped into the dress, paired it with simple black pumps and clasped a string of pearls around my neck.
“Perfect,” I said to my reflection.
I’d pulled my hair back into a neat, straight ponytail and my only makeup was lip gloss and mascara.
Happy and eager to sit and talk with Ayra, I emerged from my room and headed to the elevator where I met up with Susan and Mother.
“You look very pretty,” Mother said. “That blue is so lovely on you.”
I smiled and glanced at Susan. She’d changed from her dark blue jeans and red shirt to her paler jeans and a simple blue shirt. No adornment. No makeup. No attempt to do anything with her hair.
While this had always been who she was, I could see that this time her lack of interest in her appearance was due to something else...Bradley.
I’d wanted to talk to her about it, but didn’t want to bring it up in front of Mother. At the first opportunity, I would question her about her relationship to the young Baker.
But for now, all that mattered was getting downstairs to have dinner with Ayra and her husband Jai.
“Isn’t this wonderful, Mother,” I said, hoping to lighten the somber mood. “Everything is so beautiful here, isn’t it.”
