Lady ~ G.Blythe [2]

introduction.

+ introduction +

I sat in the carriage, being the only girl left to be dropped off in the city today. Only 3 of us chose to leave boarding this weekend, the rest choosing to stay at the school, which I would normally do most of the time. We could chose if we wanted to return home for the weekends or not, which I normally wouldn't do, because it was much more stressful having to answer all my mothers questions than it was just choosing to stay at boarding. Quite a few of the girls chose to return home, which left me and a few others trying to make conversation over Saturday morning breakfast.

Today however was different, the carriage pulling to a stop outside a tall apartment building, the cold stone contrasting over the hue that the city of Sydney held. I waited for the driver to open the door of the carriage, taking his hand as I held my large skirt in one hand, swiftly making my way onto the pavement with a heavy sigh. "I'll get your bag miss" he said to me quickly as he went to the back of the carriage to retrieve my case for me, which was full of everything except a pair of pants, or the matron at the boarding house would probably smother me in my sleep.

The glass door opened from the apartment building, the concierge in full tails and top hat walking out with his white gloved hands clasped in front of him as approached me. "Miss Prewett, your parents didn't say you were staying this weekend" he told me with a smile as I nodded my head, thanking the carriage driver who set my bag down by my side quickly before saying goodbye. "Surprise visit for my brother" I explained, nodding my head as I clasped my hands in front of me, my jacket constricting the movement of my arms as the man let out a small sigh of understanding. "It's his birthday soon" I added quickly, which wasn't actually a lie.

"That's very nice of you" he said as he motioned down to my bag with his hand, looking back up at me quickly. "May I take your bag for you?" he asked as I simply shook my head at him, bending my knees as I picked it up in my hand swiftly. "No, no, I should be perfectly fine" I told him as he nodded, leading me into the building as he held the door open for me, allowing me to make my way up the marble stairs while he took his seat behind the reception desk once again.

I climbed up the stairs, which was quite difficult considering the weight of my suitcase and the fact my skirt barely let me take a step up a curb too quickly. I finally made it to the right floor, the pristine white door being the only door on the landing, as the apartments in this building took up the whole floor, and were probably the size of a small house. I clicked my knuckles on the door as I let out a heavy sigh, awaiting a response as I clutched my suitcase with both hands. The door finally opened, revealing my older brother Tom on the other side, his tie loosened and his waistcoat unbuttoned as his eyes fell onto me in confusion.

"Hello" I said with a smile as I pushed past Tom, setting my suitcase down on the ground as I pulled my hat off of my head, letting out a heavy sigh. I placed my hands on my corset, shaking my head to try and remove my hair from my sticky forehead, crazily out of breath from the amount of marble stairs I had just climbed. "Do our parents know you're here?" Tom asked as he closed the door, looking at me with a raised eyebrow as he pushed his hands into his pockets, looking at me disapprovingly.

I tilted my head back at him, a smile on my face as I took in a deep breath, still way too tired from the many flights of stairs i had just made my way up. "I don't think you need an answer to that question do you?" I said to him as he let out a sigh, moving past me as he went to sit on the couch, my hands going back to my suitcase as I heaved it up once again. "What did you tell them?" he asked me as I struggled to carry it through the flat, basically dragging it into the spare bedroom, dropping it onto the intricate rug as I let out a sigh.

"That I was staying at boarding this weekend" I shouted back to him, unbuckling it as fast as I could to pull out a thin skirt, which I hadn't been able to wear for weeks now, having worn the big ones with thousands of layers the school liked us to wear. "And what exactly did you tell boarding?" Tom followed up as I set my hand on the door frame, swinging out of the room to look over at him with a smirk on my face. "That I was going home for the weekend" I replied before moving back into the room, my hands unbuttoning the jacket I was wearing, which was suffocating me more than my corset after the carriage right across the city.