Reece's Haven

46

"Not being able to kiss your lips is my apocalypse..."
– Nautica

❀❀❀

~ D O R O T H Y ~

January 1998

"I'm sorry... What?" I say, furrowing my eyebrows.

"He's my cousin," Harris says, displaying, no hints of humour.

Impossible... There is no way...

"H-How?" I say.

"His mother is my dad's younger sister."

"Linda is your dad's sister?" I burst, widening my eyes.

"Unfortunately, yes."

"Unfortunately? What do you mean, Harris?"

He takes a step back, shaking his head.

"...I already said too much. I can't say anymore–"

"Do they know that your grandmother passed away?"

"I'm not sure. If they don't, they surely will tomorrow. It'll be on the papers."

"Unbelievable," I say. "Your family does not even have the courtesy to tell them."

He clenches his jaw.

"You can't say that, Dorothy. Especially when you don't know anything."

"Linda is her daughter," I say. "And because of that, it's your family's duty to inform her of her mother's demise. The fact that your family hasn't even bothered to inform her just shows how... how callous you all are."

At this Harris snaps.

"Well, maybe if she hadn't betrayed my family, then she would have been informed."

He then sighs, rubbing his temples, as he goes to the bed and sits down on it.

"What did she do, Harris?" I ask, trailing behind him.

He stays silent, staring at the floor.

"I need to know, Harris. Please..."

He looks up at me before he sighs again.

"Her real name is Melinda," he says, surprising me.

Melinda...

"...Many years ago," he then continues. "Melinda used to call this place her home. She was my grandfather's favourite. Grandpa loved her so much that he spoiled her rotten. Whatever she wanted – jewels, clothes, anything – he'd get it for her. She was his little princess, as grandma would say."

With sorrow, I try to imagine the younger version of Linda running though the corridors of this grand place – the very place she used to call her home. I picture her twirling in her bedroom as she tries on a new dress with twinkling eyes and humming as she skips along the vast verdant grounds of the estate with no care in the world.

When my mind drifts to how she is now, how she has been living for almost two decades, my heart aches. I recall how she informed me that she couldn't cook or bake. I had thought it a bit odd, but now it makes sense.

"Grandpa, being old money, wanted to enter the world of business while his close friend, being new money and a notable CEO of multiple successful businesses, wanted to be closely linked to old money. They realised that marriage between their children would help them get what they wanted. Plus, grandpa knew his friend's son. He was honest, competent and, more importantly, loyal. Basically, he possessed all the qualities that grandpa approved of. When Melinda turned eighteen, grandpa told her about the arrangement. She was furious and revealed that she was in love with someone else."