Mine, Bitten

Chapter Five

Lily

            "Are you feeling Romanian yet?" Ruby's voice teased from the other line.

            Lily smiled as she gripped the receiver, "Not exactly-I'm feeling a bit alienesque."

            "That bad, huh?"
            She stood in the center of her all-porcelain made bathroom and sank onto the edge of her colossal tub. "It's a whole different world here and I've only been here for twenty minutes, how am I to survive a whole week?"

            "What's your room like?"

            Lily released a short laugh as she peered around, "You could swim in my tub."

            Ruby whistled into the phone, "Sounds expensive."

            Lily sighed, "I wouldn't know." She fell silent.

            "Are you alright?' Ruby asked, all hint of sarcasm gone.

            Lily plucked at a wayward string disentangling itself from its seam on her sweater. "I don't know what I was thinking coming here. He shows no sign of regret or guilt-he's almost, impassive."

            "You want to come home?"

            Lily had given that thought much favor since she first agreed to this trip, but she was already here, in a world so unlike her run-of-the-mill life; a part of her yearned for something out of the ordinary of serving steak and eggs to the everyday regulars.

            She cleared her throat, "Nah, besides, it would be rude of me to not take advantage of all this porcelain goodness?"

            Ruby laughed, "Agreed."

            "Say hello to everyone for me?"

            "Save for a high-and-mighty manager who's been on his high-horse since you left." Ruby exclaimed, breathing an angry huff into the phone.

            Lily laughed, "Go easy on Jackson, will you? He's not so bad."

            "Hah! I'll remember that next time when he scolds you on being a fraction of a minute late!"

            "Bye Rube." She said with a smile.

            "Bye Lil."

            She set her phone aside and walked to the mirror and gaped at her reflection.

There wasn't much hope for her hair. She managed to restrain the wiry waves but even now rebellious strands slipped loose to frame her face.

            Her eyes were large pools of blue peering back at her, beneath a set of fully-fringed lashes. Her nose was too small, her mouth too full, and her face shaped almost heart-like.

            She wondered if she appeared so much like her mother that her father would shun her. It seemed most likely.

            She left her room and started in search of some food. At that thought, her stomach growled noisily and she waved Louis down as he came around the corner.

            He smiled charmingly at her, "Yes, ma'am?"

            "What's good to eat around here?" she cringed on the inside, realizing how very out-of-place she must seem to the boy.