The first day in the mansion goes uneventful. Like I expected, Chloe doesn't care to talk to me in James' absence and I appreciate her keeping the distance. It helps me keep to myself.

I round up the mansion, and realise that the kitchen is behind where the large dining table is set. Mrs. George cooks the three meals of the day, and also manages to keep the house perfect with help from her co-worker. She's a sweet woman, with a tinge of white in her brown hair.

Mark is the driver, but I believe that James treats him more than that, which I appreciate on his part. The lower division is divided between the dining area and the living room which is vast and covers the middle area, at least most of it.

First floor is divided into two wings, left being Chloe's and right being Carrack's. Everyone in this house loves their privacy and that's why respects each other's rules. Second floor is reserved to James, while the two bedrooms are divided, there's another small bedroom as a guest room. On the ground floor, there's a room behind the living room area which is made up into an office so that Carrack and James can work from home sometime.

I can't begin to imagine how I plan on spending every day in this house without having a company to communicate with. I don't have any best friend I could chat with, I had friends in college but our talks were limited till that arena.

Jeremy is himself in senior year of high school, so he's especially busy with that. My mother and I talk in the afternoon, for about fifteen minutes as I update her about how life has been. She tells me that father is doing well, and I listen to her patiently. That's the only relief I get.

By evening, I engross myself in making my bedroom into as homey as possible. I arrange my clothes in the closet after trying on everything, making sure that if something doesn't fit, it can be exchanged. Most of the clothes fit, except two dresses which are too tight on the bust. The cloth literally clings to my skin, and I look like a hooker wearing it.

There's a knock on the bathroom door just as I am about to slip out of the dress but I stop when James enters. He opens his mouth to speak but his words get caught up when his eyes lingers down on my dress. I feel more exposed in front of him than I ever have, so I cross my arms in front of me. Which proves to worsen the problem so I just let my hands hang loose by the side.

"I was trying on the dresses to make sure they fit before hanging them in the closet." I explain and it snaps him out of his daze as he meets my eye.

He was staring! I clear my throat and he nods, looking anywhere but me.

"Dinner's ready." He says, his voice heavy before he disappears behind the door.

I immediately pull over the dress and change into a pair of jeans and a shirt. When I reach downstairs, James tries his best not to meet my eye and I do the same. We sit by each other's side so that helps a little. Carrack sits in the center chair while Chloe sits across James.

I notice that everyone is dressed formally except me, and that's exactly when Chloe speaks, "It would have been nice if you could've worn a dress. It's your first dinner with us as a family." She points out, her voice sweet but I notice the taunt behind the tone.

"I.. I didn't know. I am sorry. And I don't have many things to choose from." I say and James coughs from my side.

"You can go shopping tomorrow if you'd like." He offers and I nod.

We eat the rest of the dinner in silence. The dessert is served, and I have the chocolate brownie with ice cream. I stand up to clean my plates when Mrs. George's coworker, Shanley comes to take it from my hands but I slowly shake my head.

"Just give it to her, it's her job." Chloe comments but I shake my head.

"I don't like someone collecting or washing the dishes I just ate from. I'd like to do that myself." I say, looking at three of them.

"But—" Chloe is about to argue when Carrack cuts her off with a smile in my direction.

"You surprise me each time, dear! Of course, we understand. You can do it if that's what you want." He says and I nod.

"Thanks."

I disappear down the kitchen and wash my dishes, hating for anyone to clean my dirty dishes or even touching it. After I am done, I dry them and with Mrs. George's assistance, keep them in place.

"Goodnight, Mrs. George." I give her a smile and she returns it, wishing me as well before I go upstairs.

I don't use the route through bathroom anymore to get to the bedroom, I just use the door that's meant to be used. James said no one comes here, so I am going to believe him on that.

I pick up the television remote to play a movie since I have been sleeping so much since the flight, I don't think I would be heading to bed anytime soon tonight. But then there's a knock on the door and my breath catches in my throat.

I mute the volume, afraid that it might be Chloe or Carrack but then James peeps in, his eyes searching around before they meet mine on the bed.

"Can I come in?" He asks, making me feel weird since this is his house, his floor practically.

"Please, come on." I say, siding the comforter but then realising how weird and awkward it would be if we both sat on the bed.

He clears his throat and moves to the chair by the desk, spinning it in my direction as he sits down.

"Eat well?" He asks and I nod.

"Yeah, Mrs. George makes amazing food." I say, trying to keep the small talk going but he just nods in return.

But then he clears his throat again and I start to wonder why is he still here instead of his own room. I am aware that he doesn't particularly enjoy my company, so it's natural for me to wonder that.

"You were already done with your sophomore year of college, right?" He asks, making me scowl at him.

But then I remind myself that I should probably reply to him so I nod, "Yeah. Um, I was through the first semester of my Junior year as well." I feel the need to add and his forehead creases into a frown.

"Did you join college early?" He asks, obviously confused.

I shift a little uneasily because this is the first time we are discussing anything about me in such a serious manner, or discussing anything about me at all.

"Something like that. I graduated high school one semester prior." I explain but he continues to scowl, so I add, "I had already applied early and got my acceptance letter way earlier than most students. I was an AP student, so that helped through. My application was pushed forward by my school principal to get an early admission."

His expression morphs into an unreadable expression but he nods at the information being given by me before his eyes look straight into mine, making me swallow as I realise how easily intimidate I get by him.

"Alright, makes sense. Since you mentioned getting your degree, care to share what exactly were you pursuing?" He questions and if it weren't for me sitting in the bed, I would have thought that he's interviewing me.

Why is he talking about my college so much?

A little bubble of hope bursts inside me as I think if there's any chance he's considering sending me back, because I would honestly grasp at the chance.

"Business Economics." I tell him proudly, because that's my major interest area, and I planned on joining my father's business later but the keyword here is planned.

"From?"

"J. Mack Robinson College of Business," I say but when he frowns, I add, "it falls under the Georgia State University."

"Oh." He almost seems impressed by his expressions but he covers it up too easily.

I stare at his face, observing his sharp features and how his dark blonde hair compliments his looks so much. He arches an eyebrow, catching me looking at him and I immediately avert my eyes away, an embarrassing flush taking over my features.

He stands up to leave but before he can even reach the door, I speak up, "Is there a reason you're asking these question?"

I couldn't help it. I am curious person and when someone asks me such things, I need to know the reason behind them. I already had mistaken my parents' interrogation about my love life as a way of getting to know me better before I was married off to this man.

"Just out of curiosity. Thought I should know such stuff about you." He says, bursting my bubble of hope and I nod. "Goodnight, Mrs. Clark."

"Night." I respond and he stares at me for a second before leaving the room.

After he leaves the room, I pick up my phone from the side table and notice that there are no messages from anyone. Well, the only people who have this contact number are my family now. I switched numbers as soon as I didn't go back to college for my new semester a month before the wedding.

And even then, my contact was limited to my dorm roommate, Ashley who was the only person I could consider confiding in at times, but never did I mention getting married. It didn't make sense, I knew I would be leaving, but in case I do go back — I'll have a lot to explain to her. Especially because we both had the same classes.

Apart from that, I just had acquaintances here and there, mostly Ashley's group of friends.

Sighing, I type a text to my brother whom I miss incredibly. He's my best friend, he's the only person who actually asked me if I genuinely wanted this — because I have always talked about taking over my father's firm. But I just smiled at him and reassured that I was doing this willingly.

"How was school?"

Instead of replying to the text, my phone starts ringing and I notice that Jeremy's trying to FaceTime me so without giving it a second thought, I answer it.

His face comes up on the screen and I can't help the genuine smile that takes over my face after such a long time.

"Hey Jer!" I grin at him.

"Hey Ugly Face." He sticks his tongue out, making me laugh.

"Yeah, who got you the morning coffee today?" I tease, making him roll his eyes.

"School sucks, get me out of there already!" He groans, and I shake my head.

"Just a few months to go buddy." I assure him before asking, "How's Joan?"

The smile on his face is so noticeable that it ends up making me laugh and him narrow his eyes at me, "You need to quit teasing me. It's been years."

"The exact reason why I tease you is because it has been years. Just ask her out already." I say.

"We danced, you know, like together." He sighs happily and I frown.

"Uh, Jer, 'we' danced implies together, but the question is when?"

He scowls at me through the screen, making me wonder what exactly is he thinking in the first place before his face softens, as if a realisation hit him.

"At your wedding. I forgot that you were already off for your honeymoon by that time." He wiggles his eyebrows, "How was it, by the way?"

"Paris was beautiful." I smile a little, because that's the only good thing I want to remember about that vacation — yup, that's what it was. "Back to Joan."

"Yeah, so like we danced. But I don't know, I mean, I like her but I don't want to ruin it. We've been friends since freshman year and I don't want to lose her by bringing up dating, you know?" He says and I nod.

"Of course, Jer. But I don't know, I think she likes you too, call it my gut feeling? And it never hurts to try, right?" I tell him, wondering if it really is such a bad idea to be with someone you like.

I have never had a boyfriend, as pathetic as that sounds. I had friends, I went on a date or two, but nothing turned into something. The idea of dating or even liking someone is too vague to me, it's just something I have seen in movies or read in books.

"Yeah, maybe you're right. I'll see." He says before frowning, "Hey, if you're in bedroom as I can see, where's your husband? Has he been silently listening to us, 'cause James that's creepy."

I stiffen a little at his question, but then relax a little, rolling my eyes. Jeremy is the goofiest person I know, so him saying that about James doesn't come as a surprise to me. In fact, what comes as a surprise is the fact that my husband receives his comments really well rather than getting all broody and angry.

"He isn't here, probably downstairs in the office." I lie to him and he nods.

"It's late, tell him to stop working or he'll grow white hair before any of us. Anyway, I have school tomorrow morning so I am heading to bed." He yawns.

"Okay, tell Mom and Dad I said hi."

He smiles at me, "Miss you, Lil."

"Miss you too, dork. Bye now."

He chuckles before hanging up and I immediately sigh, holding my phone close to my heart as I realise how much I miss my family. Even though I moved out when I enrolled into University, I spent most of the afternoon with my brother back at home, since it was only half an hour drive.

I was in that protected family environment, and suddenly I am put here where I find it so hard to even breathe because I am afraid that one wrong move, and someone will end up shouting in my face.

By someone I mean either Chloe or James. I don't know which one am I more afraid of.

•••

i know the starting is a little slow, but i can't really rush it. let me know what you guys think about it?

vote and comment.