Grounded
CHAPTER 14

She woke up to the aroma of scotched eggs and green tea; she was lost for a while, looking around her, wondering where she was. She admired the beautiful art collection that lined the walls of the room. They all looked strange, yet unique, one of the artworks fascinated her the most. It was a painting of a naked black woman dancing in red hot flames; she went close to the painting and ran her fingers across it. It felt warm, the woman looked happy, but her heart wondered what it really meant. She looked at the floor, she could see paint stains of various colors on the floor. The room was large and splendidly decorated. She moved vibrantly to the large table that laid in a corner of the room and took the ceramic vase in her hand, admiring it and rubbing the body of the vase for a feel of its texture. She walked to the big mirror that stood just beside the table and admired herself for a while. She noticed that a pimple had appeared on her chin, her cheeks also appeared to be fatter. She lifted her arms to note properly if she had added some weight; she was confused, she didn't think she had gained body weight, but her cheeks appeared puffy. She frowned at the sight of her puffy cheeks but then smiled when she remembered how she had fallen asleep in Cassidy's car. She was still wearing the clothes she had left the house in. She looked around for an exit; she walked to the wooden door she could see and bent its knob, it gave way instantly, revealing a bathroom. She giggled and began to undress.

As she had her bath, she sang loudly using the shower head as her microphone and the bathtub as the performing stage. She impressed herself as she swayed her body while she sang. She came out of the bathroom, soaked and dripping water onto the floor. She shut the door and turned around to see an expressionless Cassidy, fully dressed and looking at her.

"You should learn to knock." She said slowly as she swallowed hard.

"You should learn to close your door; besides, this is my room." He told her confidently, his brows raised.

She smiled as she watched his lips move; "Why are you fully dressed?" she asked smiling.

"Unlike you, I work during the day." He replied, throwing a towel he had just removed from the hanger in the wardrobe at her.

She caught the towel with a light grunt and wrapped it around her body.

"Your house, it's beautiful." She told him as she looked at the chandelier that hung down from the ceiling in the room.

"Not as much as you are; besides, you have only seen this room. You can't say for sure if it is truly beautiful." He replied looking directly into her eyes.

"The paintings on the wall, how did you come about them?" she asked him, excitement written all over her pretty face.

"I painted them myself." He replied with a genuine smile.

"What does this one mean?" she asked pointing to the naked woman dancing happily in red hot flames.

"Is that an inflamed pimple on your chin?" he asked avoiding her question.

"It wasn't there last night." She replied softly.

"How much pain do you feel from it?" he asked again, this time coming close to take a careful look at it.

"Mild pain, nothing serious." She replied walking closer to the painting. "You still haven't said what this means." She reminded him.

"I'm running late Gina; I made breakfast, you should hurry, it's getting cold." He told her sternly.

"Why do you have to go?" she asked sounding like an overgrown baby.

"I have to work that's why. I would be back before you know it. There's a lot of clothes in the wardrobe, only, they are mine. You can have one of them if you want a change of clothing.

Call me if you need to replace anything around the house, that is, if the map on the floor of the sitting room could not help you replace it." He concluded walking out without waiting for her to say anything. She searched the wardrobe hurriedly for something she could put on; she wore a blue shirt and ran out to watch him drive off. He was already gone by the time she got there. She didn't even hear the door shut, let alone the car drive out.

Cassidy's house was a definition of a mansion, there was a garden on the outside, but she hated the idea of getting dirty, so she walked back into the house instead and kept on looking around. There was a false miniature heart hanging down from the ceiling in the sitting room, it scared the life out of her because it was lined with veins and the various chambers and its blood vessels. She could almost swear that she saw blood drip from the heart. She walked away and moved on to the bar that stood at the far-right corner of the sitting room. There were so many drinks at the bar, she wondered why he had to visit Cadbury's Place just for a drink. He was very weird indeed. She mixed various alcoholic liquor in a wine glass and then tasted of it, she cringed as she swallowed, it had an unpleasant taste. She closed her eyes and chose one of the bottles filled with liquor; she poured some of the liquid from the bottle into another wine glass. She tasted of it and it was good. She smiled to herself and began to look among other bottles in the bar for a suitable drink to mix with the one she now had in her wine glass. She heard her stomach rumble and then remembered she had not had breakfast.

She looked around for the dining room but every time she walked around, she came back to the same spot, the bar. She walked towards the center of the sitting room and kept a fixed gaze at the floor of the sitting room and then she saw the map; it was an artwork showing various segments of the house; she became filled with excitement as she saw a direction to the gym on the map. She traced her way carefully and arrived at the dining table. She wanted to eat to her fill before exploring the entire house. She bit into the piece of egg she took in her mouth with delight; she took a deep breath to remind herself that she was not dreaming. She loved this life very much; she deserved this life too, she thought.