Unannounced Visit
"Good, I have a plan, but I need your commitment. We will use everything to take back what belongs to us?" Mrs Haward said, and James nodded.
Mirenda had music plugged in her ears, so she didn't follow what her mother and brother talked about.
"Mirenda!" Mrs Haward yelled, causing Mirenda to jump in her seat. "Are you with us?" she questioned.
Mirenda looked at the four eyes looking at her and she nodded a 'yes'.
"Good," acknowledged Mrs Haward.
Southwest Ranches City, Jason's apartment, Julia and Tilly sat on the bed chatting in Julia's room. It was past 9 p.m.
"Having something to distract you is a good idea," agreed Tilly.
"I am thinking of going back to driving the school bus," said Julia.
"Why do you want to do that when you have an opportunity to have your dream job," Tilly said, pointing in the direction of Jason's room.
"Wait, you mean I should ask him for a job?" Julia asked with an eyebrow raised.
"Yeah. He is rich and powerful; he can use some of his contacts to get you into any company that needs an architect," Tilly pointed out.
"I don't know, he seems very hostile to me. He may push me or turn me down, and his family, I don't think they like me," Julia shared.
"News flash, girlfriend, his family are not here. Just try your luck. Who knows, it might go through. He made the guard bring me here to take care of you. To me, this means he cares or there is something important about you," replied Tilly, and she picked up a pillow and placed it on her lap, resting her elbow on it.
"Really, he did that?" Julia asked, surprised.
"Yeah, so now is your chance. Let's go to bed and tomorrow you can ask him. You don't have to go back and drive some nonsensical school bus. How much do they pay you for that job anyway," Tilly said as she got out of bed.
"You go to bed. Remember, tell him you want a job and ask him if he can help you get one," Tilly suggested, and proceeded to the door.
"Take a pillow with you when you go talk to him about your request," Tilly said, almost about to open the door.
"Why? What for?" Julia asked with a frown, still sitting on the bed.
"Just in case he pushes you away again, you have a soft pillow to land on," Tilly teased.
Julia threw a pillow at Tilly, but she exited the room and the pillow ended up hitting the closed door.
Even though Julia had not completely healed from the pain of losing her mother, she knew she needed to get back on her feet and make her mother proud even though she was in heaven now. She knew what her mother always wanted for her, and she was going to do that. Alas, she can also get her freedom from this strange man. Julia laid her head on the pillow and drifted off to sleep.
The very next day, Julia, for the first time, stepped out of her room without anyone compelling her to. For the first time, she became aware of her environment. The walls, the floor, the lights, it was all beautiful and very expensive. At one point, she started questioning herself, if her feet were even worthy to be walking on such floors. The environment was sparkling clean.
"Ha - - - - le - - - lu - - - jah! Ha - - - - le - - - lu - - - jah!" sang Tilly in her A# voice, causing Julia to jump.
The servant who was carrying some plates to the dining area downstairs ended up breaking two of them when Tilly's voice travelled to him all of a sudden.
"What! You almost gave me a heart attack," complained Julia.
"Well, it is hallelujah praise be to God. You are coming out of your room by yourself," Tilly said, with a smile.
"Yeah, very funny," replied Julia, rolling her eyes.
"I guess you will have breakfast in the dining area today?" Tilly suggested, and Julia just shrugged her shoulders.
"Good that way, you can put your request across," Tilly suggested, and pulled Julia, who had already taken her bath and was dressed towards the stairs.
"You think it is a good idea to have such a conversation at the breakfast table?" Julia questioned, unsure if it was a good idea, as she was scared of Jason.
"Well, if you want something from a devil like that, it's best to ask when he is in a good mood and trust me, you can't eat if you are in a bad mood. So, the best time to ask away is the breakfast table," Tilly encouraged Julia and walked her down the stairs into the living room.
Julia's eyes widened as she scanned the living room. A perfect living room set up in white and gray colours and a touch of gold. It was almost like you would need permission to sit on the sofa. They walked past the living room to the dining area and sat behind the table.
"Hi, how are you," Tilly said to the servant who had just walked in with some sandwiches.
"I am fine. How are you?" replied the servant.
"Great. Is Mr Haward joining us?" Tilly inquired as Julia looked on.
"No, ma'am, he left early for work," the servant replied, and left the dining area when Tilly didn't have any more questions.
"Tacos!" screamed Tilly when her eyes fell on the plate of Tacos sitting on the table.
Julia slowly served herself some cereal and remained silent as Tilly kept on talking. They moved to the balcony after breakfast and Tilly continued talking. Julia contributed less and less to the conversation, but it didn't stop Tilly from talking.
"Where is Jason," came a female voice from inside the house and Julia's gaze moved towards the door.
The voice was followed by the clicking of heels.
"Does he go to work even on Sundays?" came the female voice and Tilly got up to find out who it was.
She slid the dining room door open and entered the living room, coming face to face with a sophisticated elderly woman.
"Since when did Jason allow his servants to sit in his dining room?" Mrs Haward asked the servant standing next to her in the living room.
"They are Mr Haward's guest ma'am," the servant replied.
"Shut up, I didn't ask you to answer. Now get out," Mrs Haward ordered angrily as Tilly watched her in silence.
"You?" Mrs Hawarad said, looking at Tilly. "Who are you?" she asked, making a disgusting face.
"I am Matilda Hayford, a friend of Julia," Tilly replied, unfazed.
"Oh, so you are the friend of that flea. What are you, a housefly?" questioned Mrs Haward and, without waiting for her to answer, she shifted her gaze towards the kitchen.
"Get me the fumigators. We have a pest infection in this house," Mrs Haward yelled.
"Let's go, Julia," Tilly said, staring at the woman sternly.
Julia held Tilly's hand and they both walked towards the stairs.
"Where are you going in that direction?" Mrs Haward questioned, making them stop in their tracks.
"Out the door," Mrs Haward said and asked the guard she had come with to push Julia and Tilly out the front door.
Mrs Haward asked one of the servants to quickly clean up the place before sitting down to wait for Jason while sipping on a glass of wine and watching a TV series.
Tilly and Julia were standing in front of the elevator looking at the front door. None of them came from Florida and hence did not know where to go. They both sat down on the staircase which was towards the left of the front door. The elevator door rang, causing Tilly and Julia to stand up to their feet. Jason frowned, seeing Julia and Tilly outside, but was happier to see Julia out too.
"What are you doing here?" Jason asked and Tilly was about to answer, but Julia was fast to reply.
"Fresh air. We came out for fresh air," Julia replied, and Jason frowned, making Julia take two steps up the staircase behind her.
"It's 6 p.m.," Jason pointed out, and not enough air here.
"Yeah, and we were chatting," Julia added, and Jason could read from the expression on Tilly's face something wasn't right.
"It's cold, get inside," Jason ordered, and Tilly walked towards the front door, pulling Julia with her.
Tilly opened the front door and met the gaze of Mrs Haward as she entered.
"What do you want?" questioned Mrs Haward, seeing Tilly and Julia entering the living room.
Mrs Haward was about to say something when she saw Jason entering the living room right after Tilly and Julia.
"Jason, you are back," Mrs Haward said, with a smile.
"Good evening Mum. This was an unannounced visit. You didn't say anything about visiting when I called yesterday?" Jason said.
"Mum? Is that his mum?" Tilly thought, but Julia pulled her towards the staircase, and they left the two in the living room.
"Mum, did you send my guests out of my house?" Jason asked, emphasizing 'my house' to say she didn't have the right to.
Mrs Haward opened and closed her mouth but no words came out as she stood staring at Jason's face.