The Chrysalis Project - Chapter 8
“Sienna, come here,” my dad said as he grabbed my hands. I hesitantly followed, I was fifteen years old, and dad hasn’t held my hand in years.
My father hands were warm and significantly bigger than mine, he carried a wide smile as he guided me to the light. I was a smaller kid when I was fifteen and still hadn’t hit my growth spurt yet.
When was the last time I’ve felt like this? I asked myself.
He eventually guided me to my mother who was holding Scarlet, my newborn baby sister. As she saw us approaching, her tiny baby hands and feet stretched as far she could, her bright green eyes filled with curiosity and her reddish hair proved a great reminder of her name.
“Mom and dad love you both, Sienna. No more than Scarlet, but definitely no less,” my mother said and welcomed me with her open arms while Scarlet was now being held by my father.
We were truly a family, we had our happy and sad moments but we were still together. Sadly, the happiness and warmth only lasted for a span of one more year before my parents passed away. It had been six years since and I still wondered if things would have been different if they decided to not go on that business trip.
It certainly would have changed everything, I thought. At least they would still be alive, and we would still be in living in the same house in that small town I once called home. Perhaps I’d have gotten into a more average university since there would have been no need for me to work and study as hard as I did to keep Scarlet and me together and alive. Maybe I would actually have consistent friends and perhaps fall in love with the boy next door.
But that’s just wishful thinking, and now that I look back, it was a miracle that Scarlet and I were both still alive and we’re actually doing fairly decent.
My train of thought and dream had been interrupted by a violent nudge. I open my eyes immediately and turned around to see Hayden Whitehall’s sleepy face looking blanky towards me.
“Had a good dream?” He asked.
“Why even bother asking me if you are just going to ruin it by waking me up,” I yawned, still not completely awake.
“Hate to break it to you, but it’s actually already eleven in the morning,” Hayden explained, “I hope you don’t have class.”
“W-What day is it?” I asked half-sitting and rubbing my eyes.
“Today is Saturday.”
“Then why would I have class?”
“You’re right, you have absolutely no class and you’re a peasant,” Hayden laughed.
Now fully awake, I glared at him for his lame and shitty joke.
“Did you seriously just set me up for that joke?”
“I may or may not have done that.”
I glared at him again, this time half rolling my eyes.
Disappointed at my reaction, Hayden said, “not much of a morning person, are you?”
“I’ll be a morning person when it’s payday,” I said, annoyed.
“Okay then grumpy face, it’s time to get your butt out of bed. We got stuff to do.”
I now fully sat up on the comfy bed and stood next to him.
“Can I at least change and freshen up before we head out? I don’t think you appreciate morning breath and maid outfits,” I said plainly.
“I’m glad you care about what I think,” Hayden smiled, it was almost like he knew what I wanted.
He guided me to the bathroom and instructed that I could shower and freshen up there. There were already new toothbrushes, towels, shampoo, conditioner, and body wash placed on the bathroom countertop. There were two sets of everything, one looked used and the other brand new, some still in its original packaging.
“Did you prepare these?” I asked, turning back to look at him.
“They’re meant for you,” Hayden said with a sense of pride, “I called in the maid this morning and had everything arranged while you were snoring and having a field day in a dream world.”
“Thanks,” I said sarcastically, “I could have just gone downstairs and cleaned up at my own place.”
“Well you were so deeply asleep, plus it’s already late and we have much to do today,” he smirked.
“Can I call my sister at least so she knows I am okay?”
“Yeah, but do that after,” he said.”
“And this,” Hayden handed me a pile of clothes that seemed to be brand new, “is for when you’re finished. I’ll be waiting, so don’t take too long.”
“Joy,” I stated and closed the door behind me, the clothes pile still in my hands. I gently placed them down near a seating area located just beside the showers.
It took me around ten minutes to fully shower and brush my teeth. As I wiped away the moisture on my body with the towel and wrapped it around my naked body, I stepped out of the shower and was ready to get dressed. Quickly looking through the pile of undergarments, I realized most of the price tags were still on each of the items.
“New clothes?” I asked curiously.
I took a peek at the pricing for the grey dress I would be wearing and widened my eyes; the dress was five hundred dollars. I looked at the pair of boots – one thousand dollars.
“What the fuck?!” I screamed, literally almost falling to the ground.
“Hey, you okay in there?” Hayden’s voice echoed from a distance.
I quickly scanned the other tags and did some calculations of the prices of each piece, and made the conclusion that I was going to wear something that was a total of seven thousand dollars.
Seven fucking thousand dollars.
Without hesitation, I sprinted out of the bathroom in my towel and ran towards Hayden, who was sitting on the bed I slept in earlier and on his phone. His expression grew shocked as I approached him, and slightly backed himself into the window behind the bed as I approached.
“Whoa whoa, put some clothes on! Are you still fantasizing about yesterday?”
“Seven thousand dollars? You expect me to wear clothes worth seven fucking thousand dollars?!” I yelled at him, almost out of breath.
“Uh I didn’t even check the price tag before getting them for you?” He justified, looking stunned at my angry stare.
Oh right, he was rich enough to not bother with price tags and costs, I realized.
I slowly backed off, took a deep breath, and announced, “I can’t wear that, it’s way too expensive.”
“Why not? They’re for you, just wear them.”
“It’s too expensive and I can’t afford it, Hayden,” I rolled my eyes, “I’m poor, remember?”
“Well, that’s why I bought it?” He asked rhetorically, “I never asked you to pay me.”
“Okay, you know what?” Hayden continued, “you’re dripping all over the floor, go get changed already and stop complaining.”
He got off the bed and took me back to the bathroom. On our way, he picked up a pair of scissors to cut off all the price tags and pointed that the hair dryer was located in the bathroom cabinets.
“Please dry yourself, and be clothed, please, next time I see you,” he winked as a joke.
Unresponsive to his jokes, I nodded annoyingly and closed the door behind me.
As I dressed up, my mind was filled with confusion and doubts. Why was he treating me with such lavish clothing? Was he being so nice to plan something that can destroy my life later? He did say I would be his plaything from now on, so should I even be trusting of him, since we literally were enemies less than twelve hours prior?
Despite the unanswered questions, I was completely dressed up, I even had time to put some minimal makeup on, but within half an hour, I was ready to head out. I thought that maybe if I go along with the flow, maybe he wouldn’t do anything crazy after all. I slowly opened the bathroom door to see Hayden still on his phone, leaning against a wall close to the bathroom.
He had changed out of his pajamas into something more appropriate for outdoors. A dress shirt inside of a navy cashmere sweater, plaid dress pants, and a dark grey wool trench coat.
He looked up and looked satisfied as I closed the bathroom door. Clearly, he chose this attire for his own personal satisfaction.
“It suits you,” he complimented.
“Thanks…” I mumbled.
“What? You seriously can’t even take a compliment?”
“It’s just weird coming from you, no offense.”
“Well you look good, kind of like you’re actually some bigshot’s daughter,” Hayden observed me from head to toe.
“I guess money does make a difference after all.”
“Of course it does, you’re welcome by the way.”
I rolled my eyes slightly at him and he chuckled, “let’s head downstairs for breakfast.”
“Okay,” I unwillingly agreed and followed him to the elevator. For some reason, all of our tension from last night was gone, despite the shading and insults, I felt somewhat calm now.
Funny how things can change in under twenty-four hours.
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