Despite the drama, trauma and exhaustion of earlier, or maybe because of it, Ophelia woke from her slumber feeling strangely revitalized. It was a fleeting feeling, she knew that from past experience, but for a few delicious seconds after her eyes opened Opi just felt like a normal woman. It was strange and wonderful and broke her heart a little because she knew it simply would not last. Normally that inevitable plummet would bring her mood back down to a less naïve ebullience but today it lingered.
She walked out to see Grace asleep on the couch, legs and arms twisted in a rag doll sprawl and drool slobbering out the side of her mouth and the soft sounds of her snores wheezing in the apartment. And Ophelia allowed herself the chance to smile at her niece. Not the bare lipped shift that the world saw, but the real, affection filled smile that was the rarest of treasures. It wasn't all that much later, but Ophelia had figured that Grace would still be here when she awoke. It bothered Ophelia that her family was assigning her caretakers like this despite her demanded for some semblance of independence, and yet she was glad to not be alone in the apartment. The disparity was not lost on her.
Ophelia let Grace slumber in awkward repose on the couch and made her way to the table and the portfolio left upon it. Like she suspected, Grace had remained entirely unaware of it, the album was exactly where and how she had left it. Nathaniel had asked her not to look at it until later and Ophelia was just curious enough to know that it WAS later. She moved around her own kitchen like a whisper of memory and started the coffee machine. There was actually a little anxiety in her gut about looking at something that left Nathaniel Spade Vega feeling so exposed and vulnerable. He was the epitome of confident and had the natural arrogance of a young man who knew how devilishly attractive he was. And yet she had seen that look in his eyes when he put himself down. His swagger and bravado was all a shame and Ophelia was wondering just when he had started to lie to everyone in his life, with everything he did.
Maybe that portfolio would hold the secrets to Nathaniel's mystery. The secret of his inner shame and outer shine. It would satisfy something for Ophelia to be the one to figure it out. She had always prided herself on her ability to observe the world and make astute deductions about what she witnessed. But even as she finally approached the secret keeper, the coffee machine chirped out it's completion and woke Grace up with an undignified snort. Ophelia actually sighed a little and moved the album to a more discreet location, to be discovered later without an audience and instead she pulled out a second coffee cup for her niece.
Grace shuffled over from the couch and slid into a chair while Ophelia placed the steaming hot coffee in front of her. Living alone had taught Ophelia not only to appreciate the appeal of a hot coffee of excellent quality, but to also cherish the little things that added to the experience. Like good, rich cream and honest to God croissants with whipped butter. Before she had fallen so sick and lost so much weight, Ophelia's eating habits had caused much envy from the other James women because she'd never had a problem eating what she wanted without gaining weight. Now though, she knew how gaunt she was and it astonished her to be able to dig into the croissants and coffee without the persistent nausea she'd lived with for the longest time.
"Feeling better Auntie O?" Grace asked as she slurped coffee and burned her mouth on the heat.
Ophelia hesitated for a moment because she honestly actually did feel better. For anyone else that would be the cause for celebration not anxiety, but Ophelia had been warned that the days she felt great might actually be a sign that she is about to fall even more ill. But she didn't want to think on that right now, she actually wanted to pretend for a moment to not be holding hands with death.
"Yes, my nap helped. Did yours?" she asked in return, starting in on her second croissant. This one was spread with jam instead of butter and despite it's flakiness, she managed to eat cleanly.
BINABASA MO ANG
Aces Wild (House of Cards Series 4)
Teen Fiction(Sequel to Queen of Spades/King of Hearts stories) Nathaniel Vega grew up in a less than conventional family. His mother and father had once been student and teacher, his best friend was also his adoptive sister and his family seemed to include peop...
