~ Past separated them, now pain will bring them together.~
A teenager Sofia Hayden, experiencing her falling apart family isolated herself slowly from everything that she held dear, especially from her best friend Max Wilder who had just realized hi...
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Days passed by in absolutely the same way, so much, that Sofia could not differentiate one day from another. The only change, however, was Max's myriad abilities to tiptoe around her, dodging her queries, confusing her confusions, numbing her ever present suspicions—but all of it only when he was present before her in person. The moment he would walk away was the moment the set of logic in her mind would solidify again.
It was a tiring game—the push and pull of her thoughts. And so, by the seventh day, she became restless enough to storm out the room with as much speed her injured foot allowed her to use. She travelled down the corridor and halted at the end of the staircase, looking down again at the flight of stairs beneath her.
She repositioned herself so that she was now standing with her side facing the stairs, holding the banister tight with one hand. Sucking in a long breath she lowered her crutch to the next step, she released her breath when she put her good foot beside the crutch, then her injured foot's toes next with as less pressure on her ankle as possible. She slowly began climbing down the stairs this way.
It's been a week now and she should be able to do this, she thought firmly.
Climbing down the stairs was an absolute hassle no matter how much her confidence and excitement was. Sofia felt like a mountain goat doing the task sideways so that she wouldn't have to reach the ground floor face first and then gain another crutch on the other hand.
Debbie threw up her arms to cover her mouth in shock, when Sofia nonchalantly entered the kitchen.
Leaning against the counter Sofia took a moment to catch her breath, then lifted her crutch and pointed at Debbie with it, her face damn serious as she spoke, "Not a word to Max."
With the help of Debbie again, Sofia then began her own version of meditation in the well equipped kitchen. Cooking.
Just like Dr. Bethany had said at one point of the session, "Meditation is not particularly sitting in lotus pose, it's more doing something that one enjoys the most." That was one of her blockbuster lines. Sofia was soon becoming quite fond of the wise doc, much like she was of her grampa.
So, for the next hour and a half more, Sofia sat on a bar stool before the stoves and relished on doing what she could do the best.
The sound of knife on the chopping board and spatula in the pan; the feeling of heat and sweat; the nice smell of herbs and spices and at last a well prepared meal brought a grin so wide on her face that even Debbie beamed at the sight of her employer's wife.
Bean, the security guard, was summoned inside the house along with all other staff of the household whose names Sofia just got to know. Debbie was flabbergasted when Sofia told them all to enjoy dinner while she took a quick shower. While leaving for upstairs Sofia had a feeling that she had just unexpectedly moved all of Max's staff to her side, the look all those people gave her was of sheer loyalty. Or maybe she had just imagined that.
