HOME AGAIN

Heather’s eyes shot open, the hazy orbs glancing warily around the room she resided in. It was unfamiliar, a place she did not know or had ever been before. There was a distinct pain hammering in her head and a sense of weakness drifting throughout her body. She felt cold, a chill that the warm sunlight that leaked through the curtains could not eradicate.

She eased off the pillow she’d been lying on, bracing against her arms to get a better look at her surroundings. It seemed she was in a hotel room. That should have been alarming, but the clothes scattered on the floor were even more alarming considering the fact that they belonged to her. The black and white maid’s uniform her step-sister had given her to wear.

Heather’s hand trembled as she lifted the white sheets, peering beneath them to confirm just how bare she was; nothing, not even panties or a bra. What did she do last night? What exactly happened?

Before she finished the thought, a door in the room opened and a man walked out, fixing the gray tie around his neck. He was wearing a black suit tailored perfectly to his body. He looked like a giant as his elegant frame strode out of the bathroom.

it had been five years since that incident, and only recently had Heather started to feel her life getting back on track.

"Lola? Liam? I’m back." A voice came from the front door of a condo in Manhattan. The woman who called out was the owner of the place.

“Liam, wait! There’s soap all over your body. You’ll fall!” another voice came from one of the rooms. It was the nanny cautioning young Liam.

“Mommy!” his voice cascaded over the nanny’s as he sprinted butt-naked to meet his mom at the door. Just as Lola had predicted, he slipped and went splatting on the ground. His mother’s smile paused as she reached out to pick him up.

But the little boy rose on his own. His chubby hands rubbed against his body as if he was dusting himself off. The gesture made his mother chuckle. And then, as if nothing had happened, he returned to running towards his mom.

“Mommy!” he shouted, smiling as he hugged her legs with all his might.

Her eyes swelled up. She was wearing stilettos, so he could only reach up to her hips. It was such an adorable sight.

“Miss heather, welcome back. I’m sorry I was just washing him… But… sorry” Lola tried to explain but failed to find the words.

“No need to apologize, Lola. Liam goes feral once he hears my voice. Isn’t that right, lily Liam?” she jested, picking him off the ground in her arms.

“Mommy, don’t call me lily.” He sulked, pouting his lips and turning his head away.

“Why can’t mommy call you lily?” Heather asked about the little fluff ball in her arms.

“Because it’s a girl's pet name. I’m a big boy now” he argued.

Heather looked at Lola and the two burst out laughing. This child really was something.

“OK, big boy Liam. Since you are so grown, why are you running around naked? And with soap all over your body. Are you OK? Not hurt?”

“Nope. I’m not hurt, and I got up on my own, so I’m a big boy now.” He said, drawing yet another giggle from his mom.

“So now that you are big you don’t want to be mommy’s lily anymore?” Heather put on an exaggeratedly sad face. She sobbed under the pretense of wiping a tear from her eyes in order to sell the sob story.

“No, mommy don’t cry.” he said “I’ll be your lily.” He wrapped his arms around her neck.

“There’s my good boy.” She hugged him back. “Now why don’t you go with Lola and finish taking your shower? We are going out for lunch with Aunty Judy. Don’t you miss her?”

“Aunty Judy? Yea!”

“Great. Lola? Please finish up and get dressed too. Let’s eat together, OK? I have to go back to work soon, so please hurry up.”

“You want me to come too? I thought it was a family thing.”

“Of course Lola. You know Judy, you should catch up. I heard you two got along quite well when she last visited us in Sicily. Besides, you are family too.” Heather smiled at Lola’s silliness.

“Umm, ok. I’ll go get ready. We’ll be out soon. Thanks.” Lola said gratefully and took Liam to the bathroom once more. Her cheeks blushed as she thought about her experiences with Judy during the last visit. Lola quickly put those thoughts aside and got back to work with the little rug rat, Liam.

With the two gone, Heather made her way to her room. She needed to get changed into something befitting of a brunch, but she had a meeting with Gosling textiles right after brunch, so she decided to dress up formally.

From her room she could hear Liam running around and laughing naughtily with Lola. A soft smile laced her plump pink lips whenever she thought about her boy.

He made her so happy, so fulfilled. Even though she had spent almost all morning running errands, she was somehow still energetic. Liam was her reason to keep living.

Never once had she regretted keeping him back then. She dreaded the memory of wanting to leave him at an orphanage. A feeling of guilt would always come over her when those memories crossed her mind, because Liam was her light, love and peace.

But back then she wasn’t in a good place financially or emotionally. She was genuinely thinking about him.

She was only 21 that year. Her mother was in the ICU battling for her life. She didn’t mean to have a child with a stranger and lose everything.

five years ago

“Dad please. I’ll do anything please save mom.” Heather begged, crawling to her father.

Her stepmother sat leisurely on the couch and sneered at her desperate attempts. God knew that woman hated her to hell and back.

“Heather I told you when you came into this house 4 years ago, you have to cut off all contact with that leech of a woman. You claimed you had obeyed me all along, but clearly that was a lie. How dare you come to intercede on her behalf?” Mr. Linton scolded angrily.

“Dad, I’m sorry. I’m begging you just this once, just this one time, save mom. Please talk to the doctors and have them move her to a bigger hospital, so she can get treated.” She wailed painfully, holding his leg as if clinging on to the last straw.

“Honey, let’s go. Listening to such meaningless trash could affect your blood pressure.” Mrs. Linton said as she stood up, taking her husband’s hand and leading him out of the living room. The heavens be damned if she let his heart be softened by Heather’s endless sobbing and actually helped her mother live.

With his wife’s persuasion, he kicked the girl off his feet and left. Heather sat on the floor curled up as she watched her father’s figure disappear, her vision blurred by the tears she had shed.

She got a call once more from the hospital and rushed over. Her mother’s condition had worsened and required immediate surgery. But they were not qualified enough to operate, and she had no money to move her to a bigger hospital.

She slumped onto a bench outside the hospital with no idea who to call or what to do. A call came in. Looking at the screen she saw it was Helena, her stepsister. While her stepmother had subtly shown her dislike for her, she never experienced any hostility from her step-sister.

Helena was 2 years older than her. She had a calm temper and was always sweet and kind. Heather picked up the phone.

“Hey, what did the hospital say?” Helena asked, very concerned.

“Lena, I think my mom’s going to die.” Heather sobbed.

“No, heather don say that. Have faith.” She comforted him.

Heather felt her heart warm up a little. At least there was someone in the world who could comfort her.

“Look, Heather. There is this gig I found. It’s at Eco hotel tonight. The pay is unbelievable. One night is enough to pay for your mom’s hospital expenses.”

“Really? What is it?” Heather asked. Could there really be such a job in the world that would permit one to make so much money in so little time?

“Heather, stop asking questions. Just head to Eco hotel. It’s like an hour away from you, and it’s almost 7. You need to hurry. I’ll meet you there and explain everything.” Helena said. Her voice carried a sense of urgency.

“Oh ok. I’ll go now.” She replied.

About an hour later, she arrived at the entrance to the hotel. Helena was waiting for her just as she had promised. She led her into a small room where she was supposed to get change.

“Sit here. We are a bit early, so you can rest. I’ll go get you some food. You look worn. You will need strength for this,” Helena said in a hushed voice. “Here, wear this already.” she said, handing her a maid's uniform.

It was settled. Whatever doubts she had in her heart about this job had been completely wiped out. Turns out it was nothing but a waiting gig. Helena told her that they would both work at the event to double the income.

She was given some food and a drink after she changed. That’s all she remembered from that night.

When she woke up the next morning, there was a man in bed with her. She had no recollection of last night’s events. He slowly woke up and looked at her. Looking down at the sheets, his expression was that of disgust. She tried to wince out some words, but she was still a bit dazed and sounded incoherent.

“Last night, it was you who stumbled in here while I was drunk. Seeing how you don’t remember much of it, I would suppose you were drunk too. So, it’s no one’s fault. But I should take responsibility as I’m older. Here.” The man said once he was done getting dressed. "If a single word about this is heard outside this room, I, Killian, will kill you myself." He threw a stack of cash onto her body. And walked out without another word.

At one point she heard her phone ring. Her father was on the line ordering her to go home. She took the money. She didn’t remember much about last night but she needed money for her mother and nothing else mattered.

When she got home, she was received with a hot slap on her face. “Is this what I get? You are nothing but a w*****g tramp no different from her mother!” he yelled as he threw pictures of her from last night in her face.

She was dressed in a very revealing red dress, nothing like the maid's outfit she had been given. The pictures showed her in a very compromising position. She looked up at her sister whose expression was that of surprise. “That wasn’t me. Helena tell dad. Last night we were working together, right? I don’t remember anything. Please tell dad what happened.” She cried out.

“Heather, sister. What are you talking about? I was with mom yesterday at a lady’s gathering. I never left her side all evening. We couldn’t have met up out of town last night”, Helena answered, much to Heather’s surprise. An invisible smirk crept up her lips. One look in her eyes and Heather could tell that she had been played.

Her beloved sister was worse than her evil stepmother. The scolding continued, something about her getting disowned. She couldn’t hear anything.

Through the hazy noises, she saw her phone flash. She picked it up and immediately, the phone fell out of her hand. She sprinted out of the house to the hospital.

Entering the ward, she saw them moving her mother’s body, covered with a thin white cloth. She opened the cloth slowly and then slumped down. The nurses held her down while the morticians took her mother’s body with them.

Judy, her friend from school, showed up to the hospital to see her. The two of them held a small funeral for her mother. That was when she made the decision to leave the city.

With the money she got from the man, she was able to move to Italy. The plan was to go to a fashion school following her dream and work part-time to support herself. But shortly after arriving in Venice, she found out she was pregnant.

Everything that had happened up until now had led to this blissful moment when she saw her cute son all dressed up with Lola. It was all worth it.

“Alright, just let me get my phone and we can go, OK?” Heather said as she went back into the room to get her purse.

In the process of picking it off the table, it slipped. All the items in it fell to the floor. “s**t!” she cursed under her breath.

She crouched down to pick the things up. Then she stumbled upon the card from the CEO of meteor textiles. She had not looked at it since it was given to her. But this time she noticed the name on it. Killian

“If a single word about this is heard outside this room, I, Killian, will kill you myself.” Her heart twisted and formed knots as memories from that night flashed through her mind. The stern warning she received from the man she had never met before, words that had been left five years behind were suddenly there, and they terrified her.

“Mommy….”