Song: Akwaboah - I Do Love You (This song gives me chills) Quick reminder, victim blaming is not cool yeah? My characters may do it but don't. They will learn.

*Unedited* (This is a pretty happy chapter 😊)

"Barbie, why did you slap me?" I asked bewilderedly, clutching my sore cheek.

"I've told you not to call me Barbie, and what do you mean why did I slap you? What were you doing?"

I shoved the apple close to her face. "Eating an apple!"

"Oh please," she rolled her eyes. "I saw you. The apple was long forgotten."

I glared at her.

"Elorm," she sighed. "I know what it feels like to be depressed, believe me -"

"Depressed? Me? I'm not depressed."

"Even if you aren't, you must be dealing with some negative emotion that you don't know how to deal with." She picked up the knife. "This is not the way."

"I don't know what you're talking about. I'm fine." I turned away from her so that she couldn't see my face. I feared she'd be able to see the lie in my eyes, or the way my lips quivered when I thought about him.

"Your boyfriend left, didn't he? And now you're all alone and you're scared."

"He didn't leave. He wouldn't. His father took him away. Forcefully."

"Oh Elorm," she came forward and took my hands. "I'm so sorry."

I took my hands away from her and turned away again. I didn't want anyone looking at me. "I should go."

"Do you want to stay the night with me?" She asked.

I always wondered why this girl was so nice to me. I'm rude, closed off and unsympathetic. She deserves a better friend. "Even if I wanted to, I don't know if Kofi will allow that."

"Right. The boss..."

"Ask whatever it is you want to ask," I said dryly, recognising that inquisitive tone.

"Your relationship confuses me. I thought you guys were together, but the rumours are such that you have a boyfriend. I had the pleasure of talking to him once. Of course, then I wondered what exactly your relationship with the boss is. Is he forcing himself on you or what?"

I smiled. "Curiosity killed the cat."

She sounded bored or possibly exasperated with me. "Of course, I can't believe that I expected you to tell me."

I laughed. "Yeah, he likes me. He's trying to force himself on me but I'm not having it. He's happy that my boyfriend is gone now but between you and me, he doesn't stand a chance."

"Wow, really? Who would've ever thought a day would come when the boss gets interested in a girl?"

I hoped she would spread these lies and have everyone thinking that Kofi had unrequited feelings for me. It was my own little revenge. "Unfortunately for him, pimp is not my type."

"Sad," she commented. "I guess I'll see you later, yeah?"

"I'll come and visit you when I have the chance."

When I turned to her, she rolled her eyes. "Queen of promising and failing."

I laughed and made my way out of the kitchen, apple in hand. Forgetting about cutting it like a lady, I bit deeply into it. The crunch that followed was surprisingly satisfying.

I didn't want to go to Kofi's room. I wanted to stay in Michael's, but Kofi had warned me that that was on the male prostitutes' side of the mansion, meaning that any of them could come in. I still wanted to be there though.

Being near Kofi sounded like the worst thing ever at the moment, and I could just lock the door. There was no need to be afraid of that room. I made a detour and climbed the staircase on the right, which led to the men's side and Michael's room.

When I got there, I stopped in front of the door for a second, scared that it'd be locked. Taking a deep breath to ready myself for any disappointments, I clutched the handle and pushed the door open.

Thankfully, it was unlocked. I closed the door and locked it immediately. He didn't have the chance to do anything to his room. It was exactly how he left it. The sheets were still rumpled from when we lay down on the bed and he asked, no, forced me to be his girlfriend.

The memory brought a smile to my face, but it quickly mutated into a grimace. I went over to the wardrobe and pulled the doors open. His clothes, his smell, they lingered all over the place. Etornam's clothes were on the left while his were mainly on the right.

I grabbed all her clothes together making sure to remove the hook of the coat hangers that helped them stay on the horizontal wooden rod and threw them on the floor. I quickly changed my mind and picked them up, opened the window and threw them out.

I spread Michael's clothes along the rod. The sight and smell of them reminded me of him, inevitably making my eyes pool with tears. I took in a deep breath to calm myself so that I wouldn't cry. It was all I'd been doing these past few days.

I grabbed a shirt belonging to him and pressed it against myself. His smell was overpowering me, calming me, giving me the illusion that he was still here and that he could protect me. I removed my own clothes and put his shirt on. It smelt good and it helped calmed me.

Always.

I went to bed with a smile on my face, remembering that Michael was a man of his word.

The next morning came more quickly than I expected; or I only thought so because I was so deep in peaceful sleep. It was the best sleep I'd had since I came to this mansion.

I was hungry, and all that I had to eat were the remnants of my apple from last night.

I yawned, then I was horrified by my breath so I proceeded to brush my teeth and take a shower. I used Michael's soaps, shampoos, body cream, mints, deodorants, and I wore another of his shirts and a pair of his boxers. I smelt like him.

I bit into the apple again, finishing it this time. I wanted to stay in Michael's world, detach myself from reality a little bit, that meant staying in his room. I drifted off to sleep again. I didn't dream about him.

This time, I dreamt that I was in a dark void, sitting there in a long black dress. Nothing particularly horrifying happened. I just cried and cried till I was sitting in a pool of my own tears. It felt too real.

I was startled awake by my dream and the incessant pounding on my door. I rolled my eyes. It'd taken him long. "Go away."

"I have the key. I'm just being a decent human being by giving you the chance to open it yourself."

I ignored him and curled into a ball on the bed, willing myself to go back to bed.

I heard him sigh and walk away. I clutched onto my pillow, knowing that I was going to be forced back into reality in no time.

He came back and quickly unlocked the door. I squeezed my eyes shut.

"I know you're awake."

I ignored him.

"I also know that you're heartbroken or some nonsense like that, but that doesn't give you the go ahead to disobey me. I told you that you can't sleep in this room."

"Why not?" I shot up. "Why can't I?"

"The male pros-"

"And so what? I'm a prostitute, I live for sex. What's your problem if I'm sleeping with someone else?"

He just shook his head and sighed, clearly tired of my antics. "I'm going to get Wolfgang for you, since you're both buddy-buddy now."

He left and returned shortly with Wolfgang who looked dazed, like he'd been shaken from bed and was still not fully awake yet. "E-Elorm," he spoke like he was high on sleep.

I smiled because he looked funny. "Go back to bed, Rhys."

"R-Rhys? Who's that?"

I wondered if he was just sleepy or drunk as well. "Did you force him awake?" I asked Kofi.

He glared at me. "He's slept enough. I need him to convince you to get out of here."

"And do what? Do you have anything for me?"

Kofi rolled his eyes. "This is where you come in brother."

"Y-yes," Wolfgang nodded. At least, he tried to nod. I think halfway through the nod, he forgot what he was doing, so instead of his head coming back up, it kept going down, down, down, until Kofi hit the back of his head.

He stumbled forward and his eyes flew open. He looked around, befuddled, like he didn't know where he was. When he realised where he was, he frowned like he didn't know what he was doing here.

I laughed. "Take your brother back to bed. Whatever you need me for can wait."

"No, it can't. Wolfgang!" Kofi grabbed him by the shoulders, steadying him. "You have to wake up. Honestly, there's no way you can get an honest nine to five job. You sleep too much."

"Good thing I don't want an honest nine to five job." He said, shrugging his brother off. He was more awake now, but he still looked like he'd like to go back to bed immediately and wake up the week after.

"What's all this about?" I asked him.

"We're taking you out for ice cream!" He said. "Ice cream is the best break-up food."

"This was all my idea," Kofi chipped in.

Before anything, I glared at him and said, "Liar."

"I'm surprised you thought she'd believe you." Wolfgang added.

Kofi rolled his eyes and leaned his back on the door like the grumpy human he was.

"Thank you, Rhys, for your thoughtfulness, but I'd rather just sleep."

Kofi glared at me when I emphasised Wolfgang's name and he looked even angrier when I declined Wolfgang's offer. "You don't have a choice. I don't want any depressed employees."

"Kofi, we already talked about this," Wolfgang turned and glared at his brother.

Kofi sighed. "We just want what's best for you and we think this outing will do well to raise your spirits." His tone was so forced and artificial that I frowned at him.

"Rhys put you up to this?"

"Is it so hard to believe that I can be a decent human being sometimes?" Kofi asked me with a brow receding into his hairline.

"Yes." Wolfgang and I replied simultaneously. Wolfgang laughed but I remained scowling at his brother.

"Good," Kofi nodded, obviously so pleased with himself.

Wolfgang rolled his eyes. He came up to me and sat on the edge of my bed. "What do you say, princess?"

I shook my head. "I'd rather sleep, but it's the thought that counts. Thank you."

Before Wolfgang could even deign to reply, Kofi banged his fist against the wall, biting down on his lower lip. "What part of 'you don't have a choice' don't you get?"

"You can't force me to have fun. Are you crazy?"

"Kofi—"

"No, brother. I have had it with this spoiled bitch thinking that she can do anything she likes like it's her life."

I have to admit that I cracked a smile. He really didn't realise how foolish he sounded, did he?

"But it is he—"

"No, it's not. Shut up. Now go and change into something nice. I'm waiting for both of you in the car."

* * *

To be honest, if it wasn't for Wolfgang I probably wouldn't have gone. He ended up convincing me and I decided that I wanted some fresh air. Ice cream sounded nice too. The only downside was that Kofi was coming along too.

Apparently, he didn't trust Wolfgang with me yet. He probably thought Wolfgang would let me escape or something like that.

When we got into the car, Kofi fixated an irritated stare on me. "That's what you're wearing?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, do you want me to wear those straps of fabric to an ice cream parlour where kids will be probably be present?"

Wolfgang groaned. "Kofi, really, why didn't you get her something casual to wear? Do you expect her to go around look like... that all the time?"

"Since no one appreciates my thoughtful gesture, I will collect all my clothes back. She can get whatever clothes she wants herself."

"Good," I replied.

"You must have a lot of cash to go clothing shopping, right?" Kofi said smugly.

I guess now that I wasn't going to be working, I wasn't going to be receiving a salary. This meant no money to send to my family and no money for me myself. "Kofi, I didn't get my cut from the night I spent with Michael."

Kofi glared at me again through that small mirror drivers use. "You don't get paid every night."

"Yo-"

"Shut up and let me finish. You would normally be paid after five working nights but since that was your first and last, your paycheque will be ready by tomorrow."

"Don't I need to go to a bank to cash that?"

"I really don't care."

I gritted my teeth. "But I'm not allowed to step out of the mansion."

"Bummer."

I noisily sucked in a breath through gritted teeth and let it out, just to let him know how much he frustrates me. "You must be the most infuriating person I've ever met in my life."

"I'll take you to the bank to cash your cheque, okay?" Wolfgang said.

"You're staying?"

"I am," he confirmed.

"So many years, I tried convincing either of you to stay at the mansion with me, but both of you refused. Some girl comes out of nowhere and you decide - without any persuasion whatsoever - to stay for her. Some brother you are."

Wolfgang didn't say anything. I saw intense guilt cross his features, then he looked down at his palms.

It's safe to say there was a lull in conversation after that. The tension was so thick that I felt like I could cut through it with a knife. If only I had a tension cutting knife.

When we were getting close to the mall, the traffic became thicker. There was a line at the entrance. It was a bit tolerable since it was moving at a reasonable pace.

"What is it? Why is there a line?" Wolfgang asked exasperatedly.

"Christmas is coming soon, remember?"

"Oh, right. We're a bit behind on decorations."

"Decorations? You're believers?" I was shocked, to say the least.

"Yes." Kofi replied.

"You know you're going to hell, right?"

Kofi smiled. "I like to believe that just as I'm about to die, I'll repent from all my sins."

I scoffed. "With that mindset, you're definitely hell bound."

"You're one to talk," Wolfgang told me.

I couldn't find a comeback for that one. He was right. I had so much hate in my heart right now. I mean, I know we're allowed to get angry and stay angry for a while, but we're encouraged to forgive because forgiveness helps us heal and move forward.

But I wanted to be angry. At Etornam, Chief Amegah, Mr. Nutsugah, - also known as my 'father' - Kofi and perhaps, at the whole world. I couldn't imagine forgiving anyone right now and moving on.

"Wolfgang, since you have a great knowledge about 'the good things in life' like you so often like to say, why don't you do the shopping for the decorations?"

"Alone? It's a big mansion." He whined.

"The bitch will go with you."

"I didn't think you'd want to do decoration shopping. But who's going to go with me for ice cream then?" I asked innocently.

He glared at me through that window again. "You're the only b—"

"Elorm and I will do the shopping. You go and get us ice cream, okay?" Wolfgang cut in before he could insult me again.

"How am I supposed to know what you like?" Kofi asked.

Wolfgang chuckled. "Stop pretending like you don't know."

"Well, someone has to be a good brother."

Wolfgang's smile fell. "Um... what would you like, Elorm?"

"Me? I-"

"I don't care." Kofi cut in before I could finish.

"Kofi, the whole point of this is to get her over her forced break up. You have to care about what she wants."

"I'll buy her what I want to buy her."

"Why d-"

"Hey," I cut Wolfgang off by touching his arm. "I doubt there's a flavour of ice cream that I don't like. Let it go."

Wolfgang looked at me and smiled. "It's good to know some of us are adults."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Kofi asked.

We both ignored him with smug smiles on our faces. Once Kofi found a good parking spot for the car, Wolfgang and I went in the direction of the stores while Kofi went to the part of the mall that was owned by the food shops.

"The world feels like a better place for me now that he's far away." I said.

We entered a shop called 'Shoprite' and I cringed at how unoriginal and cheesy the name was. Wolfgang laughed and said, "I knew you needed sometime away from him."

The people at the mall looked so nice. It was refreshing not to be seeing village people everywhere I looked. Wow, that sounded so vain. "He's killing me, I promise."

"He's a good person."

I nearly choked on laughter. "I'm sorry, I think I swallowed a bug."

"Okay, he's a good brother. That's what I meant."

"According to him, you're not." I replied, gaping at a fridge filled with the reddest apples ever. Apples were slowly becoming my favourite fruit.

"He's not wrong."

I grabbed his arm and led him to the apple fridge. "Can I have some of these?"

"Of course," he said. "but we need a cart. Take a basket instead because we won't be needing much. I just came to get us some stuff we can munch on on the way."

I picked one and he put the bag of apples in it. "Why don't you want to live at the mansion with him?" I queried. I wondered if I could take one of the apples and start eating it.

"He thinks it's because of him, but it's not. See, I'm... I'm fighting an addiction."

My mouth formed an 'o' when I realised what addiction he was talking about. Yeah, it was a bad idea to stay at the mansion. "Nathan? Why won't he stay there?"

"Nate's in love with the horses. He won't leave them for anything." Wolfgang grabbed four small bottles of Sprite, two cans of Malta Guinness, two cans of pringles, so many McVities All Butter shortbread biscuits that I couldn't count, plus chocolate chip cookies and a good amount of small cakes.

I stared at him.

"What?" He challenged.

"N-nothing. Gluttony is a sin."

He rolled his eyes. "Aren't you going to get anything for yourself?" He asked.

My eyes widened. "You mean all of that is just for you?"

He just did that face black people make when someone says something stupid. "Obviously."

I shook my head. "If you don't go to hell, then I don't want to be in heaven." He laughed as I took out a can of malt, Kalyppo and two McVities All Butter shortbread biscuits. I like food a lot but not junk like these.

"That's it?"

"There's ice cream on the way too. According to the movies, I'm supposed to stuff my face with that."

"Yeah, right."

He paid for the food and we were well on our way to another store. It was here that we bought the Christmas decorations. There was so much to buy and it was all so pretty. The mall itself had Christmas decorations all around.

There were some mini sculptures of baby Jesus, Mary and the three wisemen in a corner of the mall. "Hey, can we have that?" I asked Wolfgang.

"Let me find out." He gave me all the bags which contained the decorations; I had to cradle them in my arms. "Go and put these in the car."

I nodded obediently and he gave me car keys. It was a bit difficult finding the car and holding the bags that were so many that they obscured my vision. Who ever said it was easy being short? I found the car and unlocked it, throwing them inside along with the bag that held my snacks.

I huffed, annoyed that I was doing manual labour like this when I was supposed to be having fun. I mean, it was fun when Wolfgang had to do all the carrying and I was busily picking stuff out and sightseeing.

When I closed the door and was about to head back to Wolfgang, I passed by a gadget store. It was called 'Telefonika' and I cringed again. Who names these shops? There were a lot of phones and electronics displayed for all to see. I found myself missing my phone and my Instagram account.

If I didn't need to send my earnings to my family, I'd purchase a phone. I sighed and was about to head back, when my eyes caught another store. It was a pharmacy. I wasn't sure what exactly led me inside there.

I wasn't sure what I was doing when I patted my pocket and made sure that the money Wolfgang had shoved into my pocket - in case I wanted to buy more snacks - was there. I wasn't sure what I was doing when I walked up to the salesperson and asked for a bottle of sleeping pills.

He gave it to me like it was a normal thing to buy pills without a doctor's prescription. I put the pills in my pocket and went to find Wolfgang. He was at the car and a salesperson was helping him put the miniature sculptures in.

"You got them!" I jumped excitedly.

He looked surprised, probably because I was so happy because of something that was so inconsequential. "Yes, I did."

"Thanks."

"You're welcome, princess. Hey, can you go and check on my brother? He should've been back by now."

"Why?" I whined. "He's a grown man, it's not like he's going to get abducted."

"Ellie, please. I just want to make sure he's okay."

"Why wouldn't he be?"

"Please. It's just strange that he isn't back."

I rolled my eyes, succumbing. "How do I know which one is an ice cream shop?"

"Bright colours of course. Mostly pink," he laughed.

"Okay," I replied unenthusiastically.

"You'll be fine," he assured me.

I did find the closest ice cream shop easily, but I shielded my eyes so that I couldn't see any cringy names. I spotted Kofi immediately. Not because he was tall and lighter-skinned than most of the people there, but because he was seated on a table close to the transparent glass that boxed the shop.

He had ice cream in front of him but he wasn't eating it. He was looking at it with his hands fisted. I couldn't describe how I felt the second hand loneliness even from outside the shop. He was the picture of abject loneliness.

He looked like a sad painting, sitting there with no company. Now that I looked at him, I realised how sad and lonely he always looked when he wasn't angry. I wondered how I never noticed it.

Come to think of it, he had the most uneventful, most boring life ever. He lived alone in that mansion. He had no one to talk to. He simply accompanied the prostitutes to the auction and made sure everything went well, then he came back to an empty home.

It was no wonder he wanted his brothers to stay with him. I can't imagine being that lonely. I wonder how the lack of human contact doesn't drive him crazy. Maybe it had.

I frowned, a weird and unbelievable, completely demented thought came to mind. What if the real reason why he wanted me around was because he was so lonely? I remembered him saying that he liked it when I was being angry and defiant because he lived a boring life and I was a nice change.

But he hated me. I make him so angry. I see it on his face and through his body language. How can he want me near when all I do is make him mad? I must be wrong. He's only keeping me in the mansion because those are the chief's orders.

It still didn't explain why he wanted me to stay in his room. See today for example, he didn't like that I spent the night in Michael's room, and that excuse about the male prostitutes was complete bull. He could let me sleep with the females, but he didn't. He kept me with him.

No, no, I must be off my rockers. He can't want me close to him. He doesn't like me. I'm sure he feels that I'm destroying the relationship between him and his brothers. Wolfgang came to the mansion only because of me, which was really selfless, especially because of the addiction he's fighting.

He must hate me for that; stealing his brothers' love.

I wondered if Kofi knew about Wolfgang's addiction. I decided not to mention it, sure that Wolfgang hadn't told his family about it.

I was about to head back to Wolfgang and snitch on Kofi - for having ice cream by himself - when he lifted his head and looked at me like he knew I was there all this while. His expression faded and was replaced by a blank stare.

I'm ashamed to admit that I jumped back out of fright. The way he looked at me all of a sudden was so eerie, like something that belonged in a horror movie, not in the joyous Christmas season.

He gestured for me to come over. I frowned and he gave me that 'don't test my patience, young woman' look. I sighed and went inside the shop. The name of the shop was virtually everywhere but I just blocked out my reading abilities.

I went and sat across him.

"I didn't ask you to sit," he began. "don't you know it's rude to just come and sit at someone's table? Are you demented?"

Again, I'm ashamed to admit that I smiled. He's so stupid, acting like we don't know each other. I mean, if he were a stranger, I wouldn't just come and sit at his table, obviously. "I didn't know, sorry for my ignorance. You called me over though."

"Yes, yes, order what you want." He said. He reached into his pocket and gave me money.

"I thought you didn't care what I wanted."

"I don't, but I can't be bothered buying ice cream for you. Do it yourself."

I exhaled slowly. "I know deep down, you actually like me."

He chuckled like I just said the stupidest thing ever and shook his head. "Whatever rocks your boat."

He couldn't even outright deny it.

I went to the salesperson and ordered coffee flavoured ice cream with Oreo flavoured ice cream. I asked that Oreo crumbs be sprinkled on my ice cream. I completely forgot to ask them to package it to-go.

I nearly face-palmed myself. I was too shy to do anything about it so I just took my ice cream to the table and sat down.

"What do you think you're doing?" Kofi asked.

"I forgot to ask them to make it to-go."

"But people are going to think that we're on a... date."

"So? We know we're not."

"No, that's not the point. Look at what you're wearing."

I looked down at myself. "What's wrong with what I'm wearing?"

"That's probably Michael's shirt and it's so oversized. You could have paired it with something tight or short underneath; that would've made it look cute or something, but you're wearing his jeans. I mean, your hips fill and booty fill it, but from thigh downwards, it's so loose. Like that antiquated fashion style from the nineties. The worst part is that you're wearing all this with bathroom slippers. Your hair looks like a bir- no, not bird's nest. It looks like a rat's nest. I don't want anyone to think that I'm here with you."

I just looked at him in silence.

He stared back; his face covered with disgust.

It shames me to admit that his callous criticism struck a nerve. Realisation dawned on me, and like a memory unfolding, I realised how everyone had been looking at me when I got to the mall. I looked down at myself again, this time, filled with shame.

I felt my self confidence fall to shambles. Most of my confidence came from the fact that I looked better than almost everyone around me if I was being honest with myself. Even though I picked stuff - academic wise - up quickly, I was still ashamed of my ignorance.

Now, my beauty had been stripped away from me. I felt embarrassment shoot through me and heat up my cheeks when a nicely dressed girl looked at me. I quickly shot up and ran out of the ice cream shop. I heard Kofi call my name, probably thinking that I was escaping, but I ignored him.

I just ran.

* * *

I'm sorry for that ending, the chapter was getting too long. No, this was not a filler chapter. Some important stuff begins from here.

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