The following morning, around five-thirty, I heard the roar of a tractor engine outside. I woke up, drew the curtains, and looked outside to see the man from Agribusiness sitting in the tractor. He honked the horn, and I hurried outside so he wouldn't wake the kids. He handed me the ignition key and then left. I went back inside and started preparing breakfast: omelet and tea. None of them had woken up yet when I finished cooking. I woke Eliz and Katy up, and we had some breakfast together. We began working at seven. I was driving the tractor, plowing the land, while Katy added fertilizer to the plowed soil. Eliz was sowing seeds in the plowed and fertilized fields. We worked while playing truth or dare with each other. The work was tiring, but we didn't mind it. During my turn, I asked Eliz whether she would pick truth or dare, and she chose truth. I asked her if she had ever kissed or been kissed by someone. She hesitated to answer but eventually said, "I'm not that foolish. By the way, how could I kiss someone if I don't even love them?"
I laughed at her answer, and Katy chimed in with a question: "Don't you really love Eliz? Are you sure?"
"I don't," Eliz insisted firmly.
"Oh, I'm sorry, Eliz. I asked you a question that's not really your age. I forgot that you're too young for those things," I said, smirking at her.
"I'm not young! It's just that I haven't found anything good in those things. They're all just stressful," Eliz replied calmly.
We continued arguing about relationships, as if we were grown-ups, but from the conversation, I gathered that Eliz wasn't actually that young. The way she spoke showed how active her mind was. You wouldn't believe how she explained contraception methods to us. We were still talking and working when we heard Lydia and Bryan calling my name. They were running toward us, clearly scared. I stopped the tractor and went to meet them, thinking there was an emergency. I squatted down to hear them out.
"What's up, little angels?" I asked. They looked at each other, fear written on their faces. I shook Bryan's shoulder and asked, "Bryan, tell me what's wrong? Is there any problem?" He still couldn't speak, and neither could Lydia. He stammered while pointing his finger toward the house. "Grandpa was in there. I saw him," he said, startled, and Lydia supported him, saying, "We escaped because he's a ghost." I immediately ran inside the house, searched everywhere, but didn't find him. I went back outside and asked Bryan where he saw him. "In the kitchen. He had two spears in his hands," Bryan said, looking startled. Lydia added, "I saw him too." I tried to comfort them. "Bryan, you and I know where Grandpa is. There are no weapons there. He only visits us when he misses us. Don't panic, it's just a hallucination, right?" I tried to calm them down, but Bryan insisted, "But Nora, how could I imagine something, and Lydia sees it too? I must have seen it myself. What does that mean?"
I felt lost for words but made up a lie. "It means that you two are meant to be together," I said, faking a smile. They both laughed, and Lydia said, "We'll get married as soon as possible, Bryan. Don't you want me?" Bryan giggled and replied, "Of course not now. What if I get you pregnant young?"
We all burst into laughter, and they ran inside the house, holding hands.
I returned to the tractor, and Katy asked me what had happened. I didn't tell them exactly what had occurred; I just said they were messing around with me. What if I tell them and they chase us away; because the ghost of ours is following us? I thought and decided not to tell them anything. We continued working until 3 p.m. By then, there was a considerable amount of plowed, fertilized, and sowed land. It looked great. We decided to stop for the day, as we were exhausted. We had only eaten some sandwiches at midday.
In the evening, I didn't bother going into the kitchen. I sat in the living room and watched a movie with the kids, but honestly, there's nothing more frustrating than watching a movie with kids. At every scene, they ask questions, and when you can't even answer some of them, it gets really annoying. While watching, my mind kept flashing back to what Bryan had told me: seeing Grandpa in the kitchen. I was pretty sure Bryan was telling the truth because that had happened to me as well. I had always believed that ghosts, fairies, and all those demon stories were lies. But now it'd turned real to my table. I felt kind of uneasy that I might have made a mistake giving up on the address.
The following day, we cultivated the remaining land, which was small. We finished it by around eleven. The plot was now done. In the middle of it was a 4ft-wide feeder that connected the house and the road. The car could hardly pass through it, so we parked it on the roadside.
One week later, some of the seedlings had started sprouting above the earth. The strong relationship and friendship between us were improving day by day. We were like family. We exchanged ideas, jokes, and stories—just like other siblings. Unfortunately, I couldn't sleep through the nights. It was tough. Not a single night passed without leaving me with nightmares. I only dreamed of my dead people.
That same week, I created my own YouTube channel. It hadn't started growing since I hadn't uploaded any videos yet. Eliz gave me the idea of uploading kitchen content—tips, recipes, and food crafts. Eliz was very good at cooking, and perhaps that's why she chose her profession. Cooking content does well on YouTube, or so I'd heard. Eliz was my best friend. We often sat together on a stone under the shade of the yew tree beside the house and chitchatted. She told me that once she became rich, she would search for her parents and reunite with them. She said she wouldn't take revenge on them, but she would make them want to apologize for their mistakes. She said, "Many people hurt their opponents the same way they were hurt, but I don't see anything vengeful about that. That's cowardice. They don't know how to take revenge. A true revenge is this: Move on, work on your development, search for them, care for them, smother them with love, show them how unaffected you are by what they made you go through. By doing that, you'll secretly pierce their hearts, and they'll come to you and apologize."
We were interrupted when we heard Katy calling our names for lunch. We ran inside and ate. I was astonished by Eliz's speech. She had mentally developed in ways I hadn't expected. What if she had been enrolled in school then? After eating, we washed the dishes together. Bryan asked if we could go out. He missed the roller-coaster and seesaw. Unfortunately, there wasn't enough money for those extras. Our finances were in a terrible place. I didn't know where to get money since I had no diploma. We still needed to find all possible opportunities to recover from the poverty that was knocking at our doors and windows. I remembered something that could help us. As it appeared in my mind, I ran to the TV stand and searched for the paper where I'd written down the address of a company that advertised on TV, looking for cleaners. I sat down with a slump, shouting, "This is the money now, Katy!" She glared at me and said, "I've never seen someone lose their mind over money like this before." She rolled her eyes in disbelief. Eliz shouted at her, "Shut up, Katy! Can't you even let's see what's written on that paper? Just wait and see…" I felt somewhat supported. I dialed the number, my heart beating fast. My mind was blank, and I didn't know what to say.
They picked up, and a lady greeted from the other side.
"Hello. This is Anatalia, Dave's secretary. How can we help you?"
I cleared my throat, not sure of what I was about to say. "Well, I'm Nora. I'm with my sister Katy; we just turned to an ad from your company. You want cleaners, right?" The loudspeaker was on. Katy and Eliz just approached me and eavesdropped. The secretary replied: "Yes. We want cleaners. And thank you two for reaching out. If you are taking this chance, then summon yourselves to the motel tomorrow morning. You know we should talk to you first. Anything else?" Before I could answer, Eliz whispered that she wanted me to say that the cleaners were three. She wanted to be included too. So, I immediately replied, "Nothing ma'am. We'll see you tomorrow." and ended the call.
"Yess! We made it, sis." Shouted Katy, "How much will they be paying us?"
Eliz hissed and replied in my place: "Aren't you the one who's been mocking at her before making this call? I deserved the job, not you."
The following morning was the sweetest Monday because it was the day we started working. We woke up, got ready, and there was no cooked food in the kitchen. I made some coffee and canned it. We went outside, and Eliz switched the light off. It was around five forty. We got in the cab, and the driver started the engine without delay. He shifted gears, and I felt like driving too. I said to him, "You do your work well." He thanked me and asked if he could be my permanent driver, but I refused. He looked almost sad. When we reached the roundabouts, a traffic jam held us up. The car behind ours noticed the red light too late and tried to cut through us. It knocked our car, and our driver became very angry. He got out to talk to the driver who had hit us. He came back with a check and a paper, throwing them onto the dashboard. We continued. I was curious about what was on the paper. I thought I might need it someday if I found myself in the same situation while driving. I asked him, "What are those papers for?"
"He damaged my car," the driver replied. "He must sign for it so I can get it repaired through insurance."
"That works?" I asked.
"Yeah, only if you're subscribed to an insurance company."
"Can you hand them to me, if you don't mind?" I asked.
He gave me the documents. I photographed them with my phone and handed them back. He drove a bit faster, and we arrived. It was around six-thirty, and our shift was to start at seven. It was a motel. Our shift was only during the day, from seven to five. Upon reaching the motel, we passed the reception and were taken to the manager's office. We had a brief interview, gave our ID numbers, phone numbers, and addresses. He provided us with uniforms, and we went to the changing room, following the door labels. Once we were dressed, I realized that we looked perfect in the cleaner's uniforms. That's the reputation we'd earned every day. They were pink.
The first day was very hard—getting lost, meeting new people, being called from room to room to clean their mess. Some rooms had floors with stains I had to clean off. We were total newcomers, and it was overwhelming. We went home exhausted and faced many difficulties. We waited for our driver, but he never came. Our faces were red from the heat and exhaustion. We ended up taking another cab, quarreling the whole way about the driver and what each of us met during the first day of work. I called Eliz before getting home to check how things were at the house. She told me everything was fine. When I called, she was cooking dinner. I thanked her for being so organized.
We arrived around seven. The house was clean and looked gorgeous. The kids were watching cartoons while Eliz cooked and went through her phone. The kids hugged us. I hugged Bryan and kissed his forehead, doing the same for Lydia. I asked them how their day had been, and they said they missed us so much. We waited for dinner in the living room. I reclined on the sofa and went through my phone. I remembered the document I had photographed in the car. I pulled it up and reviewed it. I was considering subscribing to an insurance company, but I didn't have the funds.
As I read the document, I found myself in shock. My heart skipped a beat when I realized that the driver who had hit us was Sebastian Ethan, my boyfriend. His signature was real. How on earth could it be him? I had left him in Bergen. How had he gotten here? Was he spying on me? I thought. I decided to call him to verify if it was really him or if people could have the same names, but signatures too? He picked up. I was somewhat angry.
"Hello, how are you doing, Ethan?"
"I'm great. What about you?"
"I'm good too. Where are you now, Ethan?" I asked rudely.
"I'm home." He was suspicious, I could tell. "Why do you ask? Are you coming back?"
"Nope, I just saw someone who looked like you a short while ago." I exclaimed. "I thought it was you."
"It was me?" he chuckled. "How do you think I could get there when you refused to give me your address?"
"Well, you see, I miss you so much. Check your email as soon as I hang up. We'll meet tomorrow around five—just a few minutes."
"Oh, thanks. I'll be on time!" he shouted triumphantly.
We had a little more conversation before hanging up. I emailed him my address. We decided to meet at a certain bar. That night, I had dinner and went to bed. I believed the following day would be fine. I was meeting my boyfriend that day. I went to my room, took off my clothes, and slept without pajamas. Before falling asleep, I couldn't understand how people could have the same names and signatures. I didn't want to think about it too much. I wanted to believe that my boyfriend was always honest. I charged my phone and then covered my face with the blanket.
The following morning, my alarm rang at six. I went to check on my pickup truck, which we used for work. We got there, rushed to the changing room, and then went to the stockroom to collect cleaning equipment. I grabbed my bucket, vacuum, mop, and dustpan. I separated from Katy and started working. I was assigned to clean the bedrooms. I knocked on each door to ask if they needed cleaning. Some agreed, others refused since they were still sleeping. I cleaned several rooms, floors, and carpets. I also arranged ransacked materials in the motel. The motel owner wanted it to look elegant. I had never met him in person, but from what I heard, he was very popular. His employees loved him, and I couldn't wait to meet him in person. I kept working, but that day was extremely tiring. I encountered many men who tried to sleep with me as I knocked on their doors, but I managed to resist them all. Some even offered to pay me, but surrendering my virginity was nowhere near my plans. They were all clumsy and annoying. Their lustful behavior exasperated me.
That day, I experienced something very different, painful, and unbearable. Ever since then, I've hated people too much, and I've learned not to trust anyone. People change. They show us their good sides, but never their darkest parts. And we end up suffering because of their darkness. The worst part is realizing it only afterward. When you seem to have ran out of time already. That day, my heart shattered into pieces, but thank God I'd been through worse before.
It was around eleven. I was still cleaning the bedrooms. I was moving to the next room, carrying a mop, bucket, and hoover. I was about to knock when I heard a noise from inside. It was a man and a woman. They were arguing and fighting. I don't think I was eavesdropping; they were so loud that their private conversation turned into something public.
"You know what? I don't need you anymore!" snarled the woman inside the room.
"You're not sure. It can't end like this, Sophia. First, give me my money, and then think about leaving," the man said.
"Money for what? You're not even virile. You've done nothing except turning me on and tickling me with that small—" the woman shouted, but the man interrupted.
"Shut up! How dare you say that, Sophia? After all the nights I've spent with you. I successfully drove you to orgasm, and you know what? The strongest of us will get out alive!" he roared in anger. I felt like running to call the police, but I stayed still when the woman warned him.
"Don't dare make any mistakes, Ethan."
My heart skipped a beat when she mentioned the name Ethan. What a fucking coincidence! After everything that happened the previous night, now Ethan was here again. I felt like opening the door to verify whether it was him or not. The woman started to cry as she moved closer to the door. She recoiled, and finally, she hit the door. This time, Ethan grabbed her and started throttling her. He was raging, shouting, "Are you going to pay me or not?" She could hardly speak, moaning in agony. I was startled. Sophia managed to kick him in the balls and get him to the floor. She immediately opened the door and locked him inside.
She was wearing a nightgown and looked somewhat older, maybe in her fifties. She glanced at me and saw me mopping the floors as if I had been doing my work all along. She handed me the keys and asked me to let him out when she was gone. She ran off, and I heard her car's engine roar. Inside the room, Ethan was banging on the door and shouting, "I'll kill you, Sophia! Open for me!" His voice sounded so familiar, even though I heard it through the door. I was afraid to open it. I knocked and whispered, "Sophia isn't here. She's left, but I have the keys." He asked me to open the door, but his voice still sounded so familiar, yet I couldn't place it. I hesitated, then put the key in the knob and unlocked the door. Slowly, I pushed it open and stepped inside. There he was. He was sitting on the bed, scrolling through his phone. I saw him first. He looked up at me, and his face went pale with shock. Can you imagine? You find your boyfriend or girlfriend with someone much older than them, not because of love but for money? Oh my God! It's self-undervaluing. You don't even feel jealousy or anything. He stared at me, nearly crying. He fell to his knees immediately and said, "Nora? I'm so sorry, Nora."
I shushed him and said, "Nora or Sophia? You must be calling Sophia. From now on, you don't know me, and I don't know you." I turned to leave, and I realized I was crying too. Why was everything happening so fast, one thing after another? I thought