Half an hour passed like nothing. Tabby drank all the juice and ate every last crumb of the cookies from the bowl on the table. Coincidentally, they were the chocolate ones that she and her mother adored so much.
Mother…her heart ached painfully at the thought of her, but she was also a little angry. Even though she had seen her father for the second time in her life today, it didn't seem to her that he was the same arrogant and heartless person she had heard her father say whenever he came up for any reason.
Click…the door opened with a loud bang, waking her from her thoughts. She turned her gaze to the door and smiled at her father.
"So, I'm back! Just wait a moment, Tabby, I'll change and we're going! Nicole must be waiting impatiently for us." He said in a resonant voice and disappeared into the next room for a moment.
Nicole?... Tabby thought in amazement. She didn't even notice that he had returned, already changed into dark blue jeans and a black shirt. Wow, he looked completely different than in that cold white coat. Simply put, even though he was at least forty, her dad was still quite handsome. She couldn't resist asking.
"Who's Nicole?" And she bit her lip in embarrassment. He hesitated a little, but then smiled and replied.
"Um...she's been my wife for eight years. She works at our clinic as an assistant and she's really looking forward to seeing you." He looked at her inquisitively, apparently curious about how she would react.
"Oh, that's great, we can go..." she replied, visibly relieved. She had a suspicion that she would have the honor of being with one of his adolescent daughters, aka her sister, who would constantly provoke her and do all sorts of things on purpose.
She was still looking around in the clinic corridor, for two reasons. In case she didn't happen to catch a glimpse of the one who had so much entered her subconscious this morning at the station, and also with the fear that the perfumed little Ted, who she couldn't get rid of two hours ago, would come out of nowhere. But the corridor was full of strangers, except for the familiar nurse at the reception, who was now grinning at her convulsively. Tabby provocatively hung onto her father's arm and waved goodbye.
They arrived at her father's house in less than a quarter of an hour. She carefully got out of the car, hesitantly stood still and looked around.
The house was in a small neighborhood and, with its typically Irish appearance, did not differ much from the other houses. A little further on, she noticed a huge park, which was very nice. She was used to running in the morning. Her father noticed her hesitation.
"Well, you will be home here soon. I hope you like it here." He said carefully and took her bag. As soon as the garden gate opened, a shrill barking came from somewhere behind.
A moment later, a slightly grown-up beagle puppy ran up to them and happily started jumping on his father. It was wonderfully colored, with a beige spot over its left eye and huge brown ears, flapping mischievously around its head, but Tabby always had respect for dogs. Therefore, when the dog turned its attention to her, she grumpily shook him off and glared at him. Surprisingly, he obeyed her, barked a few more times towards his master, but then fortunately ran off somewhere into the garden. Ugh...she hoped he wouldn't come back so soon and sleep with them in the house. She could now vividly imagine his chewed-up sneakers and the flood of hair on his dark clothes.
"That was our Sid, how do you like him?" her father asked. She smiled awkwardly and nervously ran through her slightly disheveled hair.
"Hmm, handsome..." she replied dryly, secretly worried that he might pursue the subject further. Fortunately, the door opened and a slim woman of about thirty-five with copper hair braided into a braid appeared. She was wearing a bright yellow light dress and looked like a candy cane doll. First, she briefly glanced critically at Tabby's worn jeans and the inscription with a mystical wolf image on her T-shirt. It certainly wasn't what she had imagined.
...But what can you do, madam, this is me and I won't change it... Tabby thought defiantly. But Nicole smiled at her, although perhaps a little convulsively, and spoke.
"Welcome to our home, it's so nice to meet you. My name is Nicole." She walked up to her and offered her hand, which was manicured to incredible perfection and adorned with long pink gel nails with a tiny flower on each one. Tabby had never seen anything like it in her life. It was so kitschy that it took her breath away for a moment. When she felt like she could finally stand it, she replied awkwardly.
"Thanks for the welcome, I'm Tabby."
"I know, come on in, we have a room ready for you and Lisa is waiting for us with dinner."
"Lisa? And with dinner?" Tabby asked in surprise. Who is this again? She glanced at her father and then quickly at her watch, it was only five o'clock.
"That's our housekeeper. And we have dinner early, you'll have to get used to that." Nicole answered her with a smile. Tabby looked at her. Hmm…well, housekeeper…I hope you can at least make tea…she thought bitterly.
Soon everyone had already entered and after a while they were standing in front of her room door. Given the sugary appearance of the lady of the house, she was seized by a terrifying fear that she would see an enlargement of a Barbie doll room and she tried to gather strength in her mind to survive the sight. But when she opened it, she was pleasantly surprised. Not a trace of pink, the walls were painted a light blue, which matched the simple pine wood furniture perfectly. Tabby breathed in its scent with delight, glanced over the beautiful hand-woven colorful rugs, turned to her father and smiled.
"I decorated it all myself. So, do you like it?" he asked eagerly. She nodded happily.
"Hm, it's really great, thanks."
"I'm glad, you can settle in and then come to the dining room for dinner, we'll be waiting for you."
As soon as she was alone, she threw her bag and herself on the bed. She was satisfied to see that there was a laptop and a CD player in the corner on the table and a small TV on the console above them. Perfect, so she would have complete privacy, she couldn't ask for more. Suddenly she heard a strange, quiet scratching at the door. After a while, a familiar head with brown ears appeared between them. Sid!
"Are you leaving? You have no business here!" She shouted at him sharply and sat up abruptly. He disappeared for a moment and then it happened again. This time he gave her a typical dog look, with his head to the side and a pitifully pleading whine. It was so touching that she decided to take him at his mercy after all.
"Okay, come here, but you lie down at the table over there and don't move from there, okay?" He snapped shortly and ran inside happily.
"And you don't even touch my sneakers, understand? Otherwise, we're done!" She added sternly, pointing at her feet. He lay down obediently in the designated spot, put his head on his front paws and purred as if in agreement. See, she didn't expect him to listen to her like this. Hopefully things wouldn't be as bad with him as she initially feared, but she intended to keep her distance. But when they left after about half an hour, she preferred to close the door just to be safe, so that he wouldn't think of coming back.
The rest of the day passed in a rather friendly atmosphere, Tabby slowly began to get used to the slightly tense and cold behavior of her father's wife, who seemed to not even suit him. She was quite moved by her father's story about a boy with a terminal illness whom he was now treating, and they had also made preliminary arrangements for her to start her internship at the hospital.
When Tabby lay down in her new bed that evening, for the first time since her mother's death, no tears appeared in her eyes. On the contrary, she felt that her future might not be so bad after all, if Nicole's obvious intention to dress her in some ridiculous dress and high-heeled shoes soon passed, which she intended to resist to the point of exhaustion. She smiled at the thought and suddenly the memory of the man who now insistently inhabited her heart returned to her. She closed her eyes and dreamily imagined him again, his eyes stuck out most in her memory, they were so strange, she had never seen such a color before. She was only sorry that she didn't know who he was or where he was from or if she would ever see him again. With a sigh, she turned to the wall and after a few minutes she finally fell asleep.