Unless she was a princess or a pampered child, every girl can relate to how frustrating were to wash clothes that weren't worn by her.
Barely a minute after Daphne returned from school on a Wednesday afternoon, she heard the shrieking sound of the door. She instantly knew it was her mother, judging from the footstep and the impatient way the door hit the wall. She had closed her store early again.
Though Daphne resembled her mother in looks, they were not alike in any aspect. Because one, her mother had a strong believe that the girls are responsible for house chores and belonged to the kitchen, while the boys were the householder and controller. Daphne hated the idea but she wasn't a type of girl to argue with her mother, even if she tried, she wound eventually cave in.
Daphne finally concluded that her mother had such old believe because she had grown in the old time.
Her mother stood between the door of her room, arms crossed, eyes scanning her head to toe.
" Aren't you done taking off your dress?" She said sharply. " You should hurry and clean the dishes and hand wash your brothers school uniform, don't touch the machine." She ordered.
"Dishes?" Daphne almost shouted. " Mum, don't tell me it's the ones from this morning. Why didn't you ask Mark or Max to wash it since they came back from school. "
"Don't bother me with silly questions." Her mother snapped. "Get to what I said. If I come back and meet you sitting, I'm sure you know what I'll do . Your brothers have gone for their tutorial classes."
"Yes mum" Daphne grumbled as she got up, changing from her school uniform to her house wear.
Daphne faced the mountain of plate mountain of plates in the sink and steams almost came out of her ears. When she stepped into her brothers room, the sight of the chaos they had left almost brought her to tears. She sighed, bent down and started reorganizing the disarranged room.
When Daphne was done, her mother called her from her room.
"Yes mum" she replied tiredly.
"Hurry up, dinner must be ready before your father arrive."
" Yes mum"
" I'm going back to the store."
"Ok mum" Daphne followed her to the house main entrance.
When her mother stepped outside and the gate shut behind her, Daphne threw her hands in the air and jumped ecstatically.
"oh yes!"
She sprang to the sitting room and turned on the music player to it highest volume, and blasted 'boy with luv' by BTS. She threw the curtains open, sun flooding inside as she danced round the room.
" I feel alive. Wooh!" She shouted spinning around.
She knew her mother would never approve of such behavior. She considered dancing pointless and disliked the kind of music Daphne listened to. Her father, on the other hand, didn't mind as long as it wasn't a bad influence.
By the time she finished cooking and cleaning, she was exhausted. She plopped onto her bed, giving herself a mental comment that it was a wise idea to do the cooking while washing.
It was about time her brothers return from their tutorials, and even though they were a pair of trouble makers, Daphne loved them deeply. Maybe because she practically raised both of them while her parents busied themselves with works. But Daphne never blamed her parents for pushing their responsibilities onto her. She understood their situation, and truthfully, she didn't exactly hate looking after her brothers.
After relaxing for a while, Daphne decided to take a walk around the neighborhood. She locked the gate firmly and stepped out. She exchanged greeting with elderly people she came across, had a little chat with some friends and enjoyed the fresh air.
She suddenly felt hungry and walked into a shop she spotted nearby. Daphne went to the biscuits section. The brand she wanted was on the top shelf. She rose on her toes, but it was too high, her hand couldn't reach it.
Suddenly, a long arm appeared above her head and plucked the biscuit from the shelf.
Daphne turned, facing a tall figure. Her breath caught in her throat as she stared back at the handsome face standing before her. He was so tall that Daphne had to tilt her head totally to see him clearly. He looked like a model on covers of weekly Magazine. From their proximity, she can perceive his cologne, it was rich and intoxicating.
" Thank you. " She said softly, holding out her hands to receive the biscuit.
Instead of the him placing the biscuits into her waiting palm, he looked at her like she had something weird on her face. And in the next beat, he walked away, tearing the biscuit wrap open as he went.
Daphne stood stupefied as she stared at his retreating figure. She only realized after looking up again that that was the last brand of the biscuit.
" Hey!" Daphne snapped, storming after him, and she snatched the biscuit from his hand.
" In what world is what you did just now allowed?" Daphne demanded, glaring at him like he stole something from her.
A frown creased his handsome face as he stared down at her.
" Don't give me that weird look because you're the weird one here." She continued. " Do you think being tall and handsome gives you a free pass with bad attitude? You clearly saw me struggling to reach for it, and then your long hand just came out of nowhere"
The tall guy straighten, letting the refrigerator door close with a slam. He looked like he was done having her nonsense.
"Give it back." His voice was terrifyingly deep that Daphne took an instinctive step back.
"No," She hid the biscuit behind her back.
" Are you a kid?" He asked coldly, "Fighting over a biscuit?"
She scoffed, " I could say the same about you."
He tried to grab it, but Daphne was good at dodge games. Each time he missed, Daphne stuck out her tongue. She kept stepping back, until her back hit the wall.
His arm reached around her, trapping her. Heat rushed to her cheeks as he finally retrieved the biscuit from behind her back.
Without another word, he walked away.
Daphne stood there long after he left, pressing her palms to her burning cheeks and fanning herself.