© 2002 by Alessandra Azzaroni aazzaroni@hotmail.com http://au.geocities.com/vcastairwaytoheaven/index.htm

STORY LAST UPDATED ON 01/07/2002

AUTHOR'S NOTE

Written in Australia. This story was partly inspired by Flowers in the Attic.

CHAPTER THREE: MEETING

Down the staircase I went, and hovered about at the bottom, unsure of where to go. I decided that the best thing to do would be to listen for sound, and follow it.
I walked forward on the off-white carpet, hoping to hear some voices, and soon I did.
"So she's here now, is she?" a sophisticated-sounding woman asked.
"Tat she be indeed, Ms. Grey," I heard Fergus reply. "She be down shortly."
"Does she look like her mother?" a quiet man inquired, with a foreign tilt to his voice.
"Ssh!" the woman hushed. "Let's not get into that. She's not to hear about her mother."
"And what about-"
"As far as Sassandra will know, we only had two daughters, and Dominica is the sole one left. Is that clear, Jonas?"
As I stepped closer towards the room I thought they were in, I thought I heard a sigh. "If it must."
"Yes, it must. God knows the Grey name has been tainted enough. That girl better not cause any trouble-"
"Don't be a-worryin', Ms. Grey, she seems fine," Fergus put in.
"She better be. Dominica will be coming to check up on her soon…"
I knocked on the soft wood door, which I was sure they were behind, and waited for an entrance allowance.
"Come in," the woman called out.
I opened the door to see that it was a living room area. The woman; with her raven hair that had streaks of grey, and her high cheekbones and grey eyes that immediately had me on edge; was sitting with perfect, straight posture on a sofa. The man I guessed to be her husband had thick, blond hair that was going white, eyes that were close together and a welcoming smile, and he reclined comfortably in a leather armchair. Fergus stood on the carpet between them.
"Step in, lass," Fergus said to me. I entered the room and stood in front of them. "Tis be yer granddaughter, Sassandra." He gestured to my grandparents. "Tis be Viviana Grey-"
"I'll take over here, Fergus," the woman, my grandmother Viviana put in before he could say more. I knew that my time here would be on a first name basis. "You may leave now."
"As ye wish." Fergus bowed, and left the room.
Viviana forced a smile. "I take it that Dominica and Alvin explained the situation to you?"
"They told me they were moving to Malaysia with Maxine and Nadine, and that I was to come here and live with you," I answered.
"Maxine… Nadine… How come we never see them?" the man asked.
"Never mind that!" Viviana turned to face me again. "So you're Sassandra, then. Yes, we are your grandparents, but don't refer to us as that. I was going to insist that you call us as you would with any elder, but my husband here convinced me that perhaps we should use first names instead. I'm Viviana and this is Jonas." She said it as 'Yohnas'.
"It's pronounced 'Yoonas'," my grandfather said softly. Viviana ignored him, and I put the correct version into my head. After years of being married, she still couldn't say her husband's name properly!
"So you're in your mother's bedroom?" Viviana asked.
"Yes, it's very nice," I replied. "She must have lived a happy life there."
Jonas's sunny smile dimmed, and transformed into a sad frown. "My daughter… I miss her," he murmured.
"Stop it, Jonas," Viviana warned between clenched teeth. Again, she got the pronunciation of his name wrong, and always would.
She forced another tight smile my way. "Well, you'll be here for the rest of the summer. Then you'll go to the Marianne Davis boarding school. But of course, that's some time away. Hopefully you'll find something constructive here for you to do in the meantime. Fergus does the cooking, but you'll be doing the dishes."
She pointed a finger at me as she issued out an order. "And you will keep your bedroom and bathroom clean. Fergus will give you cleaning supplies. My parents gave me this house in their will, and I won't stand to see it get wasted. Understand?"
I didn't like the way she was looking at me, but I hastily told her that I did understand. How could a forceful woman like her be married to such a nice man?
Viviana raised an eyebrow. "Well, if you've just come here from California, I take it that you'll have some slight jet lag. I'll let you off your duties for today, and you can spend the day in bed. I'll have Fergus send your meals up."
I nodded, but she didn't seem satisfied with that. Racking my brain, I decided that she wanted - expected - me to thank her. "Thank you."
She nodded, pleased with my answer. "You may go to your room now, Sassandra."
As I left the room, Jonas called out to me. "Sleep well!" I smiled. I may have been living with a cold, hard grandmother, but my grandfather seemed like someone I could really get along with.