Chapter Two

"Kelly! There's a letter for you!" shouted Mary.

It had been two weeks since Kelly had moved to the Dewitt-Bukater's house and she hated it already. Well… The house was nice and Rose seemed like a very nice girl, but it was Ruth who she couldn't bare. Ruth and Cal. They went as if they owned the world and everyone in it.

"Who is that from?" Mary asked curiously

"My brother"

"Your brother? I didn't even know you had one. Is he older than you?"

"No, he's too years younger. I haven't seen him for almost 7 years, when I left our hometown. I then heard he went to Europe, you know… when our parents died. But that was it. Now he returned, or it seems so."

"So, he showed up all of the sudden?"

"What? I know you, Mary. What did you mean by that?"

"Isn't it strange? You know… he showing up out of nowhere. Perhaps he just want to get something from you…"

"Like money? No, that's not what he needs. He earns more money than I ever did… No, he wants something else."

Mary wanted to ask 'what', but she controlled herself. She had known Kelly since she had arrived to New York, and it was her who got her that job as a maid. It was strange, though, because during the past few years Kelly had had several jobs and as a result of that she had quite a savings account.

But still, she had asked her friend to her job at the same house as her. It had been quite easy, because their last maid, the one who traveled with them, had died when returning from Europe. Non of the other girls knew how, but the truth was that Ruth was willing to hire someone to take care of her daughter and other things.

"Now… C'mon, we have to take 'the girls' their breakfast. You know how Ruth gets if the coffee is cold" Kelly said, so each of them took a tray and went upstairs.

Rose was steering trough a window, as she always did, her mind somewhere else. She almost didn't hear the new maid entering to the room with her breakfast. Everyday it was the same: Kelly left the tray for a couple of hours so that Rose would eat. But Rose didn't eat. It was the only way she could think to caught her mother's attention. Unfortunately, Ruth didn't cared. The girl had heard her talking to Mary once about her eating problem.

"Leave her alone" Ruth had said. "It's probably for the best. That way she'll fit into her wedding dress. I think she gained some weight in Europe."

Rose wanted to punched her in the face. She wanted to hurt her the same way she was being hurt. But she was weak. When Jack was with her she had felt capable of doing anything, but now that he was dead everything had changed. Everything.

Realizing that Kelly was in the room, Rose forced herself to take a deeper look at the girl who was taking care of her. At least it was something different to do.

She was a tall young girl. She had blond hair and blue eyes. She looked like someone… but who? The hole face something strange, something Rose was not use to see in people around her faces. After a couple of seconds she understood it: Kelly was friendly. Immediately she knew that if she needed to talk, that girl would listen to her.

"How old are you?" she asked. She had to make sure the girl was really polite and that she wasn't imagining things.

Kelly at first didn't know what to say. For two weeks she hadn't heard a word coming out of Rose's mouth and now… she was starting a conversation.

"Twenty two, miss." She answer.

"Twenty two" Rose repeated. "That's 5 more than me." She seemed to be ready to leave again, so the other walked to the door, but the red-haired spoke again.

"And you are not married, are you?"

"No, miss. I'm not married yet."

"I see. Can I ask you a question? Please, don't take this the wrong way, but… Are you happy? I know it's not a regular question, but please be honest with me."

For a couple of seconds she thought of what she was going to say:

"Happy? I can't complain. But happy? It's a very strong word. I mean… We are all different, you know, and perhaps each of us is happy in a different way, miss."

"But for you… Not only married people can be happy. And marriage doesn't mean that you'll be happy for ever. Is that right?"

Kelly nodded. She still didn't understand where the other one wanted to get.

"What's your name, again?"

"Kelly, miss. Kelly D… Doyle."

"Well, Kelly, thank you. Thank you very much."

The maid took that as a signal to leave the room, so she did so.

"That's one insane girl." she thought as she went to the kitchen.