1 Just an Ordinary Jane (Jen)
It was almost midnight, and mom just got back. She had the heaviest makeup, wore a fake tiara, and a skimpy white dress with lots of printed red hearts, so palpably that she put a lot of effort fitting herself to the theme of the night – Alice in Wonderland.
For a 40-year-old woman, she kept her figure quite well for her role as the Queen of Hearts. No saggy arms, nor flabby stomach, gaining weight is an intolerance act for mom. Mom has been a keen weight watcher, and a consistent jogger as long as Jenna remembered. Mon jogs almost every day, very early in the morning. She would go for dance classes occasionally, like Zumba in the evening. A figure-hugging dress would definitely make a man look twice at her.
The Queen of Hearts was not so drunk tonight, though her hair was a bit messy, with glittery confetti stuck among her curls. She tried to be as stealthy as a ninja, because she didn’t want the two nosey kids to find out that she came home late.
“Mom,” Jenna said, and gave her mother a bit of shock. “You went clubbing with your friends, haven’t you? You smell awful.”
“Shhh… honey. Just don’t tell dad. Okay?” Mom begged in a tiny voice. Mom had told dad that she was hanging out with some old friends. Dad was fast asleep anyway. He had a rough day and needed to get up early tomorrow, he said.
Jenna raised her eyebrows, giving a not-so-much-convinced look to her mother.
“Listen, it’s like once in a blue moon, and look, I am very sober.” Mom knows very well that how much dad hates it when she suffers the consequences of the overconsumption of alcohol.
Mom can do anything to destroy the furniture when she is intoxicated.
“Remember the last couple of times you came home drunk? You puked on dad’s new shoes, the bean bag, the carpet, and my Polly Pocket.”
Mom rubbed her forehead. Clearly, she was having a headache and an unfortunate time. Not because of the alcohol, but because of the nosiness of her daughter. “That was ages ago, honey. Now, I am very sober,” she repeated firmly.
“You promised me that you will get me a new one, and you never did.”
Mom groaned. “Sorry, really. I forgot. I mean, come on you are 14 now, you don’t play with mini doll house anymore.”
Jenna gave a loud sigh of despair. “It is for collection, mom.”
“Seriously…”
“I might even sell it to collectors for good money,” Jenna said with a smirk of a thousand bucks selling one Polly Pocket.
“Honey, you are 14. Should there be something more interesting to do?”
“Like clubbing? I think it should be something I look forward to,” Jenna enthused.
“No. You are under 18,” mom snapped.
“I was being advised to put on lots of makeup, to look like 18. It worked for some of my friends. The guards won’t check on you unless you look suspicious and young.”
“Okay, okay.” Her mother dug into her so-expensive Hermés clutch for her purse, took out a couple of $100 notes, and gave them to Jenna, not forgetting to show her a really awful looking, sour face.
Jenna gladly accepted them of course, with her lips stretched broadly.
“Your father should never find out about it,” her mother warned. “And no clubbing before you turn 18.”
Jenna’s smile could last for three days. She had extra pocket money to spend, and it was easy. All she did was giving mom a little pressure. “Not to worry, ma’am. I can wait till I turn 18 for a rave-up in a club.”
Her mother was relieved, knowing her secret is safe now. Just as she was about to go up to her room, her son appeared out of nowhere, and stood in front of her.
“You haven’t heard anything, have you?” She asked her son, bearing a sanguine expectation that he hadn’t ben eavesdropping to the fullest level.
“You smell like alcohol,” he intoned, and courteously presented his empty hands, grinning ear to ear.
“Damn it,” mom cussed under her breath, pulled out few more notes from her purse.
“Thanks!” Jenna’s brother took the money, smiled sweetly and went away, swaying his hips from side to side. He then quickly disappeared into the kitchen, and gave his sister a silent hi five. The two giggled and counted the lolly they’ve earned.
“Hey I have got five hundred, what about you?” Jenna asked her brother, Ethan.
“I only have three hundred. That’s not fair,” Ethan complained.
Jenna handed a note to him. “There, now we have four hundred each. What are you going to buy?”
“Hey, why don’t we get ourselves lots of sweets and crisps, and play Monopoly tomorrow night?” Ethan suggested. His eyes were already revealing the excitement of money lay out plans. “We also need to store up some crackers, frozen pizzas, and some chips.”
Jenna tucked the money into her pocket. “Sounds good to me. I’ll get me some Doritos, with sour cream. Yum yum!”
The sulky Queen of Hearts stomped off to the bathroom to get herself scrubbed (before going to her bedroom so that dad doesn’t find out). Jenna turned to the right adjoining wing, to her own room. Two servants opened the doors for her. They were not just any doors; they were gigantic glassed medieval doors, with impressive iron grills patterns. There were servants everywhere in the house because it was ridiculously big, and gorgeous, with the most outstanding architecture design. It was the biggest house in Canary Islands, where the sea is always blue, and the sun is always warm. The King of Hearts was so rich that he made sure that his daughter has the right wing, and his son has the left wing. That means, Jeans had a whole wing just for herself – her very own living room, KTV room, mini home bar, kitchenette, Jacuzzi and a really fancy library.
Jenna had her own miniature garden too. There was a long arbour twined with flowers, and a fountain just next to it. The garden was so lovely that somehow she ended having a birthday party there. Dad had hired a band to perform on her big day. Jenna and the guests sat on the turquoise-cushioned chairs and enjoyed the music. There was Uncle Jon, some of her cousins, dad’s friends, mom’s friends, her friends… it was simply magical. The sound of the music was so enchanting until a trumpeter made the most contradicting sound with his trumpet. It shocked Jenna.
It woke Jenna up.
“Bloody alarm…” Jenna grunted as she turned off the alarm, and then bounced back to her bed. Sometimes you have a really good dream you just want to continue with it even when you are awake. That was just Jenna was about to do. But not today, she had to go to work.
“That was a good dream, for heaven’s sake,” she moaned grouchily. “Bloody alarm...”
Life was nothing like in the dream for Jenna. Well, part of the dream was real – her mother, her brother, and the secret about mom went partying were real. Except that, mom didn’t give them that much money for keeping the secret. She gave them twenty bucks each, as she recalled. By the way, twenty bucks was quite a lot before depreciation. There was no fancy birthday party, no big house, no rich daddy nor servants.
She was just an ordinary Jane, earning her living working in a flower shop nine to five in a small place in England.
The flower shop was owned by her aunt, Edna. First it was Edna who wanted a favour from Jenna to mind the shop for her while she travels to some exotic countries with her new lover. Since then Jenna was stuck here for six months already, because Aunt Edna had not planned to come back, yet. But that was fine with Jenna. The current place she was staying is much smaller compared to big cities, but it gives her a kind of homely sense of belonging.
Jenna opened her mouth wide for a long yawn and did some stretching. Getting up in the morning can be hard sometimes, especially when you have fallen asleep accidentally while reading a good book, then dreamed a good dream. She now remembered she was a reading a book before fallen asleep.
She flipped the comforter, lifted the pillow, and searched under the bed. The book must have mysteriously gone missing. Nevermind, the search could be continued later on. Now it is time to get ready, she didn’t want to be late, again. Clumsily, she moved over to her dressing table to brush her hair. The dream was still playing in her mind. What would it be like to be rich? It would definitely be super cool. Imagine having your own Jacuzzi, library, garden…
“That was a freaking good dream,” she said again, sighed weakly, then swivelled her head and looked out of the window. Her shoulders slumped heavily, making her hunched slightly. It was another rainy day. Light drizzle in the early morning is such a day wrecker, knowing that you need to walk all the day to work, wet. She gets ticked off when her shoes absorb the rainwater.
It must be the weather that made her miss the holiday spent in Canary Island. She remembered that she and her brother were so excited when they got off the plane. The place was remarkably beautiful. It was sunny, and warm; and one extraordinary thing about the sun is that it has the power to make people feel happy. See, everybody is smiley and friendly in tropical countries. It reminds you of beautiful, tanned ladies dancing in hula skirt and colourful leis, and coconut drinks, and pineapples…
Snap! Now back to dullsville life.
Staying here wasn’t so bad. Jenna didn’t mind the weather turned cold. After all, Christmas should be cold, and snowing; add a snowman, and a real evergreen tree to the list. Hot Christmas just feels weird for her.
Okay Jenna, time to go and don’t ever forget your umbrella, she said to herself and shoved her pink, foldable umbrella into her bag.
Another ordinary day for an ordinary Jenna.
