Emily had her gaze settled outside the car window as the scenery blurred past.
It felt as though she was experiencing a rebirth, yet the weight of the past twenty-four hours clung stubbornly to her thoughts, refusing to loosen their grip.
The day had begun innocently calm and peaceful with the sun rising quite early. It was Monday, the first working day of the week.
Emily had risen with her usual zeal and vigor, determined to start strong. She needed to get to work on time; tardiness wasn't something she tolerated from herself.
She quickly went through her morning routine; a quick bathe, get dressed but his as she began to button her blouse the door to her room burst open.
Her mother stepped into her room with Ruby, her sister, trailing close behind.
"Emily, concerning the money?" Pauline began.
"I don't have any at the moment," Emily clipped, her voice flat.
As a salary earner, she worked with a tight budget, stretching every cent to meet the family's endless demands. Still, that one response was all it took for Pauline to lose her temper
"Emily, this request isn't too much to ask from you, aren't you working?!" Pauline's cold voice lashed through the small apartment like a whip.
"Yes, I am working but you know best what happens to the money. It is not like I spend from the money I earn." Emily retorted while grabbing her essentials into her handbag.
Pauline laughed hysterically. "Emily, do you mean to say you aren't spending the money you earn?"
Emily let out an exasperated sigh. "Mom, do I have to give the breakdown of my payslip so you can tell me how much I spend from it?"
Pauline's body trembled with anger. "Aren't you being selfish? Ruby needs to start school, Emily! Are you expecting me to perform miracles if you don't bring the money?!" Pauline queried.
Emily scoffed, a bitter smirk tugging at her lips. "You can't perform miracles when I am the miracle worker."
"Emily, don't push it, besides this family has done enough for you already and you should be grateful and do this little thing," Pauline shrieked.
Emily's hands paused briefly before continuing with what she was doing, Pauline's accusing glare boring into her as though she would eat her whole if she didn't provide the money.
Emily found it ridiculous for her mom to always say they had done enough for her to be grateful. Taking a glance back, she couldn't help but wonder how much they had really done for her.
Across the room, Ruby sat calmly on the worn-out couch, her lips curled into a mocking smirk, a smile of one who had won the game effortlessly. A look Emily had become conversant with over the years.
Looking at the mother and daughter duo, Emily felt her blood boil, she slowly stood up meeting her mother's intense glare with a calm stare.
"Yes, you are right, you adopted me but at the same time I have drained my sweat and blood for the family that I have to wonder…are you vampires?" She questioned coldly.
Emily couldn't understand it, she had been adopted by the Winters family with no knowledge of who she was or how she ended up in the orphanage, but right from her younger age, she had been the one catering for herself.
As a little girl, she roamed the streets, begged for alms from strangers. As a teenager, she took on odd jobs, anything that paid a coin. She provided not just for herself but for this very family.
The Winters had only provided her with a roof over her head. In the neighbourhood, Pauline Winters' reputation hadn't been great and her husband Philip Winters, also doubling as her adoptive father, wasn't left out.
From the rising of the sun till the setting, he had only one thought that kept him going…gambling and smoking.
His gambling escapades weren't one that started out randomly but had turned inherent, and now he was already addicted.
Several times, he had borrowed massively to fund his gambling. At one time, he had ended up borrowing not just from ordinary citizens but from loan sharks.
Some days back, the loan sharks had come for his gambling debt and Emily had been called out from the office to pay off the debt.
Ruby, her foster sister, was anything but good. A sex and drug addict, only good at spending money, but more painful was the fact it wasn't her money but Emily's hard-earned money.
Even at this moment, Emily had a feeling that the idea of getting admitted into school might be another plot of the Winters to get money from her, to milk her dry.
"Aren't you the only one that had the opportunity of working in such a big company?" Pauline continued, her voice thick with frustration. "Or do you expect me to break my back at my age? You should be grateful I even raised you and this is the least you can do!"
Emily, having secured all her essentials into her bag, smiled lightly, "The least she could do." She murmured to herself.
As if she hadn't spent years doing everything in her power to make life easier for them. As if she wasn't already working a full-time job in the morning and picking up odd jobs at night just to keep food on the table.
"Mom," Ruby interjected sweetly, tucking her hair behind her ear. "It's okay, my sister may have other pressing needs that are more important than my education."
Emily's head snapped toward her, anger flaring in her chest as she glared at her, Ruby immediately shrank her head.
Though she had always triumphed over Emily, she knew it was because of her parents. She sometimes marvelled at how Emily was so exceptional in everything she did and this idea she wasn't reconciled with.
Ruby looked innocent, but Emily knew better. The fake hurt in her voice, the mocking understanding, an act she had performed through the years and it had become so perfect that Emily never ceased to wonder why she hadn't secured a role in a blockbuster movie.
At least that would have improved the standard of living than when one bore the total burden.
"Emily, are you serious?!" Pauline hissed. "You don't want your sister to further her education?!"
Emily shook her head lightly, it seemed this matter wasn't going to end anytime soon. But then she was already running late for work.
Taking a calm breath, she inclined her head meeting Ruby's faux fearful gaze head-on. "Did I stop her from going to school? Or must I pay for her education, did she pay mine?" She questioned coldly.
Emily felt her blood boiling. What exactly did they think she was? A person without emotion? A robot? Or an alien? Or was she only worth trampling on?
"Emily, you dare to talk to me that way again and I will never finish with you this morning," Pauline shrieked.
Emily wouldn't dare her because she could make it come true, besides she had nothing to lose.
But for her, it would never be the same. She couldn't spend the rest of the day proving who was right or wrong.
Emily forced herself to take a few calming breaths, she was beginning to feel her head aching. She was tired. Exhausted, even. But she knew better than to fight back. It never worked.
She glanced at the clock. 7:30 AM. Her stomach dropped, she was late again today.
It seemed to have become a habit of Pauline to disrupt her morning routine with her nagging attitude for the past few weeks, especially on Mondays, and she was beginning to feel she was doing it on purpose.
Reaching into her bag, she pulled out what little money she had left and placed it on the table. "This is all I have until next payday," she said flatly.
Pauline snatched the bills without hesitation, her anger instantly dissolving now that she had won. Ruby's smirk grew deeper.
Without another word, Emily grabbed her coat, not sparing them any glance, she bolted out of the door. The warm air patted her face lightly.
Emily's stomach growled lightly as she hurried toward the subway station, the morning's chaos had left her no time for breakfast.
Spotting a small eatery near the entrance of the community, she darted inside, making a quick purchase of a burger and a bottle of Coke. Clutching her bag, files, and the meal, she noticed the bus about to depart.
Heart racing, Emily dashed toward the bus, weaving through the throng of commuters. In her haste, she was pushed and the burger slipped from her grasp, falling to the ground.
Before she could react, it was trampled by the rushing crowd, reduced to an unrecognizable mess.
Emily felt a surge of frustration as she stared at the flattened burger on the pavement. Her one chance at breakfast, totally gone, trampled under rushing feet.
It seemed even the day was against her.
"I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to…" a young lady gasped beside her, eyes wide with regret.
Emily exhaled sharply, biting back the urge to snap. It wasn't the girl's fault. Just another piece of bad luck. With a forced sigh, she waved it off. "It's fine."
Ignoring her hunger and the loss of her breakfast, Emily pressed on, her files tight in her grip as she boarded the already departing bus, squeezing into a corner.
She had hoped to eat on the bus, but with the burger gone, she downed the drink to cushion her stomach.
It seemed this would be one of those days when water was even a luxury. She mused.
Emily leaned her head against the cold glass, watching the city blur past with one thought in her heart: "Late again."