Chapter 44: A Peculiar Girl

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When I was already back home, I found my daughter talking with two girls. There was Anna and… a mysterious girl I had never seen before. Her hair was long and blonde, almost as bright as gold. And her eyes shone brightly as if she was filled with life. The moment I looked at her I felt a bit overwhelmed, there was a whole aura around her that really made her stand out, and she was also quite dignified. My daughter always only had Anna as her friend, so finding this new girl here was a whole new surprise for me. She did say she was bringing a new friend and all… but I never expected her to have more friends!

Ah, maybe I was failing as a mother for believing such a thing to begin with? Of course she had other friends! I was just being an idiot there by thinking otherwise. I-I just don’t know much about her in that regard, but I should really try to greet the new girl, she’s very pretty so I was stunned for a bit, but I shouldn’t be rude with her any longer and greet her.

“Ah, hello!”

“Oh, Miss Elayne!”

“Hi.”

“Is this your mother, Elena?”

The girl quickly asked Elena if I was her mother- Well, of course I am her mother!

“Yeah, she’s my mom,” said Elena.

 The girl's eyes shone brightly, she quickly stood up and moved in front of me then greeted me like a lady.

“It is a pleasure to meet you, Lady Elayne. I am Elisa Goldberg, your daughter’s new friend… Ah~! You’re such a beautiful and graceful woman! I can see why your daughter is also quite stunning!”

The girl held my hands and looked at me fascinatedly, that a bit of a chill went down my spine. She was a bit weird. But I decided to be gentle with her because she was my daughter’s friend. Although… Goldberg? Is that her surname? I have heard about that before… But from where?

“I-I see. Nice to meet you, Elisa, dear… Erm, are you my daughter’s new friend then? She has only been with Anna for years now, so I am quite surprised–and happy–that she got a new friend! You seem… to be a lovely girl! I hope we can get along,” I said with a smile.

Elisa seemed to grow more and more excited, as she nodded happily, each time her beautiful hair moved around, sparkles of gold would come out. I didn’t know if that was just the reflection of the light in her golden hair or if she really poured gold into her head.

“Yes, yes! I will gladly become your daughter’s greatest friend! Please, if you need ANYTHING, just ask away! A-As the mother of Elena, I am willing to do anything for you, Miss Elayne… I will try to earn your approval!” she said.

“A-Anything?” I wondered while tilting my head. Wasn’t she a bit too crazy? Was she missing a few screws? Then again, Anna was also a bit wacky. That’s just how teens are nowadays anyways, so I shouldn’t really overthink it. Also, what did she mean by approval? Approval of being my daughter’s friend? I don’t think she needs my approval for that…

“Yes! Anything!” she said. “I am part of the prestigious Goldberg Family, but I am pretty sure you already know about it, hehe!” Elisa laughed mischievously as if belonging to a certain family somehow made her very important, but although the name reminded me of something, I couldn’t remember that something.

“I-I really don’t remember… C-Can you refresh my memory?” I wondered. “A-Are you a celebrity of some sort, dear?”

“W-Well, you could say that, heheh… The Goldberg Family owns several big companies! One of those includes most of these markets and mini markets spread around town.” said Elisa with a smile. “We also–”

“Just stop it! You don’t have to tell every new person you meet all about your family…” said Anna. Elisa quickly looked angrily at Anna.

“Why do you get in between my bonding time with my mother-in-law?!” Elisa roared.

“Huh? M-Mother-in-law?” I wondered.

“A-Ah! N-Never mind that!” said Elisa. “I-I think I just… Cough... I think I am a bit… Err, just… Don’t mind it.” Elisa suddenly got nervous out of nowhere, as Elena watched the scene expressionlessly and in silence. I could tell that my daughter was not really a talkative one even between her friends.

“Miss Elayne, she's kind of a weirdo!” said Anna. “I would just throw her out if I were you.”

“What? No! We are all going to eat together, Anna, don’t be rude. Also this is my house so I decided the rules here,” I said. “I will go take a quick bath and come back to make dinner so do you girls think you can wait a bit? Ah, I brought some little snacks from work, Mark gave them to me thinking about Elena.”

I quickly took out some snacks that Mark gave me, they were small bags of potato chips, a bag of colorful cookies, and a small soda. It wasn’t much but it was good enough. I really didn’t want to give my daughter more sweets and snacks than she already ate. I was actually going to save these for myself, but I decided to just share it with the girls instead.

“Oh, thanks!” said Anna. “Take your time, don’t worry!” Anna smiled and quickly began to open a bag of potatoes while Elena quickly began snacking on them.

“T-These snacks are quite… low quality…” said Elisa. “There wasn’t anything more decent?”

“Huh? They’re snacks, are there higher quality ones? Also they are gifts, dear, don’t be disrespectful.” I said, reprimanding Elisa.

“R-Right! Sorry!” She apologized quickly. “It wasn’t my intention to upset you…”

“Well, don’t worry. I’ll go take a bath now.”

I quickly made my way into my room, as I jumped over my bed to rest for a bit, I was so tired… I felt like my entire body was about to crumble apart, and now I had to make dinner for three girls, what a pain… Ah, I cannot really act like this though, I had to give them a nice meal and act nicely to my daughter’s friends, but I really hope they don’t come to eat dinner every day…

I fought against the urge of staying in bed and lazing around, and jumped out of bed, walking towards my bathroom, and undressing myself. I was all covered in sweat, but the warm water cleansed it all, with a lot of soap. In just ten minutes, I was already done.

“Phew… That felt so nice…”

The warm water really eased my muscles, it made me feel like a lot of the tension was gone from them, which made me rather relaxed, which… ended up making me feel a bit sleepy. That wasn’t good! I washed my face with cold water until some of that sleepiness disappeared, and then I put on some more carefree clothes, although not my pajamas yet.

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When I walked outside, I found the three girls were not there any longer. I went to Elena’s room and found Elena lazing over her bed while eating snacks with Elisa giving her a foot massage for some reason, and Anna seemed angry over it, all while Elena was expressionlessly looking at the TV… W-What was going on in here? Wasn't Elisa a rich girl? Why was she giving my daughter a foot massage?!

“Ahh~ Elena’s feet are so beautiful and perfect… How does my massage feel like? I have been practicing with my own feet for a while!” said Elisa.

“It feels nice… But are you really okay with this?” Wondered Elena while feeling a bit concerned.

“Yes, absolutely!” said Elisa with an almost enamored look.

“S-Stop doing something so gross!” said Anna. “C-Come on, play some game with us instead of doing something so weird.”

“Weird?! It is important to massage your feet every day to keep yourself in top condition! There is NOTHING wrong with it!” said Elisa.

“You two, stop fighting, let’s play Mario Party,” said Elena.

“…Mario Party? Isn’t that one of those old games nobody plays now?” asked Elisa.

“Yes, my dad used to play it a lot with me and mom, it is our favorite co-op game, although it is more competitive actually,” said Elena.

“That dumb looking game?” Wondered Elisa, raising an eyebrow as she looked into the game title screen, Anna quickly distributed joysticks for the girls to play.

It was at this point that they finally noticed me.

“A-Ah! Lady Elayne, do you need something?” Elisa asked.

“Oh, no, I was just… Erm, checking you girls out…” I said with a nervous smile. I was impressed that my daughter takes being with these chaotic girls so easily. She was really like a buddha, so calm and composed, I think she had quite endless patience.

“I’ll go make dinner for now. Do you girls like Paella?” I wondered.

“Paella? Oh! That delicious food with rice, shrimp, fish, and curry?” asked Elisa.

“I like it, please make it,” said Elena.

“I don’t know what that is but it sounds good based on what Elisa said, kind of reminds me of fried rice,” said Anna.

“It is kind of like that, but not really! Well, I’ll go prepare it for you girls,” I said.

I walked back to my kitchen and quickly started to prepare some food. I had just all the right ingredients for the Paella, so it wouldn’t be hard to get it done quickly.

Paella was a dish that originated from Spain, but my grandmother who came from Mexico knew how to make a very simple and quick one. Although it did require some previously prepared broth, which I’d have to make quickly by using dried broth cubes that they sell at the market.

The ingredients were all available at home. I used red, green, and yellow pepper, some onions, garlic, and carrots, and cut them into tiny pieces. After that, I fried them at low heat with some olive oil, until they’re nicely made and fragrant.

After preparing a basic veggie broth using the dried broth cube, I quickly added the broth into the soft fried veggies, and then also added some squid rings I had frozen in the freezer, alongside some chopped pieces of salmon meat that I had also unfroze from the freezer. All of this was coupled with some shrimps and clams. I also added salt, pepper, and other spices, including oregano and yellow curry, which gives the preparation its distinctive yellow color.

I left everything boiling for a while to make a nice combination of flavors, and after ten minutes of closing the pan with a glass lid, I added one and a half cups of short grain rice and then closed it again. The rice was going to boil down with the broth and the other ingredients in another ten to fifteen minutes at mid heat.

While that was being prepared, I decided to prepare the entire table with the dishes on top, and also made some lettuce and tomato salad… I also drank a little glass of wine which I sneaked around. And that was it! It was pretty simple, wasn't it? Nothing too overly complicated.

After waiting fifteen minutes while checking my phone, the Paella was done and when I opened the lid, a beautiful sight greeted me, fluffy yellow rice covered in seafood goodness. The fragrant smell of all the ingredients mixed together was so enticing that I couldn’t help but drool.

The girls were soon brought by the smell and all three of them sat down around the table, and I quickly decided to serve them the food.

“W-Wow, this is amazing… The smell is so nice…” said Anna.

“Hm… I’ve missed this,” said Elena.

“T-This Paella…! Oohhh?! Miss Elayne, you’re an incredible cook!” said Elisa.

“Oh my, aren’t you too nice with me? I am sure that you’ve eaten better things.” I laughed.

“T-That’s not true… This food is really made with love, I can even taste it!” said Elisa.

She was quite the peculiar girl.

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