CHAPTER 5 - THE DINING

Madame Clem's dining room was more like a big hall with a row of twelve chairs well arranged side by side at the big table and at the end there was a chair much bigger than every other chair in the room, that should be where Madame sits! A little flower pot sat on the table and also well arranged plates and cutlery for each person. I was the first person who was at the dining waiting for others, soon other children (girls actually, we were only girls in Madame Clem's house) walked into the room in a single file like there were in some kind of military academy, everyone was seated and a woman more older than Madame Clem came out of a room close to the dining with our meal in a tray, she placed it on the table and went back into the same room she came out from which i presume should be the kitchen. Nobody touched their food until Madame Clem finally came into the room and the other children stood up together i did the same because it seemed it was some kind of tradition, she sat first before we all sat and ate quietly. Few minutes later our plates were cleared and the woman came back a minute later to clear our dishes.

"Today we have a new person in our midst" she said to everyone and pointed at me and they all clapped "tell everyone your name dear" she urged me.... "I'm Diane" I said to everyone "welcome Diane!" they all echoed, "back upstairs children, we have work to do tomorrow" she said and all the children stood up and in a single file started going up the stairs for dinner "that doesn't include you Diane, follow me" she said and i followed her to her room

"Do you know why you were brought here Diane?" she asked, "well my Aunt mentioned something about working for you ma'am" I replied, "good, so i run a cake shop in town, i do the baking, your job here is to sell every piece of cupcake you take to the shop to sell " she said in a very weird tone, an authoritative tone!, she emphasized on selling off every piece of cake "they're eleven girls in this house and you adding to them makes it twelve, Kim and Linda are the oldest here so they're your seniors, they'll direct al the orders i give to you and the rest, so i won't tolerate any form of insubordination" " yes ma'am" I replied "your uniform will be given to you tomorrow and don't be late i hate it! " " okay ma'am", " so you can go back to your room and get some sleep", she said and i stood up and thanked her, as about walking out the door " one more thing, no lurking around my house, spend your free time wisely" she said and patted my back and i walked out of the room going back to my room. For some reason i stopped and i decided to go to the kitchen and as i entered i saw the woman washing the dishes, i wanted to speak to her and ask some questions about Madame Clem or the house at least she could know something or maybe i could get a clue related to that letter because the third line of that letter said 'I was taken from comfort to die' i have in my little knowledge realized my comfort zone and the place i have been brought to, to die.... but i wasn't sure yet i wasn't jumping into conclusion yet, as i was about talking to the woman i remembered Madame Clem's last instructions, and i turned back and head for my room "I would talk to her another day maybe not today, i don't wanna start breaking rules" I whispered to my self "you should be in bed by now, why are you still here, didn't she tell you about the rule of not lurking around" the woman said finally noticing me with her hands on her thighs "oh well ma'am, i was in Madame's room a while ago and clearly stated all there is for me to know, sorry, I'm going to bed now" i said to her, "oh you're the new one, oh when will she stop using children" the woman muttered but i couldn't hear the last part of her words " pardon ma'am?" "nothing, child just go to bed" she said and went back into the kitchen to finish her dishes "Goodnight ma'am" I said to her and i went up the stairs straight to my room. I locked the door and i was feeling all happy all of a sudden because tomorrow i will be doing something new, selling cupcakes shouldn't be that hard whereas i loved anything that sounds like work to me i found it fun. I'M TOTALLY GONNA NAIL THIS BAKING JOB!, I thought but little did i know i was gonna have a real bad day....