Page 15 of Mama Si's Paradise

Doesn’t matter,I told myself, and when she stood up, so did I. When she offered me her gloved hand, I reached out for it, too.

“Welcome to my Paradise, Fall Doll,” Mama Si whispered. “May you feel the magic all the way to your bones.”

And that washow I officially became one of Mama Si’s dolls.

Of course, I didn’t know it yet, but I’d find out soon enough. The most important thing is thatthatwas where my adventure truly began.

“Assa,what do you say we show Fall Doll here her room, huh?” Mama Si said to her friend, and Assa gave me a knowing smile.

“Any time, Mama Si. The room is ready,” she solemnly said.

“Splendid!” She put my hand in her left one, and she didn’t let go of me as she came around the desk again. No, shewalked with me all the way to the door and out, and it felt so fucking strange to be walking hand in hand with an older woman. She held onto it like shecherishedit—in both hers, squeezing me every few steps, like she loved me. Like she wanted me to stick to her side forever.

No idea what it was about her touch that put me so at ease but right now I appreciated it.

“There’ll be time for exploration. Right now, we need to focus on unlocking the new Fall,” Mama Si said as we walked down the hallway with windows on one side, and doors and large paintings on the other. Crystal chandeliers dotted the ceiling. The floor was set in a rich rose-colored carpet, so thick my feet sank in it with each step. “And you shouldn’t have taken that awful bag with you—I told you not to bring anything with.”

“Those are just my—”essentials,I was going to say, my toothbrush and my panties, a comb and a change of clothes, and my books.

“Assa will take care of it. Please give it to her, doll.” The tone of her voice implied that it wasn’t a request—it was an order.

“I have a few books in there. And let me just get my phone.” I grabbed it from the side pocket, but…

“We’ll put your books in your room, but no phones allowed in the Paradise, I’m afraid,” Mama Si said. “My dolls do not wither behind a screen all day, dear. We have a theatre if you want to watch movies and TVs if you want to listen to music or watch news, but we don’t do smartphones.”

No smartphones.

Assa was suddenly by my side, looking down at my bag, silently asking me to hand it over. I let my phone slip back into the side pocket and gave it to her, almost like I was fucking hypnotized. I didn’t really need that stupid phone anyway. It was full of pictures of Brandon and pianos and birds.

“The east wing of the second floor is where your room is. Please try to remember that,” Mama Si was saying as she led me up a set of stairs at the end of the hallway, not the main ones I’d taken to get to her office this morning.

“What about the—”bathroom,I wanted to say, but again, she wouldn’t let me speak.

“Everything else will be shown to you during the day—don’t you worry your pretty little head about it.”

Well, if she said so…

“Here we are.”

The hallway was just as wide as the one downstairs, except there were no windows here, no natural light streaming through from the outside, just lamps mounted on the walls, chandeliers hanging on the ceiling, and white wooden doors with golden doorknobs spread out on both sides.

Mama Si stopped me at the third door left, let go of my hand, and pushed it open.

The moment she wasn’t touching me anymore, I felt the cold currents coming my way—or maybe it was just because of the door she opened?

Possibly.Probably.

“Come on in!” she sang, and I did, as if lured in by a fucking siren. Assa was right behind me, and when I froze two steps into the room, she almost slammed onto my back.

It was out of this world.

“Well? What do you think?” Mama Si asked me, hands folded in front of her, smiling sneakily because she knew exactly what I thought.

What else was there to think about the size of it alone—twice as big as the one-bedroom apartment I’d lived in with Brandon until yesterday. The colors, pale pinks and purples and yellows masterfully mixed together, from the yellowish transparent duvet on the bed to the fluffy pink rugs and the purple flowers painted on the walls. Most importantly, twosets of big windows were opposite the door, looking out at the ocean.

Looking out at the fucking ocean.

Too much,my mind screamed at me.

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