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Chapter 4 I became one of the servants

  • Isabella's p.o.v;
  • Thursday Eve,
  • "Did y'all finish the assignment for Ms Devlin?" Evelyn asked us while we were on the way to the cafeteria.
  • "We're going to a cafeteria, not a library, so think about only food right now, okay?" Noah shuts her up while talking with Liam who's walking beside him.
  • Sophia and I giggled a little while walking beside them.
  • "Bella, Why did you space out a lot in Mr Chavez's class?" Sophia raised a question for me.
  • "Is there any explanation not to space out? Come on, it's Mr Chavez. Who'll give attention to his tiring lecture? Not everyone is like Evelyn to be conscious in his class. Am I right, Liam?"
  • Liam responded to me by giving thumbs up saying, "Yeah! Absolutely!"
  • Sophia, "Liam! I'm talking with her. Don't intervene with us. You can flirt with her later."
  • Noah patted him on Liam's shoulder saying, "Dude! Let's head first and check out today's lunch."
  • "B-But I wanna walk with Bella…"
  • Noah dragged Liam with him to the cafeteria while Liam was looking at me worriedly.
  • I waved at Liam while smiling widely.
  • "Back to what I asked, don't try to divert the question. What happened?" Sophia asked me.
  • "Why are you asking me again and again? What do you want to know"
  • "Because the way you're acting lately is not you."
  • Among my friends, Sophia and I are so close that we could sense each other's feelings easily so it'll be difficult to hide the contract from her. But I had to do it anyway and came up with a lie, "Ah! It's because I didn't even start Ms Devlin's assignment and the deadline is tomorrow. I don't know what I'm going to do with the assignment."
  • She insisted over the assignment asking, "Is it really because of an assignment?"
  • "Yeah, you know how stupid I am when it comes to assignments, right? The browsing, searching, compiling, writing, Urgh! I think I should head to the library after school to get some framework for the assignment."
  • "Do ya need my help?" Evelyn came forward and asked me.
  • "I-It's fine. I'll do it myself. It's better to do it alone than with a friend. And you know how it will turn out if we start working together. We'll end up in a cafe or a karaoke place instead of being in the library." And laughed.
  • "That's right… but If you want my help, you can come over to my place."
  • I hugged Evelyn and thanked her, "Got it!"
  • "Bella…"
  • Before Sophia finished, I dragged Sophia and Evelyn to the cafeteria saying, "Enough with the talking already. I feel so hungry so let's eat first."
  • In the last hour of the class,
  • I looked at my watch to check the time. It's 2.30 p.m. There are still thirty-minute more for this class to end. I failed to memorize the time they asked me to come to Mr Martinez's house. Should I go there after school or should I go to my house first? I couldn't concentrate in my class since the contract thing was running in my mind again and again. Mr Martinez wanted to hold my hands? But why my hand?
  • I let out a heavy sigh.
  • Someone poked me. I turned to see who it was. It's Liam.
  • Liam whispered, "What happened?"
  • I shook my head and whispered back, "Feeling a little sleepy."
  • He gave a nod and whispered, "Keep your bag in front of you and sleep. I'll keep you covered." made a smile and went back to listening to the class.
  • The class ended.
  • I sneaked away from my friends and came out of the school, the car was standing majestically in front of the school. This was my first time seeing an expensive vehicle that I'm seeing in person in broad daylight.
  • I slowly walked to the car and got in and bent on my seat and said, "Quick! Start the car!"
  • "Yes, mam." The driver replied.
  • After passing the school, I settled comfortably and said to the driver, "Stop the car."
  • "Do you need something, mam?"
  • "Look out! Can you see the candy shop on the other side of the road?"
  • "Do you want something from the sweet store, mam?"
  • "Nah! Listen to me first, Don't wait for me in front of the school hereafter. You can park your car here from now on and I'll walk here."
  • "Yes, mam."
  • "By the way, Why are you calling me mam? I'm way younger than you. Just call me Bella or Bell. And what's yours?"
  • "Mateo, mam."
  • "Cool name, Mateo."
  • "Thank you, Mam."
  • We came to Mr Martinez's house.
  • Before the driver opened the car door for me, I got out by myself quickly.
  • "Gotcha!" And laughed at him.
  • I walked to the house. The door was wide open. I walked through the door and stepped into the house.
  • Someone guided me. I followed that person while looking around the place in awe. I wonder how much this house would cost if we sell it.
  • The guy who was walking in front of me opened a door to a room and said, "Please wait inside mam. Mr Johnson will accompany you soon."
  • After I gave a nod, he left.
  • I walked around the room and checked the place. It looks like an elite room in one of the expensive hotels which I've seen on television. The wall was coloured in white with golden stripes, the furniture bestowed a little historical vibe, whereas the bed which is placed in the interior of the room was massive and splendid. I caught a terrace in the room. I came out of the room and stood on the patio. My eyes flinched from sudden exposure to the bright sun and blinked a little to get adjusted. The view was incredible, different from how I saw the house from the front. I think it's the view behind the house. There was a big yard having green covers with many flower patches here and there. There was a garden right in the middle of the yard having colourful flowers with tall trees as their fence.
  • "Admiring the beauty of the garden?"
  • I turned in the direction of the voice. It's Noah, assistant to Mr Martinez.
  • I came back into the room while asking, "It's beautiful."
  • "Because it was designed by Mr Martinez."
  • "You mean… He designed it by himself??"
  • He gave a nod and continued, "Yes. And, You are supposed to be here at six, not four."
  • "My bad. I forgot the timing. By the way, Where's Mr Martinez?"
  • "He's in his office."
  • "Okay, then I'll wait here till he comes." Sat on the bed. "Wow! So soft!"
  • "There'll be a maid working in the room opposite yours. Ask her if you need anything."
  • "My room?"
  • "Yes, you can stay here till the contract ends." And tried to leave.
  • "Where are you going?"
  • "I have a job to do."
  • "What do you do in this house? How much do you get? Will you be here all the time or come at any specific time? What about Martinez? How is he..."
  • While I was asking him, he walked out of the room like he was dumb.
  • I ignored him and fell over on the bed. Wow. So comfy. After earning money, I'm going to buy a bed exactly like this. When I was lying on the bed, I looked at the ceiling, it looked like there was detailed artwork done on it. The lights on the ceiling looked like it was illuminated for a festival. My stomach grumbled. I remembered that I didn't eat anything after lunch. If I went home, I would have cooked and eaten instant noodles. Wait. Noah said that there was a maid working across the room. Will she be still there?
  • I got out of the bed and walked to the door and looked on the other side. I couldn't see anyone in the hallway.
  • "Are you looking for me, mam?"
  • I was startled by the maid. She looked so young.
  • I patted my chest while saying, "Y-You scared me."
  • She started pleading, "I'm sorry, mam. I won't repeat this hereafter." And bowed to me.
  • "H-Hey, it's fine. Raise and please don't do that again."
  • "Yes, mam. Do you want me to bring something to you, mam?"
  • "Yeah, I feel a little hungry. Do you have something to eat?"
  • "I'll convey the message to the kitchen, if you said what food you wanted to eat, I'll inform it too, Mam."
  • "N-No. I'm fine with eating whatever is cooked beforehand or eating leftovers too."
  • "But mam..."
  • "Don't cook anything for me. Wait. I'll just go down to the kitchen by myself and check what's there to eat."
  • "But mam..."
  • I closed the door behind me and asked the maid to accompany me since I'm not familiar with this place yet. The maid agreed and walked beside me.
  • While we were walking, I asked her,
  • "I'm Isabella. What's your name?"
  • She gave a surprised look on her face and didn't answer my question. I shook her and asked again.
  • She said, "I-It's Rose Holander, mam."
  • "You got a cool name. You can call me Bella, Can I call you Rose?"
  • "I'll be honoured, mam."
  • "How old are you? You look so young?"
  • "I'm twenty-six years old, mam."
  • "How long are you working here, Rose?"
  • "Three years, mam."
  • "Why is everyone calling me 'mam' 'mam' 'mam'? Call me Bella or Bell or Isabella."
  • "You are a guest of Mr Martinez. We are not supposed to call you by your first name, mam."
  • "Really? Then I'll make everyone call me by the first name soon."
  • We are in the kitchen already.
  • One of the guys who was cooking in the kitchen, stopped his work and ran towards me and asked, "I almost finished preparing food for you, mam. Why are you down here?"
  • "What are you cooking? Don't you have any prepared food in the morning?"
  • "T-that..."
  • "I'm fine with eating leftovers. You don't have to worry about that."
  • "We're not supposed to treat our guests in that way, mam."
  • "Okay. But don't cook many foods for me."
  • He gave a nod and went behind the counter.
  • I walked over to a table beside the counter and sat.
  • Rose, "Mam, this is for servants. Come with me, I'll guide you to the dining table where guests will eat."
  • "I'm fine here. And... Did you eat?"
  • "Yes, mam. Thank you for asking me."
  • "Rose, I'm younger than you. Don't treat me like I'm an old soul."
  • Rose smiled a bit and said, "I'm sorry mam."
  • "Ah! Again with the 'mam' thing."
  • The food was placed before me while I was talking to Rose.
  • The cook opened the cloche for me.
  • "Wow! It looks so beautiful." After I took a bite, "It's delicious. Yummy. It melts inside my mouth. It's been a long time since I ate food like this." I looked at the chef and said, "You're so good. I love your food very much. It makes me want to eat every three meals of the day here."
  • "Thank you, mam."
  • "No! I'm the one who should thank you for giving me this amazing food."
  • Rose, "You look different from that day, mam."
  • "Which day are you talking about?" Asked while eating the food in front of me.
  • "The night when you got drunk, mam."
  • I remembered the night she was referring to. I felt embarrassed.
  • "I'm so sorry for that night. That was never me. It's alcohol which went inside me."
  • "Is it legal to drink at this age? How old are you, mam?" A guy who was wearing an apron asked me.
  • "I'm seventeen already. Um... Seventeen is legal to drink but I drank because I lost in the game and I'm never going to drink again in my life."
  • "Seventeen???" His eyes almost popped out.
  • "U-Um... Y-Yeah."
  • He whispered something to the chef after I answered him.
  • "What happened?"
  • "Nothing. I'll bring some water for you." He went back into the kitchen.
  • While I was eating, I asked Rose, "I didn't see Mr Martinez's parents around when I first came here. And I don't see them today either. Where are they? Do they work that hard to be away from home?"
  • Rose whispered, "When I started working here, Mr Martinez's father was bedridden. I heard that Mr Martinez's mother passed away when he was a little boy. Two years before, his father died because he fell sick. And there was a lady who came often when I asked about her to another maid. They didn't know about it. That lady comes with her son now and then to meet Mr Martinez. Since she's the only guest visiting Mr Martinez, everyone here gossips about her a lot."
  • "A lady, who's that?"
  • "I don't know, mam. Since we're all servants here, we shouldn't question them."
  • "You sound like we're in some uncivilized century."
  • "You won't understand the rules here unless you start working here. And, that's why we don't talk about those things in this house, mam."
  • "Okay, I understand. Um… How much do you get here, Rose?"
  • "Three hundred dollars per month, mam."
  • "That's a great income. Should I start working here as a maid too?"
  • Some guy came into the kitchen and announced, "Mr Johnson asked me to accompany you to Mr Martinez's room, mam."
  • I stood from the place where I was seated. One of the guys who was working behind the counter took my plate and I came out of the kitchen along with Rose.
  • When I came out of the kitchen, I saw Noah.
  • He asked, "What are you doing here?"
  • "Um… eating."
  • "In the kitchen?"
  • "Yeh."
  • "Only Butler's and maid's eat in the kitchen. Not you."
  • "What's wrong with eating in the kitchen?"
  • "You're not a servant here.."
  • I moved closer to him and whispered, "That was before signing the contract." gave a stare and walked along with the guy who was supposed to accompany me to Mr Martinez's room.