Maid in a strange manor (3)
I don’t think I’m the shortest... Although, during my entire stay here I haven’t seen anyone smaller than me. So I really could be the smallest person in this mansion. Just like five years ago... I shook my head, driving away unnecessary thoughts.
“Your hair is wavy, just like mine.”
- Yes. Perhaps so.
- And the bangs lie unevenly.
Joely laughed, pointing at my short bangs. I awkwardly corrected her. I shuddered at the thought of my face being exposed. I lowered my head in embarrassment and she laughed even harder.
– You chose a nice dress. Bring it.
- Yes!
My heart jumped with joy when I finally received approval for my choice of dress. I answered her so loudly that I was embarrassed myself, and Joely laughed again. Smiling back, I closed the closet and ran up to her.
Joely stood up from her chair and took off her robe. I looked at her slender naked body and realized that the person in front of me had not changed because of nakedness, but I was still embarrassed. So I looked down and helped Joelle put on her dress, buttoning all the buttons at the back and smoothing out all the wrinkles in the fabric.
The tight dress suited her very well.
- Give me some hairstyle.
- Yes.
Joely leaned back in her chair. I placed the mirror in front of her and stood behind her. Her long hair was voluminous and shiny. I took a comb and began to carefully style them.
– Curly hair is good because it creates volume. But if you don't constantly take care of it, such hair becomes very untidy.
– Wavy hair suits you very well, it looks beautiful.
- Thank you. But aren't yours just as beautiful?
- My hair is unruly. They don’t want to lie down the way they’re supposed to, even now the ends are sticking up.
At that moment, Joely turned around and took a lock of my hair. The unexpected touch frightened me so much that I shuddered. Ignoring my reaction, Joely continued to play with my hair, twirling it in her hands.
- Indeed, the ends stick out.
- This is...
- But it’s even nice. Once you touch them, you will never forget how they feel to the touch.
She played with my curls for a while after that, giggling as I gave her confused looks. I stood there, leaning awkwardly, and waited for her to let me go. But when that didn't happen, I couldn't stand it and asked if I could continue styling her hair. Only after that did Joely apologize, smile and let me go.
I regained my freedom and touched her hair again. I pulled her luscious locks into a bun and secured it with flower jewelry. I secured the stray curls with hairpins.
When I finished with my hair, Joely examined it carefully, turning her head this way and that. She looked at herself in the mirror and smiled.
-You have dexterous hands.
- Thank you.
I was glad that she liked it. Joely smiled softly. I looked at her reflection in the mirror. She seemed to glow in her floral outfit. It seems like I actually did a pretty good job.
- That's it, you can go.
- Yes.
I bowed and then straightened up and turned away. When I already grabbed the door handle, I heard a voice.
- Ann.
She suddenly called me. I turned around. Joely stood up from her chair and looked at me. When our eyes met, she tilted her head slightly and the corners of her mouth turned up.
- Welcome.
Joely was smiling all the time from the moment of our shocking meeting until this moment. She seems used to looking cheerful. But at the same time her smile seemed strange. For some reason I couldn’t smile back. Her gaze seemed to pierce me.
I don't know how to describe it, but it seemed to me that she was actually more sad than happy. There is a feeling that the smile for her became a means of hiding her true thoughts and did not reflect joy at all.
But talking about it would be a bad idea.
“It’s a great honor for me.”
I folded my hands again and bowed deeply.
* * *
Joely must have liked me because I waited on her from then on. Meanwhile, Alicia was assigned to clean other rooms. They were in quite a state of disrepair because they had not been used for a long time, and because of this she went to complain to Audrey several times. As a result, after complaints, she was transferred to clean even dirtier rooms.
Anyway, Alicia is a maid. Whether she liked it or not, there was nothing she could do about it. This hurt her pride, and every time she returned to her room after work, she would hit her pillow and scream at me until I warned her to watch her language.
“I wanted to attract the attention of some noble gentleman, but in the end we are serving some woman!” Unfair! – Alicia complained.
I think Joely was a countess, but she decided not to say it out loud. Alicia later asked me in a whisper: “Should we run away?”, but I pretended not to hear.
Alicia Gioeli kicked out, but Johnny was still with her. Even after he ran away, blushing, Joely continued to call him to her. Unfortunately, the mistress chose him as her servant. But since I was taking care of Joely, Johnny was needed more as an ornament that would be nice to keep around.
He would help me get clothes or things, but when I did anything that required touching or communicating with Joely, he always moved away. He was not allowed to leave the room without permission, and he could not escape. Therefore, whenever an awkward situation arose, he closed his eyes and silently endured.
- Cute.
Joely enjoyed Johnny's embarrassment. Sometimes she touched him as if by chance or cast a timid glance at him. Naturally, Johnny immediately blushed.
“Hey, hide me,” he said.
- How can I hide you? Don't make things up.
“She looks at me strangely all the time.” Why is she doing this?
- I don't know.
I soon realized why she was looking at him like that.
Joely called the man into her room every night. And every night it was a new person. I don't know the identities of these men, but it appears that some of them were servants. One day I was already sleeping, when suddenly they called me, and I went to the mistress’s room. There was a naked man lying next to her, it was so awkward.
– I like beautiful people, but I don’t want to force anyone. It's only fun if both of you are enjoying it. It's disgusting if only one person gets the pleasure.
After all, that was why she kept Johnny around. The mistress does not want to force him to come to her, so she keeps him near her until he himself wants it. It also means that she likes Johnny, but Johnny only feels threatened and does not understand her intentions.
Joely's gaze felt different: when we looked into each other's eyes, it seemed to radiate with kindness, but as soon as I turned away, the back of my head began to tingle, as if she was closely watching me. Whenever I felt this, I immediately tensed up.
This went on for several days. Joely became more and more demanding, Johnny became more and more confused, and I was stuck between them, trying to do my job. It was hard at first, but after a while I got used to it.
But as soon as this happened, my responsibilities changed. Suddenly I was assigned to clean rooms on the second floor, and I didn't know why. Perhaps I offended Joely in some way. But I’m used to cleaning, so it was even easier for me. In addition, I no longer had to experience Joely’s strange gaze, which couldn’t help but rejoice.
And then Alicia took my place. I couldn't understand how this happened until the maid who worked with me told me that Alicia had begged Audrey a few days ago to give her another chance.
I couldn't believe that Alicia, who glared at me every time I returned to my room after working for Joely, could do such a thing behind my back. She was too proud for that.
-What are you planning?
-What are you talking about?
“Why did you sacrifice your pride for the position of an ordinary maid?”
Alicia glared at me.
- It's because of you!
- Because of me?
- Yes! You tried to steal my job again!
- No, I didn’t do anything.
“No, I didn’t do anything,” Alicia mimicked me. “I’d rather work next to her than you!”
Then I realized that Alicia had decided to take everything from me, no matter what it was. I didn't know Joely for long, but I already understood that she was demanding. I had an idea of what might happen when she was alone with Alicia. But Alicia was so unhappy that I took her place that she didn't think about it.
“If I work next to her, I can meet other nobles.” It's annoying to wait on someone, but you have to deal with it.
She was nervous, but it looked like she was going to be more careful this time. However, I don't care.
- Good luck.
- Mind your own business.
I thought about it, and in the end I decided that I would not interfere.
I didn’t ask to come here, but now that I’m here, I just want to do my job, either as Joely’s personal maid or as a cleaning lady. According to Johnny, they pay well here, so I'm not worried about the salary. But this is still a temporary job, and I may have to leave at some point. I need to earn as much money as possible during this time so that when I leave I will have enough to at least buy food.
And now that I wasn't with Joely all the time, I could get to know this place better.
I wiped the window in the hallway and looked at the dense thickets beyond. Something gray could be seen through the bushes and trees. I realized that this was another mansion of the Countess. It was too far away, so it was difficult to notice unless you looked closely.
I don't think we're in the main house because the building is surrounded on all sides by forest. Maybe this is an extension? There was something strange about the lack of a garden, which would normally be found on a noble estate.
But just because there are other mansions, that doesn't mean we can visit them. People who used this mansion were not allowed to leave it without Audrey's permission. Even guests didn’t come here. Countesses usually have a lot of parties, but I haven't heard of anyone ever coming to see Gioeli. She herself rarely left the house. Perhaps that is why the servants were not allowed to go out.
The only place where we were allowed to go without permission was the area in front of the mansion. But as soon as you entered the forest, they immediately asked you where you were going and why.
Since we are just temporary workers, we were strictly controlled. Also, after several conversations with the maid I worked with, I realized that everyone in the mansion was an outsider, just like Alicia and I.
We are surrounded by forest and we are not allowed to visit other mansions. There are no gardens or decorations here. All employees are strangers. I never saw the count's face, only Countess Gioeli's. But why did the Countess live in the annex and so far away?
After several days of trying to understand this issue, I came to the following conclusion.
This is a very strange mansion.
I even thought that it looked like the place where I worked before, but I quickly shook my head. Lately I kept returning to memories from five years ago.
I couldn't forget. Some memories remained despite the fact that I tried very hard to forget everything. Sometimes everything seemed to appear before my eyes. The place where I was sold, but about which I have the most pleasant memories. I started poorly then and ended poorly, but many moments were beautiful.
Sometimes I thought about this man.
Memories, conversations, promises that I shared with him in the short time that we were together. And then it all ended. The thought of him being alone in that dark room again sometimes made me shudder, and that was five years ago.
Time to forget about the maid who suddenly disappeared. A lot of time has passed and I can already be considered dead. And yet there were times when I wondered if he was still looking for me.
No, that's impossible.
- It can’t be...
Even if he tried, he couldn't find me. He didn't see my face. How can he find someone he has never seen?
And another image of a man suddenly popped into my head.
I immediately rejected these thoughts. I couldn't do anything except suppress my feelings. He's doing well. They are all doing well. That means everything will be fine for me too. These thoughts slowly gave me comfort.