I pushed his face away as I stood up from lying on him. His head smacked the floor once more. Fortunately, I didn’t get a taste of anything in his mouth. He appears to have used magic to remove the taste of what he had puked.
When I thought I could get up, he yanked my waist again, and I’m back to where I was.
“What!” I shouted because of irritation. He still didn’t take away the yearning expression. Who does he think I am? I simply kept my mouth shut and remained motionless.
His hold on to my back loosened in a matter of seconds. I walked away gently, and he never awoke again. I’ll let him sleep there since he could mistake me for ‘Leil’ again.
I pulled a blanket from his bed and draped it over his body so mama Helena could believe I look after her child.
In my head, I laughed.
I, too, went to bed. I didn’t request extra blankets because the air conditioning isn’t too chilly.
I looked at the ceiling for a few minutes more before falling asleep. The strong rain woke me up in the middle of my slumber. I’m also shocked since the lights were turned off and just they turned the lamp on. I didn’t turn out the light before going to bed. Hugo was still on the floor when I looked at him. I stood up and switched off the air conditioning because I couldn’t bear the cold any longer.
When I looked outside, it was still dark. It was just one o’clock in the morning when I pulled my phone from my purse. I woke Hugo up to put him to bed because of the severe rain. He could have a fever, and they’ll point the finger at me.
I sat in front of him and gently shook his body. I remembered him kissing me twice as I was doing it. I licked my lower lip and then gazed down at the diamond ring on my finger. When it’s dark, it lights even brighter.
“Hmmn.” Hugo sat up and leaned against the foot of the bed, opening his eyes.
He rubbed his chin and dilated his eyes. That’s probably the result of alcohol.
“Why?” he asked quietly. His voice’s arrogance had vanished. If he acted like this all the time, perhaps more people would like him. He could have found a wife soon, and I fit in nicely with their company.
“YOUR MAJESTY, stand up because you need to lie down on your bed and your relative could beat me up if you get sick.” I was still seated in front of him as he sat and gently dropped his head.
“Hey! Are you asleep now? You’ll just stand up and take two steps. The bed is directly behind you!” I attempted to converse with him, but he kept his head down and fell asleep!
“You don’t want to stand there, do you? Alright!” I took his hand in mine and drew him up, but I didn’t even move his body! I know I’m not that tall and hence not that strong, but my physique is so weak that I can’t even lift this man’s hand!
I was the first to stand up and stretch. I flexed my neck and arms as though I were working out. I jumped even higher. I’m going to appear like an idiot for what I’m about to do. I timed myself once I finished stretching. I took the drooping hand and pushed it up to the best of my power.
“What are you doing?” he said as he raised his head and stared at me.
“Ha!” I’m out of breath from trying to get him up, and then you simply wake up like that? I waved at him and took the fuzzy slippers the maid had given me earlier. I took it off my foot and was about to strike him when he stopped and smelled.
He sniffed me all over, from my clothing to my hand. Because of what he was doing, I quickly removed my hand.
“What are you up to?” I slipped on my slippers once again and hugged myself.
“WHY ARE YOU USING THAT?” He yelled aggressively at me and get up.
“Which?” Because of what he was doing, I even raised my voice. He confused me with his actions.
“THAT!” he yelled at me even louder. What did the heck happen? I have no idea what he’s saying; all I hearing is ‘That’ ‘That’ ‘That.’
“What about the slippers?” I took off my slippers and hurled them at him, feeling the cold on the floor. Grrr! He may have gotten sick if I hadn’t awakened him up.
“NO! THAT!” If he could make his voice louder, I believe this is the most audible. I’m deafened by his shout. I touch my earlobe.
“WHAT’S ‘THAT’? YOU’RE ALWAYS SAYING ‘THAT!’ I AM NOT SURE WHAT YOU’RE SAYING! YOU DON’T WANT TO SPEAK ABOUT IT! WE WOULDN’T BE YELLING NOW IF YOU HAD BEEN DIRECTING WHAT YOU WERE SAYING!” My voice became hushed. I’ve never been yelled at, and I’m not used to it. I want to weep; perhaps I’m overly sensitive. I’ve been crying since I lost the people I care about in my life.
He calmed down when he noticed my tears pouring. “The liquid soap,” he said softly after taking a long breath.
“I’m sorry, um, I’m sorry. You walked into ‘YOUR ROOM,’” I said emphatically, “and then puked at me. I’m sorry that I need to use body soap because there is only soap for a man,” I sobbed when I noticed the astonishment in his eyes. I exited the room, leaving him there. He didn’t stop me. I entered their living room. Fortunately, there is a sofa nearby on which I can sleep. I was still weeping while I lay on the sofa.
I continued wiping the tears away from my eyes. It’s a good thing no one is in the living room right now, since it’s embarrassing to watch me like this. The torrential rain continued unabated. Someone came in with a lamp as I was pondering about what had happened.
I shifted my sitting position. Is it true that white ladies in huge homes usually carry lights to pick you up every night when it rains heavily? I got up from the sofa and clutched my knees. My heart is beating fast. Why is the light turned off in this room? When someone spoke, I had closed my eyes and was about to pray.
“Ma’am Adele?” I raised my head and opened my eyes. Esther while Estella was behind her, holding the back of her dress. I breathed a sigh of relief when I confirmed they were.
They approached me.
“Adele, ma’am! What brings you here? Tonight is a chilly night.” My eyes swelled as I stared at her. When she saw I would not respond, she continue to speak again, “Ma’am Adele, please wait for me. I’ll just go grab some water for Estella. Please come to our room. Not that close, plus there is a double deck.”
“Where have the visitors gone?” Even though it was apparent that the celebration had ended, I inquired. I would have wanted to request the key to the guest room in case it was too awkward to disturb them when it was time for them to sleep.
“When the celebration was done, everyone went home, and others stayed here to spend the night.” I haven’t spoken a thing yet, Esther answered as she took Estella’s hand from behind and brought it in front of her, so she proceeded, “just a moment and I’ll get some water. Do you want it as well?”
I nodded, feeling the wetness in my neck drain as a result of my sobbing and Hugo and me yelling at one other.
She went to the kitchen to grab some water. Estella sat next to me. She makes a motion to me, but I don’t understand what she’s saying.
“She asked whether you were okay.” Esther arrived unexpectedly at the rear and offered me the water. She returned shortly. Estella smiled at me, indicating that her mother was correct.
I smiled at her and asked Esther, “How do you say ‘I’m fine?’” Estella touched me before Esther could respond. She made a “five” sign with her hands and pressed her thumb to her chest.
I tried to emulate her. I spoke gently once more. “How about a heartfelt thank you?” She slid her dominant hand forward and downward toward me, bringing it to her lips. I made a sign that said, “I’m fine, thank you.” She cheered, as if ecstatic. Seems like it would preoccupy me while waiting for Hugo and me to marry.
I stood up to join Esther on their walk. She shared her experience with me. “We are from the province. I left her there because I had to work, but because she can’t talk, they frequently harassed her and made fun of her. That was also the reason she dropped out of school. My husband died young, and we are the only two left. I only have her and my only child, so I spoke with Madam Helena and Sir Adelard. It’s a good thing the couple was gracious and consented.”
Adelard was Hugo’s father’s name.
“I’m seriously anxious that if I die, who will look after her? Human life is finite. We don’t know when we’ll be dying.” She described her feelings as sad and meaningful. Tears welled up in my eyes once again.
“Don’t say something like that. You won’t die early because you still need to see Estella reach her goals.” I told her that to inspire her. I gave turned to Estella, who has a naïve face.
“Both of my parents died when I was a young age. It is still vivid in my mind that they died, and that my sister also left me too soon. People who want to die are selfish in my opinion because they do not know how the person they will leave behind would feel. Some days, they won’t be able to sleep since they can’t see them no matter how much they want to.” She sniffed as I said that, so I hugged her. Estella came to the door and opened it, and she hugged me back. This might be their room.
When we walked in, there was a lot of clothing hanging everywhere. The space isn’t crammed. To be honest, it’s very large without the clothing hanging on the walls; there are two bags on the side, a reasonably sized cabinet, and the double-decker Esther mentions.
“Please accept my apologies for the current state of the room. We couldn’t clean up due to the previous party's preparations. You are welcome to sleep here, ma’am Adele. Estella and I would sleep at the top.” She pulled out a SpongeBob pillow and blanket from the top of the cupboard and handed them to me.
“There’s no need. I’m going to sleep to the top, and you can have the down part.” I climbed after receiving the pillow and blanket.
When I climbed, I fell asleep immediately. Maybe because of drowsiness and tired eyes. The next day, I woke up at noon. Estella was the only one in the room while Esther was gone. I went down to the double-deck and greeted Estella, who was drawing on the table. When I came down, she handed me a paper. It was small, folded. I read what was written while brushing my eyes.
‘Ma’am Adele, today is my schedule to buy food stock. You don’t have to fix where you sleep because Estella will take care of it. ‘ -Esther.
After I read that, I touched Estella’s head while she was sitting. Well, I only reached the height of the double-deck. I reached for the blanket and folded it. Because Estella was too busy sketching, she didn’t notice me folding it. I also included the blanket they used. As a thank you for letting me sleep here, I put away the trash and clean the room since am also the reason they couldn’t clean yesterday.
I patted Estella and pointed out the door; showing that I will go now. She just nodded at me and continued her business. When I came out of the door, I saw the maids walking back and forth. Because of their haste, they did not notice me. When someone passed by again, I blocked her.
“Why are you in such a rush? Is there a problem?” When I asked her, she seemed shocked and looked at me with widened eyes.
“Ma’am Adele!” she exclaimed.
The maids hear her and soon climbed up and surrounded me.