C8 He's Back!

The silence that followed was deafening. Deafening enough to make me aware of how loud my breathing was and how earth-shaking my heartbeat was. An infinitesimal and microscopic twitch occurred on his eyebrow—a twitch that would easily pass for a questioning raised an eyebrow in the land of all rocky and stony creatures. With hands still folded securely behind him, he sauntered past me down the stairs and into the parlour.

Several seconds passed before I was able to snap out of the frozen stupor he threw me into. I took in several shaky breaths and release a set of another. I repeated the action again and again until my shaky breaths became somewhat normal. It took me almost a lifetime to get down the stairs and cautiously walked toward his standing figure in the middle of the parlour staring at the wall ahead.

Lord give me strength

As if on cue to my presence, he slowly turned about on his heels till he was facing me. His glare fell on me I felt myself shrink under its intensity.

"I'm....the....new maid," I managed to voice out, my voice shaking with each word. He said nothing. No word, no comment, rather, he continued to gaze intently at me. The expression he wore made it hard to know what went on in his head. I shifted uncomfortably on my feet, looking everywhere and at everything but him; the silence was beginning to get to me.

I loved silence, quietness, anything void of sound; the serenity and peacefulness they provide were relaxing but the pin-drop silence of the whole place was not something I could bear at that moment; it was beginning to suffocate me.

I was just about to open my mouth to say something else-anything at all when the sound of the door opening and heavy grunts sliced through the deafening silence. Even without tearing his gaze away from me, Gabby boy already knew who the visitor was.

"Ah. Brainard, nice of you to finally join us".

Just then, Brainard appeared, grunting heavily and sweating like a runaway cow from the abattoir, a box balancing well on his shaky hands. He quickly dropped the box that seemed to be stripping him of oxygen with relief and marched toward us.

"I'm sure you were well informed of this little change in my house whilst I was gone," Gabby boy began, looking away from me for a split second much to my relief. "Why did you not notify me of this? And Ade did not deem it fit either?" He looked back at me and I began shrinking again and maybe running out of breath too.

Something flashed in Brainard's eyes and if I wasn't still shrinking or getting high on the lack of oxygen, I would have thought it was fright but I was probably just beginning to hallucinate.

Something else happened right then and there-something I never thought I would ever have the pleasure of witnessing. Something that made me momentarily forget about my predicament and revel in someone else's-Brainard gulped, his Adam apple bobbing up and down in nervousness. He was nervous and I wasn't hallucinating about the fright either, it was still present in his eyes. Although not too noticeable, it was there.

My eyes widened and I had the strength to grin. So Brainard was human after all. My breath slowly returned to my lungs and my strength returned to my muscles. I took my time and pleasure revelling in Brainard's situation grinning at him like a Cheshire cat.

But then it hit me. My moment was abruptly aborted when I realised something. Slowly, the grin vanished from my face. If Gabby boy could make the mighty Brainard this nervous then who was I, a mere tiny little disturbing fly to stand a chance against him? I must have been eager to sign my death wish.

I thought for a while, my little brain cells whirling around. Well, Maybe it did serve Brainard right. He never mentioned anything about Gabby boy's arrival to me. I would have mentally prepared myself for the situation. Then maybe the near nervous breakdown I was currently experiencing would have been evitable.

Then something else clicked somewhere in my tiny brain.

Cole

Cole

Cole knew

Cole knew about his arrival too. That explained why he was that eager to get rid of me earlier and run for his life. It all made sense now. He reminded me I was late and that I could get punished. And he had the effrontery to leave me there without reinforcements! What the hell happened to his promise to protect me?!

That coward

That Traitor

That....that spineless excuse of a man

That.... that.....that

OK...OK that's enough for now

Calm your titties

But why did no one tell me about it?

This is insolence!

"Your mother threatened me to secrecy Boss," Brainard said, his voice thick and menacing.

"Hmm." Gabby boy nodded. "Plausible".

He focused back on me. "Now, a more proper introduction of yourself".

From the corner of my eye, I saw Brainard subtly backing away, his soft retreating footsteps ringing loud in my desperate ears. I threw a pleading look at him, silently begging for him to not leave me at the claws of death but Brainard only replied with his infamous blank look before disappearing.

He must hate me

I brought my eyes back to the tall and dark figure before me and the thought of turning around and running away sounded reasonable. Or maybe I should pretend to pass out? Anything to get away would sound reasonable at that point.

Slow breaths

In and out

In and out

"Forgive my manners, sir. My name is Daphne. I'm the new maid".

That doesn't sound like you're seconds away from passing out. Good job!

He regarded me with cool disinterest. "I do not recall requesting for another maid".

"You did not Sir. Your mother did. She employed me."

"Very well then. Your services are no longer required. You may leave".

What? He did not just say that

"Are you in any way sacking me, Sir?".

"I am".

Oh that does it

"You cannot and will not sack me, sir".

I refused to be sacked twice in a month

Growing some nerve I see

And how is it his fault you got sacked by the Akanjis'? . Why don't you vent your frustration on someone else?

"Kindly enlighten me," he mused. "Have you done anything productive since you resumed working here?".

Well now that I think of it again, I've not done anything work-wise since I started working there

"Not exactly Sir".

"Ah. I presumed so. You may leave".

"With utmost respect Sir. Your mother employed me and it is only she who can relieve me of my position".

Brainard appeared out of nowhere and gave me a look that I thought suggested I had grown two heads and finally signed my death wish. I ignored him. His help wasn't needed again.

The icy glares Gabby boy was shooting across the parlour settled themselves on my lashes gradually developing into frosts and I felt the shivers down to my bones. I fluttered my eyelashes, trying to get rid of the frosts on them. They were the least of my worries at that point.

Disregarding my comment, Gabby boy headed to the stairs and I instantaneously followed him. I was far too vexed to fret about the flight of stairs. The passage was still swallowed up in darkness but I was able to make Gabby boys figure it out. He ignored me and continued walking casually until he entered a room and I followed behind.

"Are you leaving or would you rather I have Brainard toss you out?".

Well that doesn't sound comforting

"Absolute no to the two questions. And I stand my ground Sir. You cannot sack me".

He was quiet for a while, his face giving nothing away then suddenly his icy eyes glittered with what I could guess was mischief. "Hmm... Perhaps I might have other needs of you," he bemused, giving me another once over.

As long as it doesn't involve doing your laundry

"First task".

Yes

"Untie my shoes".

Silence

A deadly silence

Bone-chilling, teeth chattering silence

I blinked

Blinked again

Several blinks later

"I beg your pardon Sir".

"I'm sure you heard me quite all right".

"I'm certain untying shoelaces were not included in my job description. Sir".

"Right," he nodded in agreement and I was almost smiling in victory when he spoke again.

"Perhaps you would prefer I had a talk with the so-called intruder of an employer who unfortunately birthed me that I no longer require your services due to your incompetency?".

The urge to throttle him was overwhelming; almost unable to control but I wouldn't want to have his blood on my hands too soon.

"I certainly would not Sir".

"I thought so". A moment of silence passed. "Dorothy"

Who's Dorothy?

I turned my head to see if someone was behind me but the space was empty.

Oh me?

Yep, he was referring to me.

"Yes sir".

"Now".

"Of course. Right away Sir".

He sat down on one of the couches in the room and gestured for me to carry out his order. I bent down and began to do as I was instructed. I undid the left shoelace and with considerable caution, I slowly slid it off expecting and bracing myself for the deadly stench that'd soon infiltrate my nostrils-the similar stench that came with men and their shoes, but instead, there was no alteration of the atmosphere. I slid the second shoe off and place them both at the foot of the couch.

"You are dismissed. For now," he said as he fetched his phone out of his pocket.

Just before I left, I caught a glimpse of his phone's screen and I knew he was about to call someone. And before I could rushed out the door, I heard a firm "Hello". I hurriedly closed it being me and waited for a moment- a moment before I could do what I was eager to do. My ears began to itch so bad and I just had to give in to their cries.

I rested my hands on the door and pressed my ears against it. I heard nothing but mumbling at first but as I pressed my ears further into the door, the words began to clear out.

"What have you done this time mother?"

Silence

"I just discovered I have a new maid whom I do not recall requesting for. Care to explain why?".

Silence again

"Hmm".

Another silence

"Hmm".

A long silence

"I knew I was going to regret that decision. We will talk later mother".

Is he still going to have that talk with her? But I already did what he asked me to do.

The voice stopped talking but I needed more answers.

No no no

Keep talking

Keep talking

There was silence. I couldn't hear any more words or sounds. I pressed my ears further to the door keen on hearing more. I needed to know more. Was I in trouble? I increased the distance between my legs and pressed my ears even further against the door hoping I would hear more when a sudden gush of air hit my face. I felt myself propelling forward until my face came in contact with the hard floor with a force before I was able to prevent it.

"Ouch". I cried out slowly turning on my back and rubbing my throbbing forehead.

A pair of bare feet appeared in my blurry vision. They were just inches away from my head and appeared they could squash my whole head with little or no force applied. Gabby boy stood there, the body without a shirt and one hand grasping the opened door tightly.

"Although I'm a tad curious as to why you're writhing like a worm soaked in salt in my room, I have pressing matters that demand my urgent attention," he said coolly.

OK so?

His jaw tightened and his hand holding the door handle followed suit; his icy eyes shimmering.

Am I supposed to do something?

"Dandelion".

Now, who's that?

"Yes sir".

"Leave this instant".

I sprung up faster than Dave would if he saw a needle or a cockroach.

"Yes sir right a....". I had barely managed to get my footing and the words out when the door was slammed shut in my face missing my throbbing forehead by just an inch.

Well that went better than I would've imagined