C4 Chapter 4

“Come in,” Chloe said as they entered the main living room, which was the size of a large hall.

The main living room was large enough to accommodate over a hundred persons walking without their shoulders brushing against each other.

When she looked about at the furniture, she was shocked to discover that it was all made of gold. While looking around, her gaze was drawn to a CCTV camera mounted on the wall, and she soon realized that cameras were installed all across the living room. She quickly followed after Chloe, Ava, and Luna, arriving at another living room which was a little smaller, but had the same furniture and camera setup as the previous one.

They were on their way to another room when she was startled by multiple voices shouting: "YES, SIR!"

Ava noticed her reaction, and walked up to meet her with a smile, prompting Luna and Chloe to stop also.

“You don‘t have to worry about that. The guards are in the back yard. You may have noticed that you haven’t seen any of them since you came in, this is because they are having a meeting. Would you like to have a look?” Ava offered politely.

“Yes, please,” The newcomer accepted with a bright smile, and Chloe took them to the backyard.

They stood back and watched the meeting from afar. At the back, which happened to be a large field, up to fifty men in black suits gathered. A man in his late forties stood in front of them, speaking to the guards. He wore black sunglasses and was dressed similarly to the others.

“Who‘s the man addressing them?” The newcomer asked gently, her voice low.

“That’s Mr. Fredrick. He’s Mr. Smith’s personal guard as well as the head of all the house’s guards. He has been here for fifteen years.”

“WHAT?!” The lady shrieked, causing the guards to turn in their direction, but the ladies quickly hid before they were discovered.

“Why are you surprised?” Luna asked, a smile on her face as she stared at the lady, who was still dumbfounded.

“I wonder what your reaction would be if you knew Ma‘am Grace’s years of working with the Smiths,” Chloe added with a smile as they all walked back inside, with Ava holding the newcomer’s hand.

They came to a stop in front of a room with the word LAUNDRY inscribed on the door, and the lady asked, “Is this where we do laundry?”

“Of course. Come in,” Luna said and they entered the room, which wasn’t really a room but rather a large hall. As she scanned the room, the lady’s mouth was wide open seeing different types of washing machines, ironing machines, and other laundry appliances.

Girls were operating the machines, each busy with one thing or the other.

“I told you to put it back in the machine,” She was brought back to reality from her daydream by the voice of an elderly woman. It was an older woman correcting some girls on their work. The woman was wearing a different uniform than the rest of them, distinguishing herself as the head. She also wore a pair glasses and held a walking stick in her hand.

As they brought the newcomer to Ma’am Grace, Luna announced, “Ma’am Grace, the lady is here.” She had been backing them previously and had just turned to face them. Since Ma’am Grace was no longer with the girls, Ava and Luna went to take over, leaving Chloe with the newcomer.

“You must be Juliana, the new girl,” Ma’am Grace stated as she took off her glasses.

“Yes, ma’am,” Juliana, the newcomer, answered.

“Well, I don’t have much to say, just go with Chloe, she’ll explain everything you need to know. Welcome to the Smith family, I hope you will stay and work with us for a long time.” Ma’am Grace welcomed.

“Thank you very much, ma’am. I’m delighted to be working in the Smith house. I promise to give it my all.” She smiled at the older woman who returned the smile before Chloe led her out of the laundry room.

“I’ll take you to your room first,” Chloe said to her outside the laundry room, “so you can drop your bag.”

“There are three girls per room, so you will be sharing a room with two other girls. The guards and the ladies each have their own flat, which is separate from the main house. The Smiths, as well as Ma’am Grace, Mr. Fredrick, Mr. Charles, and Mr. Jack, are the only ones who stay in the main house. Mr. Jack and Mr. Charles, serve as Mr. Smith’s sons PA and personal guards, and Mr. Fredrick serves as Mr. Smith’s personal guard. Because he’s still in school, the last-born has no personal guard or PA,” As they walked to the maids flat, Chloe explained.

Juliana was taken to a room, where she dropped her belongings before leaving with Chloe.

Cameron’s room was the first room they entered. The color and settings in the room were enough to lull you to sleep, even if you were just waking up. It was a dream room, housing a gym and a small pool. Juliana couldn’t help but admire the room.

“This is Mr. Cameron’s room,” Chloe announced. “We don’t do much work here really. I’m delighted you’ve joined our team, and so, I’ll make sure you don’t get fired by him.” Juliana’s eyes almost popped out.

“Yeah!” Chloe continued. “You’re here because he fired two ladies a few days ago. He really doesn’t like it when people fall behind while working, and he hates dirt alone, so he can be a D.”

“As in a dick?” Juliana smiled.

“No,” Chloe laughed. “I mean, he’s a devil in disguise, so don’t get on his bad side. He gets up quite early to workout, and drinks his coffee at exactly 7 a.m. That is irrelevant to you because I take care of that. In helping him get ready each morning, I choose two girls to accompany me. You could be the next person on the line to accompany me tomorrow with another girl, do you understand?”

Juliana nodded affirmatively.

“He hates dust and lazy people, so be perfect for him, I know you will,,” Chloe added, smiling, as the two of them walked out of the room, and went to another room, Bryon’s room.

Juliana got agitated by the sight of the wallpapers in Bryon’s room.

Chloe chuckled when she saw her reaction, asking, “Are you surprised?”

Juliana scanned the room with a disgusted expression on her face, replying, “Uh….not really, but I think this is the weirdest among them.”

“This is the room of the second son. His name is Byron, and from what you can see, I think you can get a sense of how he’s like,” Chloe said.

Juliana whispered, “Yeah.”

“He doesn’t have any problems and isn’t a strict person, you might only find it difficult to adjust to his unusual lifestyle. All I ask is that you dress modestly and don’t let him get his eyes on you.”

“Eyes on me… what exactly do you mean?” They exchanged a knowing look before awkwardly smiling at each other.

“I think I understand,” Juliana murmured as they walked out of Byron’s room, the awkward smile still on her face.

Juliana couldn’t help but admire the sensation of the room as they arrived in a new one. The surrounding and decorations only communicated one thing; Taste. She looked around the room, noticing the king-sized bed with white fluffy bed sheets and blankets, as well as a few plushies, then her attention was drawn to a name painted on the wall over the bed: MIDAS. When she raised her eyes, she spotted a CCTV camera that hadn’t been in any of the other rooms.

“How come only this bedroom has a security camera?” Juliana was curious.

“What did you notice about the atmosphere when you first walked into the room?” Chloe asked.

“Hmmm, the only thing I noticed is that it looks comfortable, with a little more warmth than the other two,” Juliana replied.

“You’re right. Because this is Midas’ room, it’s warmer.. Midas, as you can tell, is the softest of the three. He’s easygoing and avoids stress; the only issue is Midas’ health,” Chloe continued, her face solemn.

“What’s the matter?” Juliana asked, her voice calm.

“He suffers from oral allergy syndrome,”

“Excuse me, what is that?”

“It’s an allergic reaction that is confined to the lips, mouth, and throat. It mostly occurs in people with asthma or hay fever from tree pollen who eat fresh raw fruits or vegetables. Basically, Midas is allergic to fruits and the purpose of this camera is to monitor him in his room because most of the time he turns off the heater in his room which is bad for his health because he has another condition called Cold Urticaria which is a skin reaction to cold that appears within minutes after cold exposure,” Chloe explained. “And that is why the camera is here. If you look closely, the camera is only focused on the heater here,” She traced a finger from the camera to the heater. “It’s just to monitor the light on this heater. Whenever he turns it off, they will call our attention to it immediately. We don’t switch it on during the day or most afternoons, only in the evening time till the next morning, especially during cold weathers. He’s a soft person who needs a lot of care than others and I have to inform you that Midas is Mr. Smith’s favorite child. While he loves all his children, he places special care on Midas which is why we pay more attention to him than the rest. I will show you the rest of the rooms which are Mr. Smiths’ room and the PA’s room, but please do remember I said to you about Mr. Cameron, be perfect and hardworking, look neat and well presentable. For Mr. Byron, dress properly and try not to draw his attention, because if he does, he won’t let go. And for Midas, he needs care alone and nothing more. Just do your work well and we won’t have any problems. If you feel like taking a break, we have a separate pool and resting area which I will show you. Once again, welcome to the Smith family.”