Each thing in its place

Being still a child and after losing his parents in a car accident, Carlos was under the care of who his nanny had been since he was born, his beloved Nonna. She took care of everything related to the house and became the only person in whom he had placed all his trust, but over the years, Nonna became ill and also had to leave this world, just when the young man was 17 years old. Since then, at least about 20 domestic women had entered and left their home, always with more laments than honors, because when they did not do their job well, according to Carlos, they ended up taking their belongings improperly.

This increased the distrust that he already had, of everything and everyone, beginning to take care of his house himself, which to a certain extent, worked best.

Years later, when he felt prepared for it, he decided to reopen Mon’tblank, a business he inherited from his parents. As the place gained recognition, customers began to arrive and with them more responsibilities. And, although each of his employees was chosen as the best among the best, distrusting everyone, Carlos never learned to delegate, so the time available, between his profession and his business, was increasingly reduced.

One day, when he returned home after doing various assignments, he suffered a small incident when some magazines, which were poorly located, fell to the ground and, without realizing it, he stepped on them and slipped, falling violently, banging his head against the edge of the same table that contained them.

“Demons!!” He shouted fighting with himself because of his clumsiness, and although he didn’t see the magazines when he arrived, the blow on his head was ‘enlightening’ enough to start looking around and notice the level of disorder in which everything was.

When it came to Mon’tblank, Carlos was super demanding, everything had a place and an order, but his private life and his house, were other stories.

Still sitting on the floor, recovering from the blow received, he understood that he needed help, he must find someone to keep his house perfect, but … Who?

‘I already raised enough money to become independent and lease something, even a small room’. He remembered Sara.

“Are you crazy?! That blow atrophied your brain?!” He growled more and more annoyed. “No! That will definitely not happen!”

For a few days he was fighting the possibility ‘delusional and absurd to negotiate with Sara’, but in the end, he recognized that perhaps it was not such a crazy idea.

She, needed a place to live, but she couldn’t afford to pay it and he needed someone to keep his house in order and, in exchange, he could pay with accommodation, since the main house had a small annex which, in the past, had been of Nonna, the place was quite comfortable with independent entrance and was also furnished. In this way, both would have what they needed and their house would remain impeccable. He had already seen the enthusiasm with which Sara was dedicated to Mon’tblank and thought that, with half of that same dedication in her house, at least once a week, and she would no longer have to worry about hitting the tables, so he put ‘hands to work’ and made the proposal.

Seeing the annex, Sara’s heart almost exploded with such happiness, although she must behave calmly and maturely in front of her boss, in the end, she could not contain herself and began to jump like a girl, even in the midst of her euphoria, she hugged and kissed Carlos on the cheek, but he, faithful to his distant and bitter personality, stood firm as a rock, showing no emotion.

That place he described as small and modest for her was almost like a palace, it was more … much more than she had imagined. The place was beautiful and had a room, living room-kitchen, and a bathroom … all furnished, just needed a little cleaning and would live like a queen!

Of course, she accepted without hesitation, keeping Carlos’s house tidy in exchange for living in such a place was a real bargain.

The blue-eyes showed the young woman his home and told her everything she needed to know. As usual, he did not overlook read his infinite list of limitations, warnings, and precautions to make everything clear and that the deal between them could work as he expected.

Initially, they agreed that Sara would clean the house every Tuesday, which was her second day off at the bar, but in the face of such disorder, she decided to get to work immediately after the proposal.

Carlos’s house needed order and cleanliness. Urgently!

In the end, and after doing his respective inspection, Carlos was more than satisfied with the work done.

“Excellent! This place had not looked so good for a long time.” He smiled. “Thank you, Sara.”

“It is the least I could do, in fact, it is I who should thank you, for allowing me to live in the annex,” she replied with her jaw disengaged, totally surprised, seeing Carlos so smiling and kind. He made her hesitate to the point of come to think that her boss suffered from some kind of bipolar disorder.

“No problem,” he said looking at his watch. “Apparently, we both forgot lunch today. I’m starving! Accompany me, I invite you to lunch.”

In a jiffy, he prepared pasta. He was not very skilled in the kitchen, but definitely the sauces were his specialty and although Sara wanted to help him, he did not allow it because she was his guest. Indeed, this proposal contributed to that the treatment between them was more of friends … at least while they were outside the Mon’tblank, once inside, they were again the boss and the employee.

While they were having lunch, Carlos’s cell phone, which was placed on the large central kitchen island, began to ring. Sara unintentionally watched Caroline’s name on the screen. He took the cell phone and when he saw who the caller was, it took a while to respond, which gave ‘the chestnut’ the impression that he did not want to do it, but in the end …

“Hello, how are you?” He answered rising from his chair with some discouragement. “If I’ve been very busy … No, I don’t think it’s possible.”

Sara finished eating in silence and picked up the empty plates while he kept talking, it was not her intention to listen to someone else’s conversation … Or maybe yes?

The truth is that her boss’s voice was powerful enough to go unnoticed, he sounded elusive and annoyed.

“Okay … it’s fine.” The call ended. The frustrated face with which her boss turned off the cell phone and left it on the table did not go unnoticed.

**«»**

Starting the job that night, Sara was helping Jean Pierre with a quick inventory of some liquors and wines available in the kitchen area.

“Oporto 2 bottles, Jerez 3 bottles, Brandy 2 bottles.” While Jean Pierre dictated, she was writing down in a small notebook.

“Ready.”

“Pinot 1 bottle, Chianti 1 bottle.”

“Chian … ti, Ready!”

“Cabernet Sauvignon 1 bottle.”

“Caber Sou … What?” She asked confused, she had never heard such a name in her life. Her slightly exaggerated reaction stole some laughs from Jean Pierre, who despite working together for a short time, had grown fond of Sara and enjoyed every subtle excess or indiscretion that the young woman showed daily, some involuntary, typical of her way so peculiar to be and others for naivety and ignorance.

“Cabernet Sauvignon,” corrected Carlos, who was coming down from his office while taking Sara's notebook and writing the name correctly. “You must begin to memorize the names of all the liquors.”

Jean Pierre was surprised by the kindness that, at that moment, Carlos showed to the young woman. Even more, when they started an interesting talk about wines, food, and the pleasure of knowing how to combine them, and while the three were chatting like great friends, they were interrupted by one of the waiters.

“Excuse me, boss. Mrs. Caroline Meyer is in the waiting room.”

Sara paid attention to hearing that name, especially due to the reaction … or should she say, no reaction from Carlos. She was beginning to decipher some of the gestures or behaviors of her boss, whose attitude lost everything relaxed and friendly he had shown just a few minutes ago and, adopting a cold and unchanging face, ended the conversation and left to attend his visit.

She looked at Jean Pierre and, as soon as she saw him snort and deny with a slight movement of his head, she was waiting for a comment about it, but he only shrugged his shoulders and said:

“Sara, it is a sin to be so curious,” the Frenchman replied sensibly, as he resumed his duties, inviting the restless Sara to do the same, but she could almost assure that it was the same woman who, while eating lunch, called her boss's cell phone.

As soon as they finished the inventory, Sara began to attend to the assigned tables.

“Why so serious?” She asked Frank, one of her co-workers, while she waited in the bar area for some cocktails.

“Nothing happens sweetheart.” He replied affectionately, though almost immediately and unable to contain himself, he added. “That woman is simply, unbearable!” Said the latter in a low voice and looking up, as if seeking relief or imploring a miracle to any divinity who wanted to take pity on him.

“What woman do you mean?” She asked more curiously than before since she had never seen her co-worker so overwhelmed. Frank did not respond with words, rather he made a very discreet gesture pointing to the lady in question. It was Caroline, the woman who was with the boss.

“She is never happy with anything, she treats people as if we were her slaves, and to complete, she doesn't have a bit of education, ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ do not exist in her vocabulary.” Said Tommy, the waiter. “I don't know how Carlos has so much patience to bear her.”

For Sara, it was not patience, rather cavalry and education. From his non-reactions, it was clear that he preferred to be in his office, or anywhere, before that table with that insufferable woman and, all these thoughts activated that reckless and crazy part of her personality.

How hard would it be to get rid of her?

Seeing him sitting next to that woman with his gaze focused on the cell phone and his expressionless face, even more, after discovering how pleasant he could be during that afternoon’s conversation with Jean Pierre, made Sara feel very bad for him. Maybe they were just her ideas, but at that moment she saw her boss's curmudgeon as a ‘little animal’ trapped and dead-end, she did not know the reason and she did not care, decided that she had to do something to free him from such torture, but being very discreet, she didn’t want to have problems.

What could I do?

**«»**

Several minutes later, she realized that Carlos got up to answer a phone call, so she quickly approached that table.

“Very good night, with your permission. I can remove the cups?” Caroline didn’t say a word, looked at her without any ceremony, and just allowed her access with a quick wave of her hand.

Sara wasn’t sure what she was going to do, she just begged not to earn a problem by stick the nose where they didn’t call her, quickly and without much effort, she was able to verify what Frank had told her, by the arrogant and rude way in which that woman treated her, but that only added more strength to her intention to get rid of her, and the sooner the better, so she hurried to start a conversation.

“Mrs. Sophie,” said the first name she came up with. “Did you like the show tonight?”

Caroline looked at Sara indignantly, she definitely did not like that an employee took the attribution of speaking her with such familiarity, and incidentally, she did not even know her name, unacceptable, but still responded without giving her much importance, since she had none.

“It could be better, but that’s fine … I guess.”

“Would you like another cup of the same wine? Or maybe some other variety Mrs. Sophie. A cocktail maybe?” The exaltation, the nervousness and the wild beating of her heart when knowing that she was in the middle of total madness, led her to strive to remain calm and not let out the laugh that had contained in her throat. Every time she pronounced maliciously that name, she noticed that the woman in front, opened her eyes wide, her face became got serious and she was exaggerating her reactions. Sara only hoped that this woman did not want to kill her boss … or that her boss discovered everything and the victim, in the end, was herself. The truth is that all this she reminded her of those unforgettable childhood days, planning pranks against some surrogate mothers, along with her little brothers in the orphanage.

“Why are you calling me Sophie? My name is Caroline Meyer!” She responded grumpily.

And right there, the dramatic part of her performance began. Sara cleared her throat, swallowed, and opened her eyes wide, looking extremely embarrassed. Opening and closing her mouth subtly, as if she wanted to apologize and the words did not current, stuttering and flanking almost to the point of crying. Apologizing for your past, present, and even future mistakes.

Emphasizing that Mr. Mon’tblank mentioned ‘so much’ that name that she thought was referring to her. That it had not been her intention to confuse her but that, anyway, the name sounded as elegant and distinguished as her and that it even suited her quite well.

Caroline’s expression, in that last comment, let her know that it was time to retire, so she wasted no time and left the table before Carlos returned.

She walked quickly holding the tray with one hand while the other, sneaky, covered her mouth, desperately holding back her laughter.

Tommy, from the bar, had watched the exchange of words between the two women and knew that Sara should not be there since that table had not been assigned to her.

“What are you doing?” He asked intrigued, knowing that the answer would be nothing good.

“I was just removing the cups,” she replied, giving herself an innocent air, although the half-smile on her face said the opposite, making Tommy look at her with amusement. “By the way, tell Frank to take Mrs. Meyer a new drink. Thank you.”

Immediately, she went to the kitchen to continue with her activities, meeting her boss on the way, she erased all traces of smiles and preferred to ignore him and enter quickly, which surprised Carlos because she always had a gesture or something to say, the truth is that she never passed unnoticed or stayed silent, but he did not give it much importance, at that time, the bar was full, so she would surely have a lot of work. He thought and continued on his way.

At the table, Caroline almost exploded with rage, she had never felt so humiliated, least of all by an employee without grace or culture.

“So, Carlos. What do you think if we are honest right now?” She didn't even wait for him to settle into his seat.

“Be honest? What do you mean?” He replied, surprised by the sudden change in the conversation.

“We've been dating for a long time, and I really don't know where this is going yet.”

“Caroline, things between you and me have always been clear enough, what is it about—”

“That was before ‘Sophie’,” She interrupted abruptly.

“Sophie? Who is she?”

“That's what I hope you explain to me!”

“Caroline, I don't know what the hell you're talking about!”

“Do you live talking about her and now you don’t remember her? How convenient! Are you such a coward that you can't tell me the truth in my face? I thought you were a gentleman, but you're just a vile liar and a bastard!!” She said, quickly getting up from the table ready to leave. Fortunately for him, Caroline did her best to take care of appearances, so there was no drama or scandal when she left the Mon'tblank, leaving behind her a tense calm and a Carlos who still did not know.

What the hell had happened? What fly had bitten her?

“Sophie? Who the hell is Sophie?” He growled.

Although what happened seemed very strange to him and he didn’t understand why Caroline was so upset, deep down, it was better that way. He was not a liar, from the beginning he was sincere and direct, in that relationship, there were no feelings involved. He never made promises he couldn't keep, anyway, what was the point of continuing?

Sara was attentive to everything that happened, she saw Caroline leave the place and then her boss, who showed a thoughtful but relaxed attitude, he said nothing and went to his office.

**«»**

Finished the work for that night, while they arranged everything, Carlos noticed that Sara was suspiciously silent.

“What’s up?” She deliberately ignored the question, acting as if she hadn't heard him, refusing to start a conversation, fearing that she would be betrayed by her nerves and say something that would give her away.

“Good! Is it an effect of the moon? What the hell is happening to women today?”

“Did you speak to me?”

“Talking to you? Sara, I've been talking to you for half an hour! What’s going on? Why are you so quiet? Obviously, I don't want you to be a Parlanchina either, but it's not usual for you to be so quiet,” he said, looking at her suspiciously.

“Nothing happens, I'm just a little tired.” She replied without looking him in the eyes, as she used to.

If there was one thing that characterized Sara since she arrived at the Mon'tblank it was her tenacity, that immense desire to conquer the world in one night, she was never tired. What she said increased the level of suspicion in Carlos. Yes, something was happening and he was beginning to imagine what it could be …

“Tired? How strange! You seem to be more nervous and scared.” He spoke looking at her intensely, almost subduing her with his bluish gaze, for a moment he remembered the day she first came to the Mon'tblank and the way she had approached him.

“Why would I be scared?” She responded so quickly and exaggeratedly that Carlos no longer had any doubts about her guilt. The why? and how? He would find out later.

“I don't know, you tell me.”

Avoiding confronting him, Sara had stopped being herself, which ended up activating the warning signs in Carlos, who was no fool. He was upset, realizing that she was purposely ignoring all his questions.

“If everything is ready, then you better go to rest,” he ordered, emphasizing the last word.

Sara had no choice but to obey and leave as soon as possible.

“See you tomorrow, boss.”

“See you tomorrow … Sophie.”

Dead, buried, and with no one to cry for me!

Hearing that name, she could not control herself, almost immediately turned to look at him with her eyes larger than normal, which confirmed Carlos' suspicions. Sara had to do with Caroline's strange behavior and before she could utter a word, although it wasn't as if she could utter anything at the moment, he very seriously insisted.

“See you tomorrow!”

Needless to say, she ran out of that place, knowing she was discovered by Carlos, who despite not understanding the reasons for what happened … the truth, he was not interested either. Simply, and for Sara's peace of mind, he did not comment more on that topic, neither that night nor the following days.

The relationship with Caroline was predestined to end at any time, so it didn't matter that night or any other, maybe deep down … very deep down, even he had to thank the interference of a certain Parlanchina.