Chapter 5

 I was being led upstairs by Doris to the studies. Someone was playing a grand piano Inside and I had a crazy feeling Mrs Johnson was playing. 

    "And now," Doris said, turning to meet my eyes. " Time for you to meet Mrs Johnson Aisha.

   And she opened the door. I wandered into the room and saw a maid standing beside a young woman. The young woman was playing the piano with soo much flourish and spirit that it gave the room life and brightness. 

   I wandered around her as Doris walked towards her, clapping her hands. " Mrs. Johnson, your guest have arrived."

   Instantly, she stopped playing

   I waited for a while, watching as Mrs Johnson's maid helped to turn around to face me. 

   My heart froze and my face turned into a mask of surprise as I stared at the mysterious Mrs Johnson Aisha.

   She was to my greatest surprise,very young. I had expected Mrs Johnson to be elderly judging from her late husband who died at the age of sixty. But this lady was younger. She looked like a twenty-two year old but she wasn't what you'd call beautiful or sexually attractive.

   She was bony. 

   Not thin, not slim, I meant bony. I thought I was looking at a live skeleton. Even face looked pinched and small. Then I concentrated on the sunglasses on her face.

   " Hello, Kelvin," she said to me looking in an opposite direction away from me.

   That's when it hit ...............................

...........

   She was blind

" PLEASE LEAVE US!" she ordered and Doris and the maid quietly left like a ghost, leaving me alone with this strange bony lady. 

    I regarded her, sorry that she was blind and yet still dumbfounded by the hardcore truth that this was Mrs Johnson Aisha. 

   " Kelvin," she called, searching for the direction of my voice. " Are you there?"

     I moved towards her and sat down opposite her on a chair. " I'm here."

     She was intrusive. " How old are you?"

     I wasn't supposed to tell her that but I told her all the same. " I'm twenty-six years old."

     " You are awfully young," she said, her hands tightening on her long skirt. " You must be good-looking too, aren't you?"

     I nearly hid a smile. “ I don't Know about that but I have looks. I take care of myself pretty well so I tend to look good always.”

    She smiled. “ Well, I'm glad to hear that. If only I could see your face." She groped in space for my face. " Where is your face by the way?”

   I felt nothing but pity for this lady. I caught her bony wrist and led her hand to my face. She caressed my cheeks, my eyebrows, my pointed nose, my sideburns and my lips. 

   I stared at her as she did all these. It was as if, a skeleton was feeling my face. 

    “ If only I could see what you look like,” she said sadly. 

    I didn't say anything.

    “ Well, then,” she brought down her hands from my face. “ You must be tired from your journey. Why don't you go to your room and have a shower. We're going to have dinner together tonight,” she raised her wrist watch to her mouth and spoke into it. “ Doris?”

    Doris and the maid came in as if they'd been waiting outside the door for centuries. “ You called?”

    She nodded at no one in particular. “ Take him shopping and get him some good clothes. We'll be having dinner tonight at the Grand palace restaurant.”

    “ Understood,” Doris replied and turned to me. “ If you will follow me, Kelvin.”

    “ It's nice meeting you, Mrs Johnson,” I said, rising up to my feet, glad that I was leaving her. Her presence was soo uncomfortable.  

  

   “ And you too, Kelvin” 

    The moment we left the studies, I heard piano music flowing through my ears into my spirit. She was playing again.

    " Now, that you have met, Mrs Johnson," Doris began as we took the stairs to the third floor. " You should be shown your room."

  

    " I'm going to be living here?"

    " Yes, you are entitled to everything in this house except cash," she reminded me. " The cash part comes after your four weeks are over. In this house we go by a lot of rules. There are rooms you have no business being allowed there. Like my office for instance and the basement underneath the house. Those are strictly out of bounds. Also you must stay clear off the servant quarters and Mrs Johnson's room. Respect everyone's privacy, the only rooms you are permitted to use are your room, the sitting room, the studies, the gym hall, the bouquet hall. All other rooms are kept out of bounds."

    " I will keep that in mind," I said, wondering if she owns a room in this mansion. 

    She stopped before a long passage and pointed a room at the far end of the passage. " That is your room. You are left with ten minutes to take a shower and get dressed. You and I are going shopping."

    I watched her turn and leave. It was with an effort I tried restraining myself from staring at her as she walked away, rolling those large buttocks in a way that excited the animal in me. 

    Drawing my attention away from her, I moved over to my room and pushed the door opened. I couldn't believe my good fortune. 

    The room had everything a millionaire could wish for. A king sized bed as large as a pool, a window overlooking the ocean, gold coloured curtains that were beautiful and expensive, floor tiles that reflected my image clearly like a mirror and a wardrobe as large as a library book shelf. 

     I also got a plasma TV and my own TV sets. Arm chairs of my own and my very own inbuilt bar stood at the edge of the wall. What more can I ask for? I was definitely loving this show of luxury. Perhaps dating bony Mrs Johnson Aisha wasn't going to be as bad as I thought.