Awkward

  “Ahhh!”

  I whipped around so fast that I almost tripped over my own feet, squeezing my eyes shut.

  “I-I’m sorry!” I blurted. “I didn’t know anyone was swimming!”

  The man didn’t answer. Then… I heard the sound of steady footsteps. Every step made my heartbeat pound even louder as he grew closer to me.

  After what seemed like an eternity, a deep voice finally broke the silence.

  “Who are you?” His voice was smooth and calm, yet there was an authority behind it that made me stand straighter without even realizing it.

  “I-I’m Cassandra!” I answered.

  Why did I say my full name?

  “I mean… Cassie! Well… people call me Cassie.”

  Cassie, stop talking!

  “I’m the new maid,” I rushed to explain. “Today’s my first day. I got lost looking for Colton and Elizabeth since I was hungry and wanted to eat and somehow ended up here.”

  Another moment of silence.

  Then he asked, “And care to explain why you are holding my swimming trunks?”

  My eyes flew open.

  I looked down at his trunks that were clutched tightly against my chest…

  My face instantly caught fire.

  “Oh!”

  I wanted to disappear right here and now.

  “I thought someone forgot them!” I awkwardly stretched one arm behind me, refusing to turn around.

  “I was just going to bring them inside!”

  I waited for his response. For a long moment, it was unbearably silent. Then I heard it. 

  A quiet chuckle.

  Was… Was he laughing?

  A hand gently took the trunks from my fingers

  “Thank you for your concern about my undergarments.” He muttered teasingly. 

  “So,” he said after a moment, amusement evident in his voice, “does the new maid always introduce herself with her eyes closed?”

  What? Oh… crap, he must think I’m disrespectful.

  “Umm… are you…”

  “Alreayd partially dressed.” 

  “Okay.”

  Mustering all the courage I have left. I cautiously opened one eye. Then the other.

  I was able to take a clearer look at his appearance this time around. Standing a few feet away was the man from the family portrait I’d seen earlier.

  He looked a little older but I can tell it is him. The resemblance was unmistakable. The sharp features. The striking hazel eyes. The commanding presence. Only now, he was wearing his swimming trunks instead of… well… Anything else.

  I quickly lowered my gaze.

  “So…” he said, studying me with quiet curiosity.

  “You’re the new maid.”

  I nodded so quickly my neck almost hurt.

  “Y-Yes, sir.”

  For a long moment, he simply looked at me.

  Then, to my surprise, the corner of his lips lifted into the faintest smile.

  “You look familiar, are you from around here?” He asked.

  I shook my head. “No Sir, I’m from the countryside.”

  “I see…” he murmured. “Well, in that case…”

  He took a slow step closer.

  Before I knew it, he was standing right in front of me.

  My breath caught as he leaned down, leaving only a few inches between us.

  I instinctively held my breath.

  His hazel eyes searched mine with quiet intensity before drifting lower. They lingered on my lips for the briefest moment, making my heart skip a beat, before meeting my gaze once again.

  A faint, almost teasing smile tugged at the corner of his lips.

  “In that case…” he said softly, “you’ll have to take good care of me.” He whispered before walking past me.

  My eyes followed him as I remained rooted there. Only when he was gone did I regain my control over my body.

  …

  I returned to my room like a mindless zombie.

  I barely slept. Every time I closed my eyes, images of that embarrassing encounter kept repeating in my head.

  I groaned and buried my face into my pillow.

  “Why, Cassie… why?” I asked myself.

  Of all the people I could have embarrassed myself in front of… Why did it have to be him?

  When the alarm rang at five-thirty, I was already awake.

  After washing up and putting on my uniform, I took a deep breath before opening my bedroom door.

  “You can do this,” I whispered to myself. “Just act normal.”

  The moment I stepped into the kitchen, Elizabeth was already there with her usual strict expression.

  She glanced at me. “Good. You’re on time.”

  “Good morning.”

  She gave a small nod before handing me an apron.

  “Tie your hair properly and begin washing the vegetables.”

  “Okay.”

  I quickly got to work, trying my best to focus on anything besides the disaster from last night.

  Unfortunately… Someone else had other plans.

  “Morning, Cassie.”

  I looked up. Colton had just walked into the kitchen carrying two baskets of freshly baked bread.

  He smiled brightly.

  I smiled back. “Morning.”

  “Sleep well?”

  “Not really.”

  “I wonder why.”

  “…”

  My hands froze.

  “What do you mean?”

  He shrugged innocently.

  “No reason.”

  “…”

  “…”

  “You just look like someone who’s carrying a guilty conscience”

  I forced a laugh. “Haha… what makes you say that?”

  Elizabeth suddenly looked between the two of us.

  “What are you two talking about?”

  “Nothing, I didn’t do anything!” I answered rather rashly.

  Colton looked at me. Then at his mother. Then back at me. A grin slowly spread across his face.

  “Ohhh…”

  He dragged out the word.

  “Did you actually do something?”

  “I didn’t!”

  “You definitely did.”

  “I didn’t!”

  Elizabeth placed the knife she had been using onto the cutting board.

  “Cassandra.” 

  Her tone alone made me stand up straighter.

  “Is there something you’d like to tell us?”

  I swallowed.

  “N-No…”

  Colton folded his arms. “I think there is.”

  “There isn’t.” I hissed.

  “There is.”

  “There isn’t!”

  Elizabeth sighed. “I dislike unnecessary arguments before breakfast.” She looked directly at me. “If something happened, I’d rather hear it from you than from someone else.”

  I stared at the vegetables I was washing.

  Maybe… Maybe I should tell them? It wasn’t like I had done anything on purpose.

  “I… I accidentally wandered into the indoor pool last night.” I confessed.

  Neither of them reacted, just waiting for me to continue.

  “I thought nobody was there.” I started waving my hands in the air as if that helped in clearing the situation. 

  Colton’s smile slowly disappeared, as if he knew where my story was going.

  I continued. “And then, someone got out of the pool.”

  Both of them looked at me in silence.

  “…”

  “…”

  “Sir Azrael was in the pool?” Colton asked.

  “I didn’t know! I honestly didn’t know! I was looking for you guys but I accidentally wandered there.” I said.

  “What happened? Did you get into an argument?” Elizabeth asked, her old wrinkles appearing.

  “Well… no… we didn’t argue at all. It’s just that…” 

  “Dear just finish the story already so I know if you have done something wrong or…”

  I looked at Colton. Then at Elizabeth. Then on the floor.

  “I may have…”

  “May have?”

  “…accidentally…”

  “Accidentally what?”

  “…stolen his swimming trunks by accident.”

  Everyone got silent after that.

  Colton blinked. Elizabeth blinked. Even the grandfather clock in the hallway seemed to stop ticking.

  “You…” Elizabeth spoke painfully slowly. “…did what?”

  “I didn’t know they were his!”

  Colton covered his mouth. His shoulders shook as he laughed.

  “You think this is funny?” Elizabeth snapped, slapping his shoulder.

  A snort escaped him. “I’m sorry.” “Pfft— it’s just hilarious.”

  Elizabeth glared.

  Colton doubled over, laughing so hard he had to grab the wall for support.

  “I’m sorry!”

  “Hahaha!”

  “I know I shouldn’t laugh!”

  “But she stole his shorts!”

  My face burned hotter than the sun.

  “I didn’t steal them! I was trying to help clean since it was just lying there and I didn’t know they were his!”

  “Hahaha!”

  Elizabeth pinched the bridge of her nose.

  “Enough!”

  Colton’s laughter quickly died down.

  Elizabeth let out a slow breath before looking at me.

  “Cassandra.”

  “Y-yes?”

  “Did Sir Azrael appear angry?”

  I thought back to last night. His calm expression. The way he’d chuckled. The small smile he gave me before leaving.

  “Not really.”

  “He didn’t yell?”

  “No.”

  “He didn’t threaten to dismiss you?”

  I shook my head.

  “No.”

  Elizabeth frowned thoughtfully.

  “Then perhaps you’re worrying over nothing.”

  Before I could respond, footsteps echoed from the hallway.

  A man wearing neatly pressed clothes and thin-rimmed glasses entered the kitchen.

  “Mrs. Elizabeth.”

  “Oh, Darren.”

  Elizabeth turned toward us.

  “I completely forgot to introduce you.”

  She gestured toward me.

  “This is Cassie, our new helper.”

  Then she looked at me.

  “Cassie, this is Darren, Young Master Azrael’s personal assistant.”

  I offered him a polite smile.

  “Good morning.”

  “I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” he replied dryly.

  “…What?”

  His expression remained perfectly straight.

  “Sir Azrael requests your presence in his study.”

  Every muscle in my body went rigid.

  “Me?”

  He adjusted his glasses.

  “You’re the only Cassie employed in this estate, correct?”

  “Y-Yes.”

  “Good, now follow me.”

  Without another word, he turned and left as quietly as he’d arrived.

  The kitchen fell silent once more.

  Slowly… Colton turned toward me. For exactly two seconds… He looked genuinely sympathetic. Then he grinned.

  “So…”

  He patted my shoulder.

  “You’re either getting promoted…”

  He paused dramatically.

  “…or fired.”

  “COLTON!”