Chapter Four

04~ Just a maid

Since all the years I've spent with Mr. Noah, he never mentioned to me that he had a child, not even a son. The sad reality dawned on me that I’m just a maid to him. I often considered myself more, seeing he took me as a child, I behaved like one. But in reality, I was only a maid to him.

"Even if I’m nothing, I deserve the truth" I muttered to myself with Nelson asking if I had said anything.

"I’ll be back," I told Nelson, as I rushed to the stairs, heading for Mr. Noah’s room.

"Mr. Noah, wow… I know you just consider me a..." I immediately went mute as I saw Mr. Noah on his bed with tears rolling down his face.

For the first time in my life, I saw Mr. Noah so vulnerable. How, and what, could have made him this way?

"Sir!!!" I rushed to him, kneeling beside his bed, taking his hands in mine. "Mr. Noah??… Why… what… what happened?" I questioned, his head still bent. "Mr. Noah? Talk to me… please" I demanded, my voice laced with plea.

He looked at me and gestured for me to sit on the chair across from him. I immediately did without arguing.

"Mia, from now on you will no longer work here," he stated as the room went silent. My eyes widened as I sprang up from the chair.

"S…s…sir!?" I exclaimed as my chest panged. I quickly rushed to him, sitting beside him and taking his hands in mine.

"M…Mr…Mr. Noah, what have I done?, Sir, what… how… sir, talk to me. If there’s any way I’ve wronged you, please forgive me. But don’t dismiss me, please Mr. Noah" I quickly stated, tears welling in my eyes.

"Mia, you will submit your uniform, your keys, your ID and everything you have that belongs here, and kindly do so before the end of tomorrow" he said.

"Mr. Noah!! Was it because I came today!? Did I forget to give you your medications?...Was the food salty or too sweet?, Please talk to me, don’t do this to me, Mr. Noah. I’ve been here since I was 17, you can’t just do this without any reason, I know you too well Mr. Noah" I said, still holding his hands.

He then turned to face me, his eyes full of words he struggled to say.

"You will be working for another person from now on," he said as my jaw dropped.

"I…I don’t get you sir. Working for another person!? No, I don’t understand. Who is that?" I asked him, tears falling from my eyes.

"Mason" he voiced.

My hands fell from his as I immediately got on my feet. As if I couldn’t hear well, I shook my head.

"M…Mason? And who is Mason?" I asked, my voice shaking.

"After 10 years of serving you, Mr. Noah, you are going to just dismiss me and make me work for… for someone I don't even know?" I asked, my voice laced with subtle anger.

"That’s all you need to know, Mia. After tomorrow… you’ll resume there" he said as he walked away quietly from the room.

My heart panged. This was like my home, and Mr. Noah… like my father. What happened all of a sudden? What exactly is going on? I asked myself as I stood still, tears falling from my eyes.

I quickly ran out of the room and searched for Mr. Noah, but he entered his car with his security and zoomed off before I could reach him.

"Mr. Noah!!!!!" I screamed as the cars zoomed off. "At least tell me what I did wrong" my voice broke as I burst into tears.

Hours passed by, and all I could do was walk home by myself. I couldn’t even take a cab as I struggled to understand what had happened in just a day.

I didn’t know when I got home. I opened the door to see it wasn’t locked. I walked past Jere’s room and saw it was locked, he might not be home. I entered my room and locked the door. The whole night passed by with me lying flat on the bed, looking at the ceiling.

What could have happened to Mr. Noah? Why did he suddenly want me to work for… Ma, Mason? And who exactly is he?

I spent hours thinking about what happened till I fell asleep, not before putting my phone on DND.

*Yawns*

Eyes puffed from the tears and lack of sleep . I went to the bathroom and cleaned my face, wiping my face with a towel. Then  went back to my bed, lying flat on it, making no effort to go out.

*Knock knock* I heard Jere knock on my door.

"Open" I mumbled with my face stuffed in the pillow.

"Woah! What happened here?" Jere asked, seeing how rough my bed was and my hair tangled.

"Haaaeew" he mocked, dropping the tray as I sluggishly sat up. "You are back, finally… I thought you wouldn’t, as I already planned on selling the house" he teased.

"Not funny" I whispered.

Looking at the tray, he had made some toasted bread and coffee, which reminded me of Mr. Noah. A tear dropped from my eyes as Jere looked at me with no expression.

"I would have asked if it was heartbreak, but I realized you have no boyfriend" he said and started laughing.

"One more word, Jere, and I will..." I took the fork and pointed it at him.

"Okay, easy…but wait, what happened Mia, you don’t look good… not like you ever do but…" he said, laughing.

I immediately stood up to chase him as he ran out of my room, I locked the door behind him, chuckling. I went back to my bed and sat, taking a piece of bread to my mouth, wanting to bite…

"You saw a guy?"

"Yes, earlier when I was on the floor, there was this guy, uhm...he wore a mask though, so I couldn't see him clearly"

"Oh the man in mask?...You mean Sir mason...Mr Noah's son?"

My eyes widened as I remembered Nelson mentioning Mason, Mr. Noah’s son.

I immediately looked up at my phone and saw I had 30 minutes left before being late. I quickly got in the shower, wore my uniform, and rushed downstairs with Jere looking surprised as I dashed out to look for a cab.

I arrived at Mr. Noah’s house in no time and dashed into his room.

"Mr. Noah?" I called, but he wasn’t in his room. I quickly stepped out and searched everywhere, not making it too suspicious though, as some security stared at me. After some minutes, I headed downstairs as I couldn’t find Mr. Noah.

I got to the kitchen and saw some maids cooking, which was shocking.

"Mia!!! Where were you!?" said Chelsea, running towards me. "Your line didn’t go through, I called several times…What happened?" she said, noticing my puffed eyes.

"Chelsea, I’m fine… just decided to go back home" I told her.

"Well, why are they making the food?" I asked, gesturing to the maids cooking. "Exactly my point. What happened between you and Mr. Noah? He had warned us not to allow you cook his meals, saying you quit" she said.

"What?! Quit?… No, I did not" I quickly refuted. "Why would he do such? I… Chelsea, do you have any idea where Mr. Noah is?" I asked her. "Oh yes, he is at the rooftop," she answered. "I’ll be back," I said as I walked to the rooftop.

"Mia?" Mr. Noah said, on seeing me.

"Mr. Noah?" I called, seeing him struggling to walk as he was trying to get his staff, which had fallen on the floor. I rushed to him and helped him sit, dropping the staff close to him. Serving him a glass of water, I sat next to him, watching him take his medications.

"I didn’t quit, Mr. Noah, so why did you…" I stopped as I noticed he was done with the cup. I took it from him and placed it on the table.

"Mia, are you here to submit the items?" he asked me gently.

"Yes… I am," I said, as he looked at me surprised.

"I will do as you say, Mr. Noah, but at least I deserve to know who Sir Mason is" I asked.

"I have told you all you need to know, Mia" he said, standing up.

"And the fact that he is your son?" I said, as he stopped in his tracks.

"Sir Mason is your son, isn’t he?" I asked, walking to him as he looked at me in awe.