Chapter three

“I’m letting you work here because of the history with your family and mine. Your parents are good servants. I have never had a problem with them and I would not like it if I happened to have with you. The rules here will be explained to you by Gina, but most importantly, I would not like to hear a complaint that you aren’t doing your job well. I won’t be paying you for no reason. Is that clear?” Margaret said nonchalantly.

“Yes ma’am,” Lillian curtsied.

“Good. One more thing, you will be living in. Only the older servants are allowed to leave at night except the head of staff, Paulina. She is the head cook as well. She will keep an eye on you as you are new. Whatever report she gives me about you, I will not hesitate to take action, so whatever you do, make sure it’s something you are allowed to do, am I clear?”

“Yes ma’am.”

“Your mother will guide you. I don’t like things not being done my way, so whatever you are told to do, you should carry on with it with no complaints. I don’t tolerate abuse, or fighting or clustering together to gossip instead of working. I will not hesitate in deducting your salary when I see that. You understand me, don’t you?”

“Yes ma’am.”

“Good. Gina, take her to your girls’ room. Abigail, get me a cup of coffee.”

“Yes ma’am,” they three answered before curtsying and leaving the room, Abigail closing the door gently behind her. 

“Lillian, you will be good, right?” Abigail grabbed her daughter’s hand affectionately.

“Don’t worry mama, with you here, nothing can go wrong. Besides, I cannot forget the reason I came here in the first place,” she smiled at her.

Abigail nodded and softly tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear, “everything will be alright.”

“I know mama.”

“Gina, please look after her for me, okay?”

“You don’t have any problem, Abigail, I will take care of her,” Gina, a black-haired girl with sapphire blue eyes and round face said. She was average in height and a little plump and she looked a little older than her age, but she was only older than Lilly by a year.

“Thank you,” Abigail smiled.

Gina returned the smile, “come Lilly, I will show you our room and introduce you to the others.”

“Okay. Bye mama, please take care of yourself,” Lilly hugged her while Abigail patted her back with a soft smile.

“I will,” she then left to get Mrs. Lockwood her cup of coffee.

Gina led Lillian through the hallway to the maid’s room. As they went, Lilly didn’t fail to notice that not much difference had been made in the house from the one she remembers. Apart from the richly colored drapes that hung on the windows straight to the giant doors, the rich-tiled floor that made no sound when she walked. The ten-step chandelier that hung in the living room that looks as big as her house a hundred times, and very nice arts that were used to design the hallway. Everything looked just like she imagined, only improved.

When she had finally passed through the gate while coming with her mother this morning, she couldn’t stop the memories from rushing into her and watering her eyes when she saw the building, the lawn, the fountains and the animals’ shaped flowers. She still remembers how she played hide and seek with daddy Eric there.

This house holds much happier childhood memories for her, the days when she lived like a princess before facing the hard days in life. A part of her wished she could return to those days, but it has been so long that it almost looks like it never happened. She also wished she could see Daddy Eric, but he had divorced Mrs. Lockwood a long time ago. He had left the country and no one has heard from him since then. Even Shane left immediately after him; he had a difficult time dealing with his parents' divorce and so left for his grandmother’s home in Georgia to finish his studies. According to her mother, he has not returned since then either and no one has seen him.

Although Mrs. Lockwood often travels to see her mother, so only her had seen him a couple of times and it’s been ten years now since he left. No one knows if he will ever return to his family’s home and take over their business, but he has shown no interest in it.

Lilly’s thoughts were disrupted when Gina pushed open a door. She followed her inside to see rows of beds. It was almost like an orphanage home. Her eyes widened and she heard Gina chuckle, “there are so many beds.”

“Yes. Everybody has their own, only that we share the same room. Here, this will be yours; I have already placed your belongings next to it. Over here is the bathroom. We all share it too and we take turns washing it. This is the head of staff Paulina’s bed. No matter how tired you are, when it’s your turn to arrange her bed, always make sure you leave a jug of water on the table for her. If not, tut tut tut,” Gina shook her head, “you understand what I mean?” When Lilly nodded, she continued, “the other hallway is the boy’s room, no matter what you do, don’t let Mrs. Paulina see you going there. She hates it.”

The door opened and a girl of a similar age to them entered. She stopped when she saw them and her big dewy eyes scanned Lilly’s face, “I heard there is a new person.”

“This is Martha. Martha, this is Lilly. She will be joining us from today,” Gina introduced.

Lilly smiled, “nice to meet you.”

“Same here. I like your eyes,” Martha smiled while Lilly blushed.

“Thank you.”

“Gina, hurry up with your touring, Mrs. Paulina wants to see you,” Martha said, and left the room.

“That’s all for the room. Come, let me show you outside,” they left the room too and walked into what Lilly believed to be an endless hallway before they approached a door. Gina opened it and the sun’s light fell on them. Lilly wowed when she saw the garden she knew all too well. Daddy Eric played a lot with her here, as well as Shane.

“This here is the garden, Mrs. Lockwood loves lilies in her room, so don’t forget to place freshly plucked ones for her every morning. It’s the duty of every new person to serve her so that she can see how she works or so they told me,” Gina shrugged before continuing, “ Red roses go to her study every morning while you place white in the living room upstairs. We take turns doing that one too. The duty roster is placed in our room every week by Mrs. Paulina, so you check it every Monday to know your duties for the week.”

They left the garden and farther down the compound was a little house. Gina pointed at it, “Mrs. Paulina said that it used to be Mr. Eric’s drawing room, but since I came here, I have never been inside.”

“Why?” Lilly asked. She could remember she had been there once. Shane had taken her there to meet his father. She still remembers the beautiful bird he was painting when they entered.

“Mrs. Lockwood keeps it locked up. No one is allowed in there, I think.”

“Oh.” They continued walking and Gina kept telling her the do’s and dont’s of the house while showing her around. They finally ended up in the kitchen, which was bustling with activities with a lot of girls doing this and that.

“Gina, come here immediately and you, Lillian, join Diane in cutting the vegetables. No time for dilly dallying,” a fat woman with mixed up gray and black hair said. She was short and her face was round, wrinkles were visible on her face, but one could still see that she must have been a beauty in her younger days.

Lilly looked around and saw a blonde girl cutting vegetables. She believed her to be Diane so she walked up to her, “hi.” The girl looked at her but said nothing and continued with her work, “I’m Lillian, it’s nice to meet you,” Lilly persisted.

“I hope I can say the same about you. Now stop talking and start cutting. I wouldn’t want Mrs. Paulina shouting at me,” Diane snapped.

“Oh,” Lilly said nothing anymore and picked up a knife, then joined her in slicing the vegetables.

No one said anything except for Mrs. Paulina, who was throwing orders around and the sizzling sounds of the boiling pots.

In time, some male servants joined them in the kitchen to do one or two things. Everybody was busy minding their own business and doing their jobs. Lilly did a mental count of the maids in the kitchen and they were five, three she already knew their names and two she didn’t. She couldn’t find her mom so she believed she must be somewhere else in the house.

The breakfast was finally ready and Gina took out Mrs. Lockwood’s food while Martha shared for others. In time, the kitchen was compiled as everyone entered to eat their foods. Abigail entered then with two older women like her. They were the first to be served food along with Paulina before the rest.

As everyone settled down to eat, Lilly finally had the chance to count all the servants. They were all fifteen in total along with her; five males and ten females. The older ones were her mother, Mrs. Paulina and the two women that entered with her mother, while the younger ones were Gina, Martha, Diane, her and the two she didn’t know their names. No wonder the house was sparkling clean; there were enough servants to do the work.

“Patience, hurry up and take food to Greg and Gabe,” Paulina’s voice rang out.

“Yes Mrs. Paulina,” a brown-haired girl answered.

Oh so that’s her name, one down and one to go, Lilly thought.

After breakfast, they all started to arrange the kitchen. When they were done, they dispersed, each leaving to do one or two things. Lilly entered the living room to memorize everything better, Mrs. Lockwood had already left for work, so she didn’t have to be afraid of bumping into her.

She looked up at the staircase; her mind played a vision for her, a boy carrying a younger version of her as they watched his parents having a heated argument, the pain in his eyes when her mother was carrying her away. She sighed; she really wished she could see him again. That’s if he could remember her because she was sure she could remember him. She had never forgotten his face after all, his gray eyes that look upon her with all the gentleness in the world, his black hair just like his father’s, his smile that always dazzled her even at such a tender age. Unknowingly, a smile graced her lips.

“What are you smiling at?” She heard and turned to face Diane, who was staring at her with a frown. Lillian checked in her memory to know if they had met before but no, she got nothing. So why is she hostile towards me? She couldn’t say, therefore she made a mental note to avoid her in the coming future.

“Just some fun memories,” she shrugged.

“Which are?” Diane crossed her arms on her chest and asked.

“I don’t recall ever being told I have to tell you about my memories.”

“Humph,” Diane harrumphed and walked passed her out of the door.

Wow, some people can be something else, Lilly thought. She looked away from the door to see a girl smiling at her. She was the last maid she doesn’t know the name yet.

“Don’t mind her, she has been like that since I can remember. Whenever there is a new maid, she makes it her habit to be rude during the first few weeks.”

“I see, was she rude to you too?” Lilly asked.

“I was here before her. I have been here since I was fourteen.”

“How old are you now?”

“Nineteen. And you?”

“Eighteen.”

The girl smiled and approached her, “I’m Nora.”

“Lilly.”

“I know. So Lilly, why are you here? I have known your mother for a long time and she never spoke of you coming here to join us.”

“Actually,” Lilly paused, not knowing if she should tell her her reason after just meeting her for the first time.

Nora smiled, “it’s okay, you don’t have to tell me now, but I hope we can be friends. I have wanted to be your friend for a long time now. I usually see you sometimes when you come to pick up your mom.”

“Oh. I hope we can be friends too,” Lillian smiled.

Nora returned the smile, “come, let me show you around.”

Lilly wanted to tell her that Gina had done that, but hey, there is nothing wrong with another tour, besides it can give them some bonding time. “Okay.”  They left the living room through the front door, chatting like long lost friends who finally meet again.