“Miss Ashley?” a maid's head popped through the doors. “Yes" “The hosts have asked you to join them for dinner this evening" She frowned. "Really?” “Yes, dinner would be ready in twenty minutes" When she entered the dining room, she found Henry Allen sitting at the head of the table alone. Two maids and a servant dressed in black and white stood behind him, their heads bowed, she halted. “Come on in, come sit with me" he invited her. However it didn’t sound like an invitation to her, there was an underlying threat in his voice. “I am full...” “You have not had anything to eat at all” he interjected. “If you insist” “I insist" he smiled. His smile was unnerving She walked towards him, suddenly the distance between the door and the dining room felt like a mile away. She opted for a chair where she wouldn’t be face to face with him but he pointed out a chair where she was directly in front of him, she looked everywhere else but at him. She couldn’t figure out what was going on
Things greatly improved between them in the following weeks. They were not exactly best friends but they were accommodating of each other. Henry had healed considerably although he was yet to return to work. Ashley on the other hand had become abreast with the workings of the house and was bonding with Asher. She and Henry never engaged in their constant squabbles anymore and their hatred for each other had decreased considerably. She was late to work today. She had woken up a little later than her scheduled time. She and her mother had engaged in one of their arguments again. She had thought after the death of Mrs Denver, that things were better between her and her mother but she was mistaken. Getting the new paying job didn’t help in any way, there was always one debt that needed to be paid off. To her mother, she was never doing enough. She sighed audibly. As she opened the doors she dreaded meeting with Henry, she had shown up late to work more times than she had arrived early.
It had been a spontaneous decision to prepare dinner. Now that she thought about it for a second time, she didn’t understand why she was preparing dinner. Quite true, all the maids were out save for a few security officials. Angela was not home and Ashley doubted she could handle a kitchen. Asides the fact that she didn’t care for her family, she didn’t look like she could do anything. Asher sat in his baby walker beside her as she worked. She flipped the steak in a pan and placed it in a large serving bowl. She brought out the baked potatoes from the oven with a towel and placed them on another plate. There was a chip and tomato sauce dip as an appetiser. She laid out the dinner table, the bell rang startling her. She almost threw the bowl of chips in her hands. She took a deep breath and steadied herself before she walked towards the door. It was when she got to the door that it occurred to her that she hadn’t considered that it could be Angela on the other end. She hesitantly star
Henry got out of the bath after he had imposed on himself a compulsory cold shower to kill his arousal. He made up his mind to not think about today or Ashley. He put on fresh clean clothes and decided to focus on other tasks ahead, it was a weekend and so he didn’t have to go to work. He called Olivia. She picked on the first ring. “Pleasant morning to you Sir" Henry smirked. “Olivia at this point I think we are beyond this pretentious salutations....” “Why would you say so, Sir?” “We both know there’s nothing pleasant about the morning...for you" he added after his thoughts strayed to earlier today. He silently cussed again. “Did you say something, Sir?” He shook his head at first before he found his voice. “No, not at all" “Okay," she responded. “I was asking if there was something you needed me to do for you...” He cleared his throat. “Yes, create a schedule of things I can work on this weekend and mail them to me. I have time on my hands” “Of course Sir" she replied. “Ha
Fresh tears gushed out of her eyes as he zoomed off. It was late and she was stranded. She didn’t know her way from here. The pain in her heart was unbearable, she would never be able to forget the words Leonard had told her. He had never been mean to her like he was today. He had hurt her and it would take a long while to forgive him. The cold air caressed her skin causing her to involuntarily shiver. She picked up her phone and dialled her mother's number but she didn’t pick up. She almost dialled Leonard’s number before she remembered they were supposed to be pissed at each other. She thought about calling Henry but she didn’t want to disturb him. He had been a kind host to her.At that moment an overwhelming feeling of loneliness overshadowed her. She turned on her G****e map and walked towards the main streets, somehow Leonard had driven them to one of the small streets in the city, there were few open shops littered about and only a few people walked by.She thought about callin
“How bad is it?” “It’s pretty bad” came the reply. Henry rubbed his day stubble. “Help me tidy it" “Good morning Sir". Ashley greeted. He turned around. "I will call you back" he whispered into the receiver. “Good morning Ash” he looked at her. “How do you feel this morning?” She nodded. "Much better" she had freshened up and changed into new clothes. He nodded. "that’s good". They stared at each other for a while. “I will just go to the kitchen...” she began. “Stay”, he blurted out. She was puzzled. “I mean move in here" he explained “Not like move in here but come live here for your job, for your safety...” Henry was never one to be timid or not know how to word his sentences but somehow he found himself unable to look her in the eyes and express himself. “You live far off from the city and you barely make it here on time...” Angela had gone to take her breakfast when she heard the conversation coming from the living room, she halted in her tracks and eavesdropped. “Yeste
It didn’t take a long while for her to settle in. The space in Asher’s room was more than she was used to. She unpacked all her things and carefully put them in the spare closets and wardrobe. Henry had left for work a few minutes after her arrival, Adam had stopped by to welcome her and handed over to her, her due pay. She had no idea where the lady of the house was as she had spent the whole day holed up in Asher’s bedroom sulking. She had brought everything they would need inside his nursery and so she did not need to leave the comfort of the room. It was hard to wear a long face when you cared for Asher because he was a jovial little boy, she found herself smiling more times than she would normally as she watched him play. He was the most patient child to care for, she couldn’t figure out whose attributes he had taken after. Many times than she could keep track of, she peered at Leonard’s number on her phone and was tempted to call him but she decided against it. After all that
Eric was just done arguing with the security officials at the gate and he was flaring with rage. They finally let him drive through. He couldn’t decide which was more annoying, the fact that his mother had asked that he relayed this message personally or the harassing security officials. As soon as he was properly parked, he got out of the car, two security officials flagged him on each end. “What is the meaning of this?” he questioned angered. “The boss has asked us to take precautionary measures with you” Eric fumed, to say he hated his brother would be putting it lightly. He hated the impostor that lived in his house and had somehow managed to surpass him. He had not always hated him. He had followed the footsteps of his father, he had seen his father treat Henry badly and so he had followed suit. It was easy to hate him, he was older but he had always had to live in the shadow of his successes. Things hadn’t changed much as they grew. Eric stared at the beautiful landscape of t