Chapter 6

Louise

There are four doors leading from the dormitories to the rest of the house, but they are all locked from the outside, they've got me locked up like I'm some kind of animal and it's hurting me inside. Even though my father never paid attention to me, there I was leaving whenever I wanted and no time to come back, now only God knows when I will leave here or when they will return.

I tried to open the windows but they all had bars on the outside, barely showing the rays of light that still dwell outside. I tried to tie a sheet to the bars so I could get this over with before I felt worse than I did, even more so knowing that I will never get out of here and then where will I go from here?

I tried to tie it down but there weren't any gaps and the furniture couldn't support the weight, so I decided to think of another way to do it and finally lay down, turning off the lamp and pulling the blanket over my face as well. But the light was opened and along with Roberto came a woman older than him. I stood up quickly, put my hands behind my back and looked down, the shame I felt too great to describe.

"You must be Louise! Nice to meet you, Emma." I felt her fingers touch my face and lift my head slowly.

"I don't want to disturb you, ma'am." I said, trying not to get into another jam.

"Call me Emma. Now come with me, I'm sure you haven't had dinner yet! Mauricio, what kind of man are you becoming?" Her voice is sweet and calm, very different from the other way women come here.

"Thank you, but I'm not hungry. As I said; I don't want to disturb you." I tried to argue but it was in vain. Emma grabbed my hand and pulled it with her, I received only a contemptuous look from Mauricio.

The dining room of the house had a table set and I swear my stomach would have rumbled if I hadn't drunk enough water while I was looking for a way out. Emma practically forced me to sit down and then left, making my legs tremble and my hands sweat uncontrollably.

"So what, they're not doing their thing?" The pair of gray eyes that were directed at me made my throat close and my heart skip a beat.

"I don't want anyone to do my tastes, I just..." I thought about saying something else, but gave up immediately.

"How did you acquire these marks on your body?" Is it serious that he wants to know about this right now? It's like he's giving me a needle in my heart.

"It was an accident that happened a year ago!" I replied with a low look on my face because my self-esteem did not allow me to look anyone in the eye.

"Did Parkinson's have anything to do with it?"

"No, he had nothing to do with it. It was my own fault, personal disasters!" I wish it had been personal disasters, the mark that dwells inside me would not carry so much weight.

"Louise, I don't want to keep you as a prisoner here, but I want you to understand that it will be better for you as much as it will be for me."

For a moment my blood boiled inside and then I got a shock of reality, whether this will be my reality until I don't know when I'll have to get used to it or it will only get harder for me every day.

"So what do I have to do to not have to stay locked up in that place? I don't want to be seen any more than you want me to be seen, but I can do a lot of things too. I can do the dishes and when someone comes by, I can leave." I argued, trying not to let on how nervous and unresponsive I was.

"That won't be necessary, you already do this during your working hours. Did anyone give you any other clothes besides these gray ones?"

"No sir."

"Come with me, I don't know why I'm doing this, I know I'll regret it later…"

I followed him until he found Juliana, I know who she is because I have seen her more than once. The woman was always very elegant and next to her was Emma, her mother.

"Juliana, I want you to take her to change these clothes and send her to the main hall too!" Her order was received by the woman with a broad smile on her face. “If you waste this opportunity in that room it will be the end of you!"

Juliana gave me a set of white clothes, pants and a long-sleeved blouse along with a red apron and white shoes. I followed her orders and she kept telling me what to do until we reached the kitchen. The table was huge and in fact the party must have had many guests, but what horrified me was to see so many women being displayed as if they were trophies, carrying on their chests a small plaque with their names.

"My God…" I whispered to myself, but Juliana looked at me and smiled a bit gracelessly at the situation she saw me in.

"Serve and always smile. You are beautiful, nice and I believe you will do well here. I'll be at table five if you have any questions!"

"If I need anything, I will come to you, thank you very much."

I went on with tray in hand, serving the fanciest people I have ever seen in my life.

"So, how are you feeling in the middle of all these crazy people?" This man who appeared out of nowhere doesn't seem strange at all, I had the slight impression that I had seen him somewhere before.

"Sorry, I don't want to get in the way, do you accept?" I put the tray in front of him, trying to get out of there as fast as I could, but it was all too fast.

"No need to be afraid Louise. A pleasure, Roberto, I'm Mauricio's cousin!"

"Nice to meet you, Louise. Now excuse me, sir, I need to work and as I said I don't want to bother you and I don't want to hurt myself."

"Harm? Has anyone ever hurt you?" What do you mean already? So they were framing something for me before I was even here?

"That's not what I meant, now excuse me." I walked in quick, large steps, standing out from everyone else who was staring at me, and went to the kitchen.

The lipstick that Emma made sure I wore was giving me a little bit of self-esteem, the blush, mascara and the rest of the makeup that was also on my face actually made me a little less ugly than I normally am. I went into the bathroom and stared at myself for a few seconds in the mirror, let my hair down to see how I would look, and almost had a heart attack when Mauricio walked in without warning, leaving me face down on the floor with no reaction.