It was early morning when Flora woke up. She was not used to hearing the digital clock provided in the room when it issued its alarm at 3:30 in the morning and was surprised at its loud beeping. Immediately, she flicked on the bedside lamp and looked for the off button on the alarm clock. She sat up and dangled her legs out of the sheets as she coaxed her body to wake up. The bed had been soft and comfortable, and Flora was quite happy that even the servants’ rooms were provided such luxury, but somehow, she missed the coziness of her old bed in Cardena. It was small and the cushion had become harder, especially in areas where the cotton had clumped together, but it had afforded her restful nights. Somehow, her old bed gave her the safety and security that this new bed could not.Flora stretched her arms and yawned. She looked across the room and saw Nadi in the dim light, sleeping peacefully while hugging her doll. Flora was glad that her daughter was able to adopt to the new room an
It was still dark as the two women and Nadi walked out of the servants’ quarters and walked on the path leading to the main house. There was a slight drizzle and they walked hurriedly to avoid the damp. The wet path glistened under the weak light of a single light bulb that shone from under the roof of the servants’ quarters.“Careful with your steps, Nadi! The path could be slippery,” Flora warned her daughter just as she walked close to her and shielding Nadi with her body.In a few minutes, the women were at the back door of the main house, shaking off the remaining raindrops from their clothes.“Do you think she’s here already?” asked Flora as she brushed Nadi’s head and dress with her hands.“It’s too early, maybe she’s still sleeping comfortably in her bed,” chuckled Eva.When they opened the door and entered the anteroom to the kitchen, they noticed that the kitchen light was on. Eva looked at Flora with an exaggeratedly scared expression to which Flora just smiled. They quickly
Flora had to stop after hearing Rosa speak. It was not the first time that she was told to take care of her daughter. Of course, Flora would take care of her. She’s Nadi’s mother after all. That look on Rosa’s face however seemed uncharacteristic of her usual acerbic nature and Flora even doubted at first if it was really she whom Rosa was referring to.Flora closed the door gently and found her way to the dining room where she saw Pablo pouring water into the guest’s glass. Pablo was quite at ease and did it efficiently. His hand steadily held the pitcher just an inch above the glass such that the water hardly made any sound. Then, Pablo quickly withdrew the pitcher and replaced it on the table. Afterwards, he approached his station near the food cart where he saw that Flora was already standing and looking at him.As Pablo walked towards Flora, he gave her a sharp look but did not say anything and just stood silently next to her. When the gues
The guest drank some water and wiped his mouth one last time before folding his napkin neatly and placing it on top of the table. He stood up, holding on to the table as he did so to support himself.“Thank you,” he said, looking at Flora and Pablo before approaching the door that led to the entrance hall. Flora smiled at the guest and thought how weak he looked for his age. He looked overworked and the lines around his eyes were much more pronounced.“You’re welcome, Sir,” replied Flora and she walked towards the table to get the used plates and utensils. Pablo followed her and picked up the water pitcher and glasses. He was silent and Flora felt uneasy. The only noise in the dining room were the clatter of the utensils and the tinkle of porcelain as they were placed orderly in the food cart. When they were done, Flora came behind the food cart to push it back towards the kitchen. Pablo stood in her path which stopped her from pushing the food cart any farther.“Stop,” Pablo said, his
“Nadi! Where are you?” asked Flora, feeling nervous with the disappearance of her daughter.“She’s with Eva,” said Rosa softly.Flora turned to Rosa and asked, “Where did they go? Where did she take my daughter?”“I asked Emil to show Eva the vegetable patch where she could pick the vegetables for lunch and they took your daughter with them,” explained Rosa.“But how long have they been gone?” Flora asked Rosa in a voice louder than she had intended. It was her daughter that went missing and she was quite concerned that she did not know where Nadi was.Rosa stopped writing and dropped her pen on the table. She eyed Flora who realized that she might have said something to offend the cook. Upon seeing Flora shrinking backwards, Rosa picked up her pen and went back to writing on a notepad.“They haven’t gone long. It would probably take them an hour to get to the spring and pick the vegetables and another hour to get back. You won’t be able to get them to hurry back by clucking there like
“That’s nice, Nadi,” Flora told her daughter, all the while feeling apprehensive that her daughter had seen the place where fishermen supposedly vanished. Flora hugged her daughter and kissed her head thinking of what she would do if her daughter suddenly disappeared. Flora knew that she could not live with herself if something happened to her daughter. “Did you enjoy your walk to the vegetable patch?”“Yes, Mommy!” said Nadi. “I picked leaves and flowers for Kay.” Nadi then showed Flora the bunch of small different colored flowers.“Oh, they’re beautiful, Nadi!” said Flora and smelled the flowers being held out to her by her daughter. “And they’re very fragrant!”“Fragrant!” repeated Nadi.“Yes, fragrant,” said Flora. “I have to go back inside, Nadi. Can you stay here and play with Dolly while I work?”“This is Kay!” said Nadi, hugging her doll.“Oh, sorry, I thought you said before that her name is Dolly,” said Flora.“No, this is Kay,” insisted Nadi and then she got off from Flora’s
The guest finished his lunch with Pablo taking over most of the tasks of serving him, whether it was refilling the guest’s glass with water or taking out his used dishes and utensils. Pablo would immediately go to the guest’s side, just as the latter had drunk halfway through his glass of water or had taken the last morsels of the food served him. Pablo would signal to Flora to return quickly to her station after she had delivered the food on the table.Flora was confused as Pablo worked quickly and tried to prevent her from staying too long beside the guest. When the guest finally left the kitchen after a ‘thank you’ and a fleeting smile, Flora got to clearing the table and arranging the chair that the guest had left.Pablo approached Flora and she felt nervous, anticipating another admonishment from Pablo.“How many times do I have to tell you not to talk to our guest?” Pablo asked, his eyes practically blazing as Flor
Flora looked at Eva as she untied her apron at her back to replace it with a clean one from the drawer. Eva seemed relieved to be going out of the kitchen and her face was beaming as she went to the food cart to push it towards the dining room. Just before she got out the door, she glanced at Flora and smirked as if finally liberated from a prison where Flora was just about to start her sentence.Flora asked Rosa for permission to get food for her daughter and herself and Rosa gave her assent without looking. Flora took out two small servings of the dinner reserved for the servants and carried it to the anteroom. She saw her daughter role-playing with her doll and a broomstick, pretending to feed them using the leaves and flowers she had picked earlier. The plants had been battered and torn into smaller pieces by Nadi and placed in thin sticks to create her version of shish kebab. Nadi quickly turned when she heard the kitchen door open and her face brightened when she saw her mother