There were just five notes that beeped sequentially into a familiar tune. Flora knew very well what it was because the popular mobile phone brand used it in all of their phone units. At first, Flora wondered whether any of the guests left a phone in the room, but then, Eva stepped off the chair she was perched on and dropped the pole with the drapes gently on the floor. Then, Eva searched among the folds of her clothes and brought out a cellphone.Flora was horrified. She heard the beeps of an electrical device at Eva’s room, but she did not want to believe then that Eva would could disobey the rules that Pablo specifically told them to follow.Eva’s face brightened as she looked at her phone. After tapping and swiping on it a few times, she replaced the mobile device where she took it.Flora’s jaw dropped as she stared speechlessly at Eva who just casually used the phone before getting it back in its hiding place.“Eva!” exclaimed Flora before realizing that she may have shouted at th
Eva looked up from her phone and stared at Eva. “What do you want me to do?” she asked, before gluing her eyes back to her handheld device. Her face was lit by the light coming from her cellphone.“You can stay here to load the dirty items or you can be at the laundry room to unload them from the dumbwaiter,” replied Flora as patiently as she could. Then, Flora waited for Eva to reply.Eva did not reply but tapped on her phone screen excitedly as if replying to a message. She smiled as she read the text on her phone. After a moment, Eva straightened her back and was about to lean on the wall when she noticed that Flora was still looking at her. It was then that she remembered that Flora had asked her a question.“Oh, you’re still waiting,” said Eva. “I didn’t realize that you’re waiting for me to answer. I thought you’ve already decided.” Eva went back to tapping on her phone and then asked
Flora was about to call out to Eva when she saw Emil. So, instead of calling out to the maid, Flora just watched them ascend the stairs to ground level. Just before they were out of view, Flora saw Emil place his arm over Eva’s shoulder. Eva turned to Emil and then wrapped her arm around Emil’s back.“I guess I’ll have to unload the dumbwaiter by myself,” Flora told herself and she sighed heavily. She hurriedly went next door to the laundry room and immediately opened the door to the dumbwaiter where she found the laundry bins sent by the maids already at her level. She quickly unloaded it and pressed the button that took the dumbwaiter upstairs to the other maids waiting there. Flora had to stay and keep pressing on the button until the dumbwaiter reached the top floor. It would have been faster if she were able to just leave the dumbwaiter after pressing it just one time, but there may be other reasons why the dumbwaiter was designed as such.
Flora could not believe what she just heard Eva say, but she stayed silent. It was not the first time that she found herself in a similar situation. It was frustrating to say the least, but Flora believed that speaking up for herself would just exacerbate matters. She could only hope that Rosa could see through Eva and know what to believe. In the past, Flora would cry when she experienced such injustice: co-workers taking credit for her work and spreading lies about Flora while flattering and praising their managers to make themselves look good. Flora would cry, however, because she could not believe that people could do such things. For someone who believed that people are intrinsically good, she could not believe that there are individuals who could knowingly and willfully spread lies in order to lift themselves up and make themselves good in front of their managers.Flora finished peeling the vegetables and left them on the table for Eva to slice and chop. She then found
Rosa got hold of the tea kettle and poured herself a cup of tea. She sat at the table and put her steaming cup of tea down. After a while, she took the teacup and blew on its contents before taking small sips. It was quiet in the kitchen as both women found time to calm down after the episode with Eva and the flurry of activity to take the slack after Rosa drove Eva out of her kitchen.The old cook seemed relatively at ease and calm after that violent storm of shouting words that she had unleashed at Eva. As Flora observed Rosa sipping her cup of tea, she wondered if there was something else about the old woman whom she had always seen as a tyrant in her own little domain. Flora recalled the advice that Rosa just gave her and wondered what she really meant by it. It was quite uncharacteristic for Rosa to give advice about Flora’s daughter when the old cook had ignored Nadi’s presence at the anteroom ever since they arrived.When Rosa said that it was not th
Back at the servants’ quarters, Flora and Nadi walked down the silent corridor. Flora knew that some of the other rooms were occupied by the maids while the other wing were the rooms for the manservants. Pablo, Maya and Rosa supposedly had their own rooms at the main house so that they could be easily summoned by Mr. Dante when needed.As they came to their room, Flora immediately unlocked the door to let Nadi in. Nadi as before immediately ran inside and jumped to her bed. Flora did not enter their room but gently closed it. She then crossed to the other side of the corridor to knock at Eva’s room.Flora made three knocks with her fist and waited for an answer.“Go away!” Flora heard Eva say.Concerned at how Eva was, Flora knocked again. “Eva, it’s me. I’ve brought you your dinner,” Flora said.At this, Eva opened her door. Her face looked more relaxed than at the kitchen earlier and she lost
Flora could not believe her eyes. There were people walking down the corridor. They were wearing white robes that were pulled over their heads, covering most of their faces. They were holding candles with two hands in front of them as they marched with their heads bowed. As Flora tried to recognize who they were, what she saw caused her to step backwards from the door. She got nervous recognizing someone walking with the crowd of robed figures. It was the mansion’s housekeeper, Maya.Flanked by two persons, Maya walked with a serious expression in her face. Her chin was raised, and she kept her eyes forward. She seemed like a prisoner being escorted to the gallows, but instead of fear in her eyes, she walked dignified and composed. Maya was the only one wearing a black robe and around her neck hung what appeared to be a gold amulet.In the darkness of her room, Flora was asking herself what it was that she saw. She was having a hard time knowing whether wha
Flora felt something heavy press against her body and she found it hard to breathe. Then, she heard the shrill trill of a bird close to her head as a pair of claws seemed to touch her face.“Mommy, wake up!” Flora heard the small voice of her daughter. Flora pushed her eyes open and realized that Nadi lay on top of her chest, making it hard for her to breathe . The claws that she thought were touching her face were actually Nadi’s small hands trying to wake her up. The bird call was the alarm clock sounding near her head.“I’m awake, Nadi. You can get off me now,” said Flora, squeezing her eyes shut before fluttering them open. She then covered her face with her hands before picking up her alarm clock to turn off its incessant beeping.“I woke up first,” said Nadi as she climbed down Flora’s bed.“Yes, you did,” replied Flora as she replaced the alarm clock on the bedside table