Chapter 7

7. Emma.

I felt midday heat coming, just as I neatly arranged ironed shirts into the baskets and placed them in the Alpha Mason's room. Amelia crouched beside his larger-than-life bed, checking under to see if we had missed anything, but she nodded and got on her feet.

"The work here is done, now we rest." She folded her arms. Unlike me, she wasn't in her uniform except for track trousers and a sweater. "The uniform looks good on you." It was strange that she wore no uniform, perhaps she wasn't an ordinary maid or house girl. That would explain why she dealt with the Alpha directly.

"Oh, thanks." I glanced down at myself. It felt tight around my waist but I could live with it.

I went back yesterday, got most of my things and arrived at the Mansion an hour earlier than Amelia had said. She moaned that I came too early, disrupted her sleep but still carried my bag away before we started work.

I turned back to Amelia. "So about my bags, where did you—" a faint, distinct sound emanated from my stomach and dragged out for a while, alternating between the highs and lows until it fell completely silent. My cheeks flushed, as my body gave a loud reminder that I hadn't eaten anything since the day before.

An unnatural silence fell between us and Amelia only raised her brows as I wallowed in shame.

"So—" Amelia clapped her hands together. "I guess we have lunch now. I will show you to the mess hall. Something came up, so I will be away for a while."

I was too embarrassed to utter a word, and I followed right behind her. We went down a flight of stairs and stopped at the mess hall, which was very busy with maids and a few guards having their break there.

"Just go over to the counter there, order or you can make yourself some food. Just don't make a mess because the cleaners will bite your head off."

"What about you? Where are you going?" I demanded. Amelia was the only person I knew at the moment, so I felt it would be better to eat with her in that place.

Amelia yawned and stretched her hands. "I have to grab some sleep. Someone here had me up an hour earlier," she said and rubbed her eyes. "See you in—" she glanced at her watch. "One hour I guess, wait for me at the hall. I will pick you up I have to show you a tour of the stables, too."

"Alright, I will be waiting. I didn't carry any phones—"

Amelia lazed away from me, stretching her arms and massaging her neck as she went around the door. As I slowly turned to the serving area, I felt their eyes on me—everyone. As I slowly made my way, I felt them observe my every movement, my walking gait and my uniform. I felt tension building within, my muscles growing stiffer with the growing unease in the pit of my stomach.

I glanced up and some of them were whispering to themselves. Some even went as far as to point at me as they talked, laughing in the process. I kind of got the feeling they didn't like me but why? Was it because I was new?

I grabbed a plate, some warm garlic bread from the platter. The server handed me a bowl of bean soup and raised a brow.

"You must be the new girl? Well, good luck and eat a lot," she said. She was an older woman with greying locks of hair.

"Thank you," I smiled briefly as I collected it. I grabbed a bottle of water before turning back to the hall. I felt like the number of people around had increased, and I was the new centre of attention.

It was all occupied, except for a space dead centre in the Mess hall.

"Oh, great," I muttered.

As expected, with everyone staring at me I found it hard to put anything into my mouth. If it were somewhere I knew, I would have stepped outside and eaten in some garden or something, but Amelia said I should wait inside.

I slowly broke bread and had a taste of the bean soup, which I should admit was very incredible. My eyes met with the server, and she gave a nod of approval after seeing that I tasted her bean soup.

"Who is she again?"

"Some no-name girl. Heard she's on cleaning duty in the Alpha's room—"

It was really awkward, not because I could hear them but that they were directly beside me. A bright-eyed maid, with lush blonde hair frowned in my direction.

"Impossible."

"It's the truth, I saw her early in the morning with Amelia." Another maid did a poor job of whispering.

I diverted my attention away from them and focused on chewing the garlic bread but I couldn't find my appetite again.

I'm sorry, bean soup, but even you couldn't help my fleeting appetite again.

"How did a country bum like her waltz in and clean the Alpha's room?" The bright-eyed maid disagreed.

My spoon clattered on the table, and I clenched my jaws and kept my head down. It was best if I never had any altercation on my first day no matter how offensive it got. I couldn't let an opportunity like this, go away because some girl didn't like me.

"Abigail, you are being loud." The server shook her head disapprovingly.

"I don't wanna hear anything from you, old woman. Just do your job!" She retorted and got up from her table and approached me slowly.

My palms felt damp, I didn't want any trouble. Maybe, I might just suck up to her today and deal with her later, when I'm familiar with everyone. It was just for today.

I felt a hand on my shoulder, and Abigail, the bright-eyed maid, wore a terrifying scowl on her face. "Who do you think—"

Amelia appeared out of nowhere, grabbed her arm and yawned. "I step out—only for ten minutes and you are already acting like vultures." She glanced at me, her eyes watery from the effort and turned back to Abigail. "Don't even think of it."

Abigail snatched her arm away, a deep frown on her face. "Let's get out of here," she hissed and stormed away with a few maids.

Amelia slowly turned and glanced at the other guards eating at the table. "What are you looking at? The show's over, go back to your business!" She said out loud and sank into the seat beside me. "Phew, I came just in time."

"Thank you very much, you didn't need to do that—"

"Excuse me?" She raised a brow. "I should have stood by, hearing them say stuff about you?"

I got flustered, perhaps I said something unpleasant. "I—I didn't mean it that way, I'm sorry..."

Amelia patted my shoulder. "Relax, it's nothing. You work with me, it's natural for me to have your back."

I slowly looked Amelia in the eyes, and she was smiling at me. It was probably the first time I had seen her smile genuinely. All her other expressions were long faces due to exhaustion, or she was mostly plain-faced.

"You should also stand up for yourself more often. I can't have your back all the time."

"I'm sorry," I apologised.

"There you go again. It's okay. Come, let me show you the stables." She got on her feet again and waited at the door. "Come on." She gestured with her arms.

After disposing of the plates, I went after her, only for something to come up, and she said I should go before her to the main entrance.

I walked down the corridor alone, keeping an eye out for the maids. It would suck for Abigail to confront me again after the mess hall. I had been staring at the floor for a long time, so I only perceived footsteps coming before me too late.

As I raised my head, my heart skipped a bit as Alpha Damon moved in the opposite direction, barely a meter away from me. A cold expression on his face, he never looked once in my direction as he walked past me.

I felt the ice in my heart melt, my breathing returned to normal, but my relief was cut almost briefly when he pulled my arm and held me up against the wall.