Was it now impossible? Where would an old man have gone? Earlier, he was acting like his legs could break with any step he took. I could approach the overly agitated Claude, that seemed so out of his usual godly peacefulness. I twirled around searching for Theodore that had already set himself on a chase, after the running man. That was his dream job after all, chasing after the bad guys.
Even if I were still not sure whether that sweet grandpa could be of any harm.
"Let's head home. Dear Maid!" I secured the metal box so I would not make a stupid mistake, for starters, in this whole countryside thing, there is no pavement on most of the paths that lead to the manors, in actuality, even where there is pavement, the path is irregular with patches of cement sticking out, now and there.
Unlike Theo, I was not reckless enough to go running around to catch an innocent man. I tilted my head to my right to see Claude "Milady, that would be no fun…" his cold hand, touching the palm of my hand, pushing me with him as he started to run. That beautiful smile that could convince me of anything stamped on his face.
Being reckless, could not be all that bad, in the end!
We ran for our lives, as if we were the ones being chased and not two teenagers running around. Unsuspicious ladies giggled as we passed by. Did they know Claude? Or was it, perhaps, a funny moment that shook up their day?
"Heyyy…" my breath grew heavier as we skipped around the town center. "Can we stop…" the air lacking in my lungs. Abruptly, Claude stopped. The sudden lack of movement made me lose my grip, the box fell making a loud noise, something broke inside of it, the metal maintaining the brilliant appearance. In that moment, my heart also broke, this was something so important and yet I was fooling around, disregarding my sole objective for being here.
"I'm sorry, Harriet!" Claude hurriedly, picked up the box. "Did it break?" he inspected it carefully.
"Ugh, I knew I shouldn't have done this!" I fixed my gaze in his hands, that were trying to locate where it had been broken. "Just give me the box already!". He handed me the box, softly, almost as if he were handing out a newborn baby. Do not cry, you cannot cry. It was a mistake; you cannot blame yourself for something so petty. You absolutely cannot cry, for such a minor problem.
A tender scent grew closer to me, warmly, ever so ever carefully, my "maid" hugged me, both his arms enveloping my back. A hug so awkward, one might think he has never done so for his entire life. Arching his eyebrows, he looked down at my face "Cry all you want! I will stay here, don't mind me." His eyes now avoiding my gaze.
"Boohoo, such a sacrifice!" Grinning a put my arms around his shoulder, the metal from the box touching the skin of his neck. "Hugging me, is such a difficult task." Claude struggled to stay with that cold metal box pressing against his skin.
"Let go! I can't believe you're teasing me. Mean Milady!" His mouth forming the sounds when you want to chase away a stray dog. "But seriously. Don't bottle it all in." Such a cheesy line accompanied by his hand sliding all the way to my waist; our bodies closer than I would normally feel comfortable. But this was extraordinary, he was an oddity. I would not mind staying like this for a little bit.
"So, you're saying you will hear me cry about the most, tiniest bittiest things?" an inquiring tone, not fitting of my cheerful disposition.
"Yeah. This maid would not mind, not even tiny bit." His face close to mine and his fresh scent, a mixture of his own personal perfume and sap from a recently cut tree. Was he cutting logs before coming to help me? I wondered by myself while looking at him.
This atmosphere was characteristic of something I would never dare utter. Sweet and caring this person before me, could not be real. Does he like me? Or does he like my sister? Can I really see him in this way?
I took a stepped back, doing my best to smile widely.
Friends cannot hug so passionately for such a long time, that thought both pleased me and scared me deeply "Then next time a rip my favorite jeans I will call you right away!" Was I asking him for his number? Was I interested, hinting at it slightly or it just a way to escape from that situation?
Am I supposed to know myself enough to answer all my questions?
"Are you serious? Well, I will be waiting then." His palm out waiting for something. I took my phone out of my pocket, unlocked it, and deposited it in his palm.
In a minute he handed me it back "You can't back out now. What is done is done!" I jokingly said.
"Call me." Claude briefly spoke, his name stored as "The Most Handsome Maid"on my contacts. I called and then hung up, so he would know is me. He happily stored my number in his phone.
How childlike.
"Let's go home! Theo probably got bored midway and went home anyway." Claude nodded and reached out for my hand.