Karen woke up later on and found herself in bed. She looked around and found out that she wasn't alone. Hendrick was right beside her.
"Hey, you are finally awake, sleepyhead." Said Hendrick when he saw that she was awake. "Didn't you get enough sleep last night?"
"I did." She replied with a nod of her head, then her stomach growled, making Hendrick laugh.
"How could I've forgotten that you are a foodie? What would you like to eat? I can make it for you while you watch me just like old times." He extended his hand to Karen.
Karen took his hand, and was effortlessly lifted from the bed by Hendrick, then off to the kitchen they went.
Mr Evans smiled when he saw them entering his kitchen. "Good afternoon, Mr Rodriguez." He greeted.
"I guess me correcting you would always be a waste of time." Hendrick shook his head with a smile.
"I'm sorry if I made you feel that way, but I just don't see myself calling you Hendrick." Mr Evans explained.
"But you watched me grow up and you are old enough to be my father." Hendrick argued.
"Yes, and it was such an honor to watch you beautiful kids grow up, but as far as I still work here, it's only right that I address you all with respect." He made his point.
Hendrick sighed. "Okay, I give up." He said with his hands in the air. "I'm here to fix something for Karen and myself."
"Wow, it's been a while. I remember when you used to chase me away from my kitchen no matter how hard I tried begging and you would totally take charge of the cooking."
"Yeah. Such beautiful memories... but don't beg me this time." Hendrick joked.
"I won't. I know my cries would be in vain." Mr Evans took off the apron and handed it to Hendrick as he left the kitchen to them.
"What should I do?" Karen asked Hendrick.
"What should you do? Wait, let me think." He put his hand on his chin as if thinking and in the next second, he already lifted Karen up and sat her on the countertop. "You do absolutely nothing. You just have to watch me." He said and wore the apron.
Karen just had to sit there, watching him as majestically did his thing, looking like some multimillionaire chef.
Hendrick was cutting some vegetables on the counter and Karen could see some beads of sweat on his forehead. She wasn't seated far from him, so she decided to use her hand to wipe the sweat off for him.
Hendrick realized what she wanted to do and he stopped her. "No, don't use your hand."
Karen's facial expression changed and that didn't go unnoticed, so he reached into his pants pocket and brought out an handkerchief. "You can use this instead."
Karen's smile returned as she collected it from him and continued to wipe his sweaty forehead like it was her duty. A duty she was happy to do. The sweat on his forehead were soon history, but she kept on wiping, and Hendrick just couldn't help smiling.
After they were done cooking, or more correctly, after Hendrick was done with the cooking, he dished it out for both of them and they went to the dining.
Karen was busy eating in a haste, that she didn't notice that Hendrick hadn't touched his food and was busy staring at her with an indescribable look in his eyes.
She looked up at him, seeing that he wasn't eating. "Do you want me to feed you?" She innocently asked him and Hendricks mouth opened from being surprised by her question.
Seeing that Hendrick opened his mouth, Karen took it as a yes. She scooped some rice with her spoon and made it travel towards his lips. Hendrick soon got over the surprise and ate from spoon.
Lunch went on with Karen paying more attention to making sure Hendrick ate all of the food on his plate and when they were done, Sarah came and took care of the dishes.
Later on, Hendrick's phone rang and he reached into his pocket to get it. His usual smile vanished when he saw the name of the caller, but he still answered it. "Hello."
He listened to the person on the other side for a long time and his short reply was "On my way." He stood up to take his leave.
"Are you leaving?" Karen asked him with her eyes begging him to say no, but that didn't happen.
"Yes, it's really urgent." He answered.
"Can I come?" She asked and held his arm.
"I'm sorry, you can't. You are still recovering and it's going to tire you out." He explained and Karen still wanted to insist, but he stopped her. "Please don't insist. I don't like saying no to you."
She was still holding his arm and she followed him to where his car was parked. "Okay, you can go in now, I promise to visit again." He told her, but she didn't leave. She was looking at him like she expected him to do something, but he didn't know what that was.
Karen stood on her toes so her face could be on the same level with Hendricks, then her face came closer to his. Hendrick was shocked at what she was about to do, but more shocked at the fact that he wasn't moving away. Karen's lips were finally close enough, but it didn't land on the spot he thought it would. Instead, they landed on his cheek and that gave him a feeling of both disappointment and relief.
He smiled awkwardly at her and his face had a shade of red. "Bye." He said and quickly got into his car, while Karen stood there and watched him drive out of the compound.
Almost immediately Hendrick left, Mrs Wilson came out of nowhere and started checking Karen out, turning her to her left and then to her right. "Are you okay, darling? Hope that brat didn't do anything to you?"
Karen was confused as to what was happening. She didn't know the brat her grandmother was talking about, but since Hendrick just left not quite long, she thought he was the one she was referring to. "Hendrick didn't do anything."
"I'm not talking about Hen. I'm talking about Stanley, the brat you snuck out with." Mrs Wilson said, looking very displeased. "I'm so confused. How and when did you leave the house with him?"
Karen was starting to notice that her family wasn't really fond of Stan and that got her to start thinking that maybe Stan was really a bad guy. "It was…" Karen stopped talking when she saw Bella at a far corner, holding her hands together in a pleading manner and she was sure that Bella was saying one word over and over again- the word 'Please'.
Karen had no idea why Bella was doing that, but with the fury she saw in her grandmother's eyes, she was certain that Bella would be in trouble if she completed she had wanted to say earlier.
"What are you looking at?" Mrs Wilson asked and turned around only to see nothing.
"I went outside when no one was in sight and Stan took me out." Karen lied instead.
Looking at Karen, Mrs Wilson could tell that there was more to it, but she decided to let it go. "What did he tell you?" She curiously asked.
"He can help me get my memories and he took me to a place called the park." Karen explained.
"The park!" Mrs Wilson exclaimed, then she shook her head in amusement. "What is Felicia and her son up to?… Well it doesn't matter because Stanley will never be able to cross your path again." She took Karen with her into the house.
....
The next morning, nothing interesting happened. It was just a repetition of some of the things that happened the previous morning. The only difference was that Karen was being watched and followed wherever she went.
Her grandmother, her mom and Jane were taking turns in making sure there wouldn't be a second meeting between Stan and herself. The servants took turns too and it soon got to Bella's turn.
Karen and Bella were both in the garden when Bella's phone rang out. She took out her phone from her pocket and when she saw the name of the caller she gasped and quickly hid her phone back in her pocket after silencing it.
"Who was that?" Karen curiously asked.
"Oh that?... It's no one important, just some..." Bella stopped talking when her phone vibrated in her pocket and even when it was on silent mode, it still made a sound.
Bella rolled her eyes out of frustration. "Forgive me, miss Karen. I'll just switch it off." She took her phone from her pocket, but it accidentally fell from her grip.
Karen's eyes followed it and she was able to see the name of the caller. "Mr Stan." She mumbled the name she saw and then she looked back at Bella. "Is it Stan?" She asked.
Bella bit on her lower lip and nodded. "He's been calling me relentlessly. He says he's not far from the house and he wants to see you. He won't leave until he does." She explained in a whisper, scared that someone else would hear her.
Karen thought about it for a few seconds and said "Let's go to him." She stood up from the bench.
"No we can't. I'm gonna get in so much trouble or even worse, I could lose my job." Bella pleaded, but Karen already had on a look which said 'I'm really stubborn and I'm not gonna give in to you pleas' so Bella immediately knew that she was done for.
But an idea later clicked in her head and she immediately voiced it out. "I have an idea. You can find your sister and make an excuse as to why I'm not watching you. You could maybe say that I went to use the washroom or something, and then I'll make her get distracted so you could sneak out and it wouldn't have to be my fault. At least Jane doesn't have a job to lose."
"Okay." Karen replied and immediately went in to find Jane.
Immediately Karen went in, Bella picked up her phone and sent a text to Stan which said "Step one is done, sir. I'll text you again to let you know when to play your part."