Not having the appetite to continue eating, Karla packed up the plates from Raul's penthouse dining table. She was so fed up of how unpredictable Raul could be. Sometimes he was warm, even though that was rarely. And other times he was cold. Whatever mood he was in, his actions were always unexpected, and usually took Karla by surprise. She was so tired of it.
Karla made her way down the stairs. They were empty, except for a few men here and there. On reaching the last floor, where the kitchen was present, she branched into the hallway. Reece and Mandy were also in the hallway, walking towards her. Karla caught the smirk on Reece's lips, and the added swing of her hips. Mandy passed Karla, giving her a friendly nod as greeting, but Reece bumped straight into her. The motion made the tray to tumble out of her hands, causing the ceramic plates which were on it to shatter. Reece didn't stop walking.
Considering her early irritation, Karla was at her wits end. There was no doubt that Reece had pushed her on purpose, but the despicable maid hadn't cared to apologize, or even turn back. Karla gnashed her teeth. She wanted to slap Reece. No. That would be too merciful. She wanted to beat her up till she knew her place. And she could, but that wouldn't work in her favor. She wasn't going to allow some attention seeking woman ruin the plans she was working so hard to carry out. She would try her best to handle this civilly.
"Reece! Aren't you going to pick this up?" Karla gestured at the broken ceramics at her feet. The words came out with more venom than intended.
Reece swerved to face Karla, then stood akimbo. "Why? I didn't break it." She challenged.
Karla raised an annoyed eyebrow. "First, because you can't be dumb enough to believe that. Second, because it's your freaking job. Pack this up now, and I'll let what you just pulled slide. Nana made it clear to me the first day, I'm your superior. Certainly you know what happens to maids that anger their superiors."
The hatred Karla saw in Reece's eyes made her feel smug. It was a helpless kind of hatred, where you despised someone or something but could do nothing about it. Karla briefly turned to Mandy, who had stopped the instances she heard the plates breaking and had been standing quietly at a corner, watching the scene play out. She gave Karla a weak smile, as if to say "sorry". Karla smiled back, hoping Mandy interpreted it as "it's not your fault".
Not wasting another glance at Reece, Karla left for her room.
•~♥~•
That night, Raul didn't meet Karla in her boudoir, not that she expected him to. She had searched for him earlier that evening, but had been told he was unavailable. He was often unavailable. Karla groaned. How was she supposed to seduce a man who disliked her, thought it was fun to resist her charms, and was always busy?
Maybe it was all pointless trying to stay in the Valdezian HQ through Raul. Maybe she should go back to Nana, and plead for an extension of her stay. That would work. Probably. Anyhow, there was always the option of hurrying Raul's assassination. She still didn't have a proper escape plan, but if it came down to it, she would just have to take the risk. In her line of work, risks were unavoidable, but an assassin always tried to reduce them. However, the more important thing was getting the job done.
A knock came, breaking Karla's chain of thought.
"Dinner is here." She heard Mandy say from behind the door.
"Bring it in."
Mandy walking in with the meal and dropped it beside Karla.
"Smells delicious." Karla commented cheerfully, grateful for the break from her thoughts, and brought the tray to her spot on the bed.
About a minute passed, but Mandy didn't leave, and she didn't speak either.
"Is there something wrong?" Karla asked, weary of the awkwardness. She looked up, and noticed that Mandy was fumbling with a tiny piece of her dress.
"It's about Reece... " Here it was —the apology that was supposed to be said by Reece, but was being presented by Mandy instead, because she felt obliged to offer one. "Be careful around her."
Karla's eyes widened. Now she hadn't expected that.
"Why'd you say that?" She asked.
Mandy looked away, letting her eyes roam from one thing to another, but not focusing on any of them. "Well." She paused. "There are rumors." She paused again. "She's been working in the Valdezian Mansion far longer than I have, but since I've been here, I've noticed Lord Raul's mistresses never last long. The other maids say she is behind that. They say she drugged the last mistress and one of the mafia's men, then made them make love. Lord Raul kicked her out after that. The mistress before that was kicked out because she stank. They say Reece added ammonia to her body spray." She said, her voice barely above a whisper.
Karla opened her mouth to talk, but Mandy cut her off, finally looking into her eyes. "It's just a rumor! It could be a lie! In fact it is!" It's just... " Mandy softened her voice back to a near whisper, and looked away. "I like you. I don't want you to leave. You're not like the other mistresses. You're nice."
Not being able to help herself, Karla smiled, flattered at the kid's admission. "I like you too Mandy, but there isn't any need to worry. I can handle my own."
"Okay. I'll be going then." Mandy all but scurried out of the room, leaving Karla to ponder on what she'd just said.
The way Karla saw it, there were two possibilities: Reece was even more sinister than originally thought, or Mandy was was setting her up. It seemed unlikely that Mandy was the true culprit —there wasn't any clear motive and it just didn't seem like her— but six years working around criminals had given Karla serious trust issues.
Nevertheless, if Reece was truly out to get her, then she was a nuisance. Karla had to weed her out. And she already had a plan for that.
TEASER: KARLA IS ILL