By the time Genevieve finished styling my hair, it was already twelve forty-five PM, which means I have just fifteen minutes left to meet her.
Damn it!
I have not even done my make-up, unlike Lizzy, I am very good at it, but I have to ask for Genevieve's assistance to save time.
She did a fine job with my hair.
I do not mean or intend to be ungrateful, but her assistance with my makeup is highly needed.
"Wow, thank you so much, Genevieve. You did a nicer job with my hair. It is indeed prettier than the one you did for Lizzy." I praised her for her handiwork, she is very talented and skilled when it comes to designing hair.
I also intended to make Lizzy jealous too, even if it is a bit.
"Thank you for your compliment, Lady Eunice. I am pleased that you like the outcome. I kept the best for the last." She said and laughed softly and then, smirked.
"Is there anything else you want me to do for you, Lady Eunice?" Genevieve asked me.
It was just as if she was able to read my mind, or maybe she saw through me, maybe it is part of her service, once again, I was impressed by her.
"Yes, there is. Make-up, my make-up, I need assistance with my make-up. Do you know how to apply makeup?" I asked her, but did not wait for her reply before I continued,
"I do not need a heavy one, to save time. Can you apply light makeup for me, please?" I asked her again, but this time, I allowed her to reply to me.
"Yes, Lady Eunice. I am a make-up artist too, I am not just a hairstylist. I also major in beauty services", she explained to me.
"Oh! So, what are you waiting for? You can begin." I ordered her.
"Please go to the dressing table," Genevieve said to me, I obeyed.
"Close your eyes please." She ordered me politely and then she began what she was best at.
We were fully prepared and ready for the party by twelve fifty-five PM.
Lizzy came out first, followed by Genevieve and lastly me.
I was about to close the door, but then asked,
"Is there anything you are forgetting? This is your last chance, till after the party." I announced to both of them because my door is an electric one, every door in this house is.
"No, thank you. Am off, catch you both later." Lizzy said and walked downstairs.
"Bye", I and Genevieve replied in unison, she almost said, 'my lady' too.
"And you?"
I asked Genevieve who was the only one still standing there with me.
"I left my bag in your room, hope it is safe?" She asked me,
"Yes, of course, it is safe inside my room. My phone, as well as Lizzy's phone, are inside my room too." I said to her,
"Yes, Lady Eunice", she replied to me and nodded at the same time.
"Okay then," I said and shut the door, I locked it with my password as well as my fingerprint.
The moment I turned to face Genevieve, I said,
"Done, shall we go now?" I asked her,
"Yes Lady Eunice", she replied to me and nodded her head at the same time.
"After you", she said to me, as I began climbing down the stairs and she followed me as if she didn't know her way around, maybe she did not know.
By the time I finished climbing down the stairs and was now in the living room, the whole house was already crowded with guests which included, close family relatives, distant family relatives, close friends, long time, no see friends and who else?
Well-wishers, including the ones that I know and do not know.
"Wow, how did this place get crowded like this in just an hour or two", I muttered to myself.
As I got to the back door of the living room, the one that leads to our garden, where the party will be held any time sooner, before I could take any further step, Genevieve held my left shoulder, to stop me and said to me,
"My Lady, your mother ordered me to tell you to come to her when you get prepared for the party."
I turned to face her, and she took her hand off my shoulder and stood straight, facing the ground.
"Okay", I replied to her, I wanted to tell her to drop the formalities whenever we are alone.
I was wondering whether to tell her or not, I do not know whether it would affect her agency rule or law, again.
The best way to find out is to ask her, right? I made up my mind to ask her anyway,
"Genevieve dear", I called her name politely, that is the best way to start a serious conversation, right? I was asking myself.
"Yes my lady", she replied to me, waiting for what I had to say to her.
"Uhm, Can I ask you a favour?" I asked her, to be frank, I did not know how to begin
."Yes you can, my Lady", she replied.
"I want you to call me Eunice, either when we are alone or with Lizzy. You can look me in the eyes, I hate being referred to as a lady all the time, I do not bite. I call you Genevieve whenever we are alone or with Lizzy, don't I?" I asked her.
"Yes, you do my Lady, sorry Eunice", she said and was still facing down.
"So, what is stopping you from calling me by just my name? See, I do not care about being formal, I have always been informal to everyone, except when the need arises. It is fine to call me by my name, okay?" I said to her and she nodded in reply and replied,
"Okay Eunice", she was still facing down.
"Do not worry, you can look me in the face for now, okay?" I assured her and she nodded again while looking me in the face.
"Yes, that is the spirit girl, hope it is not your agency rule or law?" I finally asked her the question that I have been dying to ask her for a while now.
"Finally."
I said under my breath excitedly and had a deep sigh of relief.
"It is against my agency's policy if I do it of my own will, it is not if that is what our customers want" Genevieve explained to me.
"What about Lady Elizabeth? Can I be formal with her too?" She did not give me the chance to reply, and then she added,
"Can I call her Lizzy too, just like you?"
"I do not know about Lizzy, the best way to find out is to ask her about it, talk to her about it rather", I replied to her, I sincerely do not know if Lizzy will allow her to address her just by her name, especially now that they are cool.
Just then, an idea popped in.
"Why don't you talk about it when next, you talk? She talked about you guys talking about something later. Just use the opportunity to talk to her about it", I shared my idea with her.
"Thank you, Eunice, I never thought about that", she thanked me.
"You are welcome, Genevieve. Oh! So, where does my mom want us to meet?" I asked her.
"I do not know what you call it, but she showed it to me earlier, this morning. Please follow me", she said and walked away.
"Okay", I said and started following her.
This time around, I was the one following her as if I do not know my way around the house, maybe if I do not know where we are heading to.
It was an extra, large room downstairs, we barely entered or used in the house, but now, it was sparkling and very dusty free, it used to be very dusty.
'What is happening here?', I pondered.
The people in this room were those who have been around since morning.
"What is happening here, Genevieve?", I asked her,
"Your mom wanted to thank everyone who has been around since morning to help. The majority of the people here have not had breakfast, so we are here to eat first before heading to the party. As you can see, everyone is fully prepared for the party. Including the guest and the hired workers from my agency", Genevieve explained to me.
"Oh, I see. Why am I here?" I asked her,
"Have you had breakfast?" She asked me and I shook my head in response.
"I guess that explains it all." She said and waved at one of her co-workers.
Then I saw Hale without Lizzy by his side, which was odd, then I asked Genevieve,
"Can I sit anywhere I like?" I asked her to confirm.
"No, you cannot, your mom asked me to bring you to her, after you get prepared for the party, follow me and behave now, we are almost close to her." She instructed and warned me, looking over her shoulder.
I guess she was not waiting for a response and I was not going to give her one either.
When we got to where my mom and stepdad were sitting and eating with my grandma and family friends sitting beside them, Genevieve stopped and walked beside my mom, she bent over and whispered something to my mom.
"Hmmm", I muttered to myself, "what is she telling her now? ", I asked myself under my breath.
After she was done telling my mom whatever she was telling her, she left us.
"Eunice, are you not hungry?" My mom asked me.
"Yes, I am.", I replied to my mom.
"Come sit here", she said and pointed to an empty seat beside her, close to my grandma.
"Okay mother", I said and walked quickly to sit beside her.
The moment I sat down, one of our hired maids walked up to me and shared with me my portion of the numerous types of food properly arranged on the extra-large dining table.
"Here, Lady Eunice", the hired maid said as she poured me some water and juice.
"Thank you", I said after she gently dropped the two glasses in front of me.
"You are welcome, Lady Eunice", she said and smiled.
After that, I had about five scoops of rice from my plate.
"How have you been?" Mom asked while eating,
"it has been good, thanks, thank you, mother", I quickly corrected myself.
"I heard you have been carrying a little girl around, who is she and what happened?" Mom asked me.
Why does she even care?
"She is the daughter of the chief chef, her name is Sarah, and she is four. She stumbled on something and tripped. She was wounded and I had to carry her around", I explained to mom.
"Did you say the chief chef's daughter?"She asked surprisingly as she stopped eating and dropped her cutlery.
"Yes mother", I replied to her,
"What, how come? Anyways, she is the owner of the agency, where we hired all these chefs and maids. So they both needed the ambulance", she said.
I was not sure if she was expecting me to reply to her or not, but I did anyway.
"Yes mother", I replied to her and took a sip from my glass of juice.
"Anyways, you did well, I just want to give you some final instructions on what to do when the party finally begins", she said excitedly.
"I think you know what to do, you have been doing it yearly for five years, right?" She asked me.
"Yes mother, I do", I replied to her,
"Just know I have got eyes on you, on every corner. Just make sure you do not disgrace me, okay", she said excitedly.
"Yes mother", I said.
"You are dismissed, but you can stay if you want to", she said to me, picked up her cutleries and resumed eating.
"Thank you mother", I said and had the last sip of my juice before standing up to take the vacant seat that was between grandma and Lizzy.
I think they were purposely keeping it for me, but they were still eating, I was done eating but not satisfied, it will do for now.