After what seemed like hours, I had finished cooking grilled chicken, with a side of potato salad and a glass of milk for dinner. My medium length chestnut brown hair was in a messy ponytail that prevented it from getting in the way while I cooked. I wiped my brow, smiling proudly of what I had accomplished.
I retrieved silverware for each seat, which was still inside its box, along with five of our many glass plates. I was just beginning to set the lengthy table when Chase entered the kitchen, his green eyes widened as though in shock.
"What on Earth are you doing?" With lightning-fast movements, he gathered up everything from my hands, and stared at the already prepared food. "Where did all of this come from?" Panic seeped into his words.
"I was making dinner," I removed everything from his arms then continued to set the table. "I chose to do it; my parents won't be angry with you. I didn't give them much of a choice," Chase held up his hand as if to object but silenced himself before any words could escape.
"I appreciate it, Miss," he smiled, a sense of sadness and the faintest bit of familiarity began to overwhelm me. I looked at him out of the corner of my eyes, studying him. His hair looked similar to how it was earlier, however, as the day continued on it had clearly become messier and much more unkept. His suit was still clean, but small wrinkles were now visible against the black fabric. I assumed that it was from him continuously bending over to pick things up and clean throughout the entire day.
"You know you don't have to keep calling me that." Chase looked at me with gentle eyes.
"No? Then what would you rather me call you?"
"My name. It's Makayla."
"Makayla," he said the words quietly, thoughtfully even. I returned to my task at hand, my name seeming to linger in the air.
Chase continued watching me while I placed every dish in their designated spots. Every so often he would lean down to correct any minor misplacements. He made no comment while doing so, I could only assume he was just doing his job. The table had two seats on each of the longer sides and one at each of the ends, in total I set up five of the six total seats.
"Alright finished! Could you please go grab everyone?" Chase nodded his head and rushed out of the fancy dining room to retrieve my family.
In a matter of minutes, the entirety of my family arrived, just as I finished setting the food on the table. I smiled as Jackson raced over, just to sit at the head chair almost pulling it to the back wall. His small figure barely visible above the table.
"Foooddd," Jackson said longingly and licked his lips, everyone laughed except Chase who only smiled at him.
"Well, why don't we eat!" I said enthusiastically.
Everyone sat down while Chase remained standing, his feet planted to the floor as he stood off to the side, arms behind his back. He glanced at the fifth plate, then began to remove the plate and silverware from the area. I stared at him, puzzled.
"Are you not going to eat?" Chase stopped cleaning the spot all together glancing toward my parents who had small pitiful smiles plastered on their faces.
"Eat with us I miss-" my parents covered Jackson's mouth in sync shutting him up. I looked from Chase, who was still frozen in place, to my parents who had Jackson's mouth covered as he squirmed attempting to escape their grasp.
"It's...uncustomary for the butler to eat with his masters," Chase spoke in a somewhat cold voice, his jaw clenched ever so slightly. Shortly afterward, he finished clearing the area I'd set up for him. "I shall leave you all to dinner, I will be finishing up a few chores, do call if you need me," and just like that, he left.
Everyone at the dinner table was unusually silent after his disappearance. All except for Jackson who was cheerfully humming while my parents distributed the food. Quietly, my mother leaned forward, her wavy brown hair blocking parts of her face as she grabbed some chicken, setting it on the glass plate that glittered from the overhanging lights. I barely picked at my food as my appetite eventually dissipated, while the thoughts of what just occurred plagued my mind. Why did they cover Jackson's mouth when he was speaking? And what was up with that Chase guy?
Soon enough dinner was over, throughout its entirety there had only been minimal conversations, but that was all, which bugged me immensely. Everyone said their goodbyes for the night and headed to bed leaving me alone to clean the dishes. I sighed to myself quietly. Are they hiding something from me? I shook my head. They would never do that, would they?
I slapped both of my cheeks, getting rid of those thoughts to focus on my task at hand. I washed the dishes, while placing the remainder into the cabinets up above the sink.
I stretched tiredly, starting to drag myself out of the dining room and up the polished staircase. After several minutes I arrived at my room only to find the large door shut, I caressed the handle lightly.
As I pulled open the door, it revealed all of my things placed into their necessary areas. I smiled slightly then walked to the huge bathroom which had almost everything I owned set in place. I looked at the fluffy white towels which sat on a black rack that rose up beside the tub where all of my soaps had been placed. My hands immediately wandered to the lavender bubble bath I had received from my mom not too long ago. I twisted the golden handle, warm water cascading into the tub as I set a few drops of soap inside.
I undressed quickly then lowered myself into the bubble filled bathtub, letting the warm water caress my skin. Waves of tiredness brushed against my body. I leaned on the side of the tub, as I shut off the water, closing my eyes. All the while thoughts raced through my head, of the new house, and of the butler I couldn't seem to get out of my mind.