JIEGO
I alighted the car with my right leg first, followed by the other. I have no idea what awaits inside the manor or what would happen to my apartment. I haven’t communicated with the landlord yet. In the car, I heard the lawyer and the butler talk about it and I guess it would be their prerogative.
The people who were lined in rows looked at me with a friendly expression, not to mention a hint of shock. As what I recently discovered, I do look a lot like Mr. Daniel Sy, and I guess that explains why I have these ogled and confused looks from both men and women.
“Hi…”
I said, attempting to be casual and failed. My voice sounded cracked; my throat dry. Alfred cleared his throat and stood beside me.
“this is our young master, everyone. Mr. Jiego Sy.” – he said and everyone bowed. Woah. Was that necessary?
I shifted my feet. I feel like an awkward transferee in front of the class being forced to introduce myself. Alfred then placed his hand on the small of my back and I stepped forward, where he introduced the people one by one, reciting names I know I will forget too soon. When that was over, I remember no names but I understood that every area of this huge house has a person assigned to it for cleaning. Yet, they’re all under Alfred, my butler and I guess I’ll just let him handle the cleaning tasks and… well, stuff.
“shall I show you your quarters, Mr. Sy?”
Alfred spoke and I only nodded. I looked behind to check on Atty. Sumayo but he was no longer standing there on the same spot I last saw him at.
“where’s Atty. Sumayo?”
“oh, I bet he’s in his office inside the mansion. He has a lot of stuff on his plate these days because of the inheritance.”
He has his own office inside the house? It’s funny that I only been here for the few minutes and yet my brain’s blown with the amount of information I cumulatively acquire. Everything on it was new to me, and I’ve never felt more estranged to a place than I do here.
With a snap of a finger, Alfred ordered everyone to go back to their work which they did. most of the women got inside the huge house while the men walked back to the gate or the garden. I also saw two people get a net from the back of the house and head to the fountain area. I felt a nudge on my side so I followed Alfred as he led me inside the house.
The outside view was nothing compared to the interior design of the place. The roof was high with four glass teardrop chandeliers on every corner. In the center was a huge version of the same, but was accentuated with golden chains which match the color of the columns. The walls were painted with cream and the floor was tiled red, with slight swirls of maroon and minimal furniture. A huge abstract painting was on the right side which looked like a melting woman. It was a really huge space and I imagined big events happening in this very sala. On the right and left side were long alleys which I think leads to the other rooms of the house. Alfred turned to the right and we passed four doors. I guess the furthest one was the kitchen because there was a small gap on the door and I smelled pastry coming from within. The other three doors before that were still a mystery to me.
“I hope you don’t mind having a room on the second floor, Mr. Sy.”
I shook my head. I was biting my tongue and he has no idea. I have no comments. I am in total awe of the place. I’ve never been in anything like this before. The simplicity of my life was rewarded with endless and awestruck grandeur.
We reached the spiral stairs going to the second floor. He then pointed me the first door we saw to be my personal lawyer’s office. On cue, Atty. Sumayo appeared on the door. I took a quick peak inside the room and saw how messy the table was. Papers and books were open right there. busy, Alfred said. No doubt about that.
“still giving the young master a tour?” – Atty said
“we’re still on the east wing. This will take a while.”
I raised an eyebrow.
“wait, we don’t need to do this right away, do we? I mean, if I were to live here, I can navigate on these rooms day by day. I’ll familiarize them.”
The two of them looked at each other.
“Fine. Just show him his room so he can settle. Also, his things were already there.”
Alfred nodded and continued with his tour. Atty. Sumayo gave me a slight bow and closed the door to his office. Two more doors were then introduced as vacant rooms and then we stopped at the fourth one.
“this is yours, Mr. Sy.” – Alfred said, eyes on the closed door.
“thank you. I can take it from here.”
He gave a bow and then left. When he was no longer on my sight, I looked at the door, followed by a hand on the door. Mine. My own room. My own house and a mansion at that. Everything seems so surreal.
Slowly, I turned the knob and the pushed the door open. Behind it was an enormous space, maybe twice the size of my apartment back home. It was a king-sized bed, covered with royal blue mattress with huge and soft-looking pillows. The walls were grey and the light was warm. There were also two doors at the left side. I opened the first one on the left and saw my boxes on the floor. Behind the small boxes were empty cabinets and I knew that it was the closet. A real walk-in closet.
The other door when I checked was a bathroom and once again, for the nth time this day, my jaw dropped. There was an overhead drawer which contained all sorts of shampoo, body wash and bath bombs. They were sealed as well. I bet they were newly bought. I closed the curtain and removed my clothes. Suddenly I wanted to take a shower.