He didn't respond, instead focusing on his food. Lola's mother-in-law noticed Livia's glum expression and said, "it's okay dear, Hugo is always like that, don't worry."
Hugo sighed as he looked at Lola, thinking, 'this must be difficult for her.'
"Eat as much as you want,"
He gently patted Lola on her head.
"I'm sure the flight was exhausting."
Lola smiled briefly as she looked at him. Her father-in-law was always by her side, always there for her, no matter what.
"I will eat, father-in-law."
'Please don't look at me with such pitying eyes, father; I'm not emotionally hurt. It's simply the audacity of these two. Anyway, it's actually a lot of fun. It's similar to the game of hide and seek. I know you're hiding something, Santiago, and I'm going to find it,' She thought as she propped her head on her palm and munched on her food.
Silence loomed the dining room.
After a while, Santiago broke the silence because it was becoming uncomfortable.
"How did the reunion go? Did you have a good time?" Santiago inquired without looking at her.
Lola looked at him, quickly averted her gaze, and replied, "it was fine, and yes, I had fun."
" I told you it would be nice and refreshing to see old classmates again, It seems I was right." Santiago said, smiling.
Lola gave a faint, barely visible smile and murmured to herself, "nice? Refreshing? You have no idea how annoyed and choked up I was."
"Did you say something?" Santiago asked, raising an eyebrow and tilting his head.
"No, I didn't; please continue eating," Lola replied solemnly.
Santiago nodded and resumed eating his food.
'Is that all you're going to ask?' she wondered.
Livia looked at the two and said,
"Miss Lola or can I call you Lola, I wanted to properly introduce myself earlier but you didn't seem to be in your best mood,"
Lola's brow furrowed further as she forced a response, trying to be polite, "Miss Livia Edgard. Yes, I know, Santiago told me."
Livia clasped her hands and smiled as she stated, "That's fantastic; is it okay if I address you as Lola? I mean, if we were going to live in the same house, we might as well get to know each other and become acquainted."
Santiago nodded and smiled broadly, as he added, "Is that all right, Lola? She wishes to address you by name."
Lola dropped her spoon on the table and looked to Livia, completely ignoring Santiago, and responded, "I suppose I should remind you that we will never have a close, comfortable relationship. Your job here is simply to do me a favour, to assist me, and I appreciate it, so it would be better for you to stop trying Miss Livia and focus on what you are meant to do "
She took a napkin, wiped her lips, and rose from her seat.
Santiago stared at her with a shocked and enraged expression. Lola's actions just now had changed the atmosphere of the dinning table.
Livia's smile faded slowly as she stared at Lola, and wondered, 'Is this woman always like this? I need to work harder then.'
Santiago jerked from his seat and yelled, "Why did you have to be like that, Lola? She simply wants to get to know you..."
Lola cut him off before he could finish his sentence,
"I'm finished with my food, please excuse me," She walked away from the dinning room and headed straight to her room.
Santiago cursing under his breath as he watched her walk away.
Paula clucks her tongue and says, "This girl... always rude,"
Hugo took a look at her plate and noticed she hadn't finished her meal. He summoned one of the maids and instructed her to deliver the food to Lola.
The petty maid nodded, took the plate, and made her way to Lola's room.
Paula gave him a stern look and said, "Why are you directing the maid to bring her food? If she had been truly hungry, she would have finished her meal."
He ignored her and rose from his seat, exiting the dining room.
***
Lola entered her room and sat on her bed, sighed and stared at the wall and frowned, remembering how rude and arrogant she had been earlier.
When the maid knocked on Lola's door, she pulled herself up from her bed and leaned back on the cushioned headboard of her bed and ordered , "It's open, come in," while she stretched out her hand to pickup the document on the drawer next to her bed.
The maid entered and placed the plate on a medium-sized beautifully carved wooden table, saying, "Madam, Mr Hugo told me to send your food to you."
'Father-in-law is so thoughtful,'
Lola smiled abit, looking at the maid and replied, "Thank you, and please tell Father-in-law I'm grateful."
"Yes, ma'am." The maid replied, bowing respectfully.
Lola waved her right hand, indicating that the maid could leave and used her left hand to open the document she pickup earlier, but the maid did not move.
"Ah, madam..." The maid began, pursed her lips anxiously, and clutched the hem of her gown.
Lola gave her a glance, closed the document and placed it on the bed, and asked, "What exactly is it? Laura"
'Don't tell me she thinks Santiago's actions have hurt me,' Lola thought.
"Madam, please be strong... I mean, what Sir is doing isn't right," Laura trailed. Laura was the youngest of the maids and the one who servers and is the closest to Lola.
"And who does she think she is to speak to you so casually?" Laura snarled, referring to Livia.
"Laura, don't worry about me, she's just going to carry I and Santiago's child and then leave," Lola replied, picking up the document again. 'Do I really look that pitiful for Laura to say such and is trying to console me? I should keep it up,' she reasoned.
"Madam, I don't think you should let your guard down like this," Laura said as she rushed to hold Lola's hand, causing the document to slip from Lola's hand and landing on the floor.
They both looked at the document on the floor then at eachother. Lola glanced at Laura's hands which were holding hers and Laura immediately let go of Lola's hands and bowed, "I'm sorry madam"
She picked up the document and handed it back to Lola, she collected it and sighed deeply.
She then looked around for a moment before whispering, "I'm sorry for making assumptions, but I believe Sir is cheating on you with that woman."
'There is no need to apologise, Laura. I had the same thoughts, but I'm not sure there's any real evidence yet, so I'll play the naive wife for now.' Lola thought.
Lola turned to Laura and asked, cocking her head, "What makes you believe that? Did anything happen while I was away?"
Laura took another look around and then at Lola, wondering if she should tell her.
"It's all right, Laura, tell me everything you know," Lola said calmly her lips slowly arching into a sly smile.
Laura turned towards the door and closed it then returned to Lola .
"Madam, Sir brought that woman into this house," Laura said, her head hung low as she closed her eyes .
When she didn't hear a response from Lola, she raised her head, only to be met with Lola's cold stare.
Laura fidgeted while nibbling on her thumb, thinking, 'ah, I made madam angry.'