Flashback
The Nest
Sea City,
Monday, February 14
2:52 PM
As Chae-won's phone rang, the room fell silent, the tension between the four wives momentarily forgotten. Chae-won's eyes widened as she listened to the voice on the other end, her face pale.
Quinyang's curiosity got the better of her. "What is it, Chae-won? Did the king finally realize he's married to a tea-pouring, poetry-spouting, drama-queen?" she teased.
But Chae-won didn't respond. She simply sat, frozen, her phone still clutched in her hand.
Ariya's smile faltered. "Chae-won, what's wrong?"
Harumi's eyes narrowed. "Perhaps it's something about the king's new mistress?" she suggested, her voice dripping with malice.
But Chae-won didn't react. She simply sat, her face pale, her eyes fixed on some point beyond the room.
Quinyang's expression turned serious. "Chae-won, snap out of it. What's going on?"
Chae-won's eyes refocused, and she slowly rose to her feet. "It's...it's the king," she stammered. "He's...he's been in Nigeria."
The room fell silent, the four wives exchanging shocked glances.
Ariya's eyes sparkled with curiosity. "Nigeria? What's he doing there?"
Harumi's face darkened. "Perhaps he's found a new plaything," she suggested, her voice dripping with venom.
Quinyang's expression turned thoughtful. "I don't think so, Harumi. The king wouldn't just leave without telling us. There's something more to this."
Chae-won's face was still pale, but her eyes had regained their sparkle. "I think Quinyang's right. There's something going on, something big. And I aim to find out what it is."
The four wives exchanged determined glances, their differences momentarily forgotten in the face of this new mystery. Together, they would uncover the truth behind the king's sudden adoption, no matter what secrets lay hidden, unknown to the three of them that amongst them one knew the truth.
***
Presently,
Th servant wing,
Sea City,
San Diego,
California.
Tuesday, February 15
4:37 PM PMT
"Yes, Monsieur Aubinet?
"Please, come with me I'll show you to your room," he said, offering me his arm.
I ruefully waved at Tyler before linking arms with whom André led me past the pool and into the house.
"You must be wondering why you've been receiving ze special treatment?" he asked, as we ascended the stairs.
"I don't want the other servants to think badly of me."
"Zat is true! But unlike zose ass-lickers, ze only thing you have and zey don't is his trust so don't break it!"
"I promise and I know why...because I'm his special guest" I air quoted causing André to chuckle.
"You are a character... and zat is why due to your status, Grand Master Long's gratitude and ze distance of ze house to ze Servant Quarters, Grand Master insisted you reside in West Wing alongside Mistress Ari."
I'm glad I was able to stop myself from protesting this time because I was elated that Ari and I would finally be able to be together again, but mostly because I was digging the dark tones of West Wing's Waiting Room I had failed to notice earlier because I had been chatting with Tyler.
A short middle-aged lady with red hair was already waiting for us as she typed furiously on her develop, looking breathtaking in her uniform. She didn't look up until we were right in front of her.
"Is this the girl, Andre?" she inquired, beaming good-naturedly.
"Yes, Angeline meet Salmanda Soo Yun. She's the Head Butler of the West Wing."
"Good evening. ma'am." I greeted her with a curtsy.
"Well, aren't you an angel!" she fawned, hugging me. "Just call me Sally."
"I hope you enjoy your stay here," André said, as Sally released me.
He then patted me on the shoulder and turned to leave. He was just by the entrance when my voice stopped him in his tracks.
"Goodnight, Uncle 'Dré! Thanks for the tour." I beamed.
Though he looked taken aback as I referred to him as Uncle Dré, he still smiled.
"Bon nuit, mademoiselle. If you need anything don't hesitate to let us know." he said, as he leaned his back on the doorpost before finally leaving.
I felt nervous again as I looked around again. The room reminded me of the lobby of a hotel I had once seen in a Korean movie I once watched. But I had no time to recall the title as Sally soon took charge of me, beaming maternally as she dragged me to her desktop.
"Now don't you worry a thing, dearie! Young Maver Yong has already ordered for your room to be refreshed just for you."
"Come again, Master who?"
"Young Master Yong? Oh, you'd know him better as Mr. Daniel. He's Grand Master Yong's eldest grandson." she said, not looking up from the computer.
"Oh!" I simply replied as three men in white suits came in, one carrying a weird yellow stool while the other two held tablets.
"Good evening, Mrs Soo. We're here for one Miss Richmen-Ozigi..."
"I'm here!" I indicated as they placed the stool in the center of the room.
"Ok, please can you stand on this stool?"
"Mrs. Sally, who are they?"
"Relax, dear. They are from the Securing Wing" explained Sally, not Iooking up from her work. "They just want to scan you with their tablets and get your carbon four print with that special stool you'll stand on so that they can upload it on your work ID on in of their many computers, okay!"
"Ok!"I shrugged feeling less threatened, and I stood on the soul as she dimmed the lights
I couldn't stop myself from giggling their red beams danced over my body while the stool softly hummed and vibrated. I made sure I thanked them before they left, Sally was still busy with her computer so went towards her to feed my curiosity.
"Mrs. Sally, what are you doing? Can I help?"
"No, thank you!" she muttered, her eyes glued to the screen again. "I'll be glad if you'd just hold on a little bit. I need to confirm your ID for the West Wing and...I'm done!"
I was impressed by the way things were digitalized in the Nest when I heard mechanical noises coming from a machine and noticed I hadn't by the table. I was lucky enough to see it spit our 3 red cards with my name cursively infused on them in white.
"Here are your key cards!" she said, handing them over to me.
"Thank you!"
"Now dearie, let's get you settled in shall we?" she sang, taking my arm as she led me to my room.
"You must be too exhausted from your flight. Besides, I can't thank you enough for saving my saving my little munchkins. You were so brave to have fought all those agents on your own."
"Agents?"
"Yes, agents. The ninjas you fought were secret agents. You know the Longs have a lot of enemies and I bet they were the ones who sent their agents to grab Ari and Benjiro again."
"Again!!"
"You'd better watch your back, Angie 'cos you've just become their enemy!" she warned as we did in front of a door in Hall A.
I could faintly behold the divergence in the lives of men on the beach below from the large windows at the end of the hall when she brought back my attention. Sally then showed me how to open the doors with my key card. I wowed for the nth time on entering my new room.
It was the perfect definition of a rich nerdy chic room with ancient artifacts all around giving off the Korean vibe. My room was large - its arrangement similar to Starfire's room in Teen Titans Go but instead of plain glass, there was a thick sliding French door that led to the balcony. I felt a wave of contentment wash over me as I breathed in the fresh sea breeze, basking in the lovely warmth of the setting sun and the artsy view of the coastline. Having seen enough, I went back inside to explore more. My vanity table was on the left side of the room (if you were just entering from the door.) and a large purple paper door on the other side led me to a walk-in closet with a purple-tiled bathroom just beside it, so I don't have to come out to change.
"It's beautiful!" I stuttered, finally finding my voice when I noticed Mrs. Sally wasn't the only one in the room anymore.
"This is Bex and Rachel," said Sally, gesturing to the two ladies holding my buggages. "They'll be your maids feel free to ask them for anything you need."
"Ok, ma'am... I mean, Mrs. Sally."
"You're welcome, darling! Oh, I almost forgot!" she remembered as she held onto my door knob, "Grand Master requested for your presence in the Board Room before dinner. Dinner is by 7:00 pm so Mr. Chung will be here at 6:40 pm sharp to escort you. So you can just clean up and rest till then. Cheerio!"
I waved gloomily till the door was fully closed before heaving a tired sigh. Feeling drained, I turned to face my new mards wondering how on earth I would start a conversation as I sized them up. They both looked breathtaking in thick short maid uniforms but while Bex's blue eyes, hot freedles and auburn hair made her mesmerizing, Racheal's bright eyes and ebony skin, which was darker than my jet black hair, shone like polished jewels.
"Miss, should we put away your things and get you dressed for dinner?" asked Bex, snapping me out of my thoughts.
"On, please go ahead and help me unpack. While you can...please what's your name again?"
"Rachael, miss," she replied in a thick accent just as Bex slid the wardrobe shut.
"Rachael, can you please take this recipe for my cream and make it for me?" I asked, giving her a tiny piece of paper from my pocket.
My skin is quite strange because it gets irritated easily, whenever we run out of shea butter Gramps sends me one she makes. It's quite easy to prepare. All you need are: a coconut, half an avocado, ½ cup of lime, 2 spoons lemon juice, a tsp of honey, fresh coffee & 2 cups of fresh yogurt (not the processed kind, preferably Greek):
1) Break the coconut in a basin and save as much milk as you can.
2) Grate the coconuts and put them in a food processor
3) As it blends add the other ingredients, one by one in the order as it's been listed above.
4) Finally, add half a cup of the saved coconut milk and use the rest to make smoothies.
5) Blend for 2 minutes and pour out into your container. Place it center of a basin of hot water for 30 minutes.
This cream is really good. To get the best results, use it every night before you go to bed as a night mask.
(Warning- If you are allergic to any of the ingredients listed above, please subtract or substitute it for some other plant.)
"As you wish, miss," she said, collecting my container and list from me.
"Anything else?"
"No thank you!" I glupped, as my heart raced. "I-I'll be grateful if you'd make it back just in time to help me pick the best dinner gown."
She then bowed and smartly left. I waited till I couldn't hear the sound of her footsteps anymore before I collapsed on the bed with a grunt.
"What do you think of here, Blaise?" I asked, the ceiling of my four-poster bed as Blaise came out of my body.
"I think...I'm hungry!" it pouted.
"I think it's lovely here, isn't it?" I chuckled, tossing him a berry from the bunch of grapes I had swiped earlier.
"Hmmm juicy!" it moaned, after a bite. "Maybe it's okay, but I'd prefer your old room."
"Great Father wants to meet me before dinner, any idea why?" I asked absent-mindedly, plucking another berry.
"I think he wants to introduce you to his family. Well, that's what I'd do if I were him though." It said, catching what I had tossed.
"I wonder what the rest of the family's like?" I thought tossing it another berry.
"If they are anything like Mrs. Bossy-Pants, then you'd beer watch out. You know what happens when you get mad..."
"I know! But what if they don't like me?" I groaned hugging a big white fluffy pillow, my eyes misting.
"C'mon don't get worked up, my Queen." Blaise cooed, flying towards me. "Seriously, if you don't get it together, it's going to rain."
As usual, Blaise was right, the sky had darkened and it was already drizzling. "You don't have to apologize to me, my queen. Besides, with a heart as melting and golden as yours, I know they'll fall head over heels for you just like I did. And if anyone gives you a hard time you know someone who can deflate their tires."
"Aw, thanks B!" I chuckled, grabbing it, and rolling in bed as I tickled it.
"Hey, cut it out!" it giggled, squirming on the bed. "You got to hit the showers! You Sink!"
"Yeah, you're right!" I said, sniffing my pits. "It's time we knock them dead. You with me, B?"
"You better believe it, my Queen! "it winked immediately making itself Invisible as Rachel camme in with my cream.
I took a shower and brushed my peeth. Bex then helped me to brush out my wet hair and re-tie my bun as she argued with Raechel over the perfect gown. Soon, 6:40 pm came and Mr. Chung arrived on the dot to escort me to the Board Room.
"Let's do this!" I muttered before I left my room.
What do you think of our new characters?
Who do you prefer to be Angeline's handmaid: Rachael or Bex?