Chapter 6: First Day
"Ara? Are you awake now? Can I come in?" Cattie asked her from outside the door while knocking three times. Ara had been awake since three am, and she always walked up at that time. She's been combing her long, wavy hair up to her waist, preparing for her first day.
She let out a sigh, placed the comb above the table and stood up from her chair. She walked towards the door and opened it. As she opened, she saw Cattie standing with a wide smile on her lips.
'I see, she's a morning person.' Ara murmured. Cattie was wearing a maid uniform like she was wearing right now. She admitted she's not comfortable with this kind of clothes. It was white long sleeves,
Like seriously? How can they work efficiently when they are wearing a skirt, for Pete's sake?
"Oh wow, you looked so great in our uniform!" Cattie literally exclaimed when she saw her; Ara awkwardly touched her nape and smiled a little.
"Oh my, look at you. Are you shy?" Ara shook her head, "Nope, I'm just not used to someone complimenting me." she answered honestly. Cattie smiled even wider and grabbed her hand carefully.
"Now, get used to it because you will hear a lot of compliments like that here. You're really pretty," she said and giggled.
"I think I will never get used to it," Ara answered honestly, which caused Cattie to laugh softly.
"You're really cute, humble and adorable. Come on, let's start working now." Ara nodded her head. This is it. She will officially start working as one of the helpers of the palace, the place where she loathed the most.
The two of them exited the room, but before they could leave, Ara locked the door. "Which floor will we clean this day?" she asked Cattie while they were walking in the hallway.
"On the third floor, west wing of the palace." The west wing of the palace? Isn't that place where the concubines of the king stayed?
"I know what you were thinking. You're so unlucky of us but don't worry. We are far from the bitch." Oh, I think she hates her that much to call her bitch, Ara thought and chuckled.
"You know, it's really not nice to call someone a bitch." She said, which made Cattie roll her eyes.
"Only if you meet her, her attitude is garbage. And one more thing, she's deserved to be called like that." Ara grinned at what she heard.
"I do see her," She said, catching Cattie's attention. Her eyes widened, "You do? How? When?" she asked in disbelief. Ara shrugged her shoulder and looked directly on their way.
"Yesterday, when Mrs. O'Neil and I were on the first floor, doing my orientation." She answered. Cattie looked at her, "Really? What happened? Did she notice you? Humiliated you? Yelled at you?" She asked so many questions so fast.
Ara glanced at her. Amusement was playing in her eyes. "Nope, nothing happened, she didn't notice. humiliated, nor yelled at me." She answered honestly. Cattie's lips formed an 'O' shape. "Oh, that's a relief. I'm afraid that if she saw you, she'll envy you."
Ara weirdly looked at her, "Why thought? Why would she envy me? She got the beauty, power, and authority that she wanted?" She asked her in confusion. Cattie clapped her hand twice and stopped walking, so Ara stopped too.
"Come on, girl, only if you can see yourself. You're hot, pretty and young. Everyone will die to have a face and body like yours." Ara shook her head because of her compliment and chuckled softly.
"Nah, she wouldn't envy this face of mine. And seriously, Cat, can you stop praising me? It's really uncomfortable." Cattie nodded her head, "Yeah, sure, but I can't promise that I'll stop. Sometimes, I couldn't help but praise you. You're really pre---" Ara meaningfully looked at her.
"I told you so. Anyway, let's go now before Paulita can see us here just standing." She said and chuckled. She called Mrs. O'Neil by her name again. Ara laughed in her mind. She does love the sound of her name, Paulita. Ara didn't know why she hated that name. Maybe it's personal in a way that she can't understand. She shrugged off that idea in her mind and looked at Cattie, who was looking at her, too.
"Sure, let's go." She answered and smiled a little. They resumed walking and got the cleaning tools. "Finally, the two of you are here now," Ara said, looking up when she heard Maddie's voice. The first thing she noticed was her hair. Had she cut it?
"You cut your hair?" Ara asked, which made Maddie smile and touched her hair. "Cool, you notice it quickly. Yeah, the splits-end of my hair is very annoying, so I cut it off. I wish for healthy hair like yours," Ara almost frowned when Maddie complimented her again.
Cattie chuckled when she saw her expression, 'She really doesn't like good compliments. Weird.' She commented in her mind before starting to walk towards her friend, Maddie. She placed her hand on her shoulder and said, "If possible, don't complement our new friend. She's not comfortable with it." That made Ara smile; she was glad they were being considerate of her.
Maddie glanced at her. "Oh, sure. I'll avoid that one." She answered and smiled widely. "By the way, let's start doing our job?" Ara and Cat nodded their heads. They took the cleaning tools they needed and headed out to the third floor.
Just walking up the stairs and long hallways was exhausting, but they needed to endure all of this because this was their work. "Do you have any experience in this kind of work, Ara?" Maddie asked her while walking in the corridor. They were near the third floor now, just one more stair, and they were there.
Ara nodded her head. When she was young, her mother and father taught her to clean, cook and do the laundry. They said that even though they were rich, she shouldn't just rely on their helpers. And after the worst day of her life, she learned how to face the world alone. Keep on fighting to survive.
"Yeah, I used to work in a café as a waitress and work in a hotel as a housekeeper." She answered honestly.
"Oh, may I ask? Why did you choose to work here now?" Ara let out a sigh, "I actually don't have a better choice. It's hard to work as a waitress at night and housekeeper during daytime." She replied. They looked at her intently.
"You have two works? That's exhausting. Is that the reason why you quit?" Cattie asked, and Ara shook her head.
"I didn't quit; I lost my job on the same day a few months ago."
"You mean?"
Ara looked at them, "Both of my bosses confessed their feeling for me; I rejected them, so they fired me." it's bullshit, actually; she's just working, trying to forget the past, forcing herself not to think about revenge.
But it seems like destiny has a different plan for her. Two months without working makes her overthink; remembering the past hurts her so much. She works hard to avert her hatred and the pain in her heart, but they fire her for a reason: she rejects them.
Ara took a deep breath and set aside those thoughts in her mind. She looked at Maddie and the cat, who were looking at her with disbelief in their eyes.
"Like seriously? I mean, I can't blame them, though, for admiring you. But the heck did they fire you because you rejected them? That's actually bullshit!" Maddie exclaimed.
"Yeah, right, absolutely bullshit." Cattie agreed. Ara softly chuckled when she saw rage in their eyes.
"It's okay now. I found a job; it's much better." The two nodded their heads in agreement.
"Right, you made the better decision to work here. Working here is good, too; let's hope we won't be chosen as their slaves. It's really terrible."