Sonya
When I opened my eyes, my bedroom was getting lit with the early morning sunrise light. The first thing I did was to stretch out to take my phone which was on top of the desk, near my bed. I moved to my contacts and phoned Olivia. First time I called, there was no answer. I called again, still no answer.
It seemed a little odd but I guessed she was still sleeping. I got out of bed and did some stretches. I also did a few yoga poses I learnt before heading towards my coffee table to make coffee. Feeling refreshed from the coffee, I went on to take my long normal shower and I freshened up afterwards. I was going to church today and I wanted to look my best as always.
I scavenged through my wardrobe, looking for something that would suit my taste this morning. After a thorough search, I found a blouse which matched with a skirt and a fancy wide hat. After some hair treatment and some light makeup to my face, I donned my wear and called for my driver.
Before I could leave my room, I remembered Olivia. She didn't answer my call earlier and I made a mental note to call her again. Normally, Olivia would be awake at this time and we would go to Golden City mall to eat before going to church together. But today's different. She's still not awake.
I took my phone and called her. As expected, the first call got no response. I called again and after a few seconds, she finally answered it.
"Olivia ?" I called out.
"Yes Sonya ?" she replied slowly.
"I have been calling you since morning, what have you been doing ?"
"I was still asleep when you called," she groaned. "I just woke up a few minutes ago."
"What's that noise ?" I inquired. "Are you in some pain right now ?"
"Very much," she answered.
"What's wrong ? Did you get hurt, Olivia ?"
"Just go to church without me today," she diverted. "I won't be able to make it."
I wanted to question her further but she hanged up before I could. I just stood there, puzzled and looking at my phone. Something was wrong with Olivia and I'm going to find out.
I left my room and got downstairs. The driver was waiting for me and I quickly got into the car. In the car, was the bodyguard and I was initially surprised he was back. Then I remembered my dad told me that today's the day he would be discharged and this time, he would be armed as well.
I couldn't care less about him right now. I instructed the driver to take me to Olivia's house and he drove us off. On the way, I tried calling Olivia over and over again. She still wasn't picking. This made me worried and I was in a haste to see her.
It took a while but finally we made it to her house. I alighted and my bodyguard wanted to escort me inside the house but I refused. I used a spare key Olivia gave me and I opened her gate. I got in and locked it back. The entire compound was very quiet. Maybe it's because it was a Sunday morning.
I walked through her compound before finally reaching her flashy bangalow. Olivia lives on her own in her beautiful bangalow house. The entire house is almost like my father's house. Except her house is small, compared to ours and doesn't have guesthouses.
I rang the doorbell and waited. She didn't show up, so I used her key to open the door and got in her house. The entire place was as quiet as it was outside. I walked straight to her bedroom and lo and behold, she was lying on her bed, covered with her cloth and looking at my face as I entered.
There was a trace of anguish on her face and I couldn't help but want to know what was going on with her. We stared at each other for a while before I spoke up.
"Olivia ? What's going on with you ?"
"I'm fine," she coughed. "I just can't go to church with you today."
I sat on the bed, by her side. "You don't look okay. What happened to you ? Is it the wine ?"
She managed to laugh and smile. "It can never be the wine, silly."
"Then what is it ?" I held her hand boldly and she groaned. I left her hand immediately. "Does your arm hurt ?"
She stopped for a second before answering. "Yeah, it hurts. I'm having body pains and migraine."
"Oh, sorry," I apologized as I left her hand. She placed her hand back down on the bed. "What happened to you ? Were you beaten ?"
"It was work," she explained. "I was supposed to end my work around 7pm last night but I ended up at 10pm. It was so exhausting and I was in one position for a long time. My wrists hurt especially and the migraine is painful too."
"That's sad to hear. I'm sorry you had to go through that," I sympathized. "Are you starting to feel better ?"
"I don't think so," she answered. "I just need some rest and my body will do it's healing."
"Well have you eaten anything this morning ?"
"No. Not really."
I stood up. "Ok, I'm going to make us some breakfast. I hope you have some food in your kitchen ?"
Olivia didn't respond. I left the room and got to her kitchen. My attention went to the bread and eggs and I decided to make toasted bread with eggs and hot chocolate. After I was done, I carried our food to the bedroom and I placed them down on the bed.
"I hope you can still eat ?" I said as I started stuffing my face with the bread and eggs.
"I'll try to eat through the pain," she replied as she slowly sat on the bed. With every movement, she groaned quietly and just ate steadily.
"If you exercised more, you wouldn't have been in this situation in the first place," I pointed out.
"Don't make me laugh," she scoffed as she ate her egg. "Just because I don't talk about exercising, doesn't mean I don't do it."
"I'm just telling you,"
"I've heard you," she rolled her eyes. "Aha, I just remembered something I wanted to show you about your business."
"Olivia, you shouldn't stress yourself about it now..."
"Just take my laptop and open it, you'll see something on it."
I obliged reluctantly and did as she asked and I saw a flyer on it. It was about the business and it was very intriguing.
"That's the flyer I paid someone to make for the catering services. I wanted you to see it before I post it online. Is it okay though ?" she asked.
"It's perfect," I complimented. "But you didn't have to pay for it. I could have done so."
"It's nothing. I'm just glad I could help." she insisted. "If I recover well, tomorrow we will be going to the shop."
"Let tomorrow think about itself," I patted her softly. "Right now, you'll need energy and rest."
We finished eating and I took out dishes back in the kitchen and washed them. I went back to her bedroom later.
"Then it looks like I'm spending the rest of the day till you fall asleep," I announced.
"Really ? If Prince was here, you wouldn't have gone through that trouble. It's sad that he's outside the country."
"It's not trouble to me. I'll be glad to entertain you as you recover. It's going to be a perfect Sunday."
"Oh boy...."
.
Kelvin
After talking with Mr. Hanson, I went to the white guesthouse and began my inspection there. I had the iPad with me, so I knew exactly what I was supposed to do. The rooms in the guesthouse were well kept and the entire place was tidy. There weren't any missing accessories, so basically, I was good to go.
The yellow guesthouse had the same results but I couldn't go into the rooms of the workers for privacy reasons. Either way, the place was as neat as the white guesthouse. On my way to the main house, I had to check around the compound. The ornamental plants were in good shape and the grass was well cut.
I took my time and did an inspection on the ground floor and first floor. Everything was well in place. I went to my room afterwards. Mike brought in my food later on and I ate satisfactorily. For the rest of the day, I continued to inspect various rooms, I supervised in the kitchen and even helped. I checked in all the stock of utilities in the house and I made sure that the tasks assigned to the workers were completed.
My first day of work was a blast, thanks to Hannah, for showing me the basics and also to Mike, for giving me some tips. He showed me some stuffs I hadn't noticed. Like the solar panels that power each house and how most rooms had a washing machine. I slept peacefully that Saturday evening and I got up from bed as early as 6am, the next day.
I brushed my teeth and took my shower. I wore my black long sleeves with trousers and shoes, before checking myself out in a mirror. I got downstairs and went to the parlour on the ground floor. It was only Mike and Francis who were available. It turns out that, George, Mimi, Tina and Favour were the workers who go home after work. The rest stay behind as always.
"Hey, good morning guys. How are you doing ?" I greeted.
"We are doing fine," they chorused.
"Where are the ladies ?" I inquired. "Are they still asleep ?"
"They'll be coming soon, Kelvin." Mike assured. "They are always like this on Sundays."
"Alright," I responded. "Have you guys eaten anything this morning already ?"
"No, we haven't." Francis replied.
"No wonder you guys look gloomy," I joked. "Let's go to the kitchen then."
We moved to the kitchen and I opened it with the key I had. The chefs weren't coming to work today, so they had already prepared food for today and all we had to do was to heat the food first, which I did of course. When it was sufficiently heated, I served Mike and Francis, who didn't want me to serve them cause I was the home manager and that wasn't my job. It took some persuasion before they finally cooperated.
I left them to eat at the counter and I marched through the hallways to see if there's anything that needed to be done. Unfortunately for me, I met Irene coming from the opposite direction of the hallway I was in. My first thought was to turn back and pretend I didn't see her but she didn't give me a choice as she greeted me first.
"Good morning Mr. Kelvin. How are you doing this morning ?" she smiled.
"I'm fine," I replied. "And it's not Mr. Kelvin. I'm just....Kelvin."
"Oh sorry then. My bad, Kelvin," she beamed. "Hope that's better ?"
"Yes, very much." I nodded slightly. I was about to resume my walk through the hallway but Irene stopped me in my tracks.
"Uhm, Kelvin ? Are you going to be free today ?"
"I don't really know," I answered. "Why do you ask ?"
She grinned pleasantly once again. "Just wanted to spend some time with you and get to know you more. You seem like an interesting guy."
From the onset I knew something was up but I didn't expect her to make it clear so soon.
"Thanks for the compliment. I would like to spend some time with you but maybe not today or this moment. I'll be resuming my inspection now."
"Then Iet me come with you," she suggested. "It could make your work easier."
I chuckled. "Don't bother. I have this under control. I'll see you later....."
I walked past her and her reply was "Okay." It sounded like a disappointed one though. Some parts of the ground floor hallways were dirty and unswept. Plus some windows needed cleaning. When I was done with the inspection, there was quite a job for the workers to take care of.
I went back to the kitchen to check up on Francis and Mike. They were done and Lilian was just about eating. Yesterday, George told me what I needed to do this morning and that was delivering Mr. Hanson and his daughter their food. There was food prepared food for them, so I heated the food and placed them on food trollies for Mike and Francis to deliver to them to their quarters.
When they were done, I told them what had to be done. It wasn't easy talking whiles Irene was having googly eyes on me. I sent them away to take on their assigned tasks. I went in the storeroom to check on the food supply and see what might be needed. Afterwards, I started to inspect on their work individually but I totally avoided Irene.
Due to walking continuously around the big house and checking out their progress, I got exhausted and decided to take a breather in my quarters. I took my time to relax there and have some quiet time. Painfully, it lasted for less than half an hour. There was a knock on my door. I was startled but I went over to check it out anyways.
When I opened the door, Irene stood before me with a food trolley carrying food on it. "Irene.... is there a problem ?" I muttered.
She smiled. "You haven't eaten anything and it's almost 10am, so I decided to bring your food to you here."
I was so occupied with work, that I forgot to eat. "Oh that won't be a big deal. I can eat later, so don't..."
"Oh don't say that," she interrupted. She pushed the trolley in the room and I had to give her way to pass. "You need to eat something this morning. It's important."
She stood there admiring my parlour. "Okay, fine. I get your point. I don't mean to be rude but you can go out now."
"This place looks amazing," she commented. "I used to clean this room frequently before you arrived. You sure have turned it into a beautiful haven."
"Yes, thanks for the compliment," I forced a smile. "You can go now...."
"Oh relax," Irene shrugged. She sat down on one of the sofas comfortably. "I used to come here when the old house manager was around. Even though sometimes she didn't like it, I had my way of compromising with her."
"What are you even talking about ?"
She giggled. "You had to be there. Anyways, I'm just saying, it's a nice place and it's an honour to be here. We could have a lot of fun here."
"Pardon me ?"
I honestly don't know what she's talking about. It came so fast that, I had less time to really understand what she's talking about.
"Are you still confused ?" she queried. "Don't be. You'll understand better when we get to know each other."
"You can't be serious," I uttered. "Right now ? I need to eat anyways. You have to leave. I don't want any issues."
"Alright, alright," she got up from the sofa and walked towards me. "I'll leave but remember, we have a meet up tomorrow. There's going to be a lot of things to catch up on. Don't fret.....I don't bite."
She grinned and giggled as she left my room. I closed the door shut immediately. I can't believe what just happened in the last 5 minutes.
Every time I'm close to Irene, I have this strange vibes from her. I don't know why but my guts are telling me something. I'll find out very soon....