Kelvin
I found out the hard truth Hannah tried to tell me some days ago. Being a home manager is not as easy as it looks. It could have been a lot easier if I wasn't avoiding Irene most of the time. After hearing what she had to say at Mr. Hanson's mall, the eerie vibes I normally get from her was gone. But I'm still avoiding her because of one thing...
Tuesday was much better than the past days I have had since I moved here. I did inspections and made check ups on tasks and assignments. I made sure food was delivered and served when needed or on schedule. I checked on the finances and made sure we were on the budget. Basically, everything went well. The most important thing was the minimal contact I had with Irene.
I made sure Mike personally delivered my food to my quarters and no one else. When I wasn't doing anything, I would spend time in my room, watching the television or sleeping. I didn't hang around in the kitchen as usual to chat with George and co. I barely conversed with anyone. All this just to avoid having contact with Irene.
The next day was different. I woke feeling refreshed from the long sleep I had last night. It had been long since I exercised, so I wore some clothes and got to the gym. The place was cool and I warmed up by doing some push-ups. I moved on to the weights and started lifting them. From the least to my limit, which was 95kg.
I moved on to the various sections of the gym and tried them out. Afterwards, I went to my quarters, took my bath and dressed up for work. The workers and chefs started to show up at work. George and Mimi prepared some breakfast and the others ate in the kitchen. I went around the house going about my inspection as usual.
When I was done, I had assigned the workers to their various tasks whiles I showed the chefs the schedule for the day. I made sure that food was delivered to Mr. Hanson and his daughters and I proceeded to help them in the kitchen, ignoring George's protests against me helping them. After doing all I can, I left them in the kitchen. I moved outside and noticed that the grass was starting to grow wild.
With Mike's help, I was able to contact the grass mower guy. He came to the house and I directed him on where to mow. The man did his job, got paid and left. After the constant standing and walking around, I decided to go to my quarters and take some rest.
I got to my room and sat on a sofa tiredly. After a few minutes passed, a sharp pain hit my stomach and the strong sensation of hunger followed afterwards. I realized I hadn't eaten anything this morning. This was the second time it had happened.
As I sat there with the revelation I had, a knock came on my door. Maybe, it was Mike, who has finally brought up my food. I got up hurriedly and went over to open the door. When I opened it, to my dismay, it was Irene with a filled food trolley in front of her.
I tried my best to hide the surprise on my face. "Hey Irene. What you doing here this morning ?"
She smiled. "I heard you haven't eaten anything this morning. So I took it upon myself to deliver your food to you."
"I see," I mused. Which means Mike knew I hadn't eaten, yet he didn't bring up my food. "You could have just left it at the door."
"No no," she smiled as she pushed her way in with the trolley. "I wanted to make sure your food was personally delivered."
Now here's where things go haywire. Irene moves the trolley to the table in my parlour and takes out the food from it. She places the food on the table and I can swear she deliberately bent over to the point her thighs were so exposed. I looked in the opposite direction when she did this and when she was done, I heard a giggle. She stretched herself seductively afterwards.
"This room is so hot," she pouted. "You don't mind if I take off my clothes ?"
She was attempting to take off her uniform and I quickly held her before she could go further. "It's okay. There's no need for that. I don't want to be using the air-conditioning now, so you have to go with that."
"You are no fun," she left her uniform and sniffed my shirt. "I like the way you smell. It's so relaxing and enjoyable."
"Irene, this is not a good time for whatever you are doing," I maintained my grip on her arms.
"You never have any time for me."
"It's time for you to go now," I said as I pulled her steadily towards my door.
"But we had an agreement.....I have some things to show you."
"You can't be serious....."
Finally, I pushed her out gently and shut my door. I sat on my sofa with a huge sigh. Mike almost led me into temptation. I made a mental note to remind him of delivering my food alone. I went on to eat my food and left the remains outside my room, together with the trolley.
I got downstairs and checked the parlor on the ground floor for Mike. I didn't seem to find him. I stepped outside of the house and I saw him standing on the balcony of the yellow guesthouse with George from a distance. I made my way towards the guesthouse and eventually, I got up on the balcony they were on. They were engrossed in a conversation and when I arrived, they paused.
"Kelvin, is there a problem ?" Mike quizzed with concern.
"Kind of," I answered. "Yesterday, I pointed out that you should be the one sending food to my quarters. When you don't do that, Irene takes your place and she comes to my quarters."
"That's doesn't sound bad," George remarked.
"I'll make sure from now on that, I will personally be delivering food to your quarters." Mike pledged. "Don't worry."
"Thank God," I had a sigh of relief.
"What's wrong with Irene delivering food to you ?" George questioned curiously. "It's nothing bad, right ?"
Mike gave George a playful blow. "Shut it bro. It's not your concern. Unless he actually tells you what's going on."
"It's okay," I interjected. "It's nothing to argue about. I'm just uncomfortable having her in my quarters. You know..."
"Cause she's trying to seduce you, right ?" Mike laid out. George and I were taken aback.
"Wait what ?" George chipped in.
"Oh come on," Mike continued. "I mean it was obvious to me. And remember when you said you had those intrusive thoughts, Kelvin ? I knew it was about her."
"Interesting," I ultimately spoke up. "And you didn't say anything ?"
"It's not my business," he shrugged. "I just kept quiet and moved on. And I have to say, I'm impressed you have resisted her through out."
"So what's going on ?" George asked. "Are you trying to say Irene is into Kelvin ?"
"Bro have you been listening ? Yes of course, that's what I said and Kelvin knows it himself." Mike impulsively explained to George.
"Oh I see," George finally caught on what was going on. He focused on me. "Then why aren't you already with her ? She's a fine lady and very attractive. You are very lucky she's onto you."
"I don't see it that way," I replied.
"Don't mind George," Mike chuckled. "Do what you think is right. If you were to ask me my opinion on this, I'll warn you about her. She's not someone you should get too engrossed with. I have a bad feeling about her."
"That's what I felt at first," I revealed. "But now, I don't know anymore."
"I'm just saying, be careful." he warned. "Already, she behaves like Francis and I are her mortal enemies or whatever."
"Yeah, she told..." I paused. "Wait, where's Francis ?"
.
Delilah
"Look, he texted me this afternoon and asked me some questions concerning our final exam tomorrow. You do know that Leonard and I are writing our last paper tomorrow, right ?" Sena queried.
"I know of course," I answered. "But why didn't you tell me sooner ?"
"Uhm, he texted me at noon, remember ? When you were writing your exam. How was I going to inform you whiles you are writing your exam ?" she rhetorically asked.
"Ugh," I grunted.
"Delilah, stop stressing yourself on this. He's busy, okay ? Maybe that's why he isn't able to contact you."
"Sena, he was literally online a few minutes ago. What about that ?"
"Err, I don't know what to say on that," she admitted. "And I didn't ask him about you. I'm also thinking about my exam you know. I'll be learning soon."
"Alright. Then I'll see you later."
"Okay. Bye then," she waved. Before I hanged up, she blurted. "We will talk about your bodyguard issue later."
She laughed as she hanged up. I smiled as she did that but the smile faded when I thought about Leonard. Maybe Sena is right. He must be busy learning and wanted to fully concentrate. I'll stop bothering about him and give him the space he needs.
I placed the laptop down and went to the bar room to drink some beverages. My food arrived later on at my quarters, just as I asked and I ate dinner. I played online games afterwards, to the point where sleep caught up with me and I ended up sleeping at midnight.
The next day, I woke up and laid on my bed, confused. I had just completed my tertiary education. I had no idea on what I was going to do today at all. I wasn't planning on going out either. Especially, when I know that my bodyguard would be following me around everywhere I'll go. I just laid in bed till breakfast arrived.
When I was done with breakfast, I took my bath and freshened up. I wore my casual clothes and sat on my bed thinking. Since, I was lost at sea on what I should do at the moment, I decided to go downstairs to the library and see what fictional story would grab my interest and lay waste to my boredom. I ended up with a Harry Potter book.
My late night sleep caught up with me and I fell asleep reading the book. I don't know how long I slept but when I woke up, the sunlight permeating the room seem to have gone done. After deciding that I had enough of reading, I left the library and moved upstairs.
I arrived at my quarters to meet my food outside by the door as usual but I wasn't hungry, so I left it outside and went inside. I started to feel sleepy again, so i thought of something to keep me active. My best guess was that playing my online game might stimulate my mind enough to prevent me from sleeping. So I took my laptop and laid on my bed to play.
My eyes started to hurt as a result of last night's long exposure to the laptop's light. As I closed my eyes and tried to withstand the pain, a video call came in and I strained my eyes to see who it was. To my surprise, it was Leonard. I wiped my eyes and answered the call.
"Hello Delilah," he waved slowly.
When the pain from my eyes lessened, I focussed on him. "Hi," I replied.
There was an awkward moment of silence between us. I rubbed my eyes in hope that the pain would finally disappear. It made it worse.
"Is something wrong with your eyes ?" Leonard inquired with concern.
"No no. Nothing is wrong." I lied.
"Okay," he said slowly. "Anyways, I just finished my final exam, so I decided to check up on you and congratulate you on finishing yours too yesterday."
"Wow....great," I said with every ounce of sarcasm. "He finally remembered I exist."
"What's that suppose to mean ?" he asked.
"Geez, I don't know," I replied. "Maybe you should ask Sena, cause she's the only one you can contact no matter how 'busy' you are."
"Uhm, Delilah, are you mad at me ? Did I do something wrong ?" he probed further.
I stopped rubbing my eyes momentarily. "I don't have the answer to what you are asking now. But I suggest that if you want to find out, you can think deeply about it when you are busy next time, where I can't distract you."
"Oh I see," he snapped his fingers. "So is this about me not contacting you for six days ?"
"A week," I corrected.
"Oh come on. I told you I was going to be busy for a few days," he explained. "I gave you a heads-up before going off the grid."
"Going off the grid huh ?" I mused. "Yet you had time to contact Sena. And it's wasn't once but twice. What about that ?"
"You know Sena and I had the same exam today," he began. "Whenever I had issues concerning the exam, I would contact her and our conversation was strictly on the exam and nothing else."
"You didn't even say a word about me. Not even a greeting." I continued to rub my eyes.
"Did I really have to say that to her ?" he asked. "I didn't think that was necessary at the moment. I had exams to write and if I wanted to say something about you, I would say it to you myself."
"Okay, so can I ask you one question ?" he nodded and I went on. "How many exams did you have since Thursday ?"
"Uhm, I had one exam of course."
"One exam, just one," I repeated. "And you made it look like you had three. So tell me, do I distract you or waste your time ? I would like to know."
"Don't be like that," Leonard reasoned. "You don't distract me or anything. I just wanted total concentration. I was about to write a very complex exam and I needed to prepare well and catch up on areas I had trouble with."
I stopped rubbing my eyes. "I see..."
Leonard sighed. "I'm sorry it had to be like this but it won't happen again. I'm dead serious."
"Okay..."
"So are we cool now ?"
Just as I was about to talk, noise came from Leonard's background. "Give me a minute," he said as he to see what was going on.
There was silence for a while after he left but suddenly, there was a heated conversation and I couldn't hear what was going on but the noise got closer and closer and I could pick up some sentences from the conversation.
I could hear 'So who were you talking to ?' and if I was right, I could hear 'What are you hiding now ?' and also 'I thought you were gone'.
All this didn't make sense at first but then, I heard a struggle and out of the blue, a lady popped up and stared at me confusingly.
"Leonard, who's this ?" she asked.
Leonard walked slowly and got behind the lady. "That's my friend, Delilah."
I was as confused as the lady as to what was going on. "Uhm and you are ?" I asked slowly.
"I'm Leonard's girlfriend of course," she revealed. "And he has been acting shady these days. So I decided to see what he was hiding and I found you."
I looked at Leonard and he had his head down in shame. A painful realization got to me.
"You look surprised," the lady went on. "Did you really think that Leonard...."
I didn't have time to listen to a lecture from her. I quickly hanged up and closed my laptop. As the realization dawned to me further, I felt strong emotions of fear, regret and depression. I actually felt stupid for not figuring out what was going on the entire time.
When it comes to relationship talks, Leonard has always deemed himself single. He told me he was still looking for the perfect girl and he claimed he was close to finding one. This made me really overjoyed and I thought I had a chance with him. Well, I guess wrong.
Turns out that, Leonard is indeed having a girlfriend and she suspected that Leonard was getting entangled with another lady, which was me. This explains why Leonard cut off connections with me for a week, so his girlfriend wouldn't suspect a thing. In the end, he ended up getting caught.
After this revelation, my feet got cold. My heart sunk and I felt really miserable. To think of how I had placed my whole trust on him and how I believed he would never do such a thing, based on his looks. I felt very stupid and dumb. I laid in bed, having unwanted flashbacks of the great times I had with Leonard.
My eyes were hurting a little and these flashbacks almost made me cry. I had enough of the memories and got out of bed. I might not know much about dealing with such emotions but I do know that, alcohol can solve my problem. I have never had one before but this situation was pushing me towards it.
With a heavy heart, I left my room and got into the bar room.