"For what and why?" Maryann asked.
"Who are you to ask me that question?" Cass shouted angrily.
"I am Maryann Taylor". Sarah nudged Maryann to stop but she wouldn't.
"Wait a minute" Cass said. She walked towards Maryann and lifted her jaw up.
"You look new, are you new?" Cass asked.
"I came in today" Maryann said confidently.
"That means you are the thief" Cass asked.
"At least I don't put on too much lipstick. That makes me look like a masquerade", Maryann murmured.
"What did you just say?" Cass shouted angrily.
"Oops! You heard that?"
The workers chuckled softly among themselves.
Cass walked towards Maryann in anger. "Of course I did, you idiot."
"Why are you upset then? The truth is often bitter," Maryann said with a smile.
"You little... Do you realize who you're speaking to? Do you know who my father is, in this country?" Cass leaned in close to Maryann's face, teeth clenched in fury.
"At least I know your father," Maryann remarked, scanning Cass from her shoes to her head before locking eyes with her and inquiring, "And you are?"
"His daughter," Cass replied.
"Last time I checked, 'his daughter' isn't an occupation worth boasting about," Maryann stated with ease.
"What!" Cass exclaimed, taken aback by surprise.
Maryann smiled as she walked out of Cass, but Cass held Maryann's nylon top from behind and dragged her backward and the top tore apart from behind.
In an impromptu motion,
Maryann turned immediately and grabbed Cass's left breast, dragged her towards herself and bit her hard and deeply on the shoulders, leaving it boldly bitten, red and swollen and like it wasn't enough,
Maryann lifted her head up and smacked her forehead on Cass's forehead and left her breast, leaving Cass staggering in dizziness.
Before Tan and several workers from the White House extension could come to Cass's aid, she was already dizzy, and outside, Maryann showed no sign of remorse.
Cass had to be supported by the hands of two maids outside the cottage.
❤️🧡💜💙💛
Maryann yawned and stretched loudly as she lay helplessly and tired on a stack of hay.
The morning was bright and shined through the cottage window and reflected on her face.
She turned around to see the other workers stacking up their hay together trying to save it for the night to come, and she turned around again and saw Sarah, Lisa and James sitting close to her and staring blankly at her
"Good morning Mary". The three of them chorused.
Maryann smiled and replied to them as she yawned again, "Morning y'all."
They laughed together.
"We have to get our things ready for the PBP," Lisa said.
"Oh! I forgot about that," Maryann said.
"We need to wash our clothes and make sure they look neat" Sarah said.
"It would be sad if the president separated us into different groups. We might never get the chance to be together again", James lamented.
"And I don't want to lose all of you," Maryann said. "What kind of groups are you talking about?"
"We have gardeners; they respond to the green bell. The president's carpet is signified by the pink bell. Kitchen dealers are called with the silver bell, and security and mini butlers with the iron bell. There are many more, but I can't recall all of them. I do wish to be part of the pink bell," Lisa said clasping her hands near her neck as if lost in a daydream.
"Why?" Maryann asked.
"Isn't it an honor to escort the President into and out of the White House whenever he arrives or departs? Oh, his blue eyes are so captivating," remarked Lisa.
"Which group would you like, Mary?" Sarah asked.
Just as Maryann was about to reply, Tan entered the cottage and approached the group.
"Miss Maryann Taylor," Tan called out, heading towards where Maryann and her friends were seated.
Maryann rose and approached him, silencing the room.
"You are summoned for injuring the secretary's daughter," Tan declared.
"She provoked it, you witnessed it, didn't you?" Maryann retorted.
Tan remained silent, stepping aside as two men in black entered the cottage, grasped Maryann by the arms, and began to escort her out.
That's when James intervened.
"Mr. Tan, Mary is innocent; it was Miss Cassandra who instigated the incident. To punish Mary would be unjust. Look at her torn clothing, mended with wool—that's undeniable proof, wouldn't you all concur?" James addressed the other workers confidently, bowing slightly to Tan.
The workers expressed their agreement with nods.
"I have no power to judge, I am just following orders," Tan explained, signaling the men to proceed with Maryann's removal.
"Sir, where are you taking her?" Lisa inquired, approaching Tan.
"To the council," he replied.
"The council!" echoed the crowd, some gasping in astonishment.
With a nod, Tan followed the men in black out of the cottage, leaving behind a buzz of hushed conversations.
❤️🧡💜💙💛
Dragging Maryann was really a terrible punishment for the men who carried her.
She wouldn't settle, she kicked and struggled to the point she became slippery in their hands, but they still managed to lift her into the White House.
Her eyes glittered, silver-stripped curtains, gold everywhere, diamond and crystal clear aesthetic.
Velvet wasn't an exception, bronze was another beauty entirely.
As they lifted Maryann through the presidential hallway, she stopped struggling.
She was amazed by the beauty of the house.
If I worked here, I would definitely be rich.
Maryann thought as she wondered about the kind of things she would have stolen and sold and relocated with Gran.
They waited at a large gold door where five men in black guarded.
The two men who held her, nodded to the men guarding the gold door, and they nodded back as one of them went inside the door.
"Your excellency, she is here" the guard said to Cyril as he bowed.
"Bring her in" David said angrily as he turned to the other board members, which included the President, his secretary, advisor and other White House VIP members that made the final decisions in the White House.
The two men who held Maryann dragged her into the room.
Maryann shivered as they were too much, and they were staring at her angrily. Then at the head of the table was Cyril.
Cyril raised his head from the ipad he was going through and, booming with surprise,
He exclaimed: "You again?!"