Mister Arlington

13

I was still recovering from my shock at Violeta's previous statement when Mary's phone made a noise, informing her of a message. Both Violeta and I turned our heads in Mary's direction as she pulled her phone from her handbag and inspected the message.

She sighed, lifting her head as she simultaneously placed her phone back inside the safety of her bag.

"Sorry girls, but this will have to wait for another day, Angelica and I have to head back to the house."

From the corner of my eye, I saw Violeta's cheerful demeanour deflate slightly.

"Alright then."

"It was nice meeting you, Violeta."

"Likewise, Miss Mary."

Mary turned her gaze to me, "I'll leave you two to say goodbye." Giving her a nod in understanding, she walked away, heading towards the car. I turned back to Violeta, surprised by her smile.

"Please take what I asked into consideration, the truth is I'm not very good at making friends, surprising isn't it for a girl that talks a lot," she chuckled to herself before continuing, "I like you though, your intriguing and pleasant to be around although you don't talk much and we haven't spent much time together. I'd love to show you and Mary around the greenhouse sometime, so next time you're around feel free to visit."

My lips unintentionally pulled up into a small smile which made Violeta show a smile of her own, much wider and brighter than mine.

I nodded.

Suddenly, before I even realised it, I was being pulled into a bone crushing hug and just as quickly as it had started, Violeta pulled away.

"Sorry, I got a little too excited. Well then, I'll see you soon Angelica."

I nodded again, giving her a curtsy before rushing off after Mary. She smiled at me when I sat down in the passengers seat, closing the door.

"I'm glad to see you've made a friend, at your age you should at least have one. And that doesn't include me, darling. I'm talking about someone your own age." she chuckled at her own teasing joke, "Alright then, we better head home, Mister Arlington has to leave because of some urgent business he has to take care of and he doesn't like it when the house is left without anybody."

I nodded.

"I'm sorry our day was cut short, especially when we were invited by Violeta."

I waved it off, shaking my head. After all, it couldn't be helped, it wasn't her fault. Mary sighed and gave me a small smile before starting the car.

"You don't look so dead anymore, you've got more colour to your face and even use more facial expressions."

She was right, even I had noticed that about myself too. It was odd... I didn't feel so... Dead inside anymore. As if somehow, despite Mister Arlington's curt and rather frustrating mannerism and Mary's infinite cheerfulness, they were growing me.

~~~

"Ahh, home sweet home," Mary sighed as she walked through the front door, arms and hands full of shopping from today. I was no better, and together we shuffled awkwardly to my room where we placed everything inside by the door.

"Perfect," Mary beamed, placing her hands on her hips. "Do you mind if I have a nap? I'm tired from all this shopping, I could drop right here," she laughed.

I nodded, urging her out of my room and into her own.

"Will you be alright?"

I bobbed my head. After all, what could go wrong?

As usual, I did the clean downstairs before I decided to have a wash and change into something more comfortable.

After deciding what to wear I took my clothes to the bathroom before choosing to run a bath seeing that Mary was asleep and Mister Arlington was gone, I was able to relax for an hour in some hot water.

I closed the door after turning the handles to both water temperatures, letting the steam cloud the room as I stared at myself in the mirror.

What would my mother think of me working like this? I bet she would hate it. Hate that I was a maid, working for a man. After all, mother hated any man that looked down on her, that included my father. Before she was a drug addict, she was a definitely a woman to be admired, a woman I had inspired to be like.

I shook my head breaking me from my daze when my reflection began to morph into my mother. Pulling away, I sighed and lifted my dress over my head, leaving me in my undergarments. I turned towards the bath, turning the taps to stop the steady stream of hot and cold water.

Just as I was about to submerged myself in the warm water, I hesitated, feeling as if I was being watched.

I turned to the doorway just in time to witness a tall man dressed head to toe in black jump at me, forcing my head under the water in the tub. Like anyone else would do, I fought against the intruder, but I found it difficult to do so when he stood behind me, my back facing his front.

When he had submerged my head under the water I hadn't recovered from my initial surprise of seeing him in the doorway and I hadn't been ready enough at all to take a deep breath beforehand.

It was hard to think, hard to form a plan.

Suddenly, the situation involving the death of my parents hit me harder than ever before. My father had tried to drown my mother before killing her. Remembering the technique my mother had used, I put it into motion.

Using my arms, I pretended to struggle against the intruder, trying to tip as much water as I could over the edge of the bath and onto the tile floor.

Once I was at my limit of holding my breath I awkwardly kicked my leg out, it struck the intruders own leg, causing him to release me. I jerked away from the tub, coughing and gasping as he stumbled only to slip on the tiles.

I turned to him as I was still trying to catch my breath. Regardless, I jumped on top of him and sent my fists flying at his face, which was hidden underneath a ski mask.

I should have revealed his identity but my first instincts were to beat the crap out of this guy.

It wasn't long before he violently threw me off of him, causing me to crash into the basin cupboard. As I tried to recover from the sudden maneuver, expecting him to try and finish what he started, I was surprised to see him run out the door before exiting the house altogether.

I stood, limping as fast as I could, clutching my side where it impacted the cupboard, but when I got to the front door all I could see was the backside of the man as he ran down the dirt driveway.

"B–b–b."

Bastard!

I swiftly ignored the fact that I had just uttered my first actual letters since the death of my parents, focusing on the more important situation at hand.