Betrayed

Maria

Maria showed up on Sunday night, she was a sweet girl around my age who was eager to do every single thing I asked. She was very helpful but still lacked confidence in her skills. She always asked a million questions to make sure she was on the right track or doing things exactly the way I liked them.

"You have to make some decisions by yourself" I told her on Thursday after she asked me to try the salads she had put together to tell her what was missing. She looked hurt at my comment and I felt awful. But I knew she had to grow a spine and make decisions on her own if she was going to make it in the real world. "Listen, Maria, I'm not trying to be mean, but next week you are going to be the one bossing me around. I want you to be making decisions. I will be here to support you, but you need to assert yourself." She nodded at me, her big brown eyes full of tears. I pulled her into a hug and rubbed her back. "Maria, don't cry" I said sadly, "I'm trying to help you"

"I know you are, I'm sorry, I hate being in charge" she replied. She left the kitchen with tears coming down her face. I huffed as I returned to the dishes finishing up late. As I walked out of the kitchen I noticed Maria walking from Gabriel's cabin to ours. I threw a dirty look at Gabriel's cabin but refrained from asking Maria about it. I made it to my room, showered and went to bed.

Maria left with Gabriel for the weekend while I stayed behind. I was annoyed with my boss for sleeping with the kitchen help but I wasn't responsible for what Maria did while she was here. It was her own problem if she got her heart broken.

It was a very hot weekend in which a dip in the river seemed like a good refreshing idea. None of the cabins had air conditioning other than the kitchen so Matteo and I spent most of the weekend by the water. It was late on Sunday when we returned to the camp playfully racing and shoving each other while laughing. I caught sight of Gabriel's truck coming into the camp and watched as Maria looked up at Gabriel with lustful eyes. I elbowed Matteo in the side so he could witness what was going on as well.

"It's her funeral," he said to me in a low voice. I pulled my towel up from my waist to cover myself when I noticed Gabriel watching us approach, his eyes not leaving me. I rushed to my cabin and quickly changed out of my bikini before Maria arrived. I pulled on a black t-shirt and jeans and made my way to the kitchen to unpack the special groceries they had brought from town. Maria was being incredibly bubbly and chatty which was irritating Gabriel. I smirked at this and encouraged her chatter.

"So what did you do all weekend?" I asked in a friendly voice. I caught sight of Gabriel rolling his eyes and glaring at me.

"Oh, my god! I had the best weekend ever" she said and flashed Gabriel a smile, "I spent the weekend with this guy and it was so much fun, I really think we hit it off" I cringed inwardly at her statement while Gabriel left the kitchen in a huff.

"Are you ready to be in charge this week?" I asked her.

"I think so," she said with a determined look on her face. The week went by great but Maria still needed a lot of support in making decisions. I was patient with her but tried to push her out of her comfort zone as much as I could.

"Harper," I heard Gabriel's cool voice calling as I made my way to the river. "Can you lay off Maria, please" he asked desperately.

"Lay off?" I asked, confused, "What do you mean?"

"She comes crying to me every night and I have to hear about how hard you are on her"

"Wha-?" I gasped dumbstruck.

"Just whatever it is, can you please go easy on her. I can't take it anymore"

I nodded angrily, turned on my heels and continued my way to the river where Matteo was waiting for me. My friend looked over my shoulder with a frown on his face and I looked behind me to see that Gabriel had followed me down.