Mister Arlington

14

Moments after the intruder left I quickly threw on the same dress I wore and prepared a rushed note to explain what had just happened before I ran to Mary and shook her awake.

The seriousness in my actions and facial expression woke Mary up in seconds, few words were exchanged as I handed her the semi-wet note so she could read the smudged ink scribbled on the paper.

She grabbed her phone immediately and called Mister Arlington who informed us that he just parked outside. I walked to Mary's open door and watched as he strolled through the entrance, his polished leather shoes clicking against the wooden floorboards and the silver on his cane, flashing in the evening sun which was welcomed through the open entrance door.

His pristine, ironed suit and handsome appearance was a drastic contrast to my wet and ragged image.

"Angelica!"

It was the first time I had heard him say my name in a surprised manner.

He stopped in the middle of the hallway, examining my appearance from head to toe. Before he could say anything Mary appeared beside me, pushing past me in a rush to give him the note I had given her.

He had barely laid eyes upon it before Mary frantically explained what she had woken up to. It had seemed almost as if each word of hers had entered his ear and gone right out the other as he looked up at me, studying me once again with a stoic expression.

"And you fought this intruder off, am I correct?" he asked as if what had just happened was a mere inconvenience— or as if he did not believe me.

I held his steely gaze with one of my own as I nodded.

"And are you injured?"

I lied, shaking my head as I ignored the pain in my side and the burning in my lungs and throat.

"What a question to ask, Tobias! Of course she is hurt–" Mary turned to me with a look of absolute seriousness when I stepped forward to deny her statement, "–don't you dare think about lying to my face."

I paused at her stern tone, rethinking my actions until I quickly concluded that I would just sigh in defeat.

"And as for you, Tobias..." Mary drawled, eyeing him with suspicion. "We shall talk later."

He quirked an eyebrow at her authoritive tone, however he still nodded at her.

Mary turned her attention away from Mister Arlington, approaching me and ushering us into my room.

"Where does it hurt?"

I hesitated but then realised it was best not to lie to her. Pulling up my dress, I revealed the already brewing bruise on the side of my abdomen.

Mary tsked and shook her head.

"Don't you worry, Mister Arlington with find the man behind this and punish him severely."

At her words I raised a brow.

Mister Arlington did not seem like the type to go out of his way for a mere insignificant maid like me. To him I probably seemed like a charity case. The thought brought a grimace to my face.

Mary caught sight of my expression just as she prodded my injury, pulling away immediately after witnessing my grimace.

"I knew you were lying," Mary mumbled to herself.

I didn't have the energy to try and explain to her the real reason behind my grimace nor did I really want her to know.

Truth be told, my injured didn't hurt as much as it initially did. After all, I had taken much worse wounds, a bit of bruising wasn't something I would normally fret over. But I couldn't exactly let Mary know that. 

"I'll be right back," Mary notified me before hastily exiting the room.

I was still watching the doorway when Mister Arlington stepped through, moments after Mary had left.

I stood with impressive stillness as I stared at his face, trying to decipher the expression he wore.

Why was he here?

I bit on the inside of my cheek as he slowly approached me. In what felt like three long minutes I found myself looking up at him when he stopped a few centimetres away from me.

It was only then that I realised how the soaked dress hugged my figure, and just how cold I had gotten now that the adrenaline had passed through my system.

Heat was radiating off of him, and I found myself almost leaning into him. However, it was his hand that reached out to me, that stopped me from doing so, though I noticed I had unintentionally moved slightly closer.

His finger skimmed the skin on my neck, a tantalising wisp of warmth that I felt I needed moving along with his fingers.

"Those will not do," he said in a low voice, speaking of the bruises forming around my throat.

He held up a red scarf that I only realised he had, now.

"Here, cover it with this."

I blinked to gather what was happening, before slowly taking the scarf from him. I didn't know whether it was insulting or not, Regardless, I didn't care if it were. I was too busy realising that this was my first gift given to me from someone on the outside world, someone other than my drug addicted mother or my monster of a father.

I was stuck staring at the warm scarf in my hands, too deep in thought to see that he had left. When I lifted my head, Mary was walking in.

"Sorry, it took me a while to find where I had put the bal– Oh, that's a nice scarf!" she complimented, suddenly cutting off her own apology.

I nodded, holding it in a tight grip, by my side. Not bothering to try and it explain where it had come from, nor did she ask, though she did look at it repeatedly.