Dear Jolene

CHAPTER 14

At sharp 7:10 pm, Jo took a deep breath and knocked on the door. When there was no response, she looked to her right, where Demiris was standing behind the nearest pillar. Rose and Anthony were standing behind another pillar..

"I assure you, Ma'am, he is inside," Demiris said. Both Anthony and Rose gave her a thumbs up.

Jo rolled her eyes at how comical both of them looked. Anthony signaled her to knock once more and pointed at his throat.

She nodded and knocked once more, "Axel, it's me, Jo. I need your help."

After a few minutes, the door cracked open, and there he stood. He looked like-

"You look like shit," Jo couldn't help but say it out loud.

Axel had hair that resembled a bird's nest, his eyes reminded Jo of pandas, his hands were covered in paint, his t-shirt seemed worn-out, and fell over his shoulder. And lastly, he stank.

"Can I come in?" Jo asked softly.

"I-I am kinda in the middle of something," Axel said, scratching his neck.

"Oh," Jo said, not trying to hide her disappointment in her voice.

"But I can spare an hour or so," Axel said quickly, noticing the bags she was holding.

Jo smiled and tried to enter but Axel blocked her.

"My room is very messy, I'll just cle-"

Jo put a hand against his mouth (with great difficulty) and pushed him back.

Upon entering the room, Jo was horrified. To say it was messy would be an understatement.

She crunched up her nose and asked, "When was the last time you took a shower?"

Axel's silence made her hold her head to stop it from spinning, but she controlled herself from being overdramatic.

"You know what, go take a bath, and don't you dare come out of the bathroom before 40 minutes of scrubbing yourself clean, I will take care of your room," Jo said, leaving no room for arguments.

Axel tried to protest, but one look from Jo shut him up. Looking defeated, he walked towards a door which Jo could only hope was the bathroom.
The moment Jo heard the door being locked, she rushed to the only empty space she could find and kept the food.

She then walked out of the room to call for Rose. The latter did not react much to the condition of the room. She called some of the other maids for help.

Jo was told to stay outside the room while they did their job. When she was called back in, Jo was impressed by their work. The room looked clean and fresh with the smell of citrus lingering in the air.

Jo turned towards them and thanked them for their work, on cue all of them flustered up. They bowed lightly and rushed out of the door.

As she stood in the room alone, Jo decided to take this opportunity to look around Axel's room. It was dark-blue themed, and he had an entire wall dedicated to the 'Lord of the Ring' series.

Jo noticed a glass door at the farthest corner of the room. She made her way to the door, only to find that it led to a dimly lit balcony. She carefully opened the glass door and walked till the railing.

Jo's heart fluttered, seeing the beautiful sky. She looked around to see more balconies lined up on the sides. All of them were dimly lit and empty except for the farthest one.

She could see the silhouette of a person leaning against the railing. Jo couldn't figure much out, but she didn't want to stare, so she looked away the moment another person joined them.