"Rise and shine buttercup," Kat's sweet voice cooed. She shook my gently from my deep sleep then stepped away, allowing me to fully awaken. I sat up in the comfortable bed and harshly rubbed at my eyes.
The sun's rays poured through the large windows of the room, forcing me to shield my eyes from the harsh lighting. "What time is it?" I groaned aloud causing a chuckle from Kat. I heard her footsteps shuffling around the room, most likely getting ready for the day ahead.
"About 9."
I smiled to myself. The last time I slept this late was before everything went wrong. Before I was on the streets.
Peeling the bedding off of my body, I slipped out from the warmth. I glanced towards Kat, who was currently pacing the room, to inspect her appearance. I was pleased to see that she had changed from her pajamas into shorts and a t-shirt. Following her example, I snatched an over sized shirt and a pair of athletic shorts from my dresser. Sneaking into the large closet, I slipped into the fresh pair of clothes.
This new life was definitely a change, and I couldn't be more displeased with it.
After changing into the foreign clothing, I slipped into the bathroom to take care of my basic hygienic needs. Once I finished up, I exited the large modern bathroom back into my new room. "Kat," I suddenly spoke causing her to jump. "Why did I get this room? I mean, couldn't one of the older and more experienced girls share with you?"
"I don't particularly like many of the girls here. They all just try to sleep with Styles, it's positively revolting." Kat smirks a bit and I can't stop the laugh that happened to escape my lips. The girl smiles at me and jumps from the couch she was sat at, taking my hand and leading us out of the comfort of the bedroom. We clamber down the staircase and wander towards the kitchen.
We reach the modern space and stopped behind a line of servants. One of my eyebrows cocked in confusion and Kat leaned towards me to whisper her explanation. "We always report here for our duties for the day. If you're late, you're screwed and get to deal with Harry. If you're here early or on time, you usually get something like kitchen duty." I nodded in comprehension and continued to move in the line as each servant was assigned a job.
Once Kat reached the front, she whispered something to an older woman with a clipboard in her hand. The woman nodded eagerly meanwhile brushing a stray graying hair behind her ear. Once the pair finished their short discussion, the woman flashed a warm smile towards me. "Good morning dear, my name is Paige. Today, you're going to be on kitchen duty with Kat. Lunch is at 12:30 and you're off duty at 7."
Kat gripped my wrist and quickly pulled me away towards what I assumed to be the pantry. However, I was mistaken once she opened the door. Behind the wood was yet another staircase. The girl pulled me down the stairs to an absolutely massive kitchen, crawling with servants busy at work. "Servant's kitchen and utility area. The kitchen on the main floor is just for guests."
"How many floors are there?" I questioned quietly, attempting to dodge each worker.
"5, that I know of. Two underneath, the main floor, and two above that. The only ones that servants have access to are the first underground floor, the main, and the second floor." Grudgingly, I admitted I was a bit jealous of this gang leader. He has been living in total luxury while my family and many others have been fending for ourselves on the streets.
The pair of us continued to dodge the servants preparing breakfast for everyone. We ended up being yelled at by the head chef who had quickly dismissed us to dishes. There were already 2 girls busy cleaning the utensils, their names Andrew and Darby. They had each flashed me a small sympathetic smile then continued their work. Kat and I had created a small assembly line at the other open sink, used dishes practically being thrown at us by the people preparing the food.
I wasn't once bored, so I guess that was something to appreciate. After about an hour, breakfast had been served upstairs and we were dismissed to eat for a half hour. We had rushed upstairs and prepared a plate for ourselves before slipping back downstairs. Kat and I had taken a seat at one of the now free counters. She attempted to tell me about the servants she could tolerate the presence of and Andrew and Darby happened to be two of them. Kat had also quickly warned me about a boy named Kyle, whom I haven't met yet, but she wanted to be sure I steered clear of him.
I had just agreed and began to clean my now clear plate. "Is kitchen duty always this busy?" I asked once other servants began to re-enter the large space. Kat shook her head, "It's only this busy if Harry has guests here." My mind immediately began to form other questions, but I simply ignored them. It's not like I would know who they were anyway. After 10 minutes, we began our second shift, busy cleaning the chef's endless pots and pans. We once again had another break, but our small talk was no real significance to me. Soon enough, we had finished our day's work.
Kat had gone to socialize with others in the living room. She obviously invited me, but I saw no interest in going. I'd much rather spend some time to myself and maybe wander the mansion. Perhaps I could find a few vulnerabilities in the mansion's defenses, a way to escape. I didn't bother exploring more of the underground levels, I would prefer to stay above ground the remainder of the day. My feet aimlessly lead me through the first floor, steering away from any other servants. Luckily, the few who I did pass didn't bother making conversation with me.
Soon, I became bored with the main floor of the mansion and wandered upstairs. A few servants came from behind some of the closed doors, so I assumed most of these doors led to bedrooms for the staff. Quickly, I managed to cover the entire second floor all except four rooms, each with extravagant glass doors. I most definitely did not want to get in trouble for attempting to investigate, but I couldn't seem to help myself.
Reaching the first of these doors, I could faintly hear two voices conversing inside. My head involuntarily arched towards the sound. Unfortunately I couldn't actually make out what the people were saying. The door abruptly opened and I quickly stepped away, but it was too late. A pair of emerald green eyes harshly stared into mine causing me to gasp aloud.
"Don't you know curiosity killed the cat?"
~
I am pathetic at regularly updating oh my gosh. I'm so sorry for the extremely late and long overdue update. If you read this please vote and comment!
Uhm, yeah. I'm sorry again.
Hope you enjoyed.
-R.
