A Slave to Love

Chapter 38: Stitches

"You know, I heard it's supposed to be freezing this week," Aidan said casually.

"So?" I asked, curled up on my chair, hands wrapped around my glass of orange juice. I still hadn't fully rejoined the land of being awake yet and was not exactly thrilled by weather small talk.

"Meaning, there won't really many more chances to go swimming unless you like swimming in snow." He inspected his eggs, still not looking at me. "Which, you know, isn't nearly as fun right? And we've got the whole rest of the day with nothing to do. Nothing at all."

I squinted at him. "Okay, fine we'll go swimming today. You just had to ask if you wanted to go."  

He glanced up with a a satisfied smile. "Yeah but it's more fun this way."

"Why?" I asked, sipping my orange juice and rubbing my eyes.

"Just is," he said, proceeding to shove forkfuls of eggs into his mouth. Far too soon, he had inhaled the rest of his breakfast while I was still staring down at the contents of my orange juice, wishing I'd had a coffee instead. "Ready?"

I sighed, downed my orange juice as if that would remotely help wake me up, and pushed off from the table. "Ready." 

As if somehow hearing us, a maid slipped into the room to clean up after us. Something I still wasn't used too and her presence made me jump. Mostly because I thought it was Mona joining us, if I was honest.

"Good morning!" I greeted the maid, Ava, and Aidan echoed me. 

"Good morning," she chirped at us as she stacked our plates before we could even push our chairs back in.

"Can you tell Jordan it was delicious and that I said thanks?"

She smiled even wider. "Of course, he loves to hear his food is liked and appreciated."

"Well he deserves to hear it, he's amazing," I said. I'd met Jordan not too long after moving in and in addition to being an incredibly handsome man (yes, he might have been mid-thirties, but still, I had eyes) he was ridiculously skilled and also incredibly nice. I'd already swung by the kitchen a few times to chat with him and sample whatever he was cooking up that day or experimenting with.

"He is," she agreed, balancing the stack of plates with one hand and our glasses with the other. "Have a nice day, miss," she continued with a bow of her head before she swept into the kitchen and I left with Aidan, as there was no mess to clean up. 

"You know, everyone here really likes you," Aidan said matter-of-factly as we walked through the halls of Blade's house.

"Really? Why?" I asked. I mean, sure I talked to a few of the servants here if I saw them, but it was usually just like good morning, thank you, and stuff like that. Occasionally I'd have small conversations, but nothing extraordinary. I was desperate for normal company and half the time I wasn't sure if I was irritating them and keeping them from working or not, but it was better than dragging myself to Blade's door and begging him to pay attention to me if I was lonely.

"Well you acknowledge everyone you meet and you're always so nice to everyone," he said, "They all hate Mona though. She's usually mean and she treats them like dirt. You actually say thank you and stuff."

Was the bar really that low? It was basic courtesy to say 'please' and 'thank you' and greet someone you crossed paths with.

"They work here but they're still people too. I'd hate it if I worked here and no one talked to me, especially if they only talked to me to yell at me."

"Well, I know they appreciate it. They were a little worried to hear you were moving in since they weren't sure if you would be Mona 2.0 or not. Blade treats everyone well and does his best to tell Mona to knock it off, but you know how she is."