Personal Maid

A Different Side (Chapter 6)

Right there inches away from me was Joshua. I could make out his tall figure even under my blanket. His feet almost trespassed the end of my bed. He was asleep and my eyes seemed to be fixed on his face. How could he make me mad so often, yet make me feel all warm and fuzzy when he's sound asleep like a little boy? I leaned in to feel his fever again and nearly yelped when he grabbed my wrist. My eyes were wide, and I lost my breath.

"Miss. Louis what are you doing?" he said in a low deep voice.

"Well you almost fainted, and.."

"Got it, what time is it?" he asked interrupting me.

"Midnight." I whispered.

He looked around and noticed this wasn't his room, so he lifted the blanket and stood up. He stumbled a little and went sideways.

"Joshua, you have a fever, relax." I said holding his arm.

He looked at me, and pulled away walking out of the door. I followed him just in case and after a few turns, we reached this humongous room, with a king bed, and a few red couches. It all looked so expensive to afford. I looked around and noticed he was about to fall again so I got him to his bed.

"You can leave." he said barely being able to speak.

"No, I'll take care of you just like I took care of my mom when she would get sick." I replied.

He plopped his head back to the soft pillow and rubbed his forehead with his hand. He looked pale, and helpless. I decided to go and make him a remedy that has been in my family for a while now.

"Stay here I'm going to make you something." I told him while putting the covers on him.

"Don't burn the house down." he said with his eyes closed.

I looked back, and couldn't believe he had the energy to even insult me right now. Since he was sick I let it go and ignored his comment. I made it to the kitchen with no problem and thankfully I found all the ingredients to my herb tea.

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I walked back with a tray that had the herb tea, and a bowl with room temperature water. He was sound asleep and I sighed. Now the tea was going to get cold. I went with my second plan which always worked with my mom. I reached his shirt, and started unbuttoning it so I can rub the room temperature water with a cloth on him, and surely his fever would go down.

"What are you doing?" Joshua said half asleep, and annoyed.

"Relax, this will help." I said continuing to unbutton his shirt.

"This is harassment." he said.

"Oh shut up, I can't believe your annoying even when you're sick." I grumbled.

He smirked, and I took his shirt off trying to act as if there wasn't a perfectly toned body in front of my hazel eyes. I cleared my throat and took the wet cloth and passed it over his skin trying not to look. He laughed a little but not too much.

"What's funny?" I said irritated.

"You." he said.

"Why?" I asked.

"Your face. You're beat red." he teased.

"Oh my god, I'm about to just leave you like this." I said.

He got serious and looked around the room. Silence had filled the room. It was so quiet, I could hear a pin drop on the floor. I squeezed the cloth and soaked it again.

"You used to do this to your mom?" he asked with a low voice.

I nodded my head, and kept rubbing.

"So you were a good kid.." he continued.

"I guess. Why?" I finally looked at him.

"No reason in particular. I feel like I was always a spoiled child, even while doing things I shouldn't have in high school. I was always in trouble so my parents never really paid attention to me they would just buy me things." he confessed.

"You don't say." I said referring to the being spoiled part.

I could see a little sadness in Joshua's eyes, and I figured that it took him some courage to tell me something personal like this.

"What?" he said noticing my gaze at him.

"Huh? Nothing, I was just thinking that maybe you're not such a bad person after all." I said commencing to pass the damp cloth on him.

"You thought I was a bad person?" he asked furrowing his eyebrows and a smirk formed on his smooth lips that were coming back to its original color.

"I mean you're pretty rude sometimes." I said with honesty.

"My apologies." he said looking at me.

"Do you miss your mom?" he asked.

Mentioning her led me to feel something in a my heart. A little stab. I hadn't cried about my mom since the week she had passed away but remembering her now, I wish she was here with me.

"Are you...?" he began.

"No, I'm not." I interrupted him.

He sat up on the bed, and tucked a strand of my brown hair behind my ear, and wiped my tears away with his palms.

"I'm sorry Cilia, I didn't mean to make you cry." he said with his hands cupped in my face.

"No it's fine, I'm sorry that I'm suddenly a big blob of mess when I'm supposed to help the boss get better." I said make air quotes at the 'boss' part.

"I actually think it lowers that brave attitude act you put on, and shows me your true feelings." he whispered.

"Brave attitude act?" I asked.

"Yeah you always act so tough. I don't think you should do that. I think you should just let it go, and be yourself." he said.

I looked at him and it was probably the feeling of being in the moment since it was just us two being so close to each other, and the room was dark but I wanted to feel his lips against mine. I thanked the darkness for not letting my pink cheeks visible. I quickly changed the subject about everything and looked at the herb tea that wasn't steaming anymore.

"I think you should drink this herb, it's getting cold." I said.

"Oh, that's right, thanks." he said grabbing the tea and drinking it in one shot.

Deep down inside I was just a maid at this house filling in for my mom who had a debt to pay to them, one of which I didn't know about but I still agreed to working here, and Joshua was a rich guy. I didn't want to develop feelings for him because it would never work, but I feel as if that's exactly what was happening, but another side of me told me it was way too fast to be feeling anything.