If Things Should Stay the Same

Chapter 8: Change

He was ready to go check on the status of the renovation in Alex's room after discussing the new layouts for the West Wing with Yumi Ayano and Scott Hargreaves. The young master regularly had his bedroom redecorated every few months along with the other spaces and quarters in the home at varying intervals. Not exactly of his own volition but at his parents' urging to mix and match architectural styles in the house for a complementary combination of both modern and classical atmosphere.

More often than not, Alex would be annoyed at the constant changes happening to his room. A normal reaction to be expected as the young master was often at a loss when he wanted to find a particular possession or when he realized a missing feature that he had grown used to in an older design of his room. Knowing Alex's vehement opposition when angered or displeased by something, it then had to fall on Joshua who was eventually tasked to make a compromise with the ones in charge of the interior designing.

The current plans for the room seemed simple enough for Alex's liking. On paper, at least.

Only a few adjustments here and there. Maybe a change in the colors and textures of the wallpaper, a rearrangement of the furniture already present with possible repainting if needed. Barely any more nonsensical installations of railings that ran along the walls at varying heights, or pillars and columns jutting out at random angles from above, or even ridiculous curtains that took the form of beads or some cut-out plastic with a defined shape suspended by a wire or cord from the ceiling.

Although the renovation had only started recently, Joshua just wanted to be sure that it was proceeding as intended with nothing awry discreetly occurring in the background. However, just as he was about to proceed to the direction of his destination, he heard the sound of wheels grating against the wooden floor accompanied by someone grunting just around the other end of the corridor. Curious, he headed over to investigate the source of the noise.

From afar, it looked like someone was having trouble with a trolley of large boxes stacked one top of the other. The front pair of wheels had probably given in to the weight of the load piled on it, possibly causing the harsh noise he was hearing earlier. Her hands on her hips, the female was bending at her waist and seemed to inspect the bottom of the cart with much scrutiny.

Initially thinking it was one of the maids struggling with transporting the packages, he slowly approached her and asked, "You need any help with that?"

As she straightened herself and turned around to answer, he noticed the strands of grey hair peeking out from underneath her white cap with ruffles at the outer edges. He was surprised to see Miss Elena Darlington doing a manual task during this time of the day when she was usually attending to the mistress's many requests about food, clothing and beauty products.

"I may be well past my prime and into my late sixties, young boy, but do not mistake me for a fragile old grandma," Miss Elena said, pursing her lips. "I've been working in this job since I was in my early forties. Way, way long before your time. I've seen your father when he was a spring chicken in this household." She sounded unamused at Joshua mistaking her for being incapable of dealing with a malfunctioning cart.

"Just seeing if I could offer any help," he quietly answered, making it clear that he had no intention of offending her.

"If I wanted any help, I'd get it from the new trainee, Joshua. He needs all the experience he can get." She might have been subtle but he easily sensed the same contempt she shared with his father against his friend. A question he still had not brought it up with his father. He wondered why the two of them – of all people – had such an animosity towards the newcomer who had done nothing wrong except gaining skills and knowledge for the job.