Egyptian Vanity

Pulchritudinous

After being nearly skinned alive, Hajra let me get to work only after promising that I wouldn't leave her alone with the rest of the 'useless maids'. I stumbled over to Gabby who had a giant grin on her face as she cut the peppers for lunch. She just shook her head and dumped all the peppers into a big bowl.

"Is it bleeding?" I asked, lifting my head so she could see if there was a mark from Hajra biting off my head.

"Oh, stop it and help me chop these." She slid me a knife and an onion. "So, how was your late night adventure?" I gave her a warning glare before slicing into the onion.

Gabby was the only other person that knew about Donnie and I's little nightly escapades. Even though Gabby had made it blatantly obvious that she was planning Logan and I's wedding, her words, not mine, she still liked to hear about all the little stories of me making Logan mad. She even helped me plan a few but that was all coming to an end since Logan decided to let me talk to Donnie again. Not that it really mattered since I was seeing him anyway but now it was just easier with his permission. Not everything would seem like Mission Impossible.

"Terrible. I just keep digging myself into a deeper hole."

"What'd you do this time, Ella?" Gabby asked, trying to hold back her grin and play the part of a concerned friend but I knew she was in full support of me no matter what.

"I got a tad bit...inebriated with Donnie and ended up locking myself out of the room." Gabby raised a brow at me which I ignored and focused on cutting the onion. "Then I woke up late and to top that off, I needed to get keys to get back into my room so I could get my keys but the stupid maid wouldn't let me borrow them because she's just a jealous old slug that wants to get with Logan even though he doesn't go for her type-," A hand on mine stopped me before I nearly chopped off my finger.

"Explain and then you can chop away. Hajra wouldn't be too happy if her star cook lost her fingers." She gave me a smile before taking the knife away from me and leaning against the counter, propping her head on her hand, ready to listen to my whole story. "Continue."

"She accused me of attacking her, which let me point out that she attacked me, and called Fayez but that was only after she chased me down the hallway. I got away though because I ran into Logan's room and thank the lord he was in his shower but that stupid maid was still standing outside his door when he finished showering and I wasn't about to go back out so that maid could attack me."

"So what did Mr Antar say when he found you?"

"He, uh, didn't find me. I hid on his balcony and called Donnie to come get me."

"Wowie, Ella. You'd rather have Donnie talk to Mr Antar and get you out of a situation than to face the maid?" She shook her head in disbelief.

"That's the thing, Donnie didn't come to Logan's room. He caught me as I jumped off the balcony."

"Jesus Christ, El. What is wrong with you?" Gabby laughed.

"That's not all. The maid called Fayez and then I had to make up a lie as to why I wasn't working and why I wasn't the one who attacked her, which again," she started.

"You told him...?"

"That Mr Antar needed my help folding his new shirts that were delivered this morning." I internally cringed as Gabby let out a howl of laughter.

"You are something else." She handed me back the knife and pushed the half chopped onion towards me. "Better get to chopping before Hajra finds another thing to bite your head off for."

The rest of the afternoon passed by as I finished preparing dinner. Gabby already told me that she'd take my place in the kitchen for the dinner shift since she was scheduled to work in the garden. I thanked her once again as I put the meal prep in the fridge, ready to be cooked for dinner.