Egyptian Vanity

Alexithymia

I've yet to speak with Logan over the last four days though it isn't lack of trying on his part. I've been the one avoiding him at all costs. It wasn't because I'm afraid or because I'm busy. No, it's because I'm angry. Not only did his little stunt cause me to be the topic of gossip amongst the other maids but he also had a little chat with Donnie and that chat ended with Donnie avoiding me like the plague during the day.

No longer was I allowed to go to the garden to work. No, I was stuck in the kitchen and as much as I loved working with Hajra, sometimes a little break in the garden would do wonders. I missed the giant rose patch among the other flowers but I had been down graded to the little trellis of roses under my window.

I was more than just a little angry. Since I had started working here, it had been nice to have a little bit of freedom, to talk to whoever I wanted to, to be whoever I wanted to be and now that was ripped away from me all because Logan was a oversensitive, jealous buffoon! The only thing that was keeping me sane at the moment was the fact that Donnie had balls and was willing to disobey his boss to spend time with me at night. Speaking of which, I was late for me nightly hangout with my gardener friend.

I quickly made my way to my room after dinner and made sure to shut off all the lights and lock the door to keep Logan from barging in and not finding me in bed. I didn't have enough time to change out of my gray work uniform before I heard the pebbles landing against my window. I laughed to myself before rushing over and throwing the window open. The pebbles ceased as I stuck my feet out and started to climb down the trellis, careful not to step on any of the roses.

"Day five of operation ignoring-the-boss-and-making-him-jealous-by-secretly-talking-to-the-hot-gardener." Donnie said as he grabbed my waist to help me down to the ground.

"How can he be jealous if we're secretly talking?" I asked and raised a brow at him. Donnie pursed his lips and then nodded.

"I guess it's just operation disobeying-the-boss, then." He shrugged and laced his arm through mine, leading me to the garden. "If I don't get in deep shit for this, I'm going to be surprised." He  muttered to himself.

"Do you like working here?" I asked, kicking a small pebble under my feet.

"I like working with you," he chuckled and nudged me with his shoulder. "It's not so bad, actually. It's hard to explain. Working here before you did was great because Antar wasn't an overprotective dick but it's the price I'm willing to pay to talk to you." I sucked in a breath and forced out a laugh.

Donnie wasn't the best at hiding his feelings for me and sometimes it made me feel rude for not reciprocating them but he makes sure that I know that it's okay not to return the gesture. Sometimes I wish that I didn't have any feelings towards Logan and that I wanted to be with someone like Donnie but life didn't always work out like that.

"So, do you plan on talking to him anytime soon?"

"Nope. Not until he apologizes for treating you like garbage. You work hard to keep this garden look so nice and he doesn't even thank you for it," I scoff and kick another rock maybe too hard. I hear it ricochet off a concrete slab and dip into a small puddle.

"He thanks me by signing the my paychecks, El."

"That's not good enough-,"

"It is good enough." He grabs hold of my hand and stops walking. "Look, I'm all for sticking it to the man, Ella, but not if that means he could potentially fire me and that stops me from seeing you." His hand slides up my arm and he pulls me closer.

"It also puts you out of a job," I say, which causes Donnie to sputter out a laugh before releasing me.

"You're right, I'd also be unemployed." He shakes his head and takes a seat on the bench in the rose patch. "I'm just saying, maybe you should talk to him because I know for a fact if we get caught out here, my ass will be on the street."