That one weird maid. Chapter 1.

>You wake up to the sound cello's from outside your room. The beautiful melody is coming from the general direction of the living room.

 

>You peer over on your alarm clock. 4:30 am. Geez, music at this hour? You have a board meeting later and you need proper sleep to sufficiently handle those idiots in the position. Being in a seat of position on a company is such tiring work. Still, that music is quite harmonious.

 

>You shuffle over to the door and peer down the dim depths of the central living room. You see the new girl you hired. Elegant. Quiet type. Prim and proper. Has a spark of class in her words. Strange, since she offered herself as a maid considering a female of her stature should have quite a number of suitors and such.

 

>Slightly lit by the humble glow from the sunrise, you see that new maid, playing what appears to be an antique cello. Her hair flowing in like grey waves upon an ocean of melody as as she gracefully sways her delicate neck in-tune with the flow of the music. Her face reflected that of an artist in the climax of inspiration, eyes-closed, working on wonders only through her mind.

 

>It was something. You have no words for it. Just, 'something'.

 

>You stand there transfixed at the scene, unable to budge. You try to get closer, to catch the music better. In your clumsiness, you stub your toe on the doorway in the dark.

"Ah SHIT!" you blurt out.

 

>She stops, alerted by your presence. Great going, genius. She stands up, pulls back her cello and stares at you uneasily while you sit on the floor in crippled agony.

"Sorry about that" you speak as you rub you toe and stand up.

>She stands her ground, alert and cautious of your presence. She doesn't speak. Her eyes fixated on you with hint of annoyance and insult. You stand there looking like an idiot in the silence of the room.

"Uhhmm... that was some nice music you were playing" you attempt to strike a conversation.

>Her icy glare continues. Her hands behind her, keeping a grip on her cello and its bow. Her eyes shift, examining you from head to toe then back up again.

 

"Um yeah, so...is like... breakfast ready?"

>She hesitates. Suddenly she takes a small, graceful bow.

"Forgive me for my negligence, I shall now prepare it. I will call on you when it is ready." She speaks, softly and ever-cautious. "I shall take my leave..."

 

>She takes up her cello and bow and walks away heading towards the kitchen. Well, that went well....

 

>You decide to take a bath while waiting. You still remember that tune on the shower. You can't shake it off your head.

 

>You get dressed, ready for work. You head downstairs. You meet that new maid on the stairs down.

"...I was just about to call you, sir. Breakfast is ready" She says meekly.

"Oh, alright..." You reply, unable to say anything else.

 

>You head for the kitchen. You see a plate of bacon and eggs, along with a few slices of bread on the side. The bacon is looking crisp to perfection. It smells good too. They eggs are lightly fried and the yolk is perfectly centered and untouched. It seems to have been cooked by a professional. The bread is clean cut, sliced by dexterous hands and well kept knives. You take a bite out of the bacon. It's as delicious as you would have imagined, perhaps even more so. The eggs are likewise enjoyable.

 

>She stands behind you as you're eating. You really feel uncomfortable with all this silence. You thought you'd have been used to this by now due to having the same treatments with the other maids, but this one is different. You can practically feel her sharp gaze piercing you from behind. You attempt to strike up another conversation.

 

"Hey, where'd you learn to cook? This is really good."

"...Home. I was the one who handled food troubles for my family, sir." She speaks hesitantly but you could've sworn her voice has that subtle hint of joy in it.

"Well, it's like it was expertly made."

"It's only a common breakfast, sir, not a full-course Italian dinner." She speaks haughtily "...But thank you, nonetheless."

"...Reminds me of the music you were playing awhile back"

 

>She fell silent. You can feel the air getting heavier.

"... I would prefer, if SIR would not pry on other people's personal lives and SIR would instead kept SIR's mouth shut on matters that does not concern SIR." Her voice depicted pain and hurt. She also has this emphasis on SIR that stung you with every pronunciation of it.

"I'm sorry, what I said, I was only complimenting you really..." You attempt to make it up.

"I understand but please be mindful of what you say in the future, I shall not bother you anymore and leave you to your breakfast. I shall be in the kitchen, do not hesitate to call upon me if you wish something. Good day to you, sir"

 

>You can hear footsteps behind you heading away from the room. You still don't know what upset her though. You feel pretty crappy about it. You finish your breakfast, head to your car and go off to work.

 

>You are in that board meeting. You are surrounded by middle-aged corporate shills who only care about the company's prime income expenditure or some shit. You hate it here, in these meetings, with all these assholes. It doesn't help that you're the youngest here since you were just recently promoted. All these clowns are yapping away at figures, facts, charts and whatnot. They don't even take your ideas seriously. You learned right quick to only shut up in these meetings, agree with whatever bullshit they spout and bare with it.

>God, you can't remember the time you had fun. Just living out your life. Doing things without a planned schedule. Driving somewhere. Going to mall. Heading to a bar. Anything really. Being strapped by a corporate leash really takes its toll on you, emotionally.

 

>You stare ate the window. You can see the city. The city you grew up in. You always considered it your home, though not the safest and most polite, but home nonetheless. You can clearly see the park playground you used to play in as a kid. You loved the slides and the swings there. You never really liked the jungle gym. Funny, looking at it from this height of a building, it seems really small. Insignificantly small. It's quite sad really, and you have no idea why.

 

>Still, the blue sky. The hustle and bustle of a hundred people below looking like very busy ants. The scenery sets your mind at ease. Then out of nowhere, you hear a tune. That tune. The one from earlier in the morning. the one being played by that really strange maid. It was peaceful and calming. It had a certain subtle form that was molded by experience yet it felt like it lacked theory. You can't quite put it in words, it was ju-

"HEY ANON!" A thunderous yell cries out from the far end of the table. Your boss and your other colleagues are looking at you. Your boss looking quite insulted.

>He lets out a sigh.

"Do you agree with the proposed business plan?"

 

>Honestly you have no idea what the fuck the proposed business plan was. Like always.

"Uh. Yes, I am all in favor of.. ugh, it." You agree to whatever that is. Like always.

>Your boss claps his hands, stands up and addresses everyone.

"Alright, it seems that everyone is in unison. I call this meeting to be adjourned. Our business has been concluded. Everyone, please return to work."

 

>Everyone shuffles up their seats and heads to the door. You follow but your boss pulls you back. He seems concerned.

"Look anon, you seem really out of it today. Actually hell, you seem out of it always in these meetings!" He's spot on. "Come on, slick, what's the problem?"

 

>You don't like your boss, not for the same reasons as your colleagues though. He's very strict. He has this big gut that makes you infer that he's getting fat rich from this company. He's also always wearing a nasty frown. His balding head looking like it was about to pop a blood vessel doesn't help either. The way he's looking at you now, you feel like one wrong word and you're sent out of here, jobless.

 

>Cold seat drips from your back.

"Come on, anon, I haven't got all day!"

>You scramble for words.

" Sorry, boss. I just... umm, feel.... ummm, empty?" You speak nervously. 'Empty'. Really? Like fucking really?

".....Empty? Really?" He stares at you menacingly. "...Fucking really?"

>You feel like a retard.

 

>He sighs, facepalms and puts a hand on you shoulder.

"Look, why don't you take the day off. You're not much use here at your current state." His words should be scalding but his tone is that of caring, strangely.

"But, I-"

>He cuts you off with a light shove in the general direction of the elevators. You look from across your shoulders and glance back at him. He gives a slight nod and heads for his corporate room. He still looks like he about to kill you though. He sigh and head down the elevators and towards the parking lot.

>You decide to drive around, with no clear destination in mind. Just wandering around town. It was around 4:35 pm when you left. You open the radio. It plays songs you've heard for a number of times already. You switch to a station you don't really visit. The songs played are new and you've never heard of before. But it lacked something. You switch stations to end up with the same results.

 

>It was, strangely, frustrating. You never seemed to feel this way before, being this aggravated by music on the radio. You turn it off. You spend the ending hours of the day driving around the city in nonsensical silence.

 

>It's starting to go dark. You decide to phone home and inform the maids not to cook anything for you. You decide to go to a drive through tonight. It's been a while. Years, maybe. You order what you've always ordered in the past. A regular burger, large fries and large pepsi.

 

>The streetlights are now on. The sun is down and the moon is up. You still haven't touched your food. Only the drink. And your still as aimless as ever. Then something occurs to you.

 

>You turn left. Head straight for 2 blocks. Right on the next. Stoplight. Go straight. You park on the sidewalk. And head out the car. You're outside that old playground park you used to visit as a kid. You enter. The place is dimply lit by a few streetlights. And though you can't make out the park in detail, you can tell things have changed. The slides are busted with one even laying on the ground, catching rust. The jungle gym's paint is worn off, leaving bare metal. And the swings.... the swings.. is that... the weird maid you have?

 

>She's facing away from you, gently pushing the swing with her feet. You're unsure how to approach her, still remember her hostile reaction in an innocent conversation. As you get closer, you can her a tune. The tune. The one from this morning. She's humming it. It's.... well, beautiful to put it simply.

 

>Conflicting your common sense, you call her attention.

"Umm.. good evening" She stands alerted.

"Sorry about that..."

>She gazes at you with a fierce contempt. Even in the dark, you can feel it.

"Might I ask, what is your purpose here, sir?" Her voice is sharp and callous.

>You sigh to yourself.

"I could ask you the same..." you say, exerting slight authority. You head closer and sit on the swing next to her. "...And to answer your question, I took the day-off today, wasn't feeling myself. Decided to head here."

>She calms down a bit.

"Why here, of all places?" She asks quizzically, as if the answer is so far-fetched. "I must imagine a person of your stature would be in a higher class recreational area."

>I guess the corporate glow's rubbed off on me huh.

"....I used to play here a lot when I was a kid."

>You took the swing chains in hand, push on the ground with your feet and launch yourself forward. It was breathtaking, even for such a small feat such as this. The feel of the cold night wind hitting your face as your body moves on the sound of the rickety seat is nostalgic. You imagine an adult in a corporate attire playing on a swing must look quite ridiculous to your maid.

 

>She giggles. It was childlike but also very dignified, like proper lady. It was quite alluring. You stare at her in that instance while you play on the swings. Her coat and scarf now accentuate the slight blush laughing cheek.

"Sir's acting like a total fool."

>You roll your eyes.

 

>In a sudden unannounced jerk of motion, she launches herself hard, outswinging you. In the instant it was happening, she turn back and faced you and gave you a playful grin. It's captivating.

 

>You wonder what a passerby would see. Two adults, one clad in corporate get-up no less, in the middle of the night having a swinging contest on old rusty swings. You wonder he or she would think. You wonder why you're having too much fun to care right now.

"You still haven't answered my question. what are you doing here at this hour?"

 

>She skids her foot on the ground and stop. You follow foot.

"I would really appreciate it if sir kept his business to himself..."

>You curl your lips.

"Well, you do work for me, and you're not exactly showing that by being here now" You speak in a slightly sarcastic tone. She sighs and gives in.

 

>She hangs her head low. She hesitates to speak but you see that she is willing this time.

"...Today, I-"

>Her words were cut off by a rumble in her stomach. She blushes and hides her face from you.

"....Sorry about that. I haven't eaten anything yet."

"...Hahahahahahah...." You burst out laughing, you don't know why.

>She seems flustered. She punches you on the arm, which was, surprisingly painful. You act like it didn't faze you. You get up from the swings.

"Wait here." She looks at you with annoyance and curiosity.

 

>You beeline for the car and grab the fastfood you order earlier and head back to her. You hand her the paper bags and take a seat. She inspects it.

"Sooo stale fries and a piece of cold burger." She stares at you contemptuously.

>You feel stupid.

"Er, yes there was a drink too but I already downed it." You stammer, her gaze unshifting. "Still better than nothing right?"

>She surrenders. She takes a pinch of fries and eats it politely, all ladylike.

 

>Your own stomach rumbles. You both face each other, awkwardly. She nonchalantly offers you the fastfood. You sigh and take the burger and, using your hands, divide it as evenly as you can. You offer the other half to her. You spend the rest of the night eating 'stale fries and half a piece of cold burger'. It was a night wouldn't have even dreamed.

"Hey, by the way, aren't you scared being all alone here at night?" You say chewing some fries

"If sir must know, I myself know how to defend myself quite well actually" She says pretty smugly.

"I suppose." You remember that punch earlier. Guessing practicing with a cello does that to your muscles. "Hey, you still haven't answered my question earlier." You suddenly blurt out.

>She lets out a sigh.

"Well, as I was saying, Today, I-"

>A flash of light blurts out from the darkness, it was a police. You guess it's pretty suspicious being here at this hour after all.

"No worries, I'll just explai-" You say as you turn to her.

>She wasn't listening. She grabbed your hand and started running towards the closest side of the playground fence. You can feel the footsteps of the cop behind you trying to catch up in surprise.

 

>She's running ahead of you. She's surprisingly athletic. You can barely keep up with her. You reach the fence, she's already climbed on the other side.

"It seems that it is in sir's best interest if sir could hurry the fuck up!"

"You're the one that started running, making us more suspicious!" You retort, while clambering on the fence.

>You manage to climb past it, up and over. She grabs you hand once again and retreats around the block running as fast as you both can. You peer back and see the police behind you catching his breath and giving up. Thankfully, he's a bit pudgy.

 

>You both halt and catch your breaths.

"Now why the hell would you run?!" You say, panting.

"With all due respect, I just felt like it, honestly." She speaks, as gracefully as she is weird.

>You surrender. And burst out laughing. She looks at you strangely. Then follows suit. You both stand there laughing like idiots.

 

>You've never felt more alive in years.

 

>You both stealthily sneak over to you parked car. You start the car and start driving for home. She's over on the passenger seat, already asleep. You reach a brief stoplight. You glance at her. The way her face is lit by streetlights. Her ladylike composure even when asleep. She's very beautiful. You feel like you could stare at her forever.

>HONK!

>The car behind you starts honking. Greenlight already. You felt embarrassed and quickly resume driving.

 

>It's now 2 am when you reached home. You wake her up.

"Hey, we're home."

>She groggily shifts her gaze to and fro. She sees you then turns towards the window, the outside of your home. She gets up, alerted and faces you, all the while maintaining composure.

"My apologies, sir." She does a quaint bow.

"Ahh no worries, you should head inside and get some sleep"

"I will thank you, sir." She walks towards the door. She faces you before heading inside. "If sir would like to know, I enjoyed sir's company tonight." She says with a shy smile.

>You feel flustered. You shift your gaze.

"Ugh, yea, me too ha..ha..."

>She giggles and heads inside.

 

>You stare a bit at the moon before following suit and heading for you bedroom.

 

>You plop down on it, face first. Today was a very tiring day. Yet strangely satisfying. You hum a small tune to yourself. You feel your eyes getting heavy. You drift off to sleep.