Chapter 4 4

By the time she woke up the next morning, Juliet had left for work. It was already ten in the morning. She had overslept. Juliet must have thought what a lazy girl she was. Clara thought.

Clara was far from lazy. She single-handedly took care of her grandma while in intensive care and wrote her final exams, which she passed with flying colors. She had come out as the best graduating student in her class. "I dare her to ever think I'm lazy," Clara muttered. By the way, I'm going to need a job. She thought to herself and walked into the bathroom.

As soon as she was dressed, she found her eyes wandering towards the window occasionally. She fought the temptation to go closer. She knew there was only one thing she wanted to see, if she dared move towards the window. And it definitely was not the beautiful garden.

Clara's thoughts suddenly drifted to her grandma. She wished she had been there with her. Hope she remembers to take her drugs after breakfast. Hope her ear problem does not get worse. She needed to hear when the milkman or newspaper boy knocked or rang the bell. She closed the room door behind her and went looking for her Juliet.

She wasn't in the kitchen. There were two other ladies she hadn't met there. They both looked at her curiously. "Good morning," she said to them. "I'm looking for Juliet." Clara continued. "And who are you?" The younger one asked. "I'm her daughter, Clara. I only arrived yesterday." Their eyes said it all. They did not believe her to be Juliet's daughter.

Clara knew their thoughts. She was still searching for a similarity between herself and Juliet, her mum.

"Juliet is not here, as you can see. She could be anywhere around the house." The older of the two blurted out. "She could even be with Madam Whitson in her study or her bedroom." Juliet was the only staff member allowed to be in those two places. Some of the other staff members sometimes wondered what they discussed when she was with Madam Whitson. Their bond was not ordinary.

She was just about to give up looking for her mum when the big doorman who had opened the door on her arrival came walking towards her. Signaling her to wait for him to catch up with her. "Good morning Clara." His name was Bob. "Hope you are beginning to enjoy your stay with us. Juliet asked me to tell you to meet her in the Study. She will be waiting for you there with Madam Whitson. "It is on the third door to the left on the second floor," He said. "Yes, thank you," she replied, and walked off in search of Study.

Annabel Whitson avoided looking at Clara for a while and kept her gaze on Juliet even when the subject being discussed was Clara.

"Your mum told me that this would be the very first time of you being with her after she gave birth to you. That's such a sad one. "I hope, and I'm completely sure, she will make it up for you while you are here with us." She went on. "Juliet, your mum, is my most trusted staff member, so I'll also do my best to ensure that you are happy here."

"I understand you just graduated and with honors too." She went on.

"I plan to get a job while I'm here," Clara blurted out. "I'm hoping you can be of help."

Mrs Whitson looked at Clara wide-eyed. Her surprise disturbed Clara. Surely she did not expect me to hang around here all day without a job. She thought to herself. She knows I have just graduated from college, so why was she surprised that I wanted a job?

Clara was still trying to figure it out when Mrs Whitson's words hit her. "Surely my dear, the fact that I'll be having you in my house does not mean I'm responsible for you. You may, however, give your mum a hand while you are here. The poor woman works too hard most times."

Clara flushed. She could not believe what Mrs Whitson had just said. Did she expect her to work as a maid while living with her? This was outrageous. She looked at Juliet who looked back at her with pity. For the first time she thought of what her mum, Juliet must be going through with her boss.

Madam Whitson suddenly stood up. Still trying her best not to look Clara in the eyes. "Today is going to be a very busy day for me. Juliet, please see to it that your daughter's stay is a happy one.

"My husband will be back by dinner time. Please also see to it that Clara comes over to be introduced to him. My daughter and her fiancé will also be joining us for dinner. It won't be nice to suddenly see a stranger around the house," She said, walking out of the Study.

Clara was dumbfounded. She so much wanted to be with Nana. She had now met her mum, so what next? She looked at Juliet, who came over to give her a hug. It soothed her a bit. The pity she suddenly felt for this woman she had just got to know was her mother was overwhelming. She decided that she could actually help Juliet out around the house while she searched for a job.

Mrs Whitson had not rebuked her from getting a job. She only implied that she was not going to help her get one. Which was okay with. After all, she was not her mum and she, Clara, was just a daughter of her maid.

Dinner was by seven. Clara had taken her time to dress up. She knew she had to look good. Probably Madam Whitson would reconsider and find her suitable to work not as a maid but give her a job in her company. She ensured that she brushed her hair till it shone. She wore her red lipstick that suited her red gown perfectly. She was careful not to overdo it. She opened the door to the room and was about to walk out when she hesitated, then walked to the dressing mirror and let her hair down, which she hardly did.

She met Juliet and the two other maids she met earlier in the kitchen. This time their stares lasted longer than usual. ''Clara!'' Juliet quickly said, "You look stunning with your hair down. Come meet Lucy and Gwen'' The stares had already started making Clara uncomfortable. What were they thinking? Stunning! No one had ever referred to her as stunning. Well, she never did bother to take her time to dress up before. She did wear makeup occasionally, she always had her hair in a bun.

''Lucy. Gwen. Meet my daughter. She will be staying with me from now on."

''She's beautiful Juliet.'' Lucy chimed. ''She must have taken a lot of her features from her dad.''

''Yes, she's so slender and tall'' Gwen joined in.

Beautiful. Stunning. These were words that Clara was not used to. Only Nana said that to her occasionally back home. Her grandmother had tried so much to quench her insecurities. It was probably a form of greeting here.

Juliet suddenly beckoned on her to come meet the rest of the Whitsons and their soon-to-be son-in-law.

They were all already seated and the dining room was so huge and beautifully furnished like the rest of the house. She was happy she had decided to put in more effort into her dressing this evening. They all looked like people from the magazine and as she walked closer to them, she noticed the young man and lady who she had earlier seen in the garden were also present. Her heart skipped a bit.

''Clara!'' Please meet my husband, Albert.'' Madam Whitson pointed to the elderly man seated at the head of the table. His hair was all grey. He looked very handsome and regal. "My daughter Leticia" She looked at her beautiful daughter so lovingly. Leticia was truly beautiful. Her long brown hair almost touching her waist. Her skin shone like she did a spa every day. Her brown eyes suited her long brown hair. There was something sinister about those eyes though. ''My son-in-law to be, Jonathan Crawford. Nathan for short.'' Clara braced herself to look towards Nathan. She could already feel his eyes piercing into her. They were all staring at her, making her insecurities rise.

"Ni.. ni.. nice to meet you all." Clara only managed to stammer.

Albert Whitson smiled at her. His eyes were kind and loving towards her. Leticia seemed to be sizing her up. It was obvious she did not care for her presence there. She avoided looking in Nathan's direction but when she finally did, she realized he had not taken his eyes away from her for a minute. At that moment, Madam Whitson and Leticia turned to look at Nathan and realized the same thing. His eyes were totally fixed on Clara.

"You should leave now Clara. Our food is getting cold. Please join your mother and the rest of the maids to have your own dinner in the kitchen." Clara did not miss the sarcasm. She had said that deliberately to put her in her place.

Mr. Whitson looked at his wife, then Clara with those loving eyes. "Welcome to our household, Clara. Hope to see you around. Maybe have dinner with us one of these days."

"Surely you don't mean that, dad. She's a maid's daughter, which makes her more or less a maid Leticia cried out.

"Stop it Leticia." Nathan suddenly said coolly. He had said this without for once taking his eyes off Clara's face. Nathan was getting tired of correcting Leticia on how to treat people. She and her mum were deliberately humiliating this young lady. She was so beautiful. He thought to himself. He immediately felt pity for Clara. Pity and something else. Something he had never felt before.

Juliet, suddenly realizing what was happening, quickly held Clara's hand and ushered her away. She definitely understood what was happening. Her heart beat fast as she walked Clara into the kitchen. Nathan was obviously falling in love with Clara. Leticia was not one to let this happen without a fight. Juliet knew what Leticia was capable of doing to get whatever she wanted. Leticia was evil.