The convenient marriage

Chapter 15. His absence, her absence

'Pudding, come here! Come on! Come on!' Gingerly called Aria, the small furry ball whose members were still too short to walk properly, making his pace unsteady, and even causing the plump body to sway from side to side.

At her beck, the puppy immediately trotted in her direction, delighting her that he listened to her call. But of course the gluttonous Pudding would listen, how would he not, considering Aria had in her hand a treat for him.   

'Come on!' She called again, to make sure the puppy would not get distracted by other things and change his direction. 

He was just about to reach her, he was at such a small distance away that he had already opened his snout intending to take the snack away, when he honorably fell just before reaching his destination.

Seeing the fluffy dog sprawled on the cream colored woolly rug made a good camouflage, as the two blended with each other, so Aria could have barely discerned there was a dog on the floor, if it were not for his black spots.

It was truly an amusing sight, causing Aria and the servant girls unable to contain their laughter, making the living room as lively as it had ever been, caused by the several bell like voices.

'Mistress!' The butler called Aria, seeing the laughter finally settle down.

'Yes!' Aria acknowledged, reluctantly looking away from the antics of Pudding, as the latter had already gotten up and greedily took over his treat.

'The master called. Unfortunately he will not be coming home today!' Apologetically informed the butler, and was also about to explain more, afraid that Aria would misunderstand the master, but could not continue as she spoke.

'Alright!' The beautiful woman affirmed, then looked again at her small puppy, resuming playing with him.

The butler sighed resigned. The mistress was too detached about the master's schedule and affairs, and never asked more about him. She just took the information at face value, and returned to her normal routine, the one she had before Zane had disturbed it the previous week. 

The only question Aria asked him on Monday, when Zane had called and told them he would not return, was if Zane still had a cold. Once the butler informed her that Zane was alright, Aria had not asked him more, even though he had informed her for five consecutive times already that Zane would not return. She did not even ask to speak to Zane herself.

This was perhaps his mistake, as he had told her when she first arrived from the hospital that it was normal for the master to be gone for weeks at a time, so now when Zane was once again away for five days, she did not question his absence, and just took the information as it was. He would dare think that for the mistress the absence of Zane was akin to the news that were at this moment playing on the TV in the living room, just background noise.

Busying herself with the puppy who was circling around her as she sat on the carpet, Aria payed no attention to the news, having the TV on only because Pudding had found the remote control and stepped on it. Surprised by the sudden noise and images, the dog had growled a bit and even barked at the TV, so finding his reaction cute and amusing she had kept it on.

The butler waited a bit more, still wanting to know if the mistress would ask more about Zane, but even after several minutes passed Aria did not, so he had no choice but to turn around and walk away. How could he give more explanations to someone who did not want them? It would only make the master more pitiful.

Not to mention, he did not understand why the master had started to avoid the mansion again. Things were still alright the previous week. Zane had even return on Saturday night, even though he had informed them he would not return that night. Seeing him still coming back to sleep, he felt assured that the master was now thinking about Aria's wellbeing more. But how did the situation change? Why?