Water and Fire (BL)

Chapter 6: The Troubled Kid

Chapter 6: The Troubled Kid

This is Marlyn Mendoza's first day of work at the Zhou residence. She felt so fortunate for this job. At least, she would be able to give more financial support to her son, Eric.

She was very thankful for her friend and neighbor Amy for referring her to Zhou Feng. She actually never heard of Zhou Feng but now she realized how big of a deal this person is in the business field. Such a crazy rich man! Just look at the ornately patterned ceilings, the marble floors, and the bookshelves chocked full of business magazines whose covers feature Mr. Zhou. She couldn't understand any of it though, because they were all written in Chinese, though some of it were English magazines.

But, as she was mopping the floor of the spacious living room, she couldn't help feeling sad. Already, Mr. Zhou's son has given her the cold shoulder a little earlier.

Who does he think he is, acting like a spoiled child like that? She thought bitterly, scrubbing a spot of hardened dust on the marble floor. It's a shame cause he's handsome—well, not as handsome as my Eric—and he has a rotten attitude.

Another housekeeper entered her vision. "Here, use this." She handed a bottle of cleaning powder to Marilyn. "It's baking soda with active acidic agents. Perfect for eliminating those spots."

Marilyn scattered some cleaning powder on the spot of hardened dust, and was amazed to see it get peeled off from the floor with a single sweep of her wet mop. "Thank you."

The housekeeper smiled. She was a petite girl who looked much younger than Marilyn, probably  in her twenties. "I'm Lisa. I've been employed by the Zhou family back in China. I was a Filipino overseas worker. I'm so glad Mr. Zhou brought me with him here to the Philippines. Now I'm closer to my family."

"How long have you been employed by the family?"

Lisa counted her fingers while staring at the ceiling. "About three, no wait... Yeah, three or four years."

"So you already know the family," Marilyn couldn't help her curiosity. "How are they?"

"Well, they're okay, as long as you do your job." Lisa walked closer to Marilyn and almost whispered to her ear, "But be careful with David Zhou. He's actually pretty spoiled. Once he spilled orange juice on me when he saw a crease on his blankets that I folded. Not only that, every time he gets so stressed, he shouts at the maids like a mad man for no reason at all. I'm telling you, that kid is rotten to the core."

Marilyn looked shocked. Well, damn, her estimation with that kid was right.

"But don't tell, okay? I just wanted you to be more cautious and conscientious in cleaning." Lisa looked like she was thinking, and after some seconds, drew closer to Marilyn's ear. "Actually, the reason why he's like that is, the kid might have felt that his parents' marriage is in the brink of dissolution. I mean, who won't get stressed out when they hear their parents arguing every day, right?"

Marilyn's eyes were as round as coconut pies as she heard these words. Not only was Lisa so gossipy, she was even animated while telling this.

"Don't tell anyone, okay? I just wanted you to know everything." With this, Lisa detached her thin body from Marilyn's and walked away after saying, "I'll tell you juicier secrets in the future," then winked at Marilyn.

Damn, this Lisa might get endangered by her gossipy mouth.

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At the kitchen, while cleaning the sink spotless, Marilyn saw David Zhou eating his breakfast while looking at his phone. Marilyn noticed that the kid was sullen.

Peering at David's phone from time to time, Marilyn saw that the kid was browsing through some photos of him with a girl. They were smiling. Marilyn felt the sadness at the boy's image, and after realizing her sneaky behavior, punched herself in her mind and continued scrubbing the sink although it was already shiny.

Doing this, she couldn't help but remember Lisa's words. Then she peered again at the kid's phone. This time he was looking at a photo of him, flanked by his parents at the sides.

Marilyn's face lost its color when the kid turned his head around.

"What the hell are you looking at, ah?!"

She immediately turned back and scrubbed the already spotless sink.