Maid For You 2

Chapter 9

"W--what?" I stumbled, surprised at the sudden connection.

"You two dating, now?" he asked.

"No," I said.

"Right. But you like him?" Jonathan continued.

I stood very still for a moment, contemplating a response. Finally, I conceded with a "yeah, I do."

"And that's why you took him with you to Skyland, then?"

I furrowed my eyebrows. "How do you know about that?"

"Charlie, the gardener boy."

Charlie! What the heck, kid?

"Charlie told you?!" I cried. "I mean, Charlie asked me about Skyland, but I didn't think he was going to go around telling people."

Jonathan apparently found this very funny, and he laughed heartily. "Charlie? Not tell people?" He laughed yet again. "Charlie is the biggest blabbermouth in the whole palace. He couldn't keep a secret if his life depended on it. He's an incurable gossip."

I scowled. "Look, it's not as though I am ashamed that I went with Lucas, but I didn't want to make a big deal out of it."

"You brought this upon yourself, Miss Cassie. You told Charlie."

"Yeah, yeah. I've learned my lesson."

Chef Jonathan tilted his head, and pushed himself off the table. "Do you know about Marstella?" he asked me.

I looked at Jonathan and sighed. "Yeah, I know about the Marstella Incident."

"Really? Who told you? Charlie?"

"Well he tried to..."

"No surprise."

"But he was interrupted. I actually found out about it from Lucas," I said.

Chef Jonathan rose his eyebrow. "Straight from the horse's mouth?"

"Yep." I shook my head. "She sounds like a..." I tried to think of a non-vulgar word. "Like a jerk."

"Can't say you're wrong." Jonathan sighed. "I'm surprised Lucas told you. I've never heard him talk about it. Man, we all felt so bad for the poor kid after the news broke out. He was crazy about her."

I frowned. "So I gathered."

"Look, Marstella may have turned out to be a cold-hearted vixen, but she was real pretty. Clever, too. I mean, we men were all a little jealous of Lucas." He looked up thoughtfully. "She sort of reminds me of you, actually."

"That's not funny," I scowled.

"Take it as a compliment, Cassie. If you ignore her manipulative tendencies, Marstella was pretty alright. Kind of a total package, actually."

I didn't know how to respond. After a brief moment I said, "Thanks, I guess?"

"I promise I don't mean it as an insult." Jonathan tilted his head and smiled. "You know, I don't blame you for liking the kid. Lucas may be a little broken, but he's a good guy I think and pretty good-looking. That being said, I'm not entirely withdrawing my hat from the ring, Miss Cassie."

Chef Jonathan was a strange man, to be sure. I never quite knew what to think of him.

I laughed a little. "Well," I said. "I'll keep that in mind." I started to walk out, when I turned back and looked at Chef Jonathan to ask him a question that suddenly pricked my mind.

"What did you mean about Lucas being a little broken?" I asked.

Chef Jonathan sighed. "Perhaps...he's more than just a 'little' broken."

"What do you mean?"

"Perhaps another time I'll tell you, or perhaps you'll find the answer for yourself sooner or later." Jonathan took off his hat. "But for now, we probably should start getting ready for bed. Thanks to the Russian Prince, we have to get up bright and early."

***

My first thought was to ask Charlie if he knew anything about Luke, but then, that seemed inappropriate the more I thought about it. Eventually, I drifted off to sleep, but was awoken by the horrible sound of a buzzer right next to my ear.

I snatched my screaming phone and looked at the time.

5:00 in the morning.

Time to get up.

Thanks to the window in my room, I could tell it was still dark outside. It was an ungodly hour to be awake. No one should have to get up when it's still dark outside; it's absolutely absurd. I chose to smash the snooze button, and immediately fell back asleep before I was interrupted once more by my terribly rude alarm. I hit snooze again.

5:10am and my alarm sounded yet a-freaking-gain. I stared up at the dark ceiling, and wondered if Prince Nikolas would be cool with me showing up to give him his breakfast whilst in pajamas. He didn't seem like the type to be chill with something like that, however. Probably would be 'blurring lines' or some crap like that.

Audibly whining and moaning, I crawled off my bed and pouted on the floor, lamenting the injustice of it all. I then dragged myself to my feet and shuffled to my bathroom. It was a small little bathroom—no shower or bath. Just a good old porcelain throne and a small vanity. With great sadness, I began getting ready for the day. I combed my dark brown hair furiously and pulled it back into the same stupid low bun I wore it in every single day. Part of our uniform required us to pull back our hair into a bun, but many of the other maids added in cute braids or had fancy ways of twisting their buns. However, I was too lazy do to anything like that 95% of the time and I was just grateful for my bangs and silly frilly headband that added something to distract from the plainness of my hair. I applied my makeup rather slowly; the mornings slowed down my pace. I put on my dress and looked in the mirror. I looked fine on the outside, but inside I was dying. I slipped on my little black heels, snuck my phone into my dress's pocket, and trudged towards the kitchen.

Chef Jonathan didn't have the makeup or willpower to conceal his bitter tiredness.

"We should just go to war with Nikoto, already," Jonathan snarled. "Then we won't have to have Prince Nikolas come to the palace and pretend like we like him."

I was too tired to respond with words—a mere grunt being the most I could muster. I picked up the breakfast tray—hosting a plate of eggs, toast, and sausage under a dinner platter—and started my ascent to Prince Nikolas's room. Fortunately, the palace had a select few elevators, and one was located across the hall from the kitchen. I arrived at his room right at 6:00, and knocked.