บท 21: The new normal (2)

"You are all off from work so try to stay out of the way of the others. We're a little short today until the new servants arrive so if anyone is willing to work for the rest of the evening, you will be paid for your time. Make a decision quickly," Mavis spoke as the servants returning from their day off walked by her.

"I want to work!"

Annalise and Aria looked at each other. They had both offered to spend the rest of the day working.

Mavis looked up from the paper with the list of guests for Rafael's party when she heard Annalise's voice. She couldn't deny Annalise since she needed the extra hands. "Good. Then Aria, you will be needed in the kitchen and Annalise, Beatrice is in need of you by her side. There will be a party held tomorrow so it will be busy. Make no mistakes during this time."

"Yes, ma'am!" Annalise energetically answered.

Mavis stepped back, puzzled by Annalise's excitement. "Put down your things and get to work," she said, keeping her eyes on Annalise.

"Yes, ma'am!" Annalise replied and then hurried off to put down the things she bought.

Mavis was even more suspicious of Annalise's behavior. She had never seen Annalise reply to her with so much energy and then there was the fact Annalise was calling her ma'am. As the head maid, the servants should address her as such. Ma'am or Miss Wiggings was to her liking.

"Mavis," Aria said so Mavis would notice she was still there.

"What are you still doing here? I said to put down your things and get to work. What else do you need to be told?" Mavis questioned, placing her hands on her hips. She hated to repeat herself when her orders were clear. "See to it that you address me properly in the future. You and I are not friends."

Aria watched Mavis walk away with an annoyed look. A look caused by her. What had happened when she was out today for things to have changed this much? Annalise was being obedient like she was kissing Mavis's ass and Mavis was annoyed by Aria who was a hard worker.

"That had to hurt," Cara patted Aria's back. "It seems our dear friend wants to join the group that will serve the king. Her eyes lit up when we spoke about it. As much as I would like to earn more money, I must take this day off. Preparing for the party will be stressful. I will see you at dinner."

"Right," Aria sighed.

Meanwhile, Annalise hurried back to her room to put down her bags and get dressed so she could tend to Beatrice before it was time for dinner. She needed to do everything she could to be picked to serve the King. Everything she had done up to this point should be forgotten as she would become the best maid anyone had ever seen from this point on.

Annalise tossed her bags on her bed to be dealt with later and changed into her maid uniform. She exited her room, still trying to tie the back of her dress.

"Come on," Annalise muttered as her fingers fumbled tying her dress as she walked. She looked behind herself, trying to see what was going wrong.

"Watch it!" Someone yelled before Annalise could bump into them. "Oh, bush girl. Is it you?"

'First pervert and now bush girl,' Annalise thought, taking a step back to inspect the man who almost knocked her over.

"Bush girl?" Annalise wanted to know the story behind the name.

Logan inspected her features to make sure he was not mistaken. He remembered her face when he had called down to her about the snakes. "I am the one who warned you about snakes when you were down in the bushes, remember?"

"I don't recall that," Annalise replied. She could not make out the face of who had warned her about snakes, but she was not going to admit to it being her when everyone must be trying to figure out how a snake got inside. She would be setting herself up to be fired. "Excuse me," Annalise tried to walk around him.

Logan stepped to the side to block her path. "You're a terrible liar. It is you that I warned about the snakes. Luckily, it wasn't that long ago so I have not forgotten your face. Why are you not acknowledging the fact that it was you? Were you not supposed to be out there? I've made the men search that area for snakes since you were out there. A thank you will suffice."

"I must get back to work before I get in trouble. Thank you for taking care of the snakes," Annalise said, still not admitting to it being her. "Knights are not supposed to be in the servants quarters. You have your own space," Annalise said as she walked around him.

Logan decided to follow the maid. "That is a rule no one pays attention to. You will soon see knights, both women and men, sneaking around here soon. Everyone's trying to get together with old flames. We've been away for weeks. Why don't you want to admit that it was you who I saw? Your employer was also there since it is his room."

Annalise slowed down after hearing this. She thought back to the room that was above where she had taken the snake. She was certain that there wasn't someone there at the time. Annalise thought back to Rafael looking at her when he held the snake. Did he think it was her because of this?

'Why did he have to be there out of all places?' Annalise's lip twitched. This meant she had to work extra hard to prove herself to be a good maid.

"Did I upset you? You seem irritated," said Logan. He could see why she had Rafael not listening to him. The woman before him was amusing. "Did I catch you doing something wrong?"

Annalise slowed down and turned to the man who could not just leave her alone. This was supposed to be a day full of change so why was he bothering her about something from last night? "I am in a hurry to do work so my mind was elsewhere. It was me down there looking around for a coin that slipped out of a hole in my pocket. I couldn't afford to lose money and thought I would search all the places I walked. Does that satisfy you?"

Logan smiled as he sensed the sarcasm in her voice. "For now it does. I shall be on my way. I don't need that brute making me run more laps. See you bush girl."

"Please stop calling me that," Annalise muttered, trying to hold in her annoyance.

"No can do," Logan replied.

Annalise wished to find something to hit him over the head to make him forget seeing her last night, but she had to go to Beatrice's side. This was a lesson that she was not paying in full attention to her surroundings and if the annoying man walking away from her saw that, he could see something else if she was not careful.

"I'm wasting time," Annalise sprung around to continue heading to Beatrice's room.