As soon as Atticus’s sister walked out the door, one of the maids appeared to show me to the room that I would be using. After surveying the room and discovering that I would be living here alone, I dumped my body like a sack of potatoes on the bed.
Now that I was alone with my thoughts, I could feel my heart beating very loudly in my chest. All I could think about was how stupid I had been to challenge his sisters like that.
They were bullies alright but maybe I should have looked for another way to handle the situation instead of insulting them. If they were close to their brother and ran their mouth while adding lies, he would not be happy.
I hated that I couldn’t control my anger at their behaviour. I used to pride myself on having high self-control, but their words pissed me off and I let my mouth run like a bad tap.
I should learn to control myself better. There was no way to remedy the situation, what’s done is done. They brought it upon themselves anyway. They shouldn’t have pissed me off in the first place.
Because of their troubles, I was unable to get a proper look at the house before I locked myself in there. I loved the bedroom though. It wasn’t too girly and had neutral colours just like my bedroom back at home.
“This is it” I muttered to myself. “I am finally going to start living as Mrs Hayland, the woman without her husband’s love and there was no going back”
I sighed dejectedly. I had read a lot of books and watched a lot of movies about women in arranged marriages that weren’t happy. I remembered how I used to yell and insult them, wondering why they would remain stuck in the marriage.
“Look at you” I sighed “You are just like those women now and just like them, you have nowhere to go” I mocked myself.
My stomach grumbled, reminding me that I had not eaten breakfast before I left the house and it was already time for lunch. I was about to yell for Duke so he could get me something to eat when I remembered that I was no longer home which meant that Duke wasn’t here.
I sighed again before getting up from the bed and making my way out of the bedroom. I knew Atticus had maids but currently, there was no one in sight, including Justin so I had to trust my instincts in finding the kitchen.
I followed my instinct and found myself in the living room. The memories of what had occurred here earlier flooded my mind and I chuckled because it was so hilarious.
I heard footsteps and turned just in time to see a young girl who looked to be around the same age as me stepping into the living room. She was holding a wipe cloth and a bottle, so I assumed she was currently doing her chores.
She paused in her tracks and her eyes widened in shock when she saw me. She was about to turn and scurry off when I stopped her.
“Please, hold on,” I said, and she turned to me with wide eyes “Where can I find the kitchen? I am starving” I asked, surprised at the hint of fear in her eyes.
“The…the…the kitchen’s that way” She stuttered and pointed in the direction that she had just come from.
“Why are you stuttering” I asked, surprised because I didn’t like the way she was acting out of fear when I hadn’t done anything to scare her.
“No…no…nothing, ma” Again, she stuttered and there was no way I would believe that she was doing this all for nothing.
“I don’t believe you,” I told her “Tell me why you are so scared of me. I promise I won’t get mad, and I’ll even apologize if I am at fault” I assured her.
She thought about my words for a while, probably weighing her options of whether to believe me or not.
"It’s just that the entire house heard you confront Mr Hayland’s sisters during your arguments and we were a little surprised at how harsh you were towards them. Now, everyone wants to stay away from you to avoid getting on your bad side” she said with a timid voice.
Out of all the reasons I thought of, that had not been an option. I didn’t expect it at all.
I stared at her as she squirmed in her spot when I didn’t say anything. She probably thought I was angry as she went pale, and regret filled her face, but I was just speechless.
I didn’t know how to reply to what she had said so I started laughing instead.
“Why would you guys think that? I would never direct my anger towards the wrong person. I was just mad because they tried to bully me and it would be over my dead body before I allow anyone to bully me” I spoke in between laughter.
Relief flooded her face and she stood upright as she appeared calmer than she did before.
“It’s just that no one had ever dared to talk back to them or even insult them the way you did. Even Mr Hayland’s girlfriends…” The maid paused her words and paled again before slapping her hand over her mouth.
“Oh my god. I am so sorry.” She cried.
“Hey,” I reached out my hand to steady her when she swayed “You don’t need to be sorry. We didn’t get married because we loved each other so I don’t care that he has other women so please continue with what you were saying” I assured her.
“Are you sure?” She asked, and I nodded.
“I promise. I already suspected that he would have them”
“Okay” she said again with relief “As I was saying, none of Mr Hayland’s girlfriends stands up to them, instead they suck up to them because they want their sisters to put in good word for them because they believe that he might marry one of them.”She explained in a rush.
“Well, that won’t be happening with me and they would have a hard time if they tried to bully me again,” I told her confidently. “Please, tell the others they do not need to avoid me like a plague. I have no intention to make their lives a living hell”
My stomach chose that moment to grumble to let me know that I was still yet to eat anything.
“I need to eat something now or I might faint,” I said and rushed towards the direction of the kitchen that she had pointed to.
The Kitchen was very easy to find. It was the first room I saw when I walked into the corridor that she had pointed.
A man was standing over the stove and stirring something over the pot. He was humming a song and was so engrossed in what he was doing that he didn’t notice me walk into the kitchen.
I envied him for being able to concentrate on his task like that because that was something I could not do since I had the attention span of a goldfish.
I cleared my throat to alert him of my presence and I didn’t expect him to be so startled that he almost jumped out of his skin and let out a small shout with the sound.
“Jesus, you startled me” he placed his hand on his chest as he stared at me with wide eyes.
“Sorry” I apologized “I didn’t mean to startle you. You didn’t hear me when I walked in so I only wanted to alert you of my presence”” He took a tissue and wiped some of the food he had spilt over the stove and the counter.
“It’s fine, I get lost in thoughts sometimes so it isn’t your fault”
“I was wondering if I could get something to eat. I am starving” iI told him and on cue, my stomach grumbled again.
“Oh” he exclaimed “ I can hear it. Sit down and I’ll serve you a plate. Who are you if I may ask? A friend of one of the maids?”
I took a seat on the counter and watched him start to grab things. “Hazel. Atticus’ wife”
I jumped in shock when the room he was holding fell to the floor with a loud clank.
“You are the new lady of the house? I am so sorry for asking you to sit here. Please forgive me. Can you take a seat in the dining hall? We will set up the table in a minute” He scrambled around the kitchen, not waiting for me to answer.
“No. It’s fine. I want to eat here. There is no need for you to go the extra mile to set up the main dining hall” I told him, but he shook his head.
“I’m sorry but I can’t allow you to eat in the kitchen. If Mr Hayland finds out, I would be in a lot of trouble” he insisted, and I looked at him with confusion.
“Why would he be angry because I ate in the kitchen? I am sure he won’t get angry. I assure you and if he does, I would just take the blame, so you won’t have to get into trouble with your boss”
“Fine” he agreed “If you insist, it’s not like I can force you”
He proceeded to serve me a plate of pasta and spicy chicken. My mouth watered at the sight of the food that was placed in front of me. The aroma was enough for my stomach to grumble out of annoyance because I was delaying eating the food in front of me.
“I hope you enjoy your meal,” The chef said before he stepped away to continue his cooking while giving me space to eat my meal.
“I’m sure I would enjoy the meal, Chef…”
“Lorenzo.” he answered, “Just Lorenzo would be fine, Mrs Hayland,” he told me with a kind smile.
“And just Hazel would be fine as well,” I told him, but he shook his head.
“Not at all” He refused “I could never call you by your name. It is not proper”
“But I don’t mind at all,” I told him with a frown.
“I do mind, and I would appreciate it if you would allow me to call you by the proper title”
“Fine” I relented because I could see how uncomfortable he was with the discussion.
I picked up the fork to take a bite of my first meal of the day. As soon as the food touched my tongue, I could not hold myself back from letting out a moan at the savoury taste that hit my senses. He was an extremely good extremely cook and I could see why he was hired.
“This is so good” I exclaimed, not minding that there was food in my mouth and that I probably looked ridiculous.
“Well, thank you but please, eat slowly so you don’t choke”
My face heated up immediately and I slowed down from gulping down the whole plate. I had not even realized that I was eating like a starved street bum who had never eaten a good meal before.
If our cook back at Dad’s house saw me like this, it would be a slap to her face because it would look as though she never cooked so well when she was just as good.
As I slowed down and finished the rest of my food, I couldn’t help but think that maybe the marriage wouldn’t be so bad. After all, he had a chef that made good food.