The Beginning of a Mess (3)

"Come look at this look." She beckoned him over. "You see this?" She gestured towards the glistening glass door. 

He stood beside her. "What about your balcony doors?" 

"Not the balcony doors." She cut her side eye. "There was a storm a few days prior. I think some of the leaves were caught against the roof. The leaves are falling onto my balcony." 

"And what would you like me to do?" 

"Don't you think someone ought to fix that?" 

"I see. I'll have someone take care of it."

"No." She shook her head. "I need someone who wants to do it right, without any mistakes. You can handle that right?" 

Momentarily, his brows faintly crunched together and the locked composure of his flat smile almost broke. "I see. I'll take care of it."

"Yes, you do that. Also, someone ought to give that roof a clean while they're up there. I don't want the dirt and grim getting onto my windows. Speaking of windows, I think they too could use another clean. Oh, but don't assign that to the maids who did it last time. Whoever they were, those sloppy maids left a few spots. Also and also, that means I'll need you to confirm that they were properly cleaned this time around."

"Alright. Anything else?"

"Yes." Her smile was liquid. "My slippers," she poutingly jeered, pointing at her bare feet.

"Your slippers?" He peered blankly at her. "What about your slippers?"

"I'm feeling in the mood for some new slippers. Those just don't do anymore." She pointed to perfect satin slippers neatly awaiting her by the bed. "I want some new ones. Preferably one of my winter ones because it's so cold."

"Alright."

"But there's a problem." She puckered her lips. "Last I recall, my winter shoes were packed away in my storage wardrobe. My storage wardrobe is the room downstairs with the 4 doors and all the boxes stacked to the ceiling?"

"It is?"

"Yes." She smiled. "It might be a bit hard to find my winter sippers when everything's been packed away possibly unlabeled. You may have to unbox it all to find it."

"Unbox everything?" He craned his brow.

"And don't forget to box it all back up," she added, her twisted smile growing from ear to ear. "Also, just to be even, why don't you reorganize and make sure to label the things there? I'm thinking winter apparel should be neatly organized at the far right of the room, mid-winter apparel to the left, and so-on. I don't need any of the lower maids getting confused where to storage my out-of-season accessories. You're getting me?"

His smile was unchanged. "If you'd like me to be. Anything else?"

"Anything, else?" she regurgitated his words with a contemplative hum. "Hmm, I think we'll have to see. Now, hurry along. I don't like waiting." She happily waved him away with a wag of her wrist.

"Understood." He folded his hands behind his back. The soft reserved smile plastered on his face didn't budge but there was an unreadable look in his eyes brewing. "I'll do as you wish, my lady."

"Ah-ah-ah," she mockingly tutted. "You should be saying as I want because wishes are promises but what I want is a must."

"Ha." He tautly laughed. "You are exact in your rhetoric."

"I know I am." 

"Right, you are," he coarsely replied. "Right you are." 

Click!

The moment he left; her smirk shrunk. 

She paced back over to her bedside, and noticed Sabina's crumpled letter on her bed chest. She picked it up, trying to remember if she left it out. 

'I do not want to see her, nor do I want to speak to her.'

The words from the letter pierced her chest. Left alone? Needed time? What did that even mean? She wondered, clutching the worn paper. No matter how many times she read it, the truth would not reveal itself, and maybe that's the way Sabina wanted it.

She slightly crumpled the letter, looking up to peer distantly. 

No matter how Sabina wanted it. It hurt. So? Why not make someone else suffer for it?