Grateful for once!

Dylan opened the door and stopped immediately when he saw her. He had almost forgotten. After she had avoided him the whole day, he had completely forgotten he'd have to see her here, in his house, in his room. Don't get the wrong idea, she was his maid after all.

If Chelsea noticed his presence, she clearly ignored him and it hurt a spot in Dylan's heart. Was it his pride? He was used to getting all the attention you could ever imagine but here he was, being ignored by his maid. Well, wow! Quite ironical!

Getting out of his trance, Dylan walked into the room and shut the door loudly just to make sure she had noticed him. Surely she did but she continued with her work like he was just a ghost. Dylan rolled his eyes.

" Hey!" he blurted out. He didn't know why he did but he just had to say something.

" I'm almost done, I'll be out of here before you know it" was her reply which to Dylan meant, ' don't talk to me till I'm out which won't be so long'. Dylan rolled his eyes and refrained himself from asking why she was avoiding him in school and here. That would be a stupid thing to say, they weren't even friends to begin with. She was just a cute insecure maid that he had to help deal with her inferiority complex or so he told himself. Wait! Did he just call her cute??? It was definitely a mistake, he had never looked at her that way. He had never even checked her out before, the thought of it alone made him a bit... what was the word now??

Chelsea spun round and her limbs failed her when she saw the way he stared at her. His eyes were intensely filled with something she couldn't understand. And she hated it, she hated it cause she couldn't understand it. Almost immediately, she looked away and tried to walk past him but his hand stopped her.

" Are you mad at me?" Dylan asked. She wanted to look back into those eyes cause they tended to draw her against her will, like a black hole, just that this was gold and not black. A golden black hole! She was just being stupid, right?

" A maid doesn't have the right to be mad at her boss, does she?" she heard herself say. There was silence, a threatening silence. And then his cold and domineering voice broke the silence.

" I'm glad you remember that"

She felt his hand release hers and turned to him. He spun around quickly but not before she saw the look in his eyes. They were now empty and emotionless, cold as usual. Chelsea shut her eyes and blinked back the tears. Why did she even think he was being remorseful? She had thought he would at least make her feel less guilty for being mad at him but here he was, reminding her that she had no right to. What was she even thinking??

With a heart likened to a broken one, Chelsea made her way out of the room. Dylan heard her close the door and he sighed heavily. He hadn't mean to hurt her again but he hated it when she spoke so lowly of herself. It pissed him off but yet it made him want to do something, he had to do something to change the way she saw herself. But then he would have to stop saying things as what he had just said.

With another sigh, Dylan shook his head and sat on his bed. Chelsea Allen, his maid was slowly making her way into his mind and she didn't even realize it. He had to get her out though, he had a test the next day and there was work to do. Dylan kicked off his shoes and picked up his laptop. Getting himself busy seemed a good remedy to get Chelsea off his mind.

Chelsea, on her own part, clenched her fists as his words kept ringing in her head. Why did he always have to be a jerk? Just why did she keep hurting her feelings? Not feelings for him, she didn't realize she had those yet. She was just a helpless girl who had to deal with a hundred and one insecurities, having to deal with everyday bullying by words and actions did take its toll on her. For once, she wanted to feel like she was human too, even though her family wasn't well to do, she was still human after all. But she didn't feel that way. Dylan made sure to remind her of that. She hated him and it didn't seem like that was going to change anytime soon. But... she just couldn't understand him. He acted sometimes like he cared about her and her feelings but the next minute, he was saying something to hurt her. Why was he that way? He gave her a lot of worries.

Chelsea was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't realize she was descending the staircase. One wrong move and she fell hardly on the stairs.

" Ouch!" She said almost immediately. Thankfully she hadn't been holding anything but gosh! She had definitely sprained her ankle.

Sitting on the stairs and carefully touching her hurting ankle, Chelsea didn't notice Mrs Belinda, who stood silently watching her.

" Enough of the drama" the woman said startling Chelsea who almost immediately rose to her feet, or rather tried to get up on her feet. It was a futile attempt as she fell back. Mrs Belinda scoffed loudly which made Chelsea clench her fists.Did she think she was pretending? Why would she pretend to be hurt?

" If you're done, come pick up these clothes from the laundry room to Master Dylan's room"

" But ma'am..." Chelsea called, her tone higher than she wanted it to be in a bid to protest. Mrs Belinda turned to her with a stern look on her face. Chelsea immediately looked down as an apology.

" You seem to be really rebellious these days, Ms Allen. I bet you're carried away cause Master Dylan is giving you a bit of his attention..." she scoffed loudly and continued, " You'll be such a fool to forget that he's way higher in class and you are just his maid" She drew each and every word of the last sentence carefully so her message would sink. With another scoff, she walked out on a broken Chelsea. Reminded twice in one day, that was too much for her. But yet it cleared her doubts. There was no way he could care about her. She was just his maid after all. Just a maid!!!

With a very deep sigh that carried a thousand and one emotions, Chelsea managed to get to her feet with the stair railings as her help. She wiped a stray tear from her eyes and sniffed. Today was just her unlucky day. Limping carefully, Chelsea made her way to the laundry room. Mrs Belinda was there but she made sure to ignore her. Chelsea could feel her eyes boring into her but she didn't dare look at the old woman. She picked up the clothes and limped her way out of the room. The staircase was a very tedious journey for her but damn! she didn't have any choice at the moment. Hating on her life and cursing her luck to the least, Chelsea ascended the stairs even slower than a tortoise would. Thankfully,no one showed up to see her crawling like that. She managed to balance the fold of clothes on her hand as she held the rail with the other. Her head was spinning with the consistent replay of the spiteful words she had heard that day. She just wanted to get home and sleep. Sleep! No, she couldn't do that. They had a test coming up and she was perfectly fit to be titled unprepared. It had been a hectic week but she really had to read. She had to make up for her lost grade before her parents realized it- before her dad, rather. He was counting on her, she couldn't fail him. It would mean failing her family, and herself.

Jolting back to reality, Chelsea realized she was just in front of his room. Patting herself on the back for a job well done, she placed a slight knock on the door. There was no response but she opened it anyway. He wasn't on his bed as she expected him to be but at his desk typing very seriously on his laptop. He hadn't noticed her, just drop them and leave, she thought. Good idea but she decided against it. There was no way she would cross to his bed and he wouldn't realize it, especially not with her limping leg. Letting out another sigh, she cleared her throat. Dylan jerked roughly as he snapped his laptop shut at the same time. He turned to her with an expression of someone who had just being caught doing something wrong. Was he doing something wrong?

" What the ..? What are you doing here?" He stuttered, Chelsea noticed the way his Adam's apple moved up and down as he swallowed nervously. What was wrong with him?

" I.. umm... your clothes" Chelsea said, pointing at the clothes in her hand. He didn't stop staring at her and Chelsea felt really weird. She looked away from him and started to move to his bed, struggling to keep her limping unnoticed. He was staring intensely at her and it made her very uncomfortable. What was wrong with him?

" Did you see anything?" Dylan blurted out all of a sudden.

" What?" asked a confused Chelsea.

Dylan sighed and shook his head. She definitely didn't see anything but with the way he was acting, he was gonna give everything up. She was bound to get suspicious if he didn't get his act together.

" Never mind. What's wrong with your leg?" He said, quickly changing the topic.

Chelsea's face twisted. How had he noticed it?

" What?" she asked again even though she had clearly heard him.

" Why are you limping?" he asked again, regaining his confidence.

" I... " she was just about to say the truth when she changed her mind. " None of your business" she said instead.

Dylan narrowed his brows, confused at her courage. This girl!

Chelsea turned to leave the room when she heard him say,

" Wait!" She stopped and turned back to him.

" Take the day off and the next" he said. Chelsea opened her mouth in surprise but she was speechless.

" What?" was all she could say. She might have used that word a little too much.

" Are you deaf or something?" Dylan asked.

" I'm not deaf sir." Chelsea returned with as much confidence.

" Well then, you heard me"

" I did but I don't see why you said that sir. I didn't ask for a day off...

" Are you going against my order?" Dylan said, his voice low and authoritative.

" No sir but..."

" Then why are you still here?"

" Sir, I'm sorry but I can't do that"

Now Dylan was upset. He was desperately trying to get rid of her, why was she being such a pain in the ass?

" And what do you mean by that?" he said turning fully to face her.

" Well sir, I work here for the money and I make sure to merit the money. Taking unnecessary breaks is sure to cut off my pay and I can't do that sir" Chelsea said, placing her head down. She couldn't look at him with the way his eyes were boring into her.

" There's no reason for me to take a day off sir. " Chelsea added. Dylan sighed and palmed himself. He needed to get rid of her so he could continue what he was doing. What was wrong with her?

" I won't cut off your pay, okay? Now leave"

" But sir...

" I'm giving you the day off so you could read for the test coming up. I can't afford another scene of you crying cause you failed" Dylan immediately said. She clenched her fists by the side and he noticed it.

" Plus, I can't stand seeing you limp around my room. I won't cut off your pay now get out" He added. Chelsea sighed and immediately walked out of the room angrily. Whatever was he doing that made him so desperate to get rid of her? He was so suspicious but she really didn't care. He was right. She had to go home and read. For once, she was a bit grateful to Dylan Owen. Even though he did it for his own benefit, she was thankful at least.