Jealousy (1)

"Annalise! Annalise! Have you heard!" Cara exclaimed as she ran to where Annalise was cleaning the windows. She had big news to share with Annalise right now. She could not hold it in and wait until they saw each other in an hour. 

"Who hasn't heard you? What is the big news now?" Annalise dropped the rag into the bucket as she was finally finished. It would count as her exercise for the day. Mavis had failed miserably by trying to upset her with this task.

"The young master has told Mavis and Edwin to inform him of anyone who tries to stop the maids from complaining about his guests acting inappropriately with them. I heard Mavis was sweating when Rafael mentioned Connor troubling the maids. If only I could have witnessed it. I am glad something was said, but now Mavis will be hunting for whoever said something," Cara frowned.

Mavis would never stop until she found out who spoke to Rafael.

"Hey! It is a bit too coincidental that you were riled up about Connor, and now the young master is talking about it. Did you say something after all?" Cara found Annalise to be suspicious.

"That bastard approached me when no one was around and offered to take me somewhere I don't have to clean windows," Annalise said, picking up the bucket to take it outside to throw away the dirty water.

"I could have told him how that conversation would have gone," Cara muttered. Annalise made it quite clear that she had no intentions of sleeping with anyone. "If you aren't going to sleep with Rafael, you certainly are not going to sleep with Connor. What happened next? Did you go tell Rafael?"

"No, he came looking for Connor for some reason and saw when Connor was about to hit me. Surprisingly, he sent Connor away. I told him that I felt uncomfortable around Connor and wanted to get away since complaining is not an option. He worked on it quite fast," Annalise was somewhat impressed with Rafael making a move on it. She half expected him to let it go, but she judged him wrong.

It was quite obvious it had to be Mavis telling the girls not to mention anything, but Annalise had no proof of this, and none of the girls would want to speak up. Not even Cara.

"So, he was a knight in shining armour who came and defended you against Connor," Cara swooned, twirling around dramatically. She imagined herself getting rescued by Rafael in place of Annalise.

"I was defending myself pretty well, but you are free to give him all the credit. Aside from the looks, I don't see why everyone is so in love with him-"

"Don't you dare think he is overrated," Cara shook Annalise's shoulders, causing some of the water in the bucket to drip onto the floor. "Rafael Callahan is a heaven-sent man, you hear me?"

"Loud and clear. I won't speak badly about the man you are seeing in your head. I am starting to feel sorry for him. He is surrounded by maids lusting after him. You spilt some water so I hope you can take a moment from defending Rafael to help me clean it up," said Annalise.

Cara looked down at the drops of water you needed to squint your eyes to see. "That will dry quickly on its own, but we should get out of here before someone finds us standing around. Come on," Cara tugged on Annalise's arm to get her away from the water. "Not like we could clean it up anyway. You dropped the rag in the water full of dust so you would just be staining the floor with more dirty water-"

"I get it!" Annalise exclaimed. "You don't want to clean up. Let me pour this here and then we can go to the kitchen," she said when they reached a door leading outside. "Mavis tasked us with washing dishes."

"Uhm, you are out of that. There is a second reason why I came to speak with you in a hurry. Some of the maids are quite jealous of you at the moment. Lady Beatrice requested you go to her room when you are finished with your current work."

Annalise didn't see what Beatrice requesting her had to do with the other maids. "Where does jealousy come in?" She asked.

"The position of taking care of Beatrice or Rafael is always carefully handpicked by Edwin or Mavis. The lady personally asked for you twice. Once in the dining room and shortly after when she bumped into Mavis. Many of the girls don't like the fact you are new and got such a position quickly. I'm a little bit jealous too," Cara muttered.

Cara was like a bee buzzing around Beatrice long before Annalise arrived and even sucked up to Mavis once before, but she was never picked. Annalise was almost fired more times than Cara could count on her fingers, but somehow, she managed to get picked to tend to Beatrice.

"You better say my name if she wants another maid to help you. I will never speak to you again if you pick someone else," said Cara.

Annalise pretended to be offended and placed her right hand on her chest. "How could I ever make you luck out on the chance to be near your mother-in-law?" She sarcastically asked.

"Ha ha," Cara sarcastically laughed, playfully pushing Annalise away. "I know you can handle yourself, but you should be wary about how bad it can get when others are jealous. They play pranks, say nasty things, and would even look to get you fired. They won't stop until they break and make you quit so they can take your spot. They might even make you cry. Those women who think they run the house are ruthless. There is only a handful that is pleasant. You and I make up that wonderful group. I bring out my claws when needed so they don't try anything foolish."

"Really? I haven't had a good cry in years," Annalise replied, amused by it all. She wanted the girls to try their hardest to try making her cry. Their obsession with Rafael and their positions in this house would be ruined by her.

Annalise was almost tempted to aim for becoming Rafael's maid to tick off the other maids. However, she might have missed her chance by seeing his sword. 'I was kind enough to show him my thigh, but he declined,' she thought.

Cara sighed, having no clue whether to cheer Annalise on or cry for her. "Wait till they find out Connor is interested in you. You know what, you've been a little box of surprises since the day we first met. If anyone is going to show that group of girls their asses, it is you."

"Thank you for having faith in me," Annalise replied.

Cara put her right hand on Annalise's shoulder. "I have no choice but to have faith in you. We could put you in a room all by yourself and you would somehow manage to get yourself in trouble."

"I told you trouble comes to me," Annalise pushed Cara's hand off her shoulder.