Genuine

When Laila entered the kitchen Giselle, Gretchen and someone she didn't know yet, were already sitting around the round table in the kitchen talking about something while drinking tea. Laila could only assume that it was about Olivia as Gretchen and the unknown young woman stopped talking immediately when they spotted her. They quickly stood up and politely greeted Laila with a light bow. Their abrupt silence and formal rise caused Giselle to turn around to see what the reason was for their sudden unwillingness to speak and stiff movements. When she did and spotted Laila, her face lit up with a big smile, unlike the faces of her colleagues and friends. "Madam! What brings you all the way over here? If you needed anything, you could have just called and we would have come to you right away!"

Seeing the cheerful and unformal way that Giselle was using to speak to their employer, the rest of the staff that was present in the kitchen stopped what they were doing and turned around to look at the situation in silence. They hadn't noticed Laila until now, but the loud voice of Giselle informed them of her presence in the kitchen instantly. All of them held their breath to see how Laila would respond to Giselle's way of addressing her and feared the worst, when to their surprise Laila greeted her back with a smile and said, "No, no. Nothing I need from you girls. You can sit back down and enjoy your break. I just wanted to check up on you after the way that Olivia was speaking to you today. I couldn't do much for you at that moment but I wanted to make sure you weren't hurt by her words."

The look of surprise on the faces of the kitchen staff, as well as those on the faces of Gretchen and the young woman beside her, grew even more surprised at hearing Laila's reaction. Did she really not get mad after being spoken to like that? And even more surprising, did she really go out of her way to come here, just to check up on if some WORDS had hurt her staff?! Not just any staff, but someone as bubbly as Giselle? She couldn't get hurt by some words even if she tried to. They watched as Laila joined the three women at the lowly staff table and sat with them as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

After Laila sat down and was handed a cup of tea as well, she said, "I tried telling her off after you left but she was getting all kinds of offended. Since I don't really trust her, I didn't want to make matters any worse before I know what she is planning and what she is capable. So, I let it go but I didn't want you to think that I didn't care about the way she was speaking to you. I thought it was highly uncalled for and she showed her class by acting the way she did. So, don't let any of her words bother you. I would feel really sad if I knew that the words of some plastic barbie actually managed to hurt you in any way."

Before today they could never imagine speaking to the lady of the house like Giselle just had but today was a day full of surprises. Their lady didn't get mad, showed actual concern and took the effort to come see them on her own because of one of them potentially getting emotionally hurt. They knew it was real concern because if it wasn't, then she would have called Giselle to her like any other rich lady would have done, which was just to rid herself of any potential guilt not out of concern. Questions would have been phrased in a way that made it impossible for the other to say anything other than the expected answer, which would only make the person feel worse instead of better. With Laila handling matters the way she did, showed her staff that her request to get to know them was genuine and her promise of being a changed woman might actually be true. She was even talking badly about someone they always thought was her friend and stuck up for Giselle in front of said friend.

Giselle folded her hand over Laila's hand and said with a smile that was gentle yet bright as always, "I am completely fine madam. The mere fact that you would be this concerned for my wellbeing does more than any of her words could ever do." Seeing Giselle like this, caused Laila to feel relieved and this showed on her face as she let out a soft sigh and smiled back at the cheerful looking Giselle. "I am glad to hear that." Once she had checked up on Giselle and had made sure that she was doing okay after what had taken place, Laila got started on the second reason she had come over here for. "Giselle, and the rest of you guys and girls, can I ask you something?" Again the faces of everyone present turned surprised, though this time it was more of a curious surprise than one of shock, as they responded, "Of course madam. What can we do for you?"

Laila's expression turned more serious as she prepared to ask the questions that were on her mind and confirm the suspicions she had concerning the Olivia Smith she had met today.