Chapter 13

(Marcus) Something about that house seemed very fishy to me, but she wasn't physically hurting herself with a visit so I decided to skip telling her father about it. That night, her father came to question me after the dinner. I was about to go to sleep when I heard his firm knock. I rapidly put some pants on and went to open the door; I couldn't find any shirt in the rush.

-Hello, sir.

He looked at my shirtless abdomen trying to hide his obvious discomfort.

-Um, hey Marcus. I'm sorry; I didn't realize you went to bed. May I enter?

-Yes, of course.

-I wanted to ask you about today. Have you had a good time with Vivien?

-Yes.

-That's great. Where have you been?

-We drove around the city. We called an uber.

-Any specific place you went to?

-Not necessarily, she just wanted to see the city.

-Where did you stop?

-Nowhere, only back at the hotel.

-So you stayed in a car going around the city the whole time?

-Yes, it was her wish.

He came closer to me and pointed his brown glassy eyes directly into mine. He examined every move in the search for a lie then spoke almost in a whisper.

-You have my complete trust when it comes to her, Marcus. I hope you don't do anything to break it.

He didn't wait for an answer; he backed and left, leaving me in the middle of the room. My heart was racing fast in my chest, I wondered if he heard it. He could as well feel the vibrations considering how close he stood.

My body dragged me numbly towards the bed and I sat myself. I let out a relieved sigh and I laid my thoughts throwing me back to the house. I could see it in front of me as I felt like falling into amnesia. I put my hand on the doorknob, which was surprisingly unlocked, and I entered. My fantasy led me to a woman; she was beautiful, almost like Vivien. They looked so similar they could be related. She stood in front of me, examining every part of my face, resting her hazel eyes on mine. I admired her form, her likeness to Vivien until she snapped her fingers. The noise echoed in my ears when I opened my eyes and realized I was fully awake. It was 5 AM.

The whole day my mind was focused directly on that house. I couldn't get out of my mind that woman. She looked like an almost perfect copy of Vivien, or maybe it was the other way around. My attention redirected a little bit at home, when I bumped into Margareta, one of the maids. The laundry basket which she was holding fell loudly on the ground, causing me to become fully awake and see the dirty clothes spread all over the floor.

-I am so sorry Margareta; I should have paid more attention.

-It's okay Marcus, things like this happen all the time.

-Oh, no let me take care of these.

-You don't have to…

-Please, it was my fault. I'll even put them to the washer.

She looked at me confused then let out a rich laugh.

-Okay okay, just be careful. There are Miss Vivien's new clothes, I don't know how she stained them so quickly but it ain't my job to ask.

-I'll be careful.

She smiled and left me with the dirty clothes. I started to collect them and put them back in the basket when I got to Vivien's new shirt. I remembered her wearing it at school the day we left on the trip, but when I looked closer I noticed something weird. It was stained with fuel. How could Vivien's shirt be stained by motor gas?

I thought a few days back, when the car first broke down. The night before the trip the car was completely fine, and then in the morning it wasn't anymore. Once again totally good after I fixed it and suddenly broken again. I remembered the mechanic's face when he told me he has no idea why the car broke down in the first place. I quickly searched the rest of the clothes, nothing until I reached a pair of pants. They were Vivien's as well, and they had small fuel stains on them.

I gathered the rest of the clothes and put them into the basket, leaving Vivien's pants and shirt on top. When I got to the washing room I put everything inside the washer except Vivien's clothes. I look to assure myself that no one was near and snuck them in my room. I sat on my bed looking at them, there were little fuel stains all over them.

I stood at the verge of my bed with the clothes in my hand. Vivien sabotaged me. But why? Why did she want me to get in trouble with her father? The answer popped into my head almost instantly. She still wanted to get rid of me.

I felt my body filling up with a weird mix of different emotions. I felt disappointed in myself, maybe I haven't shown her enough times that I am worth keeping. In a split of a second that feeling vanished and anger took over my body. I couldn't believe how selfish she was, not thinking that maybe I needed this job. I don't like this equally as much as her but I can't lose this job, my education depends on it.

In a sudden rush of adrenaline I took the clothes and put them in a bag, so no one will see them. I went out of my room careful so no one will see me, then tip toed to the garden. There, in the middle of the garden, I placed the clothes on the soft grass. I took off a lighter from my pocket and threw it into the pile. It ignited the second I dropped it.

I watched the powerful flames come to life, how they slowly started to cover the clothes, eating them from every part. I went back inside after glancing another look at my surroundings, no one was around.

I didn't have to wait too long until I heard a pitched scream from outside. Keeping my cool, I went towards the place where the sound had come from. There I saw Margareta looking horrified at the burning pile of clothes. Beside her, standing paralyzed at the open glide door was Vivien. She turned around after hearing my heavy steps, her brown eyes were almost filled with tears. The realization of me being involved in this shocked her even more and she turned to look back at the destroyed clothes. Margareta came towards me pushing me aside and grabbing me by the shirt.

-What have you done?!

Her whisper was one tone away from transforming into a loud, desperate, scream but she knew it will only draw more attention to us.

-What do you mean?

-Don't try to fool me Marcus, you had the clothes. Why did you burn them?

She looked first at her right and then on the left side. When I met her face again, her scared eyes were filled by tears.

-Are you trying to get me fired?

-What? No, of course not. Look I have nothing to do with this. I left them in the washer as I promised.

-Oh Marcus, when Mr. Collin is going to see this will put the blame on me.

-I won't let that happen. Don't worry, I got it covered.

Just as I was reassuring her, Mr. Collin came to see what happened. His expression changed shortly into anger when he first laid his eyes on the still shape of Vivien and then on the now extinguished pile of clothes.

-What the hell happened here?! Who was responsible for the clothes?

Margareta stepped in front, her whole body trembling with fear.

-I was sir, but I have no idea how this happened.

-Nonsense!

-Actually, it was my responsibility sir.

When she heard my voice sliding into the conversation Vivien turned and came closer to us. Her expression kept a scent of disappointment but not a single shred of astonishment.

-Have you become a maid recently Marcus?

-No, sir. I promised Margareta I will take care of the clothes.

-I see you have taken care of them perfectly. Anything you may want to add?

She put a hand on her father's shoulder making him turn to her in confusion.

-Dad, I would like to speak to Marcus alone.

-Okay, sweetheart.

He pointed his attention back to Margareta and made out a few annoyed words.

-You! Go back to work and consider yourself lucky that I didn't fire you.

-Yes, sir.

Margareta disappeared in an instant, fearing that Mr. Collin may change his mind, but he just gave me a bitter look and retreated back in his office. I was left face to face to Vivien. She came closer and her soft voice amazed me as I couldn't recognize any mark of anger, only quiet defeat.

-Come.

Without any more words she started walking and I followed her. Her delicate steps led to the garden. We walked until we reached its very end, there she faced me looking directly into my eyes.

-I know it was you…the one who burnt my clothes.

-Do you know why?

She let her sight fall from my eyes to her left side; she was pointing the ground with her eyes.

-You sabotaged me…

She quickly raised her head back up at the sound of my words, like she couldn't believe what I was saying.

-Why?

-I know it was wrong of me to do that, but that doesn't mean it was right for you to do what you did. I am still your boss.

-You are right Miss. I am very sorry for what I did, I was overwhelmed by anger.

-I will not tell my father that it was you.

I was confused. She wanted to get rid of me all along, and here she had a perfect opportunity, yet she wasn't taking it. Why? My tongue stumbled in my mouth trying to make out an answer.

-I-I think he already knows.

-I will tell him that you left the clothes in the washer and don't know what happened from there. If I seem uninterested in this he will drop it.

-Thank you…

She left without saying anything, but I was stuck in that place, stuck on what just happened. I watched her figure getting smaller and smaller, I couldn't get why she saved my job.