Mistress

The days went by painfully slow. I spent most of my time in the company of Kaiti. The little girl was my only relief from the grayness of my days. Now that Jordan was no longer around, I let the little girl stay the nights in the mansion. I had to battle the entire staff body on the first night I attempted to keep Kaiti in the mansion through the night.

Ma Nana  had helped me sneak Kaiti into the house, per usual. But when I told her I was keeping the little girl for the night, she would not have it. She warned me against it over and over again, stating how the others would find out and I could get in serious trouble with Jordan if they told on me. But I didn't listen to her.

"You could get me in trouble too. The rest would know I brought Kaiti to you. Anax men, they report everything to Anax! Everything that happened in his absence." Ma Nana solicited.

"What is so gravely about having a little child spend the night in good sheets and under great roof." I asked.

"Our Kaiti have fine sheets and perfect roof in the staff house too. Just let her return this night, you can have her tomorrow again, when the lights come, that is." Ma Nana promised.

"But what is the sin in wanting her to stay the night here?" I insisted.

"In this house, Annax is god. His word is rule. Go against Anax word, you sin. And Anax says the girl must sleep out, so she must. If she stays in, we sin. And Anax do not forgive easy. Better to do what he says, I tell you." Ma Nana advised.

"Well, your Anax or whatever you call him, has named me as his wife. And as bride to your Anax, I guess that makes me mistress of this household, and as such, I should hold some authority and say around here." I argued. "I say, Kaiti can spend the nights in the mansion, at least while the master is away."

Seeing that I wasn't relenting, ma Nana gave up trying to argue with me.

"At least, let me take the cat. Anax may forgive if the girl stay the night, but if he hears that master Nikolas stay in the mansion too while he is away, Anax would have my head for sure." She pleaded, and I had to let her.

Kaiti didn't seem very trilled by the separation, and neither did the cat.

"They share the same bed every night." Ma Nana explained to me. Then she told Kaiti something in their native tongue. The little girl cried in protest and clung to me tightly. I looked up at ma Nana questioningly.

"I tell her to come back to the staff house if she cares for her cat. But clearly, she chose you." The old lady said in frustration. "That spoiled little girl!" She said, and continued to mutter as she left the room.

I thought it was over, but when all the staff had retired for the night, and I was preparing Kaiti for bed, I heard a knock on the door. I opened up to find Ari, one of the cleaning ladies, standing at the door, looking coy and unsure. She didn't speak very good English, but from her demonstration and gesticulations and little punctuations of very bad English, I managed to gather that she had come for Kaiti, and the kitchen lady, Dimitra, had sent her.

That kitchen lady, I think I feared her far more than I feared even Jordan himself. And when Ari mentioned that she had asked for Kaiti to be returned to the staff quarters, I was a little shaken. I had not encountered Dimitra since the day ma Nana had introduced us. I think I avoided her all together, by staying away from the kitchen during the times I guessed she would be there.

So when she asked for Kaiti, I was a little phased. But I was too determined to keep the little girl, so I didn't let her intimidate me.

I sent Ari back to tell Dimitra that I was keeping the girl anyway.

A few moments later, I heard another knock on the door, and when I opened this time, it was Dimitra herself.

The old woman glared at me with displeasure written all over her face.

"Ma Dimitra..." I began to say, my lips trembling a little.

"Dimitra! I go by Dimitra, and nothing else. I am nobody's ma." She shunned me. It still surprised me that her English was so sound, even though she was the oldest of the staff. Even her accent was so clean. She sounded almost American! "And I see you seem to think you are something special." Dimitra continued. "Just because you are an upgraded version of Jordan's fleet of whores, you think you are something? Look, I do not keep the little child close because I obey that little prick, Jordan. I keep our little Kaiti close because I keep her safe! Now, if you would hand me the girl, I would like to get to sleep. I have a very busy day tomorrow." She said.

I thought I would be terrified of her, but by the time she was done talking, I was enraged.

"Ma Dimitra, I would insist to call you Ma, because that is the only respect I would be showing you in this statement. Now, I do not know what you think you know, but let me correct this! I am neither Jordan's whore, nor an upgrade of anything. I am his wife, and I demand you treat me with some respect. You are one haughty old lady, you know that right? Whatever you have with Jordan that makes you disrespect him so much, even though he is your boss, I don't care about that. All I know is I am mistress of this house, and I will be respected. And yes, I'm keeping the girl. That's final." I declared. My limbs were shivering when I was done talking, and my hands trembled with dread. I hoped Dimitra would not notice.

Dimitra looked at me in silence for a long moment, then she laughed.

"Mistress." She said simply, and laughed again, muttering in her tongue. She looked at me again, nodded her head as if she was impressed, and then she left.

I was surprised I had won her that quickly. It seemed too easy, and I kept anticipating that Dimitra had a return plan. But when Kaiti stayed in the mansion for two nights without any interruption or further protest from any of the staff, I reluctantly accepted that I had won the fight for real. Even ma Nana would not explain why the staff had stopped troubling me, or why Dimitra had given up so easily, when I asked her. She was still very mad at me, and she stayed that way for a while.

I had won against the staff, and I could keep Kaiti by my side for as long as I wanted, wherever I wanted to. Kaiti became some kind of support system for me, and at some points, I felt guilty that I was probably treating the little girl like some emotional support doll or pet. But I couldn't help it, because I did need Kaiti for emotional support.

But then, even the little angel couldn't fill the strange void that had suddenly developed in my heart, ever since Jordan left suddenly. Kaiti served as a temporal distraction from the nagging feeling of emptiness.

Some nights, I would lay awake in bed, until way into the night, wondering why I felt all the strange feelings. Yet some nights, I was filled with regrets. Regrets about my last night with Jordan. I wondered if maybe I had let him be with me, maybe he would have stayed on the island a bit longer. Or he would have at least told me that he was leaving the island for a while. I wondered for how much longer he would be away. Maybe he would not return anytime soon, if he was still mad about what had happened between us.

I tried not to accept it, but it slowly dawned on me that I missed Jordan terribly. It was ridiculous! We weren't even a married couple, and we didn't have any happy moments. We were married for all the wrong reasons, and yet I missed him as if he were my beloved! But no matter how I tried, I could not help the feeling.

I was passing time at the beach one afternoon, with Kaiti. It had been over a week since Jordan left. Kaiti was playing with sea sand at the banks of the water, while I watched her absent mindedly. Suddenly, Kaiti stood up and pointed towards the sea.

"Boat!" She yelled. "Boat is coming!"

I had been teaching Kaiti some English during our time together, and the little girl was catching up quite quickly.

I sat up quickly and looked in the direction Kaiti was pointing, and I saw a speed boat racing towards the island. It was afternoon, and the middle of the week.

None of the staff had left the island. They only left on the weekends to spend their break on the mainland or do groceries.

So this approaching boat definitely wasn't bringing any staff. And there was no way that any business partner would be visiting in Jordan's absence. So the only logical guess would be, Jordan was on that boat. Ma Nana had mentioned that sometimes he came to the island in a boat.

My heart began to beat with excitement at the thought.

"Come, Kaiti! We must return to the mansion now!" I said to the little girl. I lifted her into my arms and began to hurry back to the mansion.

The boat ducked just as I arrived at the mansion, and when Jordan's men rushed towards the boat, I got even more hopeful. I stood frozen as my anticipation heightened.

But when the men gave way, my heart immediately sank.

It was not Jordan that stepped out of the boat. It was a woman. A young woman that looked to be in her mid twenties. She was dressed exotically, in a sleek green gown that had a long slit up her right thigh. Her long legs were donned with silver heeled sandals, and her silky chestnut brown hair fell lushly over her back.

"Aunty Aggela." Kaiti said, pointing at the young woman with a bright smile on her face. Then she leaned close to whisper into my ear. "Anax first wife."

My mouth fell wide open.