The sound of the Rain

10. Part-timer

“Just relax,” Riko poked Alyia, trying to lessen her anxiety. Since they entered the mansion and Alyia put on her uniform, she felt nervous like the first time she tried it on. Being in the house made it even worse, knowing that some other people could see her in this strangely short skirt. Alyia loved feminine clothes. Skirts were her favorite, but she always wore them long. The shortest she ever had was below her knees and already that short felt for her enjoyment, exposing too much of her skin. This uniform was even slightly shorter, a little above her knees.

Alyia tried to place a smile on her lips, but it came out more like a grimace. Riko poked her one more time, trying to cheer up her friend: “There is really nothing to worry about, A-li. Since the death of the late master, they are not using this wing of the house. It’s wasteful if you would ask me since it is a really nice place. They want to keep it in good shape so that’s the reason we have this job but other than that, there is a very low chance we will meet someone there.” Riko gave her full explanation of why they kept this wing empty.

“They are not afraid someone would steal something?” Alyia asked curiously. Riko leaned her head backwards as she was thinking about the answer.

“I don’t think there is something to steal. Sure, they have some nice decorations and other things in the room but nothing that would be worth stealing, I guess, but I am not professional when it comes to antiquities. About the library, madam is very generous. We may borrow the books; you just need to tell that to Tanaka-san before leaving.” The information about the option to borrow books caught Alyia’s attention. She expected little, since she had full access to the college library and during the last month, she got the card for the city library as well. What other books this mansion can have that the libraries don’t, she asked herself, but still the information made her excited.

“Sounds interesting.” Alyia nodded as Riko continued walking deeper into the house.

“Today you will stay with me. Tanaka-san asked me to show you around properly so you will know where which room is and what is our job and from tomorrow, we will separate our work.” Riko explained, and Alyia gave her another agreeing nod.

“About the work itself, you don’t need to worry much. Just remember not to break anything. This has two floors, but our regular job is just to make sure there is no dust and carpets are clean. I come daily so one day I do upper floor and second day down floor…” Riko kept explaining as they were passing the hall on the ground floor. Riko opened each room and showed it to Alyia, so she would know which room was which for tomorrow. Once Riko finished the orientation round for the ground floor, she went to the stairs and to the upper floor. As they entered the first room, Riko explained the work itself. It was quite easy, and Alyia noticed that the room they entered was nicely cleaned already. Alyia paid attention to the cleaning in her own apartment but compared to the first room they went to clean, she felt embarrassed about her own home. Compared to this place, she felt like her room was too messy, with the clothes around and other small things. It even made her wonder why this part of the house would need cleaning every second day, but she knew that even Riko most likely wouldn’t know the answer.

“So, this is our only job here?” Alyia tilted her head, puzzled by this work. She realized that her expectations from this work were too high, and she felt like doing this might barely tire her at all. More than some physical work made her feel like she was doing some exercising thanks to the walking from room to room and bending herself while trying to reach either down areas under the furniture or the upper area above it. Either way, Alyia liked the idea of doing this work, since it would help her clear her mind and let her think about something else than the stories and college.

“Well, technically yes. We are not maids in this house, only part-timers, so if someone approaches you and gives you some work, just apologize and send them to Madam Tanaka. The head maid we met. But you should be always polite towards the family.” Riko explained again, and Alyia nodded. She knew she should ask for more information about the family, but from her view, it really looked like they abandoned this part of the house. Since they entered this wing, they haven't met anyone.

When they finished their work in the room, Riko led Alyia straight to the last door, making sure she would be the first one to enter. As Alyia followed her, Riko turned around to face her, excited about the expression that would appear on Alyia’s face once she would see the huge room in front of them. Alyia stopped walking and her eyes widened, leaving Riko grinning from satisfaction.

“So?” she asked her curiously, but Alyia couldn’t react. They were on the upper floor of the huge room. Alyia knew Riko skipped the first door of the down floor, but she didn’t ask her about that since it didn’t seem important and Riko was giving her a tour. She simply thought that room wasn’t part of their job, but given the position of this room, she now understood that the door was the lower entrance to this huge place. She kept staring at the dozens of shelves full of books. But not the same as those in the libraries. The college library contained mostly books related to different college departments and the studies so students could find the publication they needed for their course. The second half of the library, same as the city library, contained the other literature as well, including a lot of multilingual books as well for those who would like to read originals or in another language. But all the books here seemed old. Older than those you could borrow in the library. Even the mixture of heavy air with the old paper and the ink made her feel so nostalgic, almost like in a dream. Now she felt like borrowing some of those books just for the pure feeling of touching them and smelling them.

“This place is amazing,” she said with pure admiration. Riko still stood in front of her grinning as she kept staring at her stunned friend.

“I knew you would love this place.” Riko said proudly about herself. Since the first day she met Alyia, she could easily read her emotions, although Alyia tried her best to cover them. There were only two things that could force Alyia to relax and forget not only about her work and college, but also about her problems. One of those two were books. Alyia read almost everything she could, no matter the genre, but because of her studies, she usually locked herself with the study books instead of others. Books in this place were mostly those from different collections. Expensive books, although you could buy or borrow them, but because of the special editions or first editions, these were simply a bit more valuable. Riko hoped that this would catch the attention of her friend, and she was absolutely right.

“I cleaned this place yesterday so I will just take a little look around and make sure everything is okay and if you would like, you can look around the shelves if there were something you would like to borrow. The only rule is that you can borrow one book at a time, and you always must tell the Tanaka-san which book you take, otherwise you won’t be able to borrow anything. They can even label you as a thief and kick you out. Understood?” Riko put strength into her words, trying to get Alyia out of her daze.

Alyia finally shook off her excitement and nodded at Riko. “Are you sure I can look around?” She asked, unsure.

“To be honest, I asked you to join me with this work, especially because of this place.” Riko admitted why she brought Alyia here. Alyia didn’t hesitate even a minute, pulling Riko into a hug, expressing her deep gratitude. Alyia didn’t need a deeper explanation for what Riko said. Knowing herself and her own character, she knew Riko just wanted her to relax and do something else. The moment Alyia would borrow a book from this place, she would be just sitting at home, relaxing without studying or working and enjoying the pure feeling of happiness. Not only from the story itself but the sensation in her fingers while slightly brushing over the pages, reading lines after lines. The scent of the ink here was stronger than in the shops or the libraries, especially because of the ink itself. Inks used in old times were different and left another mark in the air. The same as the paper. Alyia knew a lot about the books because her entire life she loved them. She cared for each book she ever had since her childhood and for the first time, she felt uneasy, asking herself why she didn’t study literature instead.

“Thank you,” Alyia said when Riko pulled away. She pushed her gently over to the shelves and headed downstairs to check what needed to be cleaned. Alyia walked around the shelves, reading the titles of the books while taking deep breaths, smelling the calming scent of the printed old books. It didn’t take long before Riko searched for her again, asking whether they could leave. Alyia didn’t have time to walk over each shelf and until now she still looked around the shelves upstairs, not being able to reach those down. This place was huge, and Alyia wished she could spend more time there. When Riko came to pick her up, she pouted like a puppy who just wanted his most favorite treat and they refused to give it to him.

“You will have plenty of time to check this place out.” Riko tried to cheer her up, but Alyia kept her puppy eyes, almost crying, knowing they really had to go. Because of working together, they spent a longer time here today, not to mention the tour she got in the beginning. Next time they will spend less time in cleaning since Alyia will work on her rooms and Riko on the half, which means she might convince Riko to let her stay longer in the house library to choose the books she would like to borrow. But right now spending three hours here was already more than enough and for now she had work at home as well.