Mirabel

Chapter Three

At exactly 8:35am Mira's gatekeeper Kent opened the gate with his keys, he saw Mira's car on the drive way and knew immediately that she was back.

He had approached her two days ago to take that Friday night off to visit his sick grandmother, Mira agreed as it was not his first time he had taken one or two days off work. Mira had dismissively said a simple ' it will be a Friday, and I will be out all night just make sure you are back as early as possible on Saturday' and drove off.

Their relationship has always been like that, from the very first day he assumed work at the mansion,he was doubling as the guard and the gardner until Mira decided to get someone for that.

The gardner came in twice a week Tuesdays and Saturdays to take care of the lawn and the flower bed. Although Kent has always wondered why Mira bothered to make a flower bed when he has never seen her spare the flower bed a glance.

She treated the flower bed the way she treated every other thing and people in her life. It is ok for it to be there as far as it doesn't bother her.

Kent remembered once trying to make conversation with Mira about the newly trimmed flower bed .

' The gardner actually did a good job with the flowers, don't you think, they look so prim and proper' Kent had said to her one morning after the gardner had trimmed them

' They are ok' Mira had answered dismissively.

He had kept quiet immediately, no matter the mood one thinks Mira was,she is a constantly mean and unempathetic woman.

The gardner rearly spoke to anyone, Kent had tried to strike a conversation with him but when he simply looked at him and informed him of how Mira had warned him against been too friendly with any of the other staff members he will meet in her house, Kent quickly backed off. Mira didn't encourage interaction among her employees and they all respected that and stayed out of each other's business.

The house helps keep to themselves only interacting with Kent as they go in and out of the gate. He is the longest serving of Mira's staff, pushing his fate too fast is the last thing on his mind.

Kent opened and entered the small room giving to him close to the gate.

The room is comfortable enough with a bathroom and toilet attached to it. He dropped his luggage on the floor and decided against going to Mira to make his presence known he will just wait till she calls him on the landline attached to his post because he was not sure the kind of mood she might be in since this days all she does is party on Friday nights.

At exactly 9:26am, Kent heard a bang on the gate, he grudgingly got up as he was already sleeping off on the chair.

'who is there' Kent asked, without bothering for the person's answer he opened the door to see a black haired girl standing by the gate.

'Good morning, please is this Mira Williams house'

'Yes?' it sounded more like a question than an answer

' Ok' The girl turned to the cab driver and collected her bag with a quiet 'thank you' . The cab driver nodded and wished her a nice day. Both Kent and the girl watched the cab driver get in the driver's side and drove away. Kent brought his attention back to the girl, she looks between twenty to twenty five with an height of about 5.4, skinny for her height but on closer look she doesn't look malnourished but she could really do with some more flesh.

The girl caught Kent checking her out so he coughed to cover his embarrassment.

' Sorry,how may I help you'

' I am the househelp sent from the agency'

'Really?'

'Yes'

' I guess she has been expecting you'

' Yes, I am supposed to report at 9:00 this morning'

' It is almost 10:00am and you are just reporting now?'

'I a aa am sorry, there was a little delay' she stammered

Raising his hands as if he is surrendering ' You are saying sorry to the wrong person'

'ook' she stuttered again which made Kent wonder if this shy girl can survive a day in Mira's sight, those that were more confident than her didn't last two months.

Mentally wishing her the best of luck, he spoke aloud ' just go in straight ahead, if she is not in the sitting room down stairs it means she will be upstairs'

'Ok, thank you'

' A little heads up though, she doesn't like sluttiness, not to scare you, just telling you to be ready for the task'

'Thanks huumm ….'

' Kent' he supplied

'Thanks Kent' seeing the need to give her own name 'I am Caroline'

'It is nice meeting you Caroline but you need to run along now ,you are late already'

' Thanks, I will see you around , I guess'

'sure'

Kent watched her take timid steps towards the main entrance. Before she went inside she turned back and gave Kent a shy smile. Kent let her enter the house before he went back into his own room.

He shook his head with the image of poor Caroline running for dear life when Mira goes ballistic on her since Mira swears a lot when she is angry. Looking at Caroline, one can easily see she will break under Mira's mood swings.

'It sure looks like a good day to comfort a damsel in distress', he murmured to himself with a grin tugging at the side of his cheek.

He had to instill in himself a spirit of indifference at Mira's mood swings, that is how he has retained his job so far, she had once slapped him for not opening the gate on time and in another minute started apologizing like her life depended on it.

Those who couldn't endure the heat got out of the kitchen. Kent can actually count how many maids Mia had gone through in the two years he started work. He was somehow now immune to whatever she does. His guess is Caroline was about to be treated to a quality dose of Mira's version of 'niceness'

But nothing prepared him for the earth shaking scream he heard coming for the apartment. In his confusion he ran outside to find Caroline running towards him shouting ' call 911' as if her tail was on fire.