arquitecturas Publish/subscribe

Chapter 9: Stupid Misunderstanding and Double Personalities

Nothing seemed to agree on me today. The busdriver put the vehicle into a stop in the wrong place. Black cats seemed to cross my paths all the time, and my hair seemed to explode everytime I looked away from the mirror.

This. Was. The. Worst. Day. Ever.

I wondered if it had something to do with Bernadette’s wicked glare. She did look and act like a witch, and you know the drill. If it looks like a duck, walk like a duck, and quack like a duck…

Andrea. Stop thinking of nonsense. This is not some kind of cheesy book where everyone turns out to be a witch or vampire or some kind of unknown supernatural being. This is just your mind being tired and playing tricks to you.

Habitually, my feet made a stop after I saw a huge shadow looming over me. The Worthington house still looked grand no matter how many times I went there. For the umpteenth time, I released air out from my mouth, still awed by the size and the grandeur of the house. Seriously, I thought there would be an expiry to my awe of the Worthington house.

When I stepped into the kitchen, I saw no one. I was half-hoping that maybe I’d see Donna and her ever-present scowl, but everything was empty. Great. That’s great. Now I was having a bad day and alone.

I put on an apron and started to clean the jugs on the living room first. Normally, I’d go to Alec’s room first thing, but I couldn’t deal with yet another omen. As I was cleaning, though, I felt that someone was staring at me.

Scratch that. Someone was glaring at me. And he or she was glaring so ferociously I thought there might as well laser coming out from his or her eyes. I could feel it boring at the back of my head.

I couldn’t quite determine who my spectator was. Donna and Gabriel weren’t the type who would glare, at least silently. And whenever Alec tried to ever look at me, my hackles would rise and I’d start perspiring everywhere.

Imperceptibly, I sniffed my armpits.

Nope. It didn’t smell anything like sweat, so the person wasn’t Alec.

I was about to turn around in slow motion just like how villains do in movies, when the person spoke up.

“I see that you’re doing quite a good job.”

There was only one person who could sound that much condescending and that much disagreeable in the whole continent, and that person was Mrs. Worthington, aka Alec’s certified grandmother.

Automatically, I stood up straight and let my hands hung on my sides. I didn’t even understand why my body mimicked a military position, but I did know that I should always be in my best behavior when she was around.

I dearly hoped that I didn’t forget to put on deodorant this morning…

“Yes, Madam. I always try to do my best.”

The back of her heels clicked, and with each click, my heart seemed to jump. “I thought that you’re also assigned to clean my grandson’s room, Ms. Robinson?”

It took me a while to realize that she was actually referring me by my surname. “Yes, Madam, I am.”

“What do you think of him? My grandson has also mentioned that you’re also his classmate at school.”

I didn’t even see her face, but I knew that it was a trick question. If I answered positively, she’d suspect something had been going on between us. If I answered negatively, then she’d think that I hated her grandson.

“He’s… nice, Madam,” I tried to answer diplomatically.

“Just nice?”

“And smart,” I quickly added. Often I saw Alec playing tetris quite masterfully on his iMac. Sometimes, he also dabbled on online chess.

“Hmmm,” Mrs. Worthington let the word linger in the air, gesturing me to go on.

“And like you said, he’s quite attractive,” I grudgingly admitted. It’d be too weird not to acknowledge his striking looks, anyway.

“I see…”

Somehow, once I started, I couldn’t stop. “He can be quite a prick, too, Madam.”

“-Oh, and he’s actually quite the ladies-man, you really need to see how he tries to flirt with practically everything with a female genitalia-“

“-And let’s not forget his tendencies to let the things that he should keep private to scatter around his room for a lady to clean.”

“-And Madam, I must say that I’m quite disappointed to see that he treats women a lot like he treats disposable knickers-“

Mrs. Worthington coughed at that.

“Sorry, I mean ‘underwear’,” I said, realizing that I might have used a slang word.

“Ms. Robinson, that’s quite enough,” Mrs. Worthington demanded. I was about to open my mouth when she, rather brusquely, shot up a finger right in front of my eyes. “That’s quite enough.”

Disappointed, I thinned my lips.

“I’m impressed, though, Ms. Robinson, that you do not engage in any kind of treacherous relationship with my grandson.”

I nodded proudly. “Yes, Madam.”

“It’s not advised for you to try to embark a relationship with him,” she said, as if to remind me that.

It was a little offending, but I nodded again. “Yes, Madam. I will not.”

“Even if he’s trying to flirt with you or if he pays you-“

Oh, here we go again…

“no matter what he says, you’re not going to have a relationship with him. Do you understand that?”

“Yes, Madam,” I said with a detached emotion. Seriously, is Alec’s grandmother had always been this pressing?

Why the hell did she care if her grandson dated, anyway?

“It’s for your sake,” she murmured, and after that, thank Lord, she walked away. “You may continue your work.”

After her heels clicked away from me, I could finally be able to breathe properly. It’s for my sake? What did she could possibly mean by that?

-Even the astonishing amount of 102 jugs that the Worthington had couldn’t stall me long enough to not go to Alec’s room. It was only six o clock in the afternoon, and by the time it was seven, I would be helping Gabriel preparing dessert for dinner.

In other words, I was still up to clean Alec’s room.

For no particular reason, my feet felt like they’d gained a lot of weight. It was hard enough to climb the stairs to the second floor, and it was even harder to face the door that would lead me to Alec’s lair.

Ever so slightly, I twisted the doorknob. I really hoped that I wouldn’t be seeing Alec today. Not only that, Bernadette’s glare still hadn’t left my mind. In fact, the guilt was worsened with every passing second.

And thus, I thought I was dreaming when I saw the very same glare opposing me as I entered Alec’s room.

There she was, Bernadette with her long blonde hair and her preppy clothes, throwing herself at Alec.

Throwing herself. Literally. She jumped from Alec’s bed, and threw her fucking self at him, who was waiting -or not- to catch her.

Just one second before their bodies met, though, Bernadette noticed my appearance, and shot me a glare so deadly I felt like there were two blades coming off from her eyes. Even after she fell into Alec’s torso, her head was still turned at me, and in slow motion, her mouth moved:

“What the hell are you doing here?!” we shouted in unison.

Maybe it was just me being delusional, but somehow our voices were slowed down to the point it sounded like an old man’s deathbed scream.

“You’re throwing yourself at him!” I screeched, unable to stop myself. Just before, she told us not to do that exact thing, and now she was acting like a super slut.

“You’re bringing a broom!” her screech competed against mine.

There was a silence as we both took each other’s sentences into consideration.

Bernadette quickly detached herself from Alec, who was still standing there frozen. She gave me a double look, and then, she took in my appearance from top to bottom, from my hair to my apron, to my shoes, and lastly, the broom that I was carrying.

And then, she fired the golden question.

“Are you a maid?!”

Fuck, no.

“B-Bernadette,” Alec somehow made himself useful and talked to her. “Listen, there’s a misunderstanding…”

“What kind of sick relationship you two are in?!” she demanded, not letting him to finish. “She dresses up as a maid?! A fucking maid?!”

I blinked, not quite understanding her train of thought.

For some reason, Alec’s face became tomato red. “No, she’s not dressing as a maid!”

“Oh my God, you two are so crazy,” Bernadette shook her head.

“What the fuck are you talking about?” I asked around, but no one bothered to answer.

“Andrea’s not crazy,” Alec said. “and I’m not crazy. The only crazy person here is you, Bernadette!”

Bernadette recovered from her mourning state fast. “She is! Look, she’s even bringing a broom!” Bernadette was pointing her finger all over me, accusations were blaring in her tone. “Shit, Alec, I didn’t know that you’re the kinky type! I should have gone here with an outfit, too!”

Oh.

Ooohh..

Oh, so that’s what she thought about.

“I’m not!!” Alec’s face, if possible, started to have a tinge of green. “I’m not kinky and she’s not dressing up as a maid because we’re playing a game! She’s wearing an apron and holding a broom because she is, in fact, my maid for real.”

It’s out then.

Bernadette’s eyes twitched, and in one second, her whole expression changed into a spiteful look. “She’s what?”

I looked at Alec, who looked at me back with enough horror to fill up the entire world. “I mean, yeah, you’re right, she’s dressing up as a maid because I’m kinky and she’s naughty and we have been playing it dirty.”

“Alec!” I shouted.

“Alec?” Bernadette shouted at the same time.

“What the hell is she doing here?” I asked him, jabbing my finger at the empty air around Bernadette. “She’s hugging you, she’s hugging you and you let her! I thought you said you hated bitches!”

“What?!” Bernadette’s mouth was twisted. “What did you just call me?!”

“I called you a bitch,” I lifted up my chin and tapped the shaft of my broom against the floor. “Bitch.”

Alec alternated his gaze to me, and then to her, and that kept going on and on for a while before he tugged on his hair in frustration.

“Can’t you two stop talking in the same time?!”

As if by magic, we both shut up.

“Andrea, Bernadette was here because she wanted to seduce me and she wanted me to say that there’s nothing going on between you and me,” Alec talked at me first. He casted a quick glance at Bernadette and his face changed. “When I politely rejected her, she started hugging me. Obviously, she’s the harasser here.”

“It’s my turn now!” Bernadette was in the verge of throwing a tantrum here. “Alec, now explain why she’s also here, parading around with a broom? Is she trying to seduce you also?”

I was taken aback by the differences that I’d seen from the cool and collected Bernadette in school to this… this noisy little minx with no self-respect.

“Bernadette,” Alec took in air after he called her name. evidently, he was running out of patience. “Andrea’s here not because she wants to seduce me…”

His voice faltered at that point as he turned at me. I looked back at him, not knowing what to do. He was asking me a permission, a permission to release my secret, a permission to let Bernadette know that I was here because of money.

And I didn’t give him the information.

“I’m his maid, he pays me to clean his room and to clean the family’s jugs,” I told her myself. “There’s nothing between us, except that we’re classmates and he’s my employer.”

As Bernadette’s eyes twinkled in satisfaction upon hearing my succinct explanation, a sudden attack of migraine ambushed my head. “You’re a maid…” Bernadette’s words stumbled against one another as she struggled to say more. Nevertheless, I couldn’t fail to notice the amused twinkle on her eyes. “Like, for real?”

I stared at her pointedly, offended by the way her nose were crinkled as she spat out the words. “Unless you prefer to think that there’s something going on between me and Alec.”

“No, I like this better,” she admitted. “Just wait until-“

“Don’t… you… dare,” to my surprise, I wasn’t the one who said it.

It was Alec.

Alec was seething, that I could see. His palms were balled into a tight fist and when he spoke, his mouth quavered a bit. “You don’t tell anybody about it. You don’t write about it. You absolutely cannot let this get out from my room.”

Bernadette’s narrowed one of her eyes. “Or what? You had your chance to influence me forty-five minutes ago, Alec. You blew it off with a ‘no’.”

Against my will, I groaned. Damn. There was no end for this girl’s bitchiness. If I weren’t so angry, I’d have bothered to find a word more appropriate and more sophisticated to describe her.

“Or I’ll tell everyone,” Alec took a step closer to Bernadette. She looked up at him, but she didn’t take any step back. Brave girl, she was. “I’ll tell everyone the things that you did here. I remember every word that you said.”

“Is that supposed to be a threat?”

“It’s supposed to be a treaty,” Alec remarked.

Bernadette considered it for a while, I could see a battle that was happening behind her fiery eyes. I couldn’t breath right all the time she hadn’t said any word. Damn it, I didn’t even know that my mouth would betray me like that.

“Fine,” Bernadette finally agreed. “I won’t tell if you won’t.”

“Good,” Alec outstretched his hand to a firm handshake with her.

I was just letting out a relieved sigh when Bernadette suddenly threw a sudden glare towards me.

“What? Can’t I have a moment of peace?!” I demanded.

She flipped her blonde hair, and scrutinized me from top to bottom for the second fucking time. There was so much judgments that was happening within her silence, and the more she looked at me, the more irked I became.

“You can have him if you want,” she said. “I don’t want guys who don’t like me.”

I rolled my eyes although I struggled to keep my cheeks from overheating. “I don’t want him.”

“Me neither.”

“Hey, don’t talk as if I’m a property!” Alec chimed in, but no one replied to him, as we both were too busy throwing each other disgusted look. “-or as if I’m not here…” his voice faltered into a silence as he realized that no one would pay him any attention.

“I think it’s pretty much transparent that you harbor quite an explosive crush on him,” Bernadette said as if she hadn’t heard any of Alec’s words.

“I think it’s pretty much transparent that you’re fucking wrong,” I retorted.

Bernadette snorted a laugh. “Fine. Whatever. Just act like a middleschooler, both of you. I’m going home.”

She didn’t even wait for either of us to look up or say any good bye to her, she just spurned her heels and walked away.

Alec, true to her gentleman-y nature, called out for her. “Do you want me to give you a ride home?”

Another snort. A flat out no.

I waited until there was a sound of the door being slammed. Three. Two. O-SLAM!!

Well, she was faster than I’d given her credit for.

“So…” I started, without looking at Alec. “You rejected her.”

“I did,” Alec let out an audible sigh. “Don’t make that look, Andrea. It wasn’t fun.”

“Looks like you’re having fun when she was tackling you.”

“I did not.”

“You didn’t even try to evade her.”

“Probably because I was too shocked to move.”

“Yeah, right.”

“Just start moping, will ya?”

I didn’t know what had made me so angry. I thought I’d accustomed myself into being ordered around by him.

But when I started to mop, I was practically landmowing the marble, I bet when I was done, there would be a mini erosion on the floor.

It didn’t help that Alec was still trying to provoke me. “Be a little gentle to my floor, Andrea.”

I gave him a snort as a reply.

“The correct answer should be, ‘Yes, Master.’”

“I’m not going to call you Master when I’m pissed,” I proclaimed.

“Technically, right now, I’m your Master, whether or not you’re pissed.”

“You’re so going to regret this tomorrow,” I said in my most ominous voice. “Master.”

There was a smirk curled up on Alec’s lips. “I’ll just call in sick tomorrow and have fun with you all night long.”

“That’s not fair!” I stomped my feet.

“Andrea,” Alec’s intonation made him look like he was talking to a child. “Control your temper.”

I groaned. This was fantastic!

“Yes, Master.”

Alec threw himself into the bed and rested his chin on his hand. “And smile.”

I mustered the remains of my energy to my mouth, but only managed a millisecond smile.

“Longer, please,” there was amusement on his tone.

Since I was too pissed, I couldn’t help widening my eyes while I tried my second smile. Alec looked quite horrified. “You know it’s really infuriating when you’re ordering me around,” I said through my tight-lipped smile. “Master.”

“I just want to see you smile,” Alec said.

“No. You’re just having a bad mood and now you’re taking it out on me.” I said. Alec inclined his head, waiting for something… “Master.” My tongue was scorching as I said the last word.

“Last time I checked, you’re the one who’s frowning, Andrea.”

“What did you two talked about, anyway?” the word vomit came out of nowhere. As soon as the words were out, I realized that it was actually the source of my annoyance: Alec and Bernadette’s conversation. I wanted to know it. even though I knew that in the end Alec rejected her, I just wanted to know what she had been saying to him.

“I couldn’t tell you,” Alec said quickly. “I promised to her.”

A screeching sound came from below. Apparently, the shaft of my mop grazed the floor quite violently.

“Are you jealous?” Alec said in a teasing tone. “You’re jealous, aren’t you?”

Screech. Screech. Screech.

If this went on any longer, I would have broken the shaft into seven tiny pieces and pierce each piece to Alec’s limbs.

Seemed that my obviously poorly concealed wrath amused him even further. He grabbed a guitar, then, and started plucked the strings into something incoherent.

“Andrea Robinson is jealous of Bernadette,” Alec sang in an off-tune. I regretted that I didn’t bring any earplugs.

“Andrea Robinson is jealous of Bernadette.”

“Careful,” I said very quietly to him. “Master.”

“Andrea Robinson has a crush on Alec Blaze,” he kept going on, and even right now he had the guts to start drawing things on a sheet of paper. “Andrea loves doing Alec’s house chores soo much…”

“Andrea Robinson has a crush on Alec Blaze,” he kept going on, and even right now he had the guts to start drawing things on a sheet of paper. “Andrea loves doing Alec’s house chores soo much…”

In document Tesis doctoral. Arquitectura de un sistema C4ISR para pequeñas unidades. Autor: Israel Pérez Llopis Director: Dr. D. Manuel Esteve Domingo (página 98-101)