Strange sign

"Do you call this mopping?" Blyse snapped, "Even an untrained monkey could do a better job."

Estella had been trying her best to keep her head down and do her work while avoiding Mr. El Diablo, but Blyse wasn't making it easy for her one bit.

"I'm sorry, ma'am," she apologized, "I'll redo it."

The other woman scoffed, "You'll still botch the job up. Take off your sweater."

"My sweater?" She asked in confusion.

"Did I stutter?"

She quickly pulled her sweater off her body and held it out to Blyse who made a face of disgust.

"What do you think you're doing?" She shrieked, "I didn't ask for your flea ridden clothing. Use it and wipe the floor since a mop isn't working for you."

Estella jerked in shock at the order. She already had very few clothing and the sweater she had on was one of her best.

"Ma-"

The look Blyse shot her was so cold that she snapped her mouth shut, her words trailing off.

"Do I need to throw you a party before you'll begin?"

Estella immediately dropped to her knees with her sweater and began to wipe the pristine floor, feeling tears well up in her eyes. Never before in her life had she been so humiliated.

She knew that she deserved whatever hatred Blyse had for her and wondered how much worse it would get when the woman found out about her affair with her boyfriend.

She wiped her tears with the back of her hand and continued with the cleaning.

Her hands were sore and cramping by the time Blyse decided that the floor was clean enough and set her free.

Estella's sigh of relief was short lived though.

"Did you think you were done?" The other woman threw her head back, laughter spilling out of her bright red lips, "Far from it. How lazy are you to think that your only duty for the day would be some easy cleaning."

Easy cleaning? Estella thought bitterly. She had cleaned six bedrooms and bathrooms, two living rooms, the kitchen, study and dining room on her knees with just her sweater as a rag and bucket of water.

The front door flung open and Mr. El Diablo walked in, gaze moving between the two women and settling on Estella much to her horror.

Blyse of course didn't miss the fact that her boyfriend's eyes were on the dirty servant.

"What's going on here?" He barked.

Estella immediately ducked her head, avoiding his gaze, both out of humiliation and to avoid his evil girlfriend from getting suspicious of them.

"Are you back from work already," Blyse said silkily and prowled towards him, throwing her arms around his neck and raising her mouth for a kiss.

From the corner of her eye, Estella saw him push her away.

"I asked you a question," he snapped, "what's going on here?"

His girlfriend pouted, "We're just cleaning, babe. I thought I'd supervise today's cleaning cause if I leave it up to these swines, they'd turn your house into a pig sty."

"This whole time you've been gone, my house hasn't turned into a pig sty yet," he told her, "I think we can manage without your so called supervision."

Estella winced on her behalf, wondering why Mr. El Diablo was being so mean to her. She really hoped he wasn't doing it for her benefit.

She peeked at him and their eyes clashed, blue against brown. Estella allowed herself to take in his appearance.

In the three piece navy pinstripe suit he had on, he looked suave and like a GQ model. The clothing fit over his impressive frame perfectly, molding to his broad shoulders, muscled arms and long legs.

She couldn't look away from the domineering figure he cut but she forced herself, fixing her gaze on the wall in front of her and tuning out his conversation with Edwina.

As soon as he was gone, a resounding slap landed on Estella's cheeks, causing her to cry out. She reeled back, eyes saucer wide.

"You little witch," her attacker snarled, "Do you have no manners? Don't you know you're supposed to leave the room when I'm with my man?"

Since when? She wondered, but wisely kept that question to herself.

"I'm so sorry."

"I'm sick and tired of your apologies," the angry woman sliced a hand through the air, "Get rid of that dirty water and refill with fresh one. Diego tracked dirt into the house."

Estella glanced at the path Mr. El Diablo had taken into the house and squinted, trying to see the dirt that seemed to be only visible to the other woman, but she didn't want another slap so she rushed to do her bidding.

As she made her way to the bathroom to refill her bucket, she ran into another of the maids who gave her a pitying look before scurrying away. The other servants had begun to treat her like a leper to avoid drawing Blyse's attention to them.

With a defeated sigh, she walked back to the foyer.

"Ugh, could you walk any slower?" Blyse rolled her eyes, "Make sure you try to crawl. I so enjoy standing around waiting for a servant."

She bit her tongue against her protest, knowing that it would only make things worse for her.

"Start from the front door," Blyse ordered, "All the way to the staircase."

"Yes, ma'am," she replied weakly. She felt a bit nauseous and assumed she was coming down with a bit of a fever, but if she dared use that excuse to try to get out of work, she was sure the evil woman would get her fired.

"Don't waste my time," Blyse snapped her fingers impatiently, "Unlike you, I'm a very busy person and I've got other things to do with my time."

She highly doubted it. Just as she bent to start cleaning, her stomach churned and she felt bile rush up her throat. She whirled around and raced to the nearest bathroom, barely making it in time to empty the contents of her stomach. She wondered what was wrong with her. She really hoped it wasn't what she was thinking.