V: The Grandson Coming Home

“Maya, dear,” Sicilia turned to look at Maya. “I’m sorry for all this fuss,” she said, fixing her already perfect hair.

“Oh, that’s alright, is there something going on today? I don’t remember you saying anything. I’m sorry,” Maya asked.

“Oh, silly me! Haven’t I told you?” Sicilia asked nonchalantly.

“No, I don’t think so,” Maya answered curiously.

“Today, Alexander, my grandson, is coming home.” She said happily but surprised Maya.

“Oh, really? Well, I hope he gets here safe” Maya did not know what to think. She was not particularly thrilled, but she did wonder about the man. In her mind, Maya felt like Alexander was the type that doesn’t have good judgment with a woman. There was also the possibility that the man was a closet gay. Who knows?

Maya just wanted for the man to get married or at least have a stable relationship soon so that she could get back to her country. 

Despite that, Maya was still curious about the man. Because, after researching him on the net, she only found a few pictures of him when he was very young but none of him recently. Why? For her, that was so weird.

So she wanted to know the man for whom she’s trying to find a girlfriend and who was incapable of finding one himself. That part made Maya particularly curious. And apparently, that will be happening today, and she’ll get to see this mysterious Alexander Knight who for years managed to hide.

“Thank you, dear. There is a storm coming, and I’m anxious, but I have a feeling that he will be alright. Did you need anything?” Mrs. Knight’s confidence and smile were somehow warming Maya’s heart.

Maya never knew what it felt like to have a mother or even the shadow of a mother. After all, she was always alone. Being a foster kid, she always had to take care of herself on her own.

Until now, all the women she met weren’t exactly someone she could warm up to.

But Sicilia always felt different, or maybe that’s just what Maya wanted to believe.

Maya cleared her throat before taking hold of herself. It would be embarrassing if she suddenly cried, right?

“I have the top three names. After a lot of research, I only got you the best of the best.” Maya said suddenly.

“Oh? Good, good. Let me see.”

Maya gave her the file of the three girls. She then watched Mrs. Knight’s expression carefully and nervously.

“You made an excellent choice, and those three girls are perfect. Now you need to find a way to make Alexander meet them. I hope that he will like them, to be honest. My grandson has a tough taste in women. He does not like anyone I have ever presented to him so far, and he said that he actually hated them. Can you believe that?” Mrs. Knight asked, voice laced with exasperation.

“Maybe we will need to study him too. Know what kind of women he likes and dislikes that way, choosing the one for him will be easier for us. After all, he will be the one entering the relationship or getting married.” Maya suggested the last sentence was spoken so softly.

Maya thought that searching for girls wasn’t enough. To find a girl for him, she needs to know the type of man he was.

What if he was gay, but he just couldn’t confront his grandma? Since she said he dislikes women, that could be a rational explanation.

“You are absolutely right. You need to get to know him and spend some time with him,” the old lady’s eyes were shining as if she just hit the jackpot.

Maya smiled bitterly. She did emphasize the word ‘we’ earlier, but it was ignored by the older woman.

She felt like losing hope. If Sicilia could not talk properly to her own grandchild, what more if he met a total stranger like May?

“Oh… Alright...”  Maya replied forcefully. She was hoping his grandmother could talk about him instead. Alternatively, the old lady could tell Maya stories about his grandson instead?

And yet another task, instead.

Maya hated having to do too much work, along with finding a girl, now she had to get to know the guy. She always hated that. Trying to get to know a man was also impossible.

You could never understand men or know them no matter how much you spend with them, and a day would come when they would do something shocking and unexpected that would reveal that you truly didn’t and couldn’t know them truthfully.

That was why Maya had always kept some distance between her and men.

She heard many stories about scary men. Maya knew they were not to be trusted.

In fact, she had a taste of what a man can do herself when that man framed her and got her to be kicked from her job.

Men were awful news and wealthy ones. They were spoiled, filthy, and disgusting. Well, she could not tell that all rich men were that. The main point was, they were hard to deal with.

Just an example was Mrs. Knight’s grandson. Instead of the older woman enjoying her retirement, she had a headache instead because of her grandchild’s love life.

Maya could not be blamed when thinking about this because she never felt a real family bond.

While contemplating what to do next, Maya sat down in the living room, watching in awe as the maids ran from one room to another, making sure everything was done in utter perfection.

‘This man is sure neat freak if he will be checking for dust under the sofa.’ Maya silently thought to herself.

Maya’s imagination started running down potential images for the man named Alexander. In the end, she came up with a short chubby guy with a little mustache and a golden pocket watch. A man like that sure can be entertaining.

Getting back to her work, Maya tried thinking of a way to unite the girl with  Alexander.  Her chain of thought was broken when Sicilia stood before her.

“Maya, dear, I’ll be heading to the airport now to get my grandson. Although he asked me not to come, I just couldn’t stop myself,” Mrs. Knight happily said. 

“Of course, I understand. Do you want me to accompany you or help you with something?” Maya found herself wanting to help this woman who was longing to see her grandson and keep the sparkle in her eyes. 

A sparkle Maya knew that was only the result of pure love, a mother love. Seeing this woman, she started to realize how lonely she was and how much she needed that kind of love.

‘Don’t be stupid, Maya,’ She reminded herself. Maya was only greedy for things that she could control. Human emotions definitely did not fall into that category. 

“Well, yes, you see, I will be leaving, so I wanted someone to keep an eye on the preparations here in the house, and who better to do that than my assistant?” Sicilia said with a wink.

“Alright, don’t worry, I’ll take care of everything here. Rest assured, you can go get your grandson.”  Maya encouraging. 

Seeing the confidence and loyalty in Maya, Sicilia knew she could count on her. Sicilia learned more than just to rely on her, and she couldn’t help but to warm up to this girl she found sitting in the airport, something in her attracted Sicilia.

She doesn’t know what, but she knows it’s something good. 

Mrs. Knight was always gifted when it comes to reading people and knowing their real attentions.

After her departure, Maya made sure that everything was at the liking of her boss. She wanted to prove herself worthy of the responsibility and the job she was given. 

Indeed, Maya was only doing this job for money, but she would always make sure to achieve her tasks in utter perfection. In any position given, she would never cheat and still works hard, although her hard work didn’t always pay off.

The floors were polished, the antiques were dusted, the curtains were replaced and hanged, and everything looked perfect. 

She went to the kitchen to be washed by the beautiful smell of the mouth-watering food. Maya felt like drooling, and she immediately wanted to have a taste, but the Chef didn’t let her.

After checking for one last time, Maya sat down in the living room watching TV and waiting for Sicilia’s arrival…