Just a Maid

Chapter 9

We were at a beach, a beach of all places in the state. I wasn't complaining - I loved the beach - but I expected something more fancy or sophisticated. Yes, I was awfully judgemental.

I looked up at Donovan as we walked along the shoreline. He was staring at something in the distance with interest. A small smile fought its way to my lips as I stared at him. He looked like he was in love with whatever he saw.

Eventually, Donovan realized I was staring and said, "Sorry, you must be bored."

"No," I said honestly. "I'm not."

"Sorry," he apologized again anyways. "Brianna hates the beach so I brought you here because I was being selfish. I love this place."

"It's okay," I smiled up at him. "I like the beach."

"Me too, especially at this time."

I looked around and understood why. There was no one here at the beach right now. At first I thought we had been in our own world, but it seemed like no one liked to go to the beach at noon. That was reasonable.

"Why are you with Brianna?" I asked, randomly curious.

The question had been bugging me for a while and I felt like this would be the right time to ask. Donovan didn't seem interested in Brianna at all and it seemed like she was bothersome from what he said a minute ago. I wondered why he didn't just end things with her.

"It's complicated," he replied. "We're kind of destined to be together."

I raised an eyebrow. "Destined to be together?"

He laughed. "Okay, not like that. I mean we're both rich, attractive people who are destined to be successful."

"Way to hold back," I mumbled.

He laughed once again. "Well, my parents only want me marrying her and I do whatever they say."

"You do whatever they say?"

"Basically." He shrugged. "They're the reason I have this life. Why disobey them?"

I looked at Donovan thoughtfully for a few seconds. Whoa. I didn't see him as the type of person to be grateful. I needed to stop judging people beforehand.

"Doesn't that suck at times?" I asked.

"No, their requests are never bad. Like Brianna is cool sometimes." He smirked. "A great kisser too."

I rolled my eyes. Ew.

"Someone's jealous," he commented.

I stuck out my tongue. "Ew, no I'm not."

"Then why did you ask about Brianna and I?"

"Because..." I blushed. "I'm intrigued by you so I need to know everything about you."

He laughed. "I like that about you, so let's go find somewhere to eat lunch and talk.

*****

We were sitting in the middle of a forest beside the beach. It was awfully peaceful there, all I could hear was birds chirping.

Donovan was sitting in front of me cross-legged on the picnic blanket he had called a servant to bring. Apparently he had asked his cooks to make him an entire meal, so here we were eating it. I found myself enjoying myself as we talked about anything and everything.

"How would you describe being rich?" I asked curiously as he took his last bite out of his salad.

"Hmm," he said thoughtfully. "I would have to say awesome and fulfilling. It feels like I've won the jackpot everyday."

"Is it really that awesome?" I asked with a bit of envy.

My parents weren't exactly poor, but they were nowhere near rich either. That meant I spent my entire life not doing anything exciting. No classes, no travelling, no nothing. Maybe that was why Donovan was so thrilling.

"Yeah," he said. "I'll show you how it's like one day. Right now I want to show you the world I love best."

"I thought you love the rich world best?" I asked, confused.

He shook his head. "I love that world, but I love the world literally outside of the balls and glamour more."

I looked at him confused. Even though Donovan had said he loved nature, I still found that hard to believe. He didn't really come off as that type of guy, and I didn't know what was so splendid about nature anyways. Yeah, it was pretty, but I wouldn't love it over the glamours of the rich life.

Donovan seemed to sense my thoughts because he said, "Being rich doesn't mean our lives are perfect. It's actually not easy and quite stressful. Just being out here is so much more relaxing, so I guess that's why I brought you here."

A part of me wanted to say something about his statement 'It's not easy and quite stressful'. The past month is what I would call stressful for me. I had been running around doing chores for a brat and Ms. Rose, and I was pretty sure I lost a couple of pounds. My energy levels had dropped lower than I would have ever expected them to. How could being rich to the point of having servants and huge meals be stressful? Even though I thought of all those things, I remained silent. This was a day to enjoy.

Suddenly, Donovan laid down. I stared at him blankly as I wondered what he was doing. He began to smile as he crossed his arms over his chest and stared at the sky.

"You coming?" he asked, glancing at me.

I nodded as I became curious of what he was doing. These bizarre moments that came out of him were what intrigued me most.

Laying down, I looked up and stared at the sky. It was a pure blue that lacked any trace of clouds. It reminded me of the necklace my grandma gave me as a child. It represented a pure heart.

"Just listen to the world around you and relax," Donovan said as he closed his eyes. "I think that's my favourite thing to do when I go to this forest."

I didn't close my eyes, but I listened. Immediately, I heard more than just birds chirping. I heard the wind blow and the creaks and cracks of twigs. I heard the crunches of leaves and the scurries of small animals. I smiled because it was relaxing. I began to forget my thoughts of being exhausted.

"Pretty relaxing, huh?" Donovan asked.

"Yeah," I said honestly. "I like doing this."

Suddenly, he sat up and smiled. "Me too, but we should get going. There's a lot of other things I want to do with you. It doesn't seem like we'll ever get another day where Brianna isn't here."

I felt disappointed because I wanted to stay here forever, but he was right. We wouldn't have another day to spend time together like this, so I should make the most of it. So far, I realized I really enjoyed Donovan's presence. He was definitely an intriguing guy.