Malee couldn’t sleep after the talk with Mary and coming back to room with the envelope in her hand. A side from the letter, the envelope also contained several notes cash of which Malee had never seen before. Those were probably from Mary though, neither George nor Georgia held any amount of money. Their words were as good as the banks, not surprising because they probably owned several banks from their father’s side. Owning several shopping malls in the city just made it easier for them.
Malee tossed and turned in her bed till the morning came and the sound of the doors closing woken her up. She couldn’t remember when she fell asleep, but she had an appointment to go to school with John. She jumped out of the bed and about to fold her blanket when there was a knock on the door.
*KNOCK* *KNOCK*
“Come in.” said Malee. The door cracked, and a head popped in. It was John.
“Breakfast downstairs then we leave for school. It is still holidays till next week so no rush.” smiled John before disappearing into the hallway. Malee could hear the footsteps going down the stairs to the lobby and resumed folding the blanket. As she looked at herself in the compact mirror beside the bed, she wondered if she should take a quick shower before going down for breakfast. She grabbed a towel from the clothes rack and ran down the hallway to the common bathroom for a few splashes of water to freshen her up. In a few minutes, she was drying herself and changing to a new uniform before going down where the rest were already starting their breakfast.
“Sorry.” said Malee with a bow before sitting at the chair beside John.
“You had a shower?” asked Mary while she passed a plate of toasted bread to Malee.
“Yes, I thought I should prepare myself before leaving for school.” replied Malee. Mary looked at John, who lowered his head into the plate.
“I am fine.” whispered John, to the laughter of the rest of the servants. After the party and the twins leaving for the overseas, they were glad there were still children in the house and fun and laughter. After breakfast, John disappeared for a few minutes and reappeared in casual clothes.
“I wait for you at the gate.” said John before running out of the door. Malee nodded and finished washing the rest of the plates before going back to the room to change to a non-uniform clothes and left the room with the envelope in her pocket. It might prove useful, she thought.
“Come back for lunch.” shouted Mary as Malee was going out of the door. Malee turned around to nod before disappearing out of the door to meet with John. Mary smiled and sighed. It was just as well that Malee had become one of them in such a brief time. Without her, Mary wondered how she could have handled the twins at the same time. It must be fate.
Malee found John sitting in the guard’s house with the guard and soon, they were on the bus to the school that George had wanted her to go to. John alighted at a stop near the university, and Malee followed him into a smaller building beside the university entrance.
“Lets go see him.” said John as he went up the stairs to the upper floor, down the hall and in front of the large wooden door with the label “Dean of Students Admission” pasted on it.
John pushed the door opened to find 2 receptions ladies and asked if the professor was in. They nodded and picked up the phone for a few seconds before pointing to the door behind them. John nodded and pulled Malee’s hand to lead her into that door. Once she was in the room. Malee recognized immediately the person sitting behind the large wooden desk with papers and a computer monitor. It was George’s drawing professor.
“Hi, John. Malee. Come in and sit.” smiled the professor. Malee felt immediately at ease at the sight of the professor. She was afraid it would be someone he had never seen before.