“So, that settles it. Good.,” said George as he went through the door from which Mary brought out the printed photo, the room which seemed only he and Mary had access to, leaving three of us with assorted bewilderment on our faces. We looked at one another as to wondering what to do next till the professor cleared his throat.

George said the word second time as he stared at the drawing coming to life in front of him. Malee was too engrossed in the action to notice George eyes looking at her hands with amazement. She was supposed to be worse than him, but it was not going the way he had expected when he asked her to take his place in front of the board. The night market wasn’t the same as the printed photo, but he could see the people moving, smoke rising from the snacks being prepared and the street lamps. At least, he could recognize the location and the scene.

George walked to the table and picked up a slice of strawberry cake as Malee took his place in front of the drawing board. He couldn’t care less how she would draw it, but knowing she had attended any formal education a few years back, he doubted it would become out any better than his. He sat down on the chair and extended his hand towards a new beer bottle till Mary gave him a stern look. He gave a cheeky smile back and retracted his hand. Mary was his biological mother’s personal care taker and had been taking care of him since he was a baby. No matter how much she behaved in front of the other servants in the house, she was not afraid of him.

“But George, you know well studies have shown that art inspires people in other areas too.,” smiled the Professor with his mouth full of a swiss cheese cake. “Who knows? You might become the minister of art and culture one day.”

George led Mary to a flat metal surface besides the monitor and placed her hand on the surface for a few seconds and then did the same for the other hand till there was a click sound from the speaker. Satisfied that the machine registered the hand prints in good order, he too placed his right hand over the surface.

“Yes, he said that to me before but I think it’s better to call him as a young master in front of others.,” replied Malee. “That’s the problem with them. They don’t want him to get too close with people like us.,” continued Michael, putting emphasis on the word “us,”. “We used to be very…

With that done and dusted, Mary took the plastic bag full of cash aside and offered to refill the biscuits, to which the young master declined. He would have tuition class soon and need to prepare for it. He still had yet to take a shower after coming home from school. Mary turned to Malee as she stood up.

“So Malee, you are staying with Mary here?,” asked George. “No. I have to go back to give money to my father.,” replied Malee. The question made her picture her father and the mat which she slept in her mind. No matter how good the life is, she was still her father’s daughter. If she…

Malee turned herself to left and right while looking into the mirror at the wardrobe’s door. She loved it. She thought she looked much better with the uniform. It was tighter and more suited to her body than the previous dress she wore yesterday. The rest of the ladies also helped her with combing her long hair to make it neater, and one of them even gave Malee one of her hair accessories.  While they were laughing, the speaker at the kitchen turned on suddenly. It was the voice of Mary’s husband to inform them that young master just went past the gate.

Malee was told Lunch was within the servants’ house as mistress was out and young master was still in school. As all the tasks were done, and she was still new to the tasks, she was told to go to the garden to pick leaves with Michael instead. Mary called Michael and introduced Malee as a servant and gave them a big black plastic bag each for the leaves. Michael nodded and asked Malee to follow him to the garden.