It had been 3 days since the incidence between Elora and her boss which made him lock himself up. The early morning rays fell on the face on Charles and propelled him to awake. He sat up straight, stretching out his arms as a yawn escaped his lips. He got up from his bed to stretch his entire body. His eyes caught hold of the direction from which the rays of sunlight had creeped into his room. It was from the window near his bed. Of course he had forgotten to drop it down the previous night. Taking a looks around, he realized how messy his room now looked.
He had been inside this place for more than 60hrs. He had driven the maids from entering his room to clean it up. At this point he began to notice how crazy looking and messy he was. His hair was totally damp and he realized he was on the same clothes he wore 3 days ago.
"Ugh!" He exclaimed, irritated by his own appearance. What was that smell??
"Eww!" It was coming from his mouth. Such bad breathe. He could puke! He ran off to the bathroom immediately. Staring at the mirror in front of him, he took off his clothes. Charles noticed he had obviously lost of flesh as he wasn't looking so good. He heard a loud rumble. It came from his stomach.
OMG! He just realized he had deprived himself of food for the past 3 days and now he felt really hungry. A sigh escaped his lips as he placed his hands on the wash basin. He took his brush and attended to his teeth carefully. Afterwhich, he went to the bathtub to wash himself up. In a matter of minutes, he was done washing up and came out to get his clothes from the closet. When he was done, Charles looked at himself through the mirror. A satisfied smile appeared on his face.
"Yep! Much better!" He stated. He was satisfied with his present look. The former was a messy, crazy man and he was disgusted earlier. For the first time, in three days, Charles stepped out of his room. He hadn't communicated with anyone in his household in the past three days. He walked down the stairs and met one of the maids cleaning up the floors.
"Good morning my Lord." She gave a courtesy.
"How are you Maria?"
"Fine my lord."
"Where's Madam Clara?"
"My Lord, she's in the kitchen instructing the others." She responded.
"Alright. Thank you Maria." He appreciated with a smile as he took his leave. She gave a courtesy.
Charles was in a superb mood and his aura was quite noticeable. Maria could tell. He seemed really different from the cold Lord Higgins. He met Clara instructing the others in the kitchen.
"Good morning Madam Clara."
"Good morning Lord Higgins." The maids greeted immediately with a courtesy.
"My Lord. It's good to see you back. Welcome." Clara said, giving a courtesy.
"Thank you." A warm smile appeared on his face. Clara turned to the maids.
"Y'all go do what I've instructed. I'll check I out later. You may leave!"
"Yes Madam Clara." They gave a courtesy and left. Charles continued.
"Where's Chloe?"
"She's gone for her rehearsal. You know the ballet competition is in less than 2 weeks, so she's been really putting in her best. You should see her sometimes." She answered.
"Nice. How about Elora?"
"She's with Chloe my Lord."
"Alright. Please I'd like to have something to eat. I'm really famished. And I'd like to see Chloe's rehearsal." He stated.
What??? Was he kidding or he was serious? Clara was shocked by his statement. Ever since Rose died, Charles had never shown interest in anything concerning Chloe. Crazy! What brought about the sudden change? Clara tried to comprehend. Something was indeed different about Lord Higgins aura.
"Okay my Lord. I'll get your breakfast ready."
"Thank you. I'll be at the dinning table." He replied and turned to leave.
"Uhm Madam Clara..."
"Yes my Lord?"
"Nothing much. I just want to tell you thank you for helping me handle Chloe and manage the entire household. It's not an easy job and I must commend how how dedicated you are to it. Thank you."He answered.
"Thank you my Lord."
"You're welcome." He stepped away.
Few minutes later, Madam Clara came to the dinning with breakfast of bread, coffee and scrambled eggs for Charles. He appreciated her for the meal. In a few minutes, Charles devoured the meal before him, pouncing on it like a lion that had just seen a prey to devour. He was very famished and didn't even care about table manners in consuming the food. He gulped up the water quickly. When he was done, he relaxed himself on the chair. His stomach had been satisfied. He hadn't eaten as wild as that in a very long time. Charles observed the time on the wall clock. It was already past 10am.
"I really hope to make it time to see her. I really owe her an apology. My poor Chloe. I've been a failure as a dad. I hope I'll be able to correct my errors." He thought to himself.
Just then, George came in with news for him. He was in charge of organizing Charles' schedules.
"My Lord, pardon me sir but there's something urgent you need to attend to."
"Let's have it George."
"There's a deal needed to be settled. It's been on for 3 days now but without your approval, it can't be settled. It's worth lots of shillings sir."
"Have you looked through it already?"
"Yes my Lord."
"Alright. Tell me George, is the deal worth to be taken?"
"S...si..sir?"
"You heard me." George cleared his throat and responded.
"Yes my Lord. We shouldn't let it go."
"Good. Then go ahead with it. Tell the boys to seal the deal."
"Alright my Lord." He replied, giving a courtesy as he turned to leave.
"Oh, and George...please do this for me."
"What's that my Lord?"
"Cancel all schedules for the next two weeks. I won't be traveling anytime soon. Any deal should be handled by you. Make sure you pull off good deals."
"Si...si..sirr?" A disappointed sigh escaped his lips. George was a stanmerer and it was very serious when ever he was shocked or overwhelmed. Charles knew this but he chose him because he had really high intellects and he was very tactful.
"You heard me George."
"I'm sorry my Lord. It's just I'm..."
"Surprised? Don't be! Just do as you've been told."
"Alright my Lord."
"You may leave." He ordered.