Mayla knocked on the door softly, her knuckles aching as she continued to knock on the curved surface, telling herself she would give up within the next two minutes if no one showed up to open the door. Just as she turned to leave, she heard a voice say, "Hold on a bit, I'm coming,".The knot of the door turned, and the door opened inward. Behind it was a man with his long sleeves rolled all the way up to his elbows; there was a shadow of ink on his cuff where a fountain pen seemed to have leaked. He had the faintest citrus cologne rising from him like a memory from a perfume factory." I'm guessing you are the one who has been sent to tidy up ty place, he said while stepping aside for me to walk inside ." Sorry that you kept knocking on the door for a long while, he added. No problem, Mayla answered. "And yes, I am the one who is supposed to tidy up your crib today, " Mayla replied, making sure her eyes were looking as professional as possible and her chin was a fraction high. "Sorry if I bothered you or something, I won't be long."The room wasn't the usual sort of room. It was very large, too large for someone like him who traveled light, and yet it was scattered like a stage where the actors had just left. A large brown leather case lay half-unzipped on the sofa. And on the desk was a silver watch, a neat stack of papers, and a photograph facedown like it had been turned over in a hurry. The blue Heavy curtains in the room filtered the afternoon light into a beautiful glow.Mayla began by cleaning the windowsill, carefully brushing away a drift of dust the previous maid had missed. The man crossed carefully to his desk, gathering the papers lazily and without purpose. Even so, as Mayla worked, she could feel his glance slide over her from time to time. Mayla was confused and felt a bit uncomfortable about what was happening, and without caution, their eyes met. "Do you need anything, sir ?" she asked politely. "I'm good," he said, diverting his eyes from her. Then, as he softened his words with a quick, rueful smile, he said. "If I do need anything, I'll let you know. Thanks for asking ."He slowly returned to the desk. She then moved to the bookshelf and straightened the spines. She saw Titles in law, finance, and travel. But there was a single slim poetry volume book tucked sideways; it was as if it had been hidden rather than shelved to be noticed. The vent whispered loudly. Somewhere down the hall, a floorboard complained. The manor kept its own soundtrack; today, it sounded like a held breath.When Mayla was done with the shelf, she reached out to dust the desk, and she noticed the facedown photograph tugged at the edge of the table. She has never in her life touched guests' private Stuff, but her instincts told her to reach out for it. The urge was so strong that she couldn't hold back again, and there it was, halfway off the desk, corners frayed from handling. She lifted the book, placed it, and reached around it, carefully. The man quietly watched her in the reflection of the window."You can pick it up and have a look at it," he said mildly, without looking directly at her.She hesitated for a second and then lifted the book, picking up the photograph. In the picture, she saw two youngsters from a summer holiday years ago: an older brother and a younger sister who looked like she was about 8. Mayla was shocked; the girl somehow looked like her. But the picture wasn't clear enough for her to see the face of the older boy. That's a picture I got from an old friend of mine, " he said. Does anything in it look familiar to you? He asked Mayla. Mayla said no and went ahead to put the picture back where she had found it. He picked up the picture and turned it face down again. Mayla wanted to ask him why he had done that, but she was already feeling guilty for invading his privacy. She went on ahead to clean his room without asking any further questions. It was as if he was trying his best not to look at the picture; perhaps it reminded him of something tragic. But Mayla couldn't ignore the fact that the little girl somewhat looked like her. She thought it could maybe be Jake. She was excited, she turned to look at him and said," If you don't mind, what is your name ?" He looked in her eyes and said to her," Andy ", he said. "Why? He asked me.
