Loving Madeline



Charlotte's POV

"You don't need to help me change my bed sheets, Cecily. I can do this," I said as she pulled the bedsheets from my bed.

"I promised to help you with everything," she responded, and I watched her with wide eyes, and I didn't tell her I felt glad she was helping me.

"After this, I will cook lunch. I brought some groceries that you might need, Charlotte," she added, and I felt more guilty that there was nothing I could offer her.

"You don't need to do it. I still have food on the fridge, and I have canned goods in the cupboards," I responded, and Cecily shook her head.

"You need to eat healthy food. You can't eat canned goods from breakfast to dinner. It is very unhealthy, don't worry. Tomorrow, I will help you plant some vegetables." Cecily declared, and my eyes widened in surprise.

"How did you know I was planning to plant some vegetables? But I don't have any idea how," I responded with excitement.

"Well, I just thought if you have your vegetable garden, you don't need to buy them from the grocery store, and you can pick them fresh from your own vegetable patch, and they are organic if you plan to stay here longer." She answered.

"Of course I do. I have nothing else to do with my life. I mean, there is nowhere I can go. At least, my brother told me, I can be the tenant of this place, and I can do everything I can as long as it will not harm our property." I responded, and she beamed at me.

"It seemed like we have so many things to do around here for the next couple of days," Cecily replied, and I nodded with excitement all over my face.

"Are you sure you can help me? You have a job, Cecily. I don't want you to lose your job because of me." I mumbled.

"Believe me, I am not going to lose my job. I don't want to stay in our house for the rest of the day without anything to do. I want to be productive, and helping you is the best thing you can do." She replied.

"Thank you so much, Cel," I mumbled.

"Thank me the moment we harvested some crops from your garden." She replied.

"I am thanking you for all your help, not only for the garden," I responded.

"From now on, stop thanking me, okay?" She asked.

"I can't do that; that is the least I can do for you. I don't have anything to offer you, and I feel so useless," I declared and sighed heavily.

"Hey, you are not useless. I am your friend, and I don't need anything in return for helping you. It made me happy to help you. I want to spend my time with you." She responded.

"Really?" I asked, and she nodded.

"Charlotte, not everyone who will make friends with you will take advantage of you. In this life, some genuine people want nothing but your friendship. You are a good person inside out, and you deserve to have real friends." Cecily said after she put the pillow on the pillowcase while I mimicked what she was doing.

"Thank you, Cecily, but I am not the person you taught I was. I made mistakes from the past that I wasn't proud of," I responded.

"What is important is you regretted those horrible things that you did, and you accepted your wrongdoings. I don't judge you based on your past mistakes, Charlotte. It would be so unfair to you." Cecily said.

"Unless we don't learn from our mistakes, that is another story," she added with a smile.

"Of course," I replied as I nodded at her.

"I love your company so much, and I know that deep inside your heart, you are a good person. I always listen to my instinct, and if ever you turn into a bad person, I will still accept you, and I will stay by your side and remind you that you are not like that," Cecily declared.

" I didn't know what I did to deserve someone like you. To be honest, I had no friends in the society I thought where I belonged. I know all the friends that I had before were fake. They only made me the friends because of my family name and not because of who I am." I responded.

"I am sorry, Charlotte, that you have to meet those kind of people, but don't close your door. You deserve to have friends whom you can trust." Cecily said, and I was amazed that she finished cleaning my room quickly.

So far, I had done nothing but observe what she was doing. I wanted to learn on my own, but as I watched Cecily do the chores, I realized it would be easier to witness it with my own eyes.

I should have never looked down on our maids in the Divenson mansion. I realized what they did in our house wasn't that easy. Cleaning the house the entire day could be so stressful.

I yelled and asked them to do this and that, thinking they were being paid and should never complain. I felt horrible, and I wished I would be given another chance to rectify my mistakes.

We went to the kitchen, and I felt glad Cecily asked me to help her prepare lunch. She brought fresh meat and vegetables, and I felt so proud of myself after I peeled some of the vegetables and sliced them into cubes.

"Thank you, Charlotte, you learned so fast," Cecily declared, and I laughed.

"I knew those things were very simple for you, but I hadn't tried them even once," I replied.

"Of course, you don't need to tell me. You used to have maids in this manor, too, right?" She asked, and I nodded my head, but I couldn't tell her they had only left because my brother stopped paying for their salaries since I arrived at Barcelonia.

"It must be hard on your part," she added, and I agree with her. I watched Cecily cook, and I felt excited to do it on my own soon. She told me I could call her anytime if I wanted to cook something, and she would be willing to be my teacher in everything, including gardening.

"Why do you learn all those things?" I asked, and she laughed.

"I am sorry, I just found your question funny." She replied.

"I grew up in poverty, Charlotte, growing up; I didn't have the luxury to sit around and wait for someone to do things for me. I had to work from an early age to help my parents." Cecily said.

"But I enjoyed my childhood so much, and I would never trade those memories with anything. I had a happy childhood, and I am happy with my life now. Even if we are not rich, we value and love each other. We are always here to support our family." She added, and I envy her so much.

"Can I visit your house one of these days?" I asked, and she nodded her head.

"Of course, one of these days, I will bring you to my house; my parents passed away, and my elder siblings were married already. I am living alone in our house." Cecily said, and I was shocked. I didn't expect she was an orphan.

"I am sorry to hear that," I replied.

"It is okay. I miss them every day, but I am comforted by the thought that they are always here in my heart, and I know they are watching over me all the time." She happily said I wished I could be as happy and contented as Cecily.

"Oh, you can cook," I muttered after I tasted her cooking, and she laughed.

"Of course I can," she proudly responded.

"What I mean is you are a good cook, the mushroom soup was delicious, and your vegetable stir fry was yummy, and the beef steak was mouth-watering, too," I said, and I could see the amusement on her face.

"Thank you, Charlotte. A compliment coming from you is an accomplishment for me." She said, blushing, and I continued eating my food without care if I was eating so fast and talking while my mouth was full.

I realized I have a life here in Barcelonia, and now that I have Cecily, I started to have some hope, and I could feel the pang in my chest as I remembered Jack. I don't want him fo leave, but I don't have the courage to tell him that, and Cecily was right. I should learn to trust again.

"Let us continue cleaning after we talk about something you might like," Cecily said after she washed the dishes with her bare hands since I stopped using the dishwasher to conserve electricity.

"What did you mean by something? Are you talking about a vacant job?" I asked with excitement.

"It is more a business," she said, and I furrowed my forehead.

"Cecily, business is not feasible since I don't have money for the capital," I replied, slightly disappointed.

"You don't need a big capital. Besides, you can have partners; you only need a little amount to start," she responded, and I laughed.

"Do you think we can start a business with small capital? And when you say small, how small could it be?" I asked.

"Well, you should turn this place into an exclusive resort. The customer should rent the whole place. We will accommodate the guests per booking; they can be a group, or they could be a couple, or if someone wants to have the entire place for himself, he can rent it for one night or more." She responded.

"Your estate has the most beautiful landscaped, and the swimming pool is enough to capture the heart of your prospective customers and all you need is a good chef because good food is very important." She said, and my eyes widened in shock as her idea sank in. I felt so excited all about it as I realized Cecily was a genius.