Scorned Women

She was only 19 when she was taken in by his mother. Hayden had grown so hateful of life, of envy and worthlessness. He never left his room, forgotten the aspects of social life, and barely passed in his education. It was different compared to Yanna who lived a life of achievements and glory, as an epitome of a perfect firstborn. It was only by unfortunate circumstances she was born in a poor family, and despite her scholarship and flourishing job as an anonymous author, the health bill had ransacked her earnings as she expected. She still has more than enough money saved in her account but seeing the follow-up diagnosis and the fact that raising four siblings on her own along with her personal education was taking a toll, she accepted the offer of the desperate mother. Mrs. And Mr. Siancel have been desperate for someone to watch over their home. But they wanted someone capable of teaching their toddlers as well, they had lost hope of Hayden having a spark in his life, just hoping for him to be well-fed enough and safe in his room. Yanna was the perfect woman, they had watched her in their home when they got stuck in a flash flood in the metro and she helped them stay in her home. Household chores and raising children were easily her forte, the ample living she was slaving herself fortuned by giving them similar a high-class but disciplined homestead and childhood for her siblings. Her achievements were nothing laughable at that matter, having been displayed in a separate room they asked to see. Hearing of her concerns, they offered to add for her expenses. It was simple. Due to their duties taking until a whole year round, she is to stay in their home over the summer to watch over their children and clean the house while at it. They didn't expect the pandemic to hit while overseas and now are quarantined for the whole year. Hayden never thought he'd find the sweet young woman interesting on their first meeting. His parents had messaged him they were having a nanny over, and he thought it was just another old hag. Until he wakes up in the morning in surprise, seeing his messy room tidy with an even organized trash can and a covered tray of steaming food on his table. The cold air had this faint smell of blueberries and he became aware of a set of modules. He had gone down in a fit of rage, scaring his brothers who are brunching on the table in front of a whiteboard and a fair woman smiling sweetly but narrowing her black eyes at him. He had questioned how she entered his room, and she raised a brow, before showing him a crooked hairpin. He leered at her "lack of delicacy" and "privacy", but she remained in smiles, telling him how she was given the job and she was serious about the money. He got money, his allowance more than hers and he shoved it to her, but she stared right at him and questioned what was left of his dignity as a man that he can't bear a simple living. It bruised his ego so much he had gone back upstairs with heavy booming steps and slammed his door close. He had put on a chair later that evening to prevent entry. Later that evening he heard Yanna ushering the boys to sleep on the room beside his, telling them sweet praises that he scoffed at. And she had gone to the front of his room, didn't dare try to enter but had explained what would happen forward on her stay. "I don't lack integrity, morals, and discipline when it comes to my responsibilities, Hayden. I will not clean week-old plates stuck in your room, let you starve yourself for the whole day to a half-eaten dinner, and wash four baskets of your clothes at the end of the month. I am leaving you to your business if you leave me to my responsibilities in the house, and household chores to babysitting are parts of them. Throw your teenager rage out of the window from now on, because I am not taking that bullshit from a man who's lucky enough to survive well in life but blind to see his evens." Her voice wasn't cold, confronting, or enraged. It was rather warm, soft, and telling him she was true to her words. He can see her eyes even through the solid door, mellow and comforting yet nothing to offer pity. He waited for the soft patter of her footsteps to leave his door before groaning in frustration of a new insisting babysitter. He had researched her and suffice to say she isn't one to take bullshit after all. The next morning he was awoken by three knocks on his door, it opened after she picked on his doorknob again. She entered quietly and picked up the half-eaten meal, replacing it with another tray of steaming food, this time so mouthwatering in the aroma even he couldn't ignore the smell. Yanna explained she would come upstairs thrice daily to replace the food, every Saturday to replace his sheets, take his clothes and clean his room, and every Sunday to return his clothes and forcibly take him to the doctor for a diagnosis along with his brothers. According to her as well, it's up to him if he decides to answer the learning packet, she made for him. He ignored her as she exited his room but was not able to resist the food she made. He scrunched up his brows at the foreign-looking recipe but decided to eat it. He had never felt so full and hungry on the first bite. The pitcher of cold water satisfied his senses that he gobbled it up in a go. Halfway into his online classes, she came again bringing lunch and dessert along with a new pitcher of cold water. She silently picked up a loose shirt on the ground and tossed it to the hamper before leaving. It was another set of food foreign to him, his curiosity bit him quicker and he tried to finish but his stomach only allowed him to eat half. The same scenario for dinnertime, she went up and put his dinner for him. He could live with her daily routine. It was fine surprisingly.   |||||||||||||||||||||||||| Fifth day and again, it was a new sort of food that never failed to make him curious. He had bitten his interest and asked her while she was replacing his meal. "Those are variations around the world. Plus, I've mixed them with your vitamins because you refuse to take them yourself." He gaped at her. "You finish your meal because I've taken notice of your eating pattern for the first three days, I decreased the amount to your preferred size and as long as the vitamins keep coming, your portion will increase until to a normal adult consumption. Don't bother trying to deny your meal after this or else we'll have to go through force again, don't we." It was true. The vitamins laced in his food kept him more energized than usual that he preferred to sit upright than lay. By Saturday she had come upstairs with fabric in her hands and asked him to transfer to his seat much to his irritation. "There's nothing much to clean here, Mary Poppins," he dryly stated. "Move or I'll throw you to the hamper along with your filthy bedding." She miffed. "What makes your two black belts against my four own superior?" He challenged. He regretted threatening her because, after a minute of scuffling, she successfully tased him on his hip after pulling out that lipstick taser from her sleeves. She was humming while changing his sheets to a new one and replacing the filter from his air-conditioning system, ignoring his pained moaning because she locked him in his own bathroom. "WHAT THE f**k?!" He hollered at her when she opened the bathroom door. "Don't even try complaining to your parents, I did ask them what I could and could not do when you don't listen to certain circumstances," she cheekily narrated. "You little bitch." He snarled, reaching for the showerhead. Her eye twitched as she became drenched from head to toe in one flash, before sighing only while picking up the basket. "What a child," she huffs, shaking her head. Hayden had never seen that kind of woman react. He had expected she would twist his body in half or pull out another taser. She only left with his hamper. He had come out to an extremely neat room, the air noticeably lighter now that she had replaced the filter. His window faced the laundry area and he couldn't stop watching her do her chore. It seems his three younger brothers had taken a liking to her. He can't blame them, their first nannies never allowed the hyperactive toddlers to run around that much while they did their chores. The boys are noticeably less hostile to her, always seeking her attention and she gave it to them willingly with a smile. When they asked for more, she fooled them into watching a video by the gazebo so she can have her peace. "As expected." Sunday didn't fare well when she dragged him forcibly out of his room, no matter how he had hit her and scratched her. He was a savage and raging on her, but she stuffed him into the car. Instead, she was talking to the doctor with concern on her face while he sat silently outside the room with arms crossed and on his phone. Yet he listened to their conversation. "I'm surprised you managed to pull him out of his room." "Yes but he does need it. Aside from the vitamins beginning to restore his nutrients and a few scars, is there anything that I should be informed about?" "Normally I want to bring this up to the parents, but seeing as they aren't around, I do want to talk to you about his attitude." He silently revolted at the thought. Their family doctor was always a nosy man. Yet true enough, his parents were never around that much to know him. "With the bruises on your arms, I do know he had hit you. While he does stand for gender equality doesn't mean I wouldn't be worried about his hostility due to anger management issues. It would be wise to bring him to therapy or a psychologist for evaluation." Hayden was ready to march in there and cause a scene, but Yanna's answer held him down. "Yes, I had been informed by his parents regarding those things. But with my status as a nanny to them, I think it would be worse if I bring him to therapy immediately. Bringing to a therapist would take a lot of baggage on him and only make him think I'm crossing my meddling business already; I prefer if he has already learned to at least find solace going to the garden or talk to me or his brothers without the hostility." "You mentioned he didn't hesitate to be violent with you." "I did violate his privacy. Either way, it's a normal reaction of anyone going through a depression of sorts. Plus, points for equality though, I do have to make sure he knows not to do it in public." He remained silent. Good for her to know she can't really take him to a psychologist, or else he won't hesitate to repeat the slap. Their routine continued for the following week, and his meal did increase to adjust to his needs. Every day it was a new sort of food, a new recipe new dessert. The vitamins were taking a toll on him already, and he finds himself performing small exercises in his room to wear out the energy. She never brought up the conversation with the doctor and didn't try to ask more of his background on him but rather interrogate his brothers. Yet it was futile because no one else in the household knows much about him. And it was his preferred kind of nanny, someone who knows his personal business. To his comfort, she had taken it to herself to draw his blood and send it to the clinic for examination, giving him a copy of the results that he just ignores. He had become weary of her existence in the house. She took care of everything like a pro, from their taxes to bills and the household, all without breaching the line he set between the two of them. His pills for insomnia were kept under strict regulations, she only gives them to him when he finishes his dinner. Yet it was undeniable the house was becoming lively at the state, his brothers can be heard giggling or screeching, basking in her attention and tutorial unlike his hollow life inside his room. His parents messaged him once a week asking what was happening, and he just gave the same answer. They never bothered to check much, considering how perhaps Yanna gave them full reports. Both just silently notice each other's existence. |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| A month in, he started answering the weekly module packets she brings to him. He realizes it was filled with her instructions, neat cursive handwriting. And using it, he had been more aware and easier in understanding his lessons much to the surprise of his teachers. Three months in, and Hayden took notice of her when she entered with his breakfast. There was still the sincere smile, but instead of wordlessly exiting she had informed him something. "I apologize, but I'll be gone for a maximum of two days only. I need to take care of a few things in our home. Please do at least watch over your brothers, some meals are in the fridge you can just heat them up." He was new to the excuse, before remembering how she hadn't returned to her family in those three months or even took a day off --- it is possible in the middle of a pandemic. He is aware that she is three years ahead of her education, allowing her to take a single year break. "Aren't you contracted by my parents?" He interrogates. She waves his head, apology in her sudden eyes. For a moment he was surprised when they bleak tiredness through those orbs before returning to their lively look. "I had informed them already, I'm really sorry for taking my job on you but the house is clean and there are prepared meals for the whole day downstairs. I suppose you'd know safety precautions. I asked the boys to not disturb you much, please be gentle with them." She bowed. He didn't answer back but she muttered a " thank you" before leaving. He watched her load into a taxi, something in his instinct telling him things foreign. It had reached lunchtime and he realized none of his brothers knocked, he had groaned in realization and went out to look for them. On normal days when they didn't have a nanny, they would pester him continuously and he'd end up making them cry. But now they aren't even knocking on his door. James and Dennis are on the living room, books and toys scattered around them with their gadgets. They were shocked to see him by the stairs. "Huh?" "Where's the other one?" He questions. As if on cue, Arvin comes out with snacks in his small hands. "It's lunchtime, you should be eating a meal not some trippy food. You could have gone up and asked me instead." "... Yanna told us not to disturb you too much because you were busy with something." The boys looked down apologetically. He realizes the extent of his personality had blurred out the sense of logic with them, feeling guilt well up in him. He just sighs and goes to the kitchen to find what Yanna had prepared beforehand to reheat it in the microwave. He brought plates to them and they happily gobbled it up, with him beside them. It's the first time he had eaten in the same room with them for years as he realizes. "Did Yanna tell you what she'll be doing?" "Nope." It piqued his curiosity more. The woman wasn't silent on social media about her interests or political statements, nor her achievements, but she stayed in the closet enough about her work as a nanny and her family life. He had taken it to himself to at least put the plates into the sink, before deciding to stay at the couch downstairs because his brothers were notoriously assholes. But to his recognition they didn't make so much noise, talking in whispers and making small movements only. It irritated him when they're noisy, but here they are extremely careful of disturbing him. They didn't even ask him to tuck them to bed. On the second day, he realized the boys didn't ask for him to cook their breakfast until he went to the kitchen and saw them struggling to reach the third shelf of their walk-in fridge. He could only heave a breath in their actions. By nighttime before dinner, he waited until he saw a car pull up by the gates. Yanna had returned, but through the night lights, he can see how she'd gone paler than the usual. He can't help but go downstairs himself, watching her change form of sorts and greet the overly excited boys in hugs after disinfecting herself. She was in a new set of clothes, and he remembered she never brought anything when she went to her home. She was shocked to find him by the stairs. "Hayden?" "Get cooking, I'm tired of cold food." He excused. "Ah, I'm really sorry about that." She heads straight for the kitchen. Something about her felt new...and off. It was as if a part of her wasn't there. But he knew it wasn't his business either. Her daily activities returned, but something was different. Something he couldn't help but wonder. Every time she comes in his room, he would watch her through the mirror and survey her form. She still wore the same clothes; either a pair of pants, a long skirt past her knees or capris and long-sleeves. Her hair remained in a high ponytail with either a red or blue scrunchie, a small barely valuable gold necklace around her neck. Her smile is plastered on her face. Nothing new. One night he had gone out to find a midnight snack. She does leave a midnight snack for him when she takes out his dinner plate before sleeping, but he had run out. Her room was formerly the guest room on the other side of the hallway, and in the dead of the night, his senses couldn't help but hear squeaks of such low volume no one would hear it if they weren't extremely aware of their surroundings. He couldn't help but come close and peek through the hinges, eyes widening at the sight. It was the most vulnerable he had ever seen of her. She never failed to defend herself against his rage moments, never flinched on his hits. But she bit back her sobs till her lip bled, arms filled with scars both old, freshly torn, and bleeding along with her tears. Her trembling hands held up to her hair, tugging so painfully he was familiar to. Her eyes screwed shut but the drops of tears keep escaping. He couldn't go back to sleep afterwards, mind replaying on the memory.