THE DISAGREEABLE DUCHESS

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

"Colin?" Called Olivia, who uncovered a large sitting bench beneath a dusty, white cloth.

"Yes?"

"We have to clean all of this." She said seriously. "Besides the white cloth, everything is covered in dust." Then she coughed a bit.

"I see..." He looked a bit worried.

Olivia sensed that Colin was bothered with her suggestion, so she asked, "what is it?"

"I... I don't know how to clean..." He admitted.

Olivia gave a smirk, but she kept her thought to herself. "How ironic," she murmured.

"What is?" Asked Colin.

"Nothing, it's just a thought." She replied. "Can you check to see if there are pails or any water containers in this house?"

"Alright." Colin stepped out of the room and entered through one of the rooms across the hall.

Not even a minute after being alone, Olivia hears pots and pans drop on the floor at least a room away, which frightened her a little bit. "Colin?" She called him once more.

He didn't reply.

"Colin, are you alright?"

Again with the silence, and when Olivia calls Colin for the third time without any reply, she stepped out of the sitting room and tried to look for him in the rooms either beside her, or across her.

Olivia gasped at the sight of Colin unconsciously buried beneath a pile of pots and pans. Alongside him was a small pool of blood, which made her panic.

She dropped to her knees and laid his bleeding head over her lap and tried to wake him, or at the least, ser if he was still breathing. And after a few weak slaps across his cheeks without any signs of consciousness, she decided to attend to his medical needs in the kitchen floor.

She thanked God gratefully, he needed no stitches. The impact of the pans only gave him a few bruises and two large bumps on the head. After treating Colin, she half-dragged him to their bedroom and allowed him to continue sleep while she watched over her on the chair.

She sighed and said. "I guess I'll have to do cleaning by myself."

She first ensured that Colin was comfortable before finally stepping out of the room.

Olivia did find a pail from the bathroom across the bedroom at the very end of the hall. She started wondering why he didn't look for it there at the first place.

There was no source of water inside the cottage, but there was a well, possibly built in the early 1500s, standing outside.

She uncovered every piece of cloth that hid a beautiful piece of furniture. She also scrubbed the whole house down spottless that you'd be able to see a reflection of yourself anywhere. After fully cleaning the house, which consumed most of her afternoon, she prepared for supper. The kitchen cabinets were fully-stocked with food enough for two weeks, maybe even more.

Realizing that Colin was taking forever to wake up, and she was extremely hungry from all the cleaning, she ate by herself and slumped on the bed beside Colin in exhaustion.

Colin woke up with an aching head before dawn the next day. He took the time to thinking why, then he remembers scouring the house for a pail. And again, he found himself in the grasp of Olivia, who looked very much exhausted. Their arms were wrapped around each other without a clue of how it got there. Gently, he raises her arm and quietly stands up, tiptoeing his way out of the bedroom.

What he saw next both shocked and surprised him. Unlike the dusty, old cottage he came across when he arrives, the cottage was clean and astoundingly beautiful. It was all cleaned, by Olivia, all by herself.

Colin felt guilty having to leave everything to Olivia, herself. He knew that he never did well in household things likw cleaning and most especially cooking. But this was different though. Olivia, his wife, suffered all alone cleaning probably until late last night, while he was asleep in comfort.

So then an idea comes in mind... He wanted to cook for Olivia, after all, how hard could it be?

Not even half an hour later was Olivia awaken with the sound of clatter and pots from the kitchen. She immediately noticed that Colin was no longer beside her, that he could be the source of all that noise.

Olivia quickly stood up, followed by the sound of breaking plates and falling kitchenwares. She ran off to the kitchen, stopping by the kitchen hall and laughing.

She saw Colin in a panic, trying to fry her up a few things. And a lot of broken eggs on the floor. "How long have you been awake?" She asked.

"Not too long ago," he replied, with his eyes glued to the burning egg. "God!" He exclaimed.

Olivia did try to step in, but Colin kept to his pride and served his wife almost burnt eggs, with a bit of charring on the edges of it. She giggled one more time before picking up the fork and giving it a try.

She inhaled a big breath one last time before finally tasting it. "It has an interesting flavor," she comments.

It gives Colin a ray of hope and smiles. "Thank you, it was my first time cooking."

"As well as your last." He frowned while she giggled. "You are cleaning your own mess." She then excuses herself afterwards.

Colin did clean his catastrophic breakfast setting. He wiped and swiped the kitchen down, and not well at that.

He tried to look for Olivia after cleaning, but she was nowhere to be seen inside the house. So he stepped out back, there was nothing in the garden but uncut grass and a tall tree. "Olivia," he called. "Are you there?"

"I'm here." She replied, but she was still nowhere to be seen.

Colin looked around. "Where?"

"Look up." She ordered.

He did see her waving, sitting on a branch of a tree. "Olivia, that's dangerous. Get down from there."

"I can see the village from here." She said. "Come up here."

Colin shook his head. "I'd rather not."

"Colin, don't be such a puss." Laughing, Olivia jumped off the tree.

Colin almost had a heart attack, he ran to Olivia who was shaking leaves off herself. "Are you alright?" He asked.

"I'm perfect, and you?" With a bit of sarcasm in her tone.

"You frightened me."

Colin was never outgoing as a child, he prefered books over toys. He didn't like running or playing or climbing up trees or pestering his busy parents. He was always in his best behavior. So, he was reminded of what he missed it out on as a child.

"Come," Said Olivia. "I'll make us a cup of tea and make decent breakfast from the kitchen cabinets."

Colin smiled, thinking that he wasn't filled from breakfast earlier, the one he's made by himself.

The next few days was quite enjoyable for the two of them. They were in a marriage with no love nor passion, but despite their situation, they were friends, close friends at that. There was never an awkward moment between them, Colin and Olivia enjoyed learning things about each other, as well as plans and dreams. They were always on a constant friendly debate, which made days exciting.

During the past days, they stayed at home with warm cups of tea on the sitting room with topics of their very different childhood. They would always talk about the things they do and how they rebelled for what they want, at least Olivia did.

They go for a short walk each day at dawn with their hands entwined with each other, but it gave no meaning, yet.

Even sleeping was always comfortable and warm beside each other. They sleep with their arms wrapped around their bodies, sharing the same heat beneath the same blanket. And even if they weren't, they'd find themselves in the position when morning arrives.

Colin stirred noticing the weight on top of his bare chest, last night he and Olivia found a stash of liquor and decided to celebrate the one week anniversary of their marriage. Though he couldn't remember anything much from last night, he was sure that they drank every drop of liquor there is. Rubbing his eye clear, he quickly notices that Olivia was naked and he gasps.

"Olivia." He tries shaking her awake. "Olivia, wake up."

Olivia raises her head and stares at him directly, without knowledge of what they've done. "Good morning," she says with a smile.

"What happened last night?" He whispered in a panicking tone. "What did we do?"

She looks around to find her clothes scattered on the bedroom floor and shrieks. "Colin, what did we do?"

"I don't know, I can't remember anything." He replies.

"We were drinking... And then," she stopped. "I established a kiss, a peck, actually..."

"Can you remember anything else?" He asked.

"No, can you?" She asked back.

"We must have blacked out..." He suggested. "We finished the whole stash last night, didn't we? There were at least three bottles in the cabinets."

"Do you think we did 'it'?"