The Beauty In Our Scars.

Painful Truths.

"What the hell did I just do? Mandy are you crazy?" Mandy asked herself frantically as she paced to and fro the corridor of the kitchen. She just yelled at her boss, the fact that she did it so fearlessly was what bothered her the most. She bit her lips hard as she struck her head.

"You dimwit, you are done for" she sighed.

"Mandy, come with me" A voice called out from behind. Mandy turned to see it was, and standing behind her was Mr Maurice.

"Good afternoon sir" Mandy greeted, she tried her surprise and obvious fright as she turned to greet him.

"Afternoon my dear, just follow me" Me Maurice said coldly. Mandy nodded and immediately followed Me Maurice out of the kitchen corridor.

Mandy followed Me Maurice to the top floor of the mansion and finally to the rooftop. Sitting under the cool shade with a cup of mogito was Maria, Craig's mother. Mandy's heart sank immediately she saw Maria, thoughts filled her head. She broke into a cold sweat, her finger tips grew cold and began to tremble, her eyes began to feel heavy as tears gathered her eyes, she blinked hard to make them partially disappear from sight as she slowly approached the woman.

"I called her in as you requested madam" Mr Maurice announced.

"Thank you Maurice, you may leave us" Maria said calmly. Mr Maurice nodded and walked off, leaving the two women alone.

"Good afternoon madam" Mandy greeted. Maria sipped her drink from the glass cup in front of her before she lifted her face to look at Mandy.

"Afternoon young lady, please sit" Maria said calmly as she dropped the glass on the fancy plastic table. The chilling tone of her voice sent shivers down Mandy's spine. Mandy nodded and immediately sat down on the seat in front of her. She swallowed hard and tried not to show her anxiety.

"How is it going? My son I mean" Maria asked.

"It's going well" Mandy answered calmly.

"No issues I suppose" Maria asked again.

"None at all madam. I would let you know if there are any issues" Mandy answered firmly. Maria smiled.

"This is the first time my son's housekeeper didn't quit after two weeks. It's an improvement" Maria said. Mandy lifted her face slightly to look at her, the saddness mixed with a bit of relief was evident in her eyes. Mandy on the other hand have out a sigh of relief, she thought she had been reported by Craig or something of that nature.

"Do take care of my dear boy, I know I sound desperate but for some reasons, I'm really at ease with you being around him" Maria stated, a pale smile spread across her face as she spoke.

"I will do my best madam, I promise" Mandy responded with a cheerful smile.

"Alright then, you can go. I'm done with you" Maria said. Her cold expression and chilling tone returned immediately, like she just changed costumes. Mandy stood up from her seat and bowed before walking away. Maria turned towards the setting sun in the sky and sipped her glass of mogito again.

Craig had been sitting outside for a longtime after Mandy had left. His eyes fixed on the beautiful bolivards in the garden of the premises, but his heart and heard wandered elsewhere. Mandy's crazy display was stuck in his memory. He was angry, but at the same time, he was patrififed. He hadn't had someone talk to him this way, even his own mother wouldn't dare. He knew Mandy was a nutcase, but he didn't know she was a daredevil too. The whole idea angered and fascinated him at the same time. But then he thought of her words, it rang loud and clear in his head. He sighed, she never knew the extent of his scars, she doesn't know how betrayal and failed promises almost drove his to end his life. Soon memories began to flood into his mind, painful memories.

"Oh no, not again" Craig muttered as he shook his head in a desperate bid to make the thoughts go away. He slowly began to wheel away from the balcony and into his room. Just as he was going in, his wheel hit something. Craig slowly reversed to take a look at what it might be, he saw a magazine.

"Don't tell me she dropped his on the floor" Craig swore. He picked up the magazine to take a look at it, then his eyes sank. This was a Forbes magazine and his picture was on the front page.

"The new face of transportation technology, Craig Anderson, Chairman of TaxiLite" Craig read out. Suddenly, tears began to well up in his eyes. Memories subtly rushed in, memories he couldn't control. He remembered when he took that picture in front of the magazine. Then he was in his hay days, he never knew he would end up in a wheelchair and loosing out not just in business, but the love he once had.

"I guess I was never meant to have a happy ending" Craig said as he still stared at the magazine. A pale smile was plastered on his dry face. He carefully placed the magazine on a table beside him and wheeled himself further into the large room till he got to his bed. He stared at it for a long time, contemplating if he would lay on it or not.

It was evening already, a little around 7:30pm. Mandy was still at the door with a simple food tray on one hand and the other hand struggling to knock on the door. Her heart was beating loudly in her chest as her fist trembled. Mandy swallowed hard and took a deep breath, figuring out that she couldn't escape seeing her boss. She finally knocked softly and with a trembling voice, she announced her presence. A faint answer was heard by Mandy, so she went ahead and opened the door. Craig was in front of the television watching a comedy movie.

"Sir, I brought you dinner" Mandy announced. Craig slowly lifted his face at her and smirked. Immediately, Mandy's heart began to pound loudly in her chest again.

"Look whose here after shouting on her boss" Craig remarked. Mandy shut her eyes a bit and proceeded to the table in front of him and placed the tray on it. Slowly she stepped backwards and bowed deeply.

"Forgive me sir, I over stepped my boundaries and spoke insensitively. I'm truly sorry, I promise you, it would never happen again sir. Please" Mandy begged. Craig looked at her for about ten minutes, Mandy on the other hand stood frozen on the spot, awaiting her fate.

"Well, I'm not going to have you fired. But I don't appreciate you butting into my affairs, be sure to refrain from that" Craig said coldly and nonchalantly. He immediately uncovered the meal and began to eat without casting a glance at Mandy. Mandy on the other hand sat down on the sofa which was at the corner of the room, waiting for Craig to finish his meal. As usual, Craig didn't eat much before he shifted the tray in front him. Mandy understood the drill and stood up silently to pick the tray. Just as she stretched her hands, Craig noticed something which was too big to ignore.

"What the hell happened to your arm?" Craig asked. He hadn't seen such a scar in his whole life. Mandy dropped the tray and looked at her right arm. She smiled when she saw the scar.

"I got that scar two years ago, my stepmom gave it to me" Mandy answered calmly. Craig looked at Mandy, curiosity and shock filled his eyes.

"Mandy, sit down" Craig ordered. Mandy once again dropped the tray and walked back to the sofa where she sat down.

"How did you get that scar?" Craig asked. Mandy kept silent and bowed her head slightly.

"It's okay if you don't want to talk about it. Sorry for prying into something personal" Craig said as he turned his face away.

"I'll tell you what happened, it's not a big deal" Mandy said as she lifted her head slowly, a subtle smile spread across her lips. Craig turned his face once more and looked at her in anticipation.

"Before I came here, I lived with my stepmom and sisters. Just like the Cinderella story, I was a maid in my own home, my father had long passed. This scar is one of the many reminders of the abuse I endured while I lived with my stepmom and sisters" Mandy said.

"Why didn't you ever report these incidents or just runaway?" Craig asked. Mandy once again smiled.

"Well anytime I did, my stepmom always had an explanation for what went wrong, soon it seemed my stories were without credibility. Plus I had no place to run to. When I did find the courage, lucky I ended up here" Mandy answered. Craig was dumbfounded, he just stared at her, a stare that lasted well up to five minutes. He couldn't imagine all she went through and how she still managed to smile and get it all together.

"No wonder she fought so hard to work for me despite everything" Craig thought to himself as he stared at Mandy.

"I'm sorry about everything" Craig later managed to say. Mandy once again smiled sweetly.

"It's fine, it's all in the past now. I just have to move on and look ahead" Mandy said cheerfully. Craig smiled at her, he didn't even know when he did.

"I'll be honest, I like your spirit. It's been long I came across a crazy, daring personality like yourself, or let's say I've never really come across any. Although you got me pissed off with your words earlier, but you made some sense" Craig remarked.

"Thank you very much sir" Mandy answered with a smile.

"You can go now, I'll see you in the morning" Craig said as he wheeled off towards the balcony once more.

"Alright sir, do have a goodnight" Mandy said as she bowed, but Craig never answered. Mandy smiled a bit before she picked up the tray and headed out of the room.

Craig sat at the balcony, thinking long and hard about the words Mandy spoke to him in the morning, and her story that evening too. He also remembered the magazine he had picked up earlier and all the business interviews he granted, alongside business tips and motivations he always dropped as punchlines in his interviews. He remembered his plans, the accident, his loss and his pains. It consumed him so much, his insecurities along with it. Slowly he began to withdraw from anything in form of people, he didn't care about what he looked like anymore, soon he couldn't focus and then he couldn't do anything anymore apart from breathing. The circle became clear with each thought, it became evident to him that he never really healed, the wounds still festered. Craig let out a sigh and then began into stare at the dark sky.