The Beauty In Our Scars.

Taking off the veil.

Mandy walked calmly towards the door of the room the following morning, she took a deep breath and stretched out her fist a bit and knocked on the door. She knocked about once or twice but there was no answer.

"Mr Craig, can I come in?" Mandy asked, she then heard slight sounds coming from inside the room, she couldn't comprehend it at first but soon, they began to make a little sense.

"Is he trying to get rid of me?" Mandy scoffed and then laughed,

"Well not today" she said cheerfully as she picked up a key from inside of her apron. She looked at the single key inbetween her fingers and smiled mischievously. She slid the key into the lock and turned it, the door budged and she slightly pushed the door open. Just as Mandy creeped into the room and looked around, her eyes widened in shock and suprise, she immediately gasped and instantly, Craig turned his head, immediately he noticed Mandy standing a few feets away from him he gasped too as he scrambled to cover himself with anything he could lay his hands on.

"How on earth did you get in here?!" Craig screamed.

"I I I... I'm sorry" Mandy stammered as she turned her head away from Craig. Her heart raced and no matter how hard she tried to erase the memory of what she saw, the picture only became more prominent in her head. While Craig struggled to get a robe on, Mandy continued to back Craig but her mind continued to reminisce about what she just saw earlier. Despite Craig's haggard appearance, his body was pretty much sexy, like that of a model. As she stood there daydreaming, she didn't know when she began to drool over the image in her head.

"You can turn" Craig softly, immediately Mandy snapped out of her fantasy and turned to Craig.

"I'm so sorry sir, I didn't see anything, I swear" Mandy said hastily in a bid to prove nothing serious happened. Craig watched her with a blank expression before he cut her short.

"You don't need to tell me you didn't see anything if you really didn't" Craig responded coldly, Mandy was left speechless as her brow furrowed in frustration.

"Anyways, how did you find your way into my room? I thought I told you not to come here again" Craig asked. Mandy took a deep breath before raising her head and making eye contact with Craig.

"This isn't just about loosing my job Sir, it's about loosing a roof over my head. I have nowhere to go, I ran away from an abusive household and wandered around the city a place to lay head. Now I got an opportunity to not just have a roof over my head, but a good meal and a clean cloth, I can't just leave, if I stop working, I cease to have my basic needs met" Mandy said calmly, Craig looked at her, he couldn't find words to express his thoughts, he didn't even have any thoughts to express. He just looked at the beautiful redhead blankly.

"I can't leave even if you tell me too, at least not for now" Mandy continued. Craig stared at her for a few minutes, his mind and conscience battling with him. Unlike most of the maids he had in the past, there was something different about this young lady in front of him. She seemed thorough, smart and quite stubborn. She was an interesting character and even though he hated to admit it, she had been a bit of a distraction these past few days from the gloomy life he had cut out for himself. After looking at Mandy for about five minutes, Craig cleared his throat. Mandy stood upright, as if she was awaiting a final verdict.

"I really do not want people around me, but I find you quite interesting. I'll let you work here for three months, after which I'll make up my mind on whether or not I want you around me" Craig said calmly. Mandy's face brightened, a smile spread across her lips as she bumped her fist into the air in excitement.

"Thank you Mr Craig, you won't regret it I promise you" Mandy said excitedly but before she could say another word, Craig wheeled himself to the balcony. Mandy looked at him and smiled,

"I'll go to the kitchen and get you breakfast" Mandy announced, Craig didn't say a word as he stared blankly into the open space. Mandy smiled again,

"I'll take that as a yes" she muttered as she slowly walked out of the room.

The day ran faster than ever and in no time, darkness began to set in. Mandy had just served Craig his dinner, she stood a mile away as she watched him eat. Craig ate a few spoons from his dinner before he stopped and turned to Mandy.

"Aren't you going to sit down or something?" He asked coldly. Mandy gave him a weird smile,

"I'm okay sir, there would be no need" she answered gracefully.

"You either get out or you sit down, you choose" Craig said bluntly. Mandy nodded hastily and quickly grabbed a seat from the corner of the room and sat on it. Craig continued to eat his meal graciously while Mandy watched him. She couldn't help but look keenly at Craig, despite his present appearance and tatteredness, she could still see his composure and elegance from the way he ate his meals. She couldn't help but pity him, he was really now a shadow of himself and it was a sad sight for Mandy.

"Aren't you done staring?" Craig asked, immediately Mandy snapped out of her trance.

"I wasn't staring Sir, I was just...." Mandy tried to explain before Craig cut her short.

"I'm not interested young lady. Anyways, I'm done with the meal, you may leave now" Craig said calmly. Mandy stood up and hastily tried to clean up his table but she stood as soon as she started, she noticed he barely ate anything from the small portion he was served. Immediately Mandy turned back, she noticed Craig wasn't in the room anymore, Mandy lifted her head a little bit more and saw the door which led to balcony was open. Mandy sighed and shook her head a bit.

"He didn't eat again, he doesn't even touch his breakfast and lunch" Mandy muttered, she sighed again and decided to go to the balcony. When she got to the door, she looked at Craig for about a minute, then she took a deep breath and walked up to him. Craig heard the footsteps approaching him but he didn't budge,

"What is it?" He asked coldly.

"Sir, I want to talk about something" Mandy answered softly. Craig kept silent for a minute before he spoke again.

"Out with it" he finally said, Mandy took a deep breath, she was about to say something that might upset Craig and threaten her stability but suprisingly, she felt she needed to speak up.

"Sir I observed something" Mandy started. "You hardly eat, you don't groom, you don't go out. You just sit outside from dawn to dusk, it concerns me Sir" Mandy said, even she was surprised at how much she had spoke, she clenched her fists in fear.

"And how is that any of your concern?" Craig asked coldly.

"It might not be my concern Sir, but you are beating yourself up too much, you can't continue like this" Mandy answered. Just then, Craig turned viciously, anger burning in his eyes like wild Fire. Mandy was terrified at the sight of him, she stood there, frozen at the spot.

"You do not have the slightest idea of what I have been through, you know nothing! Besides who do you think you are? What gives you the right to?" Craig screamed before Mandy cut him shut.

"I haven't had it easy all my life, I never got the chance to get whatever I wanted, rather I was raised to clean up after other people all my life and still get abused for not doing a proper job, I have tasted the hard life but I was always optimistic. I think it's high time you learned that too, pardon my manners, but I had to tell you the truth" Mandy said firmly, Craig just watched her, anger still filled in his eyes but this time, it was a bit subtle. Mandy slowly retreated and walked back into the room, she couldn't believe herself, she had said too much.

"Good lord, I'll likely get fired for this" she muttered as she solemnly picked up the tray and without wasting more time, she swiftly left the room. Craig on the other hand couldn't believe everything he had just heard. He wasn't just talked back at, but the audacity Mandy displayed was beyond shocking. Her words pierced the very essence of his soul, despite how angry Craig was, he couldn't retaliate. He hadn't had someone speak to him in such way, for the first time in a long while, he felt an urge to do something, he didn't know what it was but he wanted to do something.