When We Were Young

Chapter 26

Six years ago (Flashback)

Paula felt depressed. No matter how much she tried, Rafael didn’t seem to notice her. His eyes had stopped seeking her out, his jaw no longer clenched when she flirted with Leandro in his presence. It was like he had stopped caring all together.

He went about doing his chores looking distracted as if something heavy weighed on his shoulders. She knew that she wasn’t the one weighing on his mind. Maybe he was missing his long-time crush, Camilla.

Every time that name popped up in her mind, an ugly feeling resembling jealousy seized her. She hated feeling this way. All her life she had got whatever she wished for and was never jealousy of anyone. In fact it was the other way around.

People envied her beauty, her model like body, lavish lifestyle, family status and her wealth. She had always wondered why people got jealousy over the things that weren’t theirs. She had looked down on people who were envious of others. But when she started falling for Rafael, she had begun to associate with the ugly feeling a lot often than she liked.

She felt envious of Camilla because she was Rafael’s crush and the one he wanted to be with. She even felt jealousy when he was friendly with the young maids of the mansion. She had never felt this way even in junior school when she had harboured a silly crush on Leandro and she had to endure seeing him flirt with the other girls at their school.

She felt pathetic and stupid that she envied a woman she had never seen in her life. She also felt frustrated that no matter how many stunts she pulled, she still couldn’t get Rafael to be hers.

That week she felt over the edge and her temper was easily aroused with the silliest of things. And now she stood in the middle of the garden, yelling at a frightened new maid who had bumped into her and spoiled her white dress with coffee.

Paula glared at the brown stain on her white dress. She closed her eyes and angrily blew away a strand of hair in her eyes. She was supposed to meet with the girls in ten minutes and now her dress was spotting a huge coffee stain. She opened her eyes and threw the maid a furious glance. The girl was almost her age.

“I am... sorry Miss Paula,” the maid stammered in a terrified voice.

“It’s your first week here and yet you are already causing trouble. Do you want to be fired?,” Paula yelled at her.

The girl’s brown eyes rounded in fear. She looked like she was a minute away from bursting into tears.

“I am sorry miss. I really didn’t see you. Please don’t fire me. I really need this job,” she pleaded in a teary voice.

Paula snickered staring at her tear stained face. She disliked people who made mistakes and then attempt to play victim. Anyone passing by would think she was abusing the girl when they see her pale and tear stained face.

“If everything could be fixed with a simple sorry, then there will be no need of the police and laws. I was about to go out and you just had to ruin my dress.”

“I can wash the dress for you. It’s a windy day. I promise it won’t take long before it dries.”

Paula glanced again at her white dress now spotting a large circle stain of brown coffee. It was the latest summer design by Palomo and it was shipped from Paris last week. She huffed out an annoyed breath.

“It’s already ruined. Nothing you do can fix it,” she said with a weary sigh.

The girl’s eyes looked desperate as she wringed her hands nervously. Paula gave out a sigh and ran a hand through her dark hair. Maybe she had gone too hard on the new maid. She opened her mouth about to tell her to leave it but the girl beat her to it.