Chapter 55: Conflict (2)
"Well, there is something that does not make sense happening here. There are people who have been here longer than Annalise and actually do their jobs, yet we have not been given the same chances as you. Lady Beatrice, I can stomach and even Giselle, but the duke shows up, and you were suddenly there to serve him with Mavis? I am not a fool. Where are you going?" Aria asked when Annalise started to walk away from her.
Annalise stopped walking and turned to look at Aria and Cara. Aria took a step back as if she were worried that Annalise was going to do something to her, and Cara looked to be in disbelief since they had gone from talking about the duke to this.
"You’ve obviously got your mind made up, and I am not in the mood to stand here and hear it. If this has been on your mind since Beatrice was here, you could have come to me and spoken about it. I now wonder if when I asked you when we all serve together was your attempt to set me up," Annalise said, remembering the slight mistake she made when serving Beatrice dinner.
Aria had told her to watch Mavis when they were meant to watch Edwin. Annalise thought nothing of it then, and she wasn’t going to dive too deep into it now, but she was aware of Aria now. A friend who let her jealousy get the better of her and tried to sabotage her friend.
It was annoying for Annalise since she had done nothing special to serve Beatrice and the duke. Beatrice simply liked something she said, and it wasn’t like she was still serving the duke now. She brought them a drink and glasses, then left. As for Rafael, she was trying to get him to stop watching her to see what she was doing.
No one would ever believe it, but she had wanted to lay low.
She didn’t have it as easy as Aria thought since she was outside chasing after chickens not long ago. With some luck, Rafael was there to help her. At this point, Annalise believed she could stand still, and be given a special guest to serve, and others would think she did something more.
"I am not going to explain myself to you, so believe what you want though I believe it is a waste of your time and energy. Just know that I will be watching you now that I know there is some hatred and jealousy there. I considered you a friend, and if you were to be picked to serve the young master’s guest, I would have been happy for you. It’s a shame I can’t get that from you. I am tired of this," Annalise said, continuing to walk away.
Being at odds over something like this was foolish in her eyes. She expected this from Laura or Tanya, but not from Aria, whom she spent a lot of time with in the two weeks she was here.
Annalise now felt like she had strayed from her plans by forming unnecessary friendships with some of the people here. These friendships were never going to last anyway. Sooner or later, she had to leave everyone she came to know here and forget about them.