Chapter four

Two weeks had passed. They had been surprisingly quick, but boring. Fora had a lot of jobs in the palace. Jobs that didn't always involve Krystal. It was tiring, but at east it kept her busy and away from Krystal.

Surprisingly, that wasn't the main problem with being a maid nowadays. The maid problem was that Flora didn't have any friends. Mainly because most of the people in the palace were ten years older than her, which meant she was basically alone. She hated it, she was starting to get bored, having no one to talk to. It didn't really help her that Krystal didn't allow her to see Helia, which was understandable after what happened in the park. Apparently Krystal was furious that Helia carried Flora instead of her, so she kept them away from each other. Flora actually started to miss him...

"Flora, come here!" The head maid yelled.

She – Ms. Rose – was the head maid at the palace, she made sure every one did their job and whatnot. She was really annoying. She ordered Flora around as much as Krystal. There were always maids with her, but yet she had to call Flora for every single thing.

Flora walked to the hallway where Ms. Rose was. She was holding a mop and bucket, wearing a smile.

Forcing a smile, Flora asked: "What is it, Ms. Rose?"

"Mop the floor." She said, handing me the mop and bucket. "Down in the main hall."

Flora took the mop from her and left. She didn't care if she lacked manners of saying anything back to her. I had never cleaned so much as I cleaned here in my eighteen years of living, and only two weeks had passed. A part of her was scared for her energy levels at the end of the year.

Flora walked down the long spiraling staircase and into the main hall. To her surprise, Flora saw Helia sitting on a beige couch at the side of the large spectacular hall. A small smile formed on her face, but she soon realized it was better to just ignore him. Krystal wrath was not something Flora wanted to face.

She walked to the back corner of the hallway and began mopping. Her ears burned for some reason. Probably because this was the first time he would see her working like this. That fact disgusted her.

"It's been a while." Flora heard him say.

Without looking up she nodded. "It has."

"Do you need help?"

She shook her head and kept on working. Krystal did actually scare her a lot. In the past two weeks, Flora had seen her throw a couple of tantrums. They were quite terrifying because she threw things around and screamed at the top of her lungs. Flora had found herself wanting to go in fetal position.

After a minute of silence, Flora heard Helia beside her. "Why won't you talk to me?"

She looked at him wide-eyed, surprised, shocked even. "Aren't you scared of.." She looked from left-to-right, then lowered her voice. "Krystal?"

He found that hilarious and began to laugh. Flora felt embarrassed, so she glared at him while he just laughed.

"I'm sorry." He apologized once he calmed down. "Why would I be scared of her? She's a whiny baby who thinks the world revolves around her."

Flora's eyes widened even more. "She happens to be your girlfriend too."

She didn't know why she was defending Krystal. Probably because she was tired of these types of guys. She never understood why someone would be with another person they could talk so awful about. Didn't they care about that person? If not, why be with them?

He simply shrugged, changing the subject to his desire. "You know my offer still stands."

Flora stared at him blankly for a bit, unsure of what he meant. Then it hit her.

"It's still a no from me." She replied, rolling her eyes.

"Why?" He asked frowning.

"I don't even know you."

"Sure you do." The charming smile had made it's way back to his handsome face. Flora had to keep her head to in order to stop swooning over it. "I'm Helia."

"Wow, now I can write your autobiography." Flora sighed.

His smile grew as he ran his fingers through his lovely hair. "Fine then, lets get to know each other."

Flora didn't reply for a bit. Honestly, she did want to get to know him. He was a rich guy, but he seemed chill and different. It was bizarre, but it definitely spiked her interest.

She was about to reply, but the same annoying voice rang through the large hallway. "Helia!"

Quickly, Flora went back to work. Thankfully Helia also rushed back to the couch he was seated on moments ago. A small smile fought its way to her face as Helia winked at her the moment Krystal walked into the room.

The first think Krystal did was glare at her. She probably thought Flora was trying to steal her boyfriend from her, even though she wasn't. At least not intentionally. Helia was handsome, but Flora's intentions with him were solely friendship related. He was too good for her anyways, so it didn't matter if she wanted more. The thought gave her a sick feeling.

"What are you doing here?" Krystal asked Helia eventually.

"Waiting for you, my princess." He replied with the same smile he flashed Flora only minutes ago.

From the corner of her eye, Flora watched as he got up and pulled her into a hug. It took everything for Flora not to roll her eyes. Just a few minutes ago he was insulting her, and there he was, embracing her like she was the oxygen he needed. Guys were so two-faced at times.

"So, what have you planned for us?" Flora head him ask. She kept her gaze on the floor she was mopping, she had been cleaning the same spot for what felt the fifth time now.

Flora could practically hear Krystal smirk. "Let's go to my room."

Flora's heart sunk, knowing what she meant by that. Her mind was screaming to Helia t reject her offer. But to her disappointment he smirked and said, "Okay, let's go."

pretending to be mopping, Flora listened to them walk away. Her heart felt heavy as they climbed up the stairs. For some reason she hoped Helia was better than that. She didn't know why she was so upset about it either. Flora had been telling herself she felt nothing more than just friendship for Helia.

Sighing, she worked harder. She didn't want to think about Helia. Honestly, she wished she had a friend to take away all these thoughts.

Flora was all curled up in bed, ready for sleep to consume her. Her eyes felt heavy and her body numb from the hectic day. Right when she started to fall asleep, the door creaked open. Startled, she quickly sat up. No one entered her room without knocking. She felt anxious when a tall figure step towards her. She grabbed her pillow, taking a deep breath in, ready to fire the pillow at the intruder.

"Who are you?" She whispered.

The person didn't reply, causing her nerves to rise. Finally gaining some guts, she threw the pillow to the person with all her strength. It hit the person square in the face, right where she aimed it. A grunt filled the room and she could see the person stumble backwards a little.

"What the hell, Flora." The person hissed.

Flora's eyes widened at the familiar voice. "Helia?"

She heard the door shut, and then watched as the lights were turned on. She could see Helia clearly now. He looked the way he did last time they met at midnight – absolutely gorgeous. His smile enhanced his looks, too.

"I wanted to see you." He said quietly, sitting down on the carpet in front of her bed.

Flora rolled her eyes at him, annoyed with him after what he must have done with Krystal. "How could you leave Krystal alone after... doing that?"

"Doing what?" he asked, genuinely looking confused.

"You know... that?"

"What?"

Flora's cheeks reddened. "Hooking up."

Helia stared at her blankly, causing her cheeks to turn even more red. Eventually he burst out laughing. Surprised, she tried to quiet him down, buthe only laughed louder. He even clapped his hands together like a seal. Flora huffed with annoyance. This was so embarrassing.

"You're hilarious, you know that?" He spoke after he calmed down.

"I'm not trying to be funny."

"Okay, okay." Helia grinned. "So you think we did the dirty deed?"

"Yeah, why else would she ask you to come to her room?"

"To pick a dress for the upcoming ball." He replied, shaking his head tiredly.

Flora stared at him, shocked for a second. I'm an idiot. Suddenly, she began to laugh. Helia stared at her, shocked as she died with laughter on her bed. Tears streamed down her face as she caught the pillow Helia decided to throw back at her.

"Really?" She asked once she calmed down a bit, placing the pillow beside her.

"Yeah." He shrugged. "Apparently I have good fashion taste."

Flora giggled. "Oh my god, I can't believe it."

Helia smiled and shook his head, seeming amused. Flora then yawned tiredly. Her exhaustion levels had increased from her fits of laughter. When Helia had come here, she had forgotten about it. But now her exhaustion was hitting her harder than before.

Helia's eyes softened. "I came here to talk to you because we never finished our conversation earlier. Do you want to know me?"

Flora nodded. After today, she definitely wanted to get to know him more.

He smiled kindly. "Okay, let's save that for another day. You look tired."

"No, It's fine!" A yawn escaped her mouth and his eyes softened up more. She fely angry at herself because she did't want to let him leave.

"Flora, we have more days ahead of us. Get some rest okay? Goodnight sweetheart." He said, a tiny smirk forming on his lips.

Before she could say anything, he got up and left quietly. Flora smiled as she watched him leave. Maybe she wouldn't be so bored anymore.