Story: Daphe and the White Apron. Part 8 - Final.

by Monica Graz

8.1

“Inspection time girls!” Mme Ahmad said clapping her hands and both Rosie and Lita run from the kitchen to the central hallway. They both were dressed in a formal black and white uniform, elegant but quite conservative, the hem of their dresses a couple of inches below the knee. A smart white half apron and a small white cap completed the outfit.

They arrived in front of Mme Ahmad and curtseyed as she looked at them critically.

“Yes, you both look very dapper and professional and you smell nicely as well,” she said giving a side look at Lita who blushed remembering how she was chastised earlier for being a bit smelly. This time she added plenty of arm deodorant and light lavender cologne that Rosie provided.

Mme looked at the clock and added, “In a few minutes the guests will start arriving. You Lita will stand by the door and welcome them with a slight curtsey, nothing theatrical, just a small bob and then take their coats, bags or whatever else they pass to you. I’ll be behind you to greet them.  As I told you already Mr. Ahmad will come directly from the office with a group of his colleagues.”

Then turning to Rosie, she continued, “Rosie you will start circulating among the guests with a tray of champagne, orange and apple sparkling juice. I expect that half of our guests will stay out of alcohol.”

“Yes Mme,” both maids said in unison as she dismissed them with her hand.

Lita moved behind the main apartment door waiting for the bell to ring with mixed feelings.  

She was worried that someone among the guests could potentially recognise her and tell her father. She couldn’t even start thinking about the implications of such a possibility. She looked again at the large mirror by the entrance and a smart but fairly plain looking maid looked back at her. She liked what she saw; her submissive fantasy was in full swing now as for the first time she was dressed formally in the black and white outfit. Wasn’t that her ultimate dream after all?

At that moment she nearly jumped as the bell rang. She took a big breath and opened the door with a smile in her face.  Mr Ahmad with a group on two men and a woman behind  stood by the door. She hastily bobbed and let them in.

He completely ignored her and rushed to greet his wife with a slight kiss. Lita in the meantime was busy collecting whatever was passed to her, some bags and coats that she took them immediately to the small wardrobe by the guests’ bathroom.  In the mean time she heard Mr. Ahmad’s booming voice as he was addressing his wife, “I certainly made an effort to be here before the arrival of the other guests, so now I can be in the reception committee right next to you dear. You know Alan, Chris and Zetta from the office of course.”

“Please come all in and get a drink,” Mme Ahmad answered jovially and she motioned to Rosie to approach with her tray. Then she turned to Lita who was standing in attention by the door. “I hope you remembered to hang up all the coats properly Lita.”

“Yes Mme, of course,” she answered with another bob as she heard Mr. Ahmad telling to his wife. “Ah, Lita is her name then, I couldn’t remember it as I came in. She looks quite smart in her formal uniform darling; you are so good in training them properly.” 

At that moment the bell rang again and more people arrived. Lita started to count them; she remembered that they were expecting 12 people in total, excluding the Ahmads. They would all sit to a 14 people formal dinner. Now she remembered that at the last minute Mme Ahmad put on the large dinner table little cards with the names of the guests allocating their seats. She regretted now that she hadn’t sneakily looked at them.

Within the next 10 minutes ten people have arrived but Miss Magda and another person were still expected. 

She was very curious to see if Miss Magda would be escorted by a gentleman, she had no idea what her private life was, in particular after she became a maid and Magda started socialising, madly trying to mix with the upper echelons of the London social scene.

The bell rang again. Lita feeling more relaxed now thinking that the risk of being recognised as Daphne had practically vanished opened the door with a beaming smile to greet her mentor and friend.

Yes, Magda was standing in front of her very elegantly dressed smiling back at her.

“Hello Lita, you look very smart this evening in your formal uniform, the picture of domesticity.”

Lita bobbed and said, “Thank you Miss Magda, I love my uniform and you look very beautiful tonight.” 

Then she raised her eyes to greet the man who was hiding behind her all that time and she nearly fainted from shock. The man who was looking at her, a big smile in his handsome suntanned face was no other than her father, the famous ship-owner and great womaniser Andreas Arnellos himself!

“Papa what on earth are you doing here?” she started whispering but at this moment and as Mme Ahmad was approaching fast to greet them Magda managed to say to her in a low voice, “Act normally as if nothing unusual happens, your father knows everything and approves, I’ll explain everything later.”

And as Lita, knees trebling and blushing all over, started to collect their coats her father turned to her and said smiling, “Lita is your name isn’t it girl? I heard Magda calling you that. That name brings back memories to me; we used to have a Filipina maid called Lita years ago, my daughter Daphne used to be very fond of her.”

Lita’s jaw fell open as Magda managed to wink at her. At that moment Mme Ahmad was there greeting Magda warmly, “Hello my dear, I’m glad you managed to make it.”

“Hello Leila,” Magda said giving a small kiss to Mme Ahmad and then turning towards Mr. Arnellos she said, “May I present to you Mr. Andreas Arnellos, he is an old friend of mine from the years I was working in Greece. He is here for a few days on business.”

“Glad to meet you Mr. Arnellos, are you in shipping? Let me introduce you to my husband.” Mme was saying and Lita was listening with an open mouth holding the coats in her hands. No mention of the apartment up the road, no mention of her father being the owner of that apartment where she was ‘playing the maid’ during the past few months. And where on earth her father was staying if he was already in London during the past few days?

Mme turned and looked at her sternly, “Lita don’t stand there looking like a moron, take those coats to the wardrobe and then go and help Rosie with the drinks. Move on girl.”

Lita blushing all over curtseyed and said, “I’m sorry Mme, I was absent minded.” And as she rushed towards the wardrobe she saw both her father and Magda looking quite amused as she was told off by Mme.

Later as she was circulating, tray in hand, she was watching the dynamics of the various small groups as they were chatting. Her father was talking very amicably with Mr. Ahmad obviously on some sort of business scheme; Magda was still next to Mme Ahmad as they were circulating together talking to the other guests. She also has noticed the amorous looks that her father exchanged from a distance with Magda. And then in dawned on her, they were lovers! Her father and Magda had an affair. How stupid of her not to understand it earlier. 

She nearly dropped the tray as she murmured to herself, “Oh my God! What a mess I’m in.”

At that moment she felt Rosie next to her whispering, “Come back to your senses girl, what on earth happened to you, you behave like you have seen a ghost, Mme has been watching you.”

“I’m a bit tired Rosie, I’ll try to concentrate more.” She whispered back. And then both started circulating again, a false smile on their faces, until Mme asked the guests to move next door to the dining room. Dinner was about to be served.

8.2

It was past midnight and an exhausted Lita still dressed in her formal uniform was sitting in the Arnellos residence kitchen table facing Miss Magda who was sitting opposite her. Both were slowly sipping from mugs of steaming tea.

Lita still very confused and unsettled after the sudden appearance of her father at the Ahmads’ dinner party and his hasty departure as soon as the dinner had finished was very eager to find out from Magda what was really happening.

Magda looked at her sympathetically and started to talk, “I guess I owe you an explanation Lita of what happened tonight at the dinner party and how Daphne’s father decided to make this sudden appearance in the Ahmads’ residence.”  In her usual way she persisted in separating Daphne the rich heiress from Lita the humble and poor maid.

Lita couldn’t hold herself any longer and finally exploded, “Where is my father Magda, why didn’t he come to stay in here? Did he fly back to Greece? I tried his mobile before but there was no answer.”

Magda maintaining her calm continued, “If you let me talk I’ll explain everything, just pay attention girl!”

Lita, looking down at her uniform dress and apron and remembering that she still was the maid answered in a soft voice, “Sorry Miss, please tell me what is happening.”

“Ok then, here is the story,” Magda started, “A few weeks after you decided to become Lita and leave Daphne and her life behind and especially after you started working as a housemaid at the Ahmad residence I thought that it was getting too risky for both of us to keep it secret, so I decided to tell Daphne’s father what was happening and how Lita emerged from Daphne’s ashes like a phoenix.”

As Magda stopped to have a sip from her tea, Lita got her chance and asked boldly, “Do you have an affair with my father Magda? I saw you both exchanging amorous glances during the dinner party earlier today.”

Magda blushing but keeping her cool answered, “Yes Lita I am romantically involved with Andreas for some time now. We started our little affair when I was still in Mykonos. I know him though, I know he is a ladies’ man and we will not be together for ever but at the moment we have a great time together. I hope that answers your question Lita.”

Lita stunned by the directness of Magda’s reply simply said, “Thank you for letting me know, after all it is your and my father’s private life and I have no saying in this.”

“I’m glad you think that way and I also think that as Lita the maid you should take your distances from Daphne and the Arnellos family for the time being anyway. I believe that this is what you decided some time ago yourself isn’t it?”

“Yes, being Lita is my decision and I don’t regret it so far; it opened other unknown and very often peculiarly exciting paths in my life” Lita answered “But I still want to know where my father stands now that he knows.”

“Fair enough,” Magda said, “Daphne’s father is not concerned or worried about Lita’s appearance, on the contrary he thinks it might be beneficial for you. Mr. Arnellos as you know better than me is a very shrewd man and he could tell that during the past year or so you have been struggling without any serious enthusiasm to write your dissertation being at the edge of depression. In a way it was good that you were obliged to stop it because of your supervisor’s unfortunate accident. So, rest assured that he is not looking down at you.”

She stopped for another sip of her tea giving Lita the chance for another question, “But why he is not staying here? Is he still in London, doesn’t he want to talk to me face to face?”

Magda smiled benignantly, “He is still in London he stays in his Club for a few days but he thinks it is not the time for a face to face talk with you. This is the reason you can’t find him in his mobile. He came to the Ahmads dinner party to see you in action as a maid and he was very impressed. He saw in you a different person, motivated and full of energy even if that energy was the humble energy of a maidservant.”

Once again Lita had mixed feelings, she was hurt that her father refused to see her but also relieved that he was not appalled by her decision to be a maid. And she knew that deep down he was right. She never felt so positive for a long time. She was full of vitality and looking down at her apron once more, proud to be a maid.

Magda’s voice brought her back to reality, “Mr. Arnellos whom you should see from now on as your principal employer gave me ‘carte blanche’ to deal with you if you want to continue to be Lita the maid. That means that I’ll be your direct employer and you will refer to me for anything that concerns you and your work. You are fully employed as a maid in this house and you will receive a monthly salary for that. Working outside this home, like now being a housemaid for the Ahmads 3 days a week, has to be approved by me. Are you ok with all that so far?” 

The familiar excitement butterflies in Lita’s stomach appeared to be very strong again, her submissive genes were kicking on. She was going to be properly employed as a maid in her father’s or rather Mr. Arnellos’ London residence with his approval and Miss Magda would be her formal employer? What a turn of tables was that!

She hesitantly answered, “Yes Miss Magda, I’m ok with that.”

“You will continue to go to the Ahmads three times a week and you will continue to fraternise with Rosie and improve your Tagalog. I already talked to her and she will make certain that when you are working together she will talk to you only in Tagalog. And of course, you have to lose your educated English, you already have been trying to do that with Mme Ahmad. This had to become a second nature to you. I expect you to talk more pidgin English with me in this house as well. Is that clear girl?” Magda continued her tone now becoming more authoritative.

Now all the submissive buttons were pushed by Magda and Lita furiously blushing lowered her eyes and looking down at her aproned lap whispered, “Yes Miss Magda, it is all very clear.”

“Good, I’m glad we understand each other Lita,” Magda said and added mischievously, “And if you behave yourself and are a good maid I might authorise some working vacations for you.” 

Lita looked at her confused, “Vacations? What vacations Miss?”

“Well, the Ahmads are going to spend a month in Qatar at the end of the schools’ season which is happening in a couple of weeks and asked me if I can spare you for that time so you can follow them as their second maid because Rosie is of course going. Would you like that?”

Lita was speechless. Going to Qatar as a maid for an Arab family? That would/could be her ultimate dream or nightmare? Whatever it was it would certainly be a very interesting experience.  She answered a bit hesitantly this time, “Yes, that would be interesting, I guess I’d love to live that experience. But I would need some proper papers to travel. What passport for instance?”

“Yes, I thought of that already. Mr. Arnellos has some useful contacts in the right places and they will be able to provide proper identification for you. I’ll know more in a couple of days.” Magda said as she looked at her wrist watch.

“Well, I’m dead tired and so you must be. Let’s call it a night. You have lots to do in this house tomorrow, it looks a bit abandoned at the moment. So be up bright and early put one of your morning uniforms on and bring me a cup of tea at about 8.00am. Good night girl”

Magda got up and at the same time Lita shot up as well and said with a small curtsey, “Good night Miss, thank you for putting my mind at ease, I look forward to that trip to Qatar.”

“Pidgin English please Lita, forget your posh accent,” were Magda’s parting words. 

THE END

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