"The water in the vase should be changed, Lucy. Also, let Dick clean up the storage room again, I don't want to see things being cluttered." When Brill comes, remember to tell him that the bushes on the east side of the garden should be trimmed."
Having said that, she stopped and reached out to wipe the window sill, then nodded to the maid beside her: "Well done."
"Miss Anne..." The other maid hurried over at this moment, with a hesitant look as if she wanted to say something but didn't dare.
Annie frowned, then sighed again: "Is she not up yet?"
The other party shook his head.
"So... did she..." Annie gestured with a wry smile.
"No, I knocked on the door twice and came down after a muffled sound." The maid shook her head and added: "Actually, Miss Angela will apologize to us in private, but..."
"Okay, Verina, it's alright," Annie said comfortingly, "she's just tired and needs a rest. We all know that she's been so nervous in recent years that it's like clockwork, and she'll be fine when she takes a good rest for a while. already."
She said that she raised her head and looked at the clock in the distance, sighed indistinctly, and then said to the two maids, "Well, I'll go up and see her, you can deal with other things first. What's the problem? I'll talk about it when I get back."
After the maid expressed her understanding, Annie went upstairs, and soon she came outside Angela's room. Knocked twice, but there was no response inside. Annie tried to twist the door handle, but unexpectedly, the door opened with a click.
"Angie?" Annie stuck her head out and tried to cry. There was no sound in the dimly lit room. She turned sideways and let the light from the door shine in before she saw the person curled up on the bed.
With a sigh in her heart again, Annie picked up the pillow that fell on the ground and put it on the bed: "Angie, it's time to get up."
The man in the quilt uttered a few meaningless syllables, turned over and then stopped moving.
Annie shook her head and took a few steps to the front of the balcony and opened the thick curtains, and the bright and dazzling sunlight suddenly filled the dim bedroom. There was a painful moan from the bed, followed by a sullen voice: "Who told you to open the curtains!"
"It's 11 o'clock soon, Angie," Annie looked worriedly at Angela, who was covering her eyes with her hands. "It's not good for your body to lie in bed for a long time and do nothing."
Angela didn't answer. She covered her eyes for a while before sitting up slowly, slightly tidied up her pajamas and leaned against the head of the bed. His long golden brown hair was messily draped over his shoulders, his brows were always slightly wrinkled, his slightly opened eyes did not have the slightest light, and his sleepy appearance seemed to have completely lost his vitality.
"Occasionally it's no big deal..." she mumbled, as if answering to Annie or as if to herself.
"Occasionally?" Annie smiled bitterly, "You've been like this for more than half a month, Angie."
Angela opened her mindless eyes and glanced at her, then got out of bed and slowly walked to the door of the balcony. After raising her hand to block the dazzling sunlight, she said casually again: "So what? It's only half a month. Am I so tired that I can't even rest?"
"But..." An anxious look flashed in Annie's eyes, "You have to do something, right? Playing the piano or writing and drawing, this will also make it easier for you to quickly enter the state when making movies or music in the future."
"Convenient to enter the state in the future?" Angela suddenly laughed nervously, "What else do I need to do? Tell me, Annie, what else do I need to do? I am the youngest best director in the Oscars, and I am from the United States. National idol, I have unparalleled achievements, I am the third richest person in the world! Tell me, what more do I need to do?!"
The voice got louder and louder, and there was even a bit of madness in it. Finally, she was able to restrain herself. After speaking like a vent, she took a breath and slowly returned to the bed and lay down: "Pull... let me Get some sleep."
Annie covered her mouth sadly, closed the curtains for Angela silently, and left the bedroom. Going downstairs to the uninhabited room, she immediately held her face and sighed deeply. She was so confused that she didn't know what to do.
"Why, isn't she up yet?" Alize suddenly pushed open the door and came in. Seeing that Annie was arranging her grooming in shock, she frowned suddenly - her expression was somewhat richer in front of Annie.
"Okay, Annie, don't be sad." She walked over and hugged him comfortably.
"I'm very worried, Lily, if Angie continues like this, I don't know what will happen." Annie hugged Alizee with a wry smile, as if she wanted to draw some strength from her, "On her 25th birthday, apart from us No one around, this is the first time I've been with her."
"As long as she wants, she can hold a grand party at any time." Alizee said sarcastically, the word "grand" was very heavy.
"Don't do this, Lily." Annie shook her head sadly, "You know why."
Ellie pursed her lips, then snorted coldly and said, "Let her go, Annie, it's not the first time this has happened, and she will survive it herself. As long as she doesn't reflect on her own faults, this kind of thing will happen sooner or later. It's going to happen again, are you worried? Look how much she gave up for a best director!"
"Lily!" Annie shouted loudly, and her face became unsightly. "I thought you've been by her side more than me in the past few years. You should know Angie better than me!"
"Am I wrong? Isn't this the truth?" Alizee also became a little angry, "Let's not say what you can help her, how long can you help her? Has she accepted your kindness? Always in your heart..."
She said angrily and made a gesture that both of them understood, then put her head aside.
Anne was silent for a few seconds, then stared at Alizee and asked softly, "What about you, Lily? Why are you so angry? Are you dissatisfied with me? Or are you… "
"Enough!" Alize interrupted Annie's words abruptly. Her chest kept heaving, and even her face flashed a blush. The expression of gritted teeth was very different from the usual expressionless iceberg women. Alizee like this has never appeared in front of others - including Angela.
The room suddenly fell silent, and the two women pursed their lips and looked at each other without speaking. After a long time, Alize turned around and walked out, and said in a tone that restored indifference: "That's it, remember to remind Angie, if you don't need it, open the letter of dismissal. I have been idle for a long time."
After Alizee quickly walked out of the room, Annie held her face again with a wry smile, but when she let go of her hands and walked out of the room, she turned into the capable housekeeper again.
"Are you up, Angie?" As soon as she came to the living room, she saw Angela who was coming down the stairs, and suddenly smiled. Although Angela still looked sluggish, and wore a simple short-sleeved T-shirt and fat trousers, she was always much better after grooming than when she was leaning on the bed.
"Get up." Angela replied briefly and went straight to the back of the bar's counter. After finding the glass, she added a few ice cubes, and then took a bottle of whisky and poured it down. But then a hand came over and rudely snatched the cup from her hand, and the amber liquid even spilled some on the counter.
"What are you doing!" Angela turned back angrily and glared at Annie.
"You just got up, and drinking on an empty stomach is not good for your health." Annie put the glass aside and looked at her and said plainly, but the lack of discussion in her tone was very obvious.
"I don't know when you started to play the role of my mother." Angela said sarcastically.
"If necessary, I will call Mrs. Elena." Anne remained calm.
"You!" Angela's lips trembled slightly, and she didn't speak for a while.
"There is time to drink, not necessarily now." Annie put on a consoling tone.
Angela looked at Annie who was holding on in front of her, then looked at the cup not far away, bit her lip and finally softened: "Got it."
Annie breathed a sigh of relief in her heart. Such disputes have happened many times, and each time it ended with her making concessions. Now she doesn't plan to accommodate any more, but fortunately Angela didn't get angry because of it, which made her more confident.
"Let's go to the restaurant, I'll let Faure make lunch right away, what would you like to have? How about spaghetti with pine nuts and sliced apple pie?" Annie, who put on a smile, said in a brisk tone, "If you want to try 'East Bao Jiqing'—well, I still don't speak Chinese—I can try to do it for you, but I'm afraid it's only half as good as Mrs. Martha."
Angela didn't speak, just looked at Annie steadily, and didn't turn her eyes away for a while.
Annie's heartbeat could not help a little faster, she took a few short breaths secretly, and asked in a joking tone, "Why, do I look like spaghetti pine nuts?"
Angela tilted the corners of her mouth slightly in response, and then walked into the restaurant: "Then let's 'Kung Pao Chicken', I will eat whatever you fry it."
"No problem!" Annie, who was slightly relieved, then walked to the kitchen.
The whole afternoon was still spent in the garden bored. Angela often sat in the garden in recent days with a distracted gaze. Basically, she sat for an afternoon and never talked to anyone.
But the difference today is that Annie would talk to Angela from time to time, and she, who was very familiar with Angela, could always leave before the other party showed an impatient look, and then came over to talk about some topics after she regained her composure.
Yet Alizee kept pouring cold water on her.
"It's useless at all, just look at her appearance. Besides, will you accompany her when she goes out, especially at night? Will she allow you to accompany her?" she said.