The Maid's Daughter

“Amelia! Amelia! Amelia!” Benjamin burst through the cafe’s doors. Every customer’s  head snapped in his direction as he pushed past two people to the counter. Amelia’s manager glared at her. She lowered her head, blushed slightly, and walked to the last stool where he sat. 

“Benji! Benji! Benji!” She hissed through gritted teeth. 

    Benjamin reached his hand into the pocket of his coat and pulled out a small maroon ring box. He placed it on the counter with a thud. Amelia noticed his hands shaking and the sweat on his forehead despite the breezy fall weather outside. His smile, however, was never fading. Amelia reached underneath the cool metal surface, fetching a mug for Benjamin’s coffee. 

“What’s this?” She asked softly, hoping people would fall back into their conversations as quickly as they fell out of them. Amelia placed the coffee pot on the counter, leaned down onto her elbow, and picked up the box in her hands. Benjamin twitched, moving faintly to reach out and take it back. He had to shove his hands in his pockets to keep from doing it a second time as she opened the box. The large princess cut engagement ring shined brighter in the setting sun that beamed through the large windows. Amelia dropped it onto the table. She had never held something so expensive before. 

“Careful.” Benjamin yelped, catching the box before it fell to the floor. 

“Jesus, Benji.” She gasped, “Is that for Allison?”

“Of course it’s for Allison.” His eyes narrowed at her. 

“Wow,” She exhaled, grabbing the coffee pot again, “I didn’t know you two were serious.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Benjamin replaced the ring box in his coat pocket. He pushed his glasses into place while he leaned forward. 

“Nothing. Do you think she’ll say yes?” Amelia moved down the counter, refilling the empty cups. 

“Yes.”

“When are you going to ask her?”

“The end of the semester.”

“Why are you waiting so long?”

“It’s only a few months.” He protested as he stood, following her route around the small cafe. 

“When my brother bought the ring he couldn’t even wait an hour. He asked Katie in the grocery store.”

“I’m not going to propose to Allison in a grocery store.” Benjamin scoffed

“It was romantic, Benji. He couldn’t wait to spend the rest of his life with her.” Amelia grumbled. 

“Didn’t they break up before the wedding?” Amelia spun around, a look of anger on her face. Her nose scrunched up and her eyes narrowed. 

“Why are you still here?”

“Because I need my best friend right now.”

“And I love you, but I’m at work. Besides, don’t you have class?” 

“No, no,” Amelia looked past Benjamin to the clock on the wall. He glanced back and let out a small yelp, “No!” Turning back to Amelia, “I’ll call you later?”

“I get off at seven.”

“Seven.” He repeated to himself; then, pulling his coat tight around his body, ran towards the door. 

“If you’re late again they’ll throw you out!” She called after him. 

“I’ll transfer to Yale!”

“That will show them!”

“And it will drive my father mad!” Benjamin shot her a devilish grin before taking off down the street. 

    Benjamin raced through the crowded sidewalks, rushing between cars to cross the street. He could hear the bells on campus marking the hour as he bounded onward. His eyes were trained on the brick hall he was making his way towards, so he had not seen the young woman who was walking right at him. The two students collided with a smashing of heads, causing both to stumble backwards and Benjamin to fall to the ground. A sharp pain shot through his head. A low grumble ripped through his chest, an aftershock of the collision. 

“Benjamin where on earth are you running to?” Allison’s voice came from above him, “What’s this?” She asked. Benji’s eyes followed hers to the maroon box that had fallen from his coat and onto the cement beside him. Allison crouched down, but Benjamin snatched it frantically and hoped she’d forget about it. He struggled for a moment to get his feet under him. Allison reached out and helped him to stand. Benjamin flinched away. “What is wrong with you?” She laughed. 

“Nothing.” He said quickly, “I have to get to class.” Benjamin kissed her hurriedly on the lips before continuing his race. Her short blonde hair swept up in her face as he passed, like something out of a cartoon. 

“I love you.” Allison exclaimed, but he did not hear her. 

    Benjamin waited outside the cafe at seven. The sun had started to set, casting a golden light over all that was dying. How ironic, he thought, that the metallic shimmer should shine on all that could not bask in it. He rolled the ring box in his hand, his back against the window as he waited for Amelia. 

“Good evening, Mr. Stocks.” She greeted, wrapping a red scarf around her neck, and pulling at her brown curls. “How’s the misses?”

“She’s still a miss.” Amelia plucked the ring box from his hands as she passed. 

“I can’t believe you’re going to ask Allison to marry you.” She opened the box to marvel at the ring. “I can still remember when you thought she was a priss.”

“People change.”

“You did, didn’t you?” She teased. Hesitantly Amelia slipped the ring onto her finger. 

“I happen to love her.” Benjamin grabbed the ring from Amelia and returned it to his pocket. 

“You shouldn’t carry that around with you.”

“And she loves me.” He ignored her. 

“And it just helps that you two were groomed to be together since birth.” Amelia sighed, tossing her hair. Benjamin glared over at her. She rolled her eyes, “Oh, come on. Tell me your parents haven’t been trying to arrange your marriage to Allison Black since you started walking.”

“I don’t do everything my parents tell me to.”

“Oh, really?” Amelia scoffed, “You applied to Harvard because of them. You’re studying mathematics because of them. You started dating Allison because of them.”

“I don’t do everything my parents tell me to.” He repeated through gritted teeth. 

“Name one thing-”

“I stayed friends with you, didn’t I?” He snapped. He stopped walking, “What is this all about?”

“What?” Amelia looked over his shoulder to see her friend standing still in the light of a bookstore. “What are you-”

“You hate her don’t you?”

“I don’t hate her-”

“But you do.” He barked, “You do. Every time I bring her up, you start in on me or her or my parents.”

“Benji, your parents-”

“I love her.” He stated. 

“Benji-”

“I love her, and I want you to like her. I want you to be able to see all that she is because I love her.”

“Would you stop saying that?” Amelia mumbled. She ran her chipped fingernails through her hair. Darkness had settled in the town, a blanket to keep all cold, and Amelia relinquished herself to the shadows. “I don’t hate Allison. I hate that she’s the one you decided on. I always thought…” She trailed off, turning away from Benjamin. 

“What? What did you think was going to happen?” He marched over to her. 

“Remember the old treehouse in your yard?” She said, her back still to him, “We used to eat the sandwiches my mom made while she cleaned; our legs dangling off the edge, the way your father hated. Do you remember our plan?”

    Benjamin stopped only a foot away from her. She crossed her arms over her chest. He could not see her face, but could see her shoulders shiver from the tears. He wanted to reach out to touch her arm; to tell her he never forgot. He wanted to tell her he could still remember how many miles Los Angeles was from Lawrence. But it was all just a child’s dream set to take place on the perfect day- tomorrow, a day never to arrive. 

“You just had to apply, didn’t you?” Amelia finally spun around. “And where did that leave me?”

“Amelia.”

“And then all the sudden it was Allison this and Allison that and I’m here standing behind the same counter I’ll be standing behind until I die and the only person that kept me going-” She took in a sudden breath, trembling, “I can still remember making fun of Allison. I can still remember you resenting the money, swearing to live without it. I can still remember everything you are trying to forget. You used to laugh at girls like Allison-”

“Who was I supposed to marry, huh?” Benjamin threw his arms out to the side. Anger was coursing through his veins now, “Who? Some maid’s daughter?” He spat the words in Amelia’s face. 

    She cowered, sinking further into the blackness of the night. Her cheeks were stained with her tears. Her lips quivered. Benjamin’s arms fell back down to his sides. He had not meant it. He closed his eyes and wished to start over. Not the night, but from the very beginning because everything she said was true. So painfully true. 

But he loved Allison. 

He loved her. 

He loved her. 

God! He wished he could stop staying it like he had to remind himself. 

    And when he opened his eyes again, she was gone.

“Benjamin?” He snapped his head in the direction of her voice. 

“Allison?” 

    She stepped forward into the light. Her blonde hair practically white in the neon buzz of the bookstore sign. Her perfectly painted lips pulled back to reveal a toothy grin. Benjamin ran a hand over his face, hoping to wake himself from the nightmare he had found himself in. 

“What are you doing out here?”

“I was talking to a friend.” Benjamin turned to look for Amelia again, as if she’d appear just as quickly as she vanished. 

    He closed his eyes and wished as hard as he could, but the same night air continued to blow at his back. How could he have been so stupid? Some maid’s daughter. Who did he think he was? Benjamin reached up to run his fingers through his hair, tugging lightly on the ends. Allison walked towards him, wrapping her arms around his waist and resting her head on his back. Benjamin jolted away. Her touch stung him, racked thorns through his stomach and along his spine. Turning to face her, he felt it all washing away.  How could he have thought he loved Allison? She smiled. It was meaningless. It was nothing. 

“What’s wrong?” She inquired, narrowing her eyes. She’d be narrowing her eyes at him the rest of his life if he stayed. Allison took his hand in hers and there was nothing. “I love you.”

    He had let others’ opinions fall into the place of his own, and he accepted that. He didn’t love Allison. He never loved her. But he was scared. So scared. It was just easier to do as he was told instead of thinking for himself. He had stopped all of it, all of his own personal emotions- they had gotten in the way. But they came back in that moment, on that sidewalk, in the light of the store. It was sudden and all at once, and it wasn’t. He loved Amelia all along, but it was just then he noticed. Of course he loved her. Of course it was her. 

“I love you.” Allison said again. 

“I love her.” He responded.