12
She was woken from a childhood dream, by memories of the aroma of special cookies with butter.
It was not only sweet butter and vanilla aroma, it was the invitation, like a warm hug, a comfort, and a reminder of happiness. As she quickly washed and dressed, she knew what was waiting for her. Her mother's special cookies, a glass of milk on the table and her hug. Her mother would always greet her with a hug, smiling and cheerful with the obligatory kiss on the forehead.
As the years went by her mother's face slowly faded, but her scent, the warmth of the hugs, the feelings of safety and the flavor of cookies were always there. It was as if she could still feel her mother's presence and smell the cookies.
Waking up in vain from a dream into reality, back in her room at Aigen 53 she made another resolution. If she couldn't bring her mother back, then at least she could have the feeling back. It would make her feel as if her mother was present and that she hadn't left her, but was up there somewhere and watching over her.
Ha, she wondered what her mother would say about that insufferable Captain. One day he was like honey, then another day he was bitter, one day he smiled then another day he was unbearable. Like a weather forecast you never knew where you stood with him.
She didn't know what exactly triggered her dream. It could have been that beautiful aroma of different kinds of cakes in patisserie, or the tense situation there or even more tense Captain afterwards. She was sure he would be even more arrogant, knowing the flow of her thoughts, she mused.
That particular dream she hadn't dreamed in years but it always left her sad because of the premature loss of her parents. But today she decided to embrace those memories and share them with the children, her only refuge.
She surprised the children, because for the first time since she came, she woke them up. They all went down for breakfast. To her great satisfaction they were on time. She deserved a "time-management medal", she thought very proud of her accomplishment, wearing a satisfied smile.
But soon her smile faded, with just one look of the brooding and glum Captain. No, he and his mood swings would not ruin her day. She wondered where yesterday's light-hearted and playful Captain had gone. Um, definitely a weather forecast, she thought, barely retaining her amusement. But even that was short-lived.
While she was making fun at his expanse in her head, he caught her staring and smirking with his piercing stare, like he could read her mind and joking about him. Oh, God please not that.
"Anything you would like to share with us Fraulein?" he asked sarcastically, angrily dropping the newspaper, feeling a headache from lack of sleep.
How does he did do that? She felt completely exposed in front of him. He really knew how to spoil a good mood.
"I wanted to ask you, sir, if I could bake butter cookies with the kids today. These are cookies according to my mother's recipe and I would really like them to try them," she answered bravely, ignoring his impatient glance.
"I don't mind as long as the children following a schedule, but no cookies before dinner!" he said in a softened voice, but it still sounded like an order.
Was he even capable of saying something which did not sound like a command?
But Maria had already wandered off with her thoughts. With the aroma of the cookies already in her mind she could not wait all day to try them, no way. She would have to make an extra effort today to deceive the Captain, because with her luck he would remain all day in the villa, which meant she would have to apply some of her tricks for deception.
While the children were studying, she used that time to negotiate with the chef. In fact, it couldn't really be called negotiation.
It turned out that the chef didn't like anyone messing with his kitchen, and Maria lost the argument because of her poor experience in the kitchen. Unfortunately for any complex meal she was walking disaster, as the Sisters in Abbey learned the hard way. So they made a deal that Maria would share the recipe and he would make it with the help of Frau Schmidt, who was familiar with that kind of cookie.
xxx
Later that day, it seems the whole household was filled with that beautiful aroma of butter cookies. Of course, a beautiful scent filled Georg's study, which he deliberately left with a slightly open door, so that can monitor the pesky governess.
He still couldn't comprehend how everything she did and everything around her disturbed him deeply. Never in his life had he felt so out of control. As he could not sleep last night, he used that time to analyze what was happening to him. Yesterday was just wonderful, he couldn't remember when he was so happy, enjoying her company, laughing and joking. It was heaven, just two of them alone in their own world.
Then a reality check with a saleslady in the toyshop, something he had avoided to think about since Maria had was whirled into his life. That sentence: "The way you look at each other!" was sudden but not shocking. He knew he had fallen hard for her, but did that mean he was in love?
At that moment he had put that aside, but later when he saw how that damn Italian ogled his Maria that was the final straw. He used all his control, built through years in the Navy, to not strangle him. That meaningful sentence gave him hope that attraction was on both sides and that he only had to be patient with her.
But when he saw her smile at Luca that blew his male pride. He felt defeated and was angry with himself. Why couldn't he command his heart to love Elsa? It would be so much easier, and not to be struggling all the time. So last night he decided to stop that nonsense and turn the ship in another direction. He needed to be in control.
It was not normal at his age, with his life and worldly experience, that all day and night he was thinking about where she was, what she was doing, what kind of dress she was wearing, was she laughing, would she find herself again in some trouble or was she just snooping through the house.
This must come to an end. This was unacceptable.
He was a proud man and he was known, when he made decisions that meant it was final.
It was over.
He was going to turn a new page in his life.
No more, it was over and finished.
Final. End.
Until she mentioned cookies.
No, not that. When he said no cookies until dinner, and saw her quickly nod and that mischievous smile while making plans in her head, then he knew. Over the last couple weeks he had spent almost the whole time studying her and was absolutely sure she would disobey him.
Again.
Of course.
God help him, he loved her.
xxx
She knew she was on thin ice. Having had a lot of experience with all kinds of trouble through her childhood and later, she would be carefully observed today more than ever. Of course "His Highness" stayed at home and of course for the first time since she came, he left the door ajar of his study, so he could see anyone passing by. Ha, he thinks she is dumb. So the rest of the day she pretended that nothing special was happening, especially in front of Brigitta, because obviously she was most like her father when it came to observing.
By the end of the day, she had already devised a plan and calculated exactly how many cookies, from the whole tray, would remain so she could eat them all alone with a glass of milk, slowly savoring the taste and enjoying the memories.
So, every good plan needs an opportunity and she waited for hers. Be patient, Maria, she mused.
xxx
It was another beautiful sunny day that everyone enjoyed, including Maria, though every now and then she tried to determine where the Captain might be. The children were suspicious and joked about her because she was never so clumsy with a ball. But they didn't know that she was making heroic efforts to juggle between the suspicious Captain and the cookies. Given her vast experience in various kinds of trouble, she knew it was best to pretend and wait until there was an opportunity. He was drinking lemonade on the terrace with Max and Elsa. But still she had to be patient.
A little later Marta needed to go to the toilet. That was the opportunity for the first part of the plan. She took Marta's hand and led her into the house and explained that she would be waiting for her in the hallway. In the meantime, she found a brown bag and put cookies from the pantry in it. That was the second part of the plan. The third part of the plan was the deception and she was already looking forward to passing the Captain, but she also had a backup plan. With a brown bag in one hand and Marta in the other, she waved to the occupants of the terrace and walked slowly towards the children. But she was stopped by a deep baritone, teasing voice.
He knew what was going on.
"Fraulein, what are you carrying in the bag, I said no cookies until dinner." he asked in a patronizing voice, immensely satisfied with himself, with a pointed finger at the bag. She was a terrible liar, even Gretl would be better than her. It's obvious he was having a good time and was very pleased how he caught her.
It was just as she expected. She smiled inwardly.
"These are not cookies Sir. I would never go against your orders. I brought some, you know, women's intimate necessities for Liesl!" she answered with wide open eyes, looking at the Baroness silently asking for her help. For she knew she would get it, because women intimate necessities were sacrosanct between women. All the while she could barely contain her smile because she knew he was too much of a gentleman for further interrogation.
"Oh, Georg, leave her alone, will you?" Elsa waved her hand impatiently. Why must everything in this house revolve around that silly governess, she thought and continued talking to Max about the latest gossip.
He silently admitted defeat. He had to congratulate her because she was witty and smart. It was obvious she was prepared and knew precisely the outcome of all possible scenarios. Yes, she was his perfect match in every way. He wondered why he needed so much time to realize how much he loved her.
God help him.
She walked toward the children holding her bag like it was hiding something most precious in her life. With the way she looked at him and that smug smile he knew she was up to something. He decided it was not over.
No it was far from over.
He would wait until the end of the day to erase that smug and mischievous smile. He would wait for his revenge. So he waited, occasionally responding to the small talk with his guests and smiled when others smiled, all the while focused on the playground, because he was a man on a mission.
To back up her subterfuge she first approached Liesl, explaining her next plan and what was inside and gave it to her to keep. So far all was splendid and she was very proud of herself, but she knew he would not back off and would wait for her to make a mistake. It was such a good feeling to outsmart him, she couldn't, just couldn't hide her satisfaction while glancing at him.
After a while, she saw only he was left on the terrace, so she proceeded with the last part of the plan. With Liesl's help, as if part of the game they gradually moved away from the grounds and eventually came around the corner of the villa.
She tried to wait a bit to see how the situation would develop further and not to reveal her true intentions too soon.
But as the children became impatient and started bombarding her with questions, she realized she had waited long enough and handed out one cookie to everyone. As she started talking about cookies and how they relate to childhood memories, none of the children started eating but listening to her with great admiration and respect as always. The children simply knew and felt that she loved them so much that she wanted to share something precious with them.
And as she enthusiastically finished her story of growing up while waving her hand in the most dramatic movement, carrying a cookie to her open mouth, her hand suddenly stopped.
Oh, help.
She didn't have to turn around, she knew he was there, feeling his warm hand on her wrist. But he had already taken the cookies from her, with another hand, and from the others and in a dramatic and pompous way and put it in the bug. All the while looking at her challengingly. Waiting.
The little traitors stayed silence and mumbled something about dinner and hastily left them.
She was caught.
Again.
She bit her lip, looking everywhere except at him. In the distance lightning and thunder could be heard, she smiled inwardly at the coincidence.
Georg was having a hard time controlling himself, watching her biting her lip, trying to get away from the tricky situation, trying to think about something, anything. She was oblivious about how alluring she was, with that witty and mischievous spirit. And what was worse was that his corrupt mind couldn't help creating pictures and ideas on how to punish her for her disobedience.
No, he was not angry with her, she knew that much. It seemed he was enjoyed himself very much that he had outsmarted her. He rather look pleased to just stand there and torture her with that smug smile and funny look which she didn't understand. She signed, yes he looked like a cat that had caught a mouse and only wanted to play with it.
"Fraulein, didn't I tell you about cookies?
"Yes, Sir!"
"Do you, or do you not have difficulty remembering such simple instructions?" he asked softly with his half smirk. Another boom of thunder could be heard in the distance.
She rolled with her eyes. He tilted his head, raising an eyebrow high, waiting for an answer.
"Only during a thunderstorm, Sir," she said with a beaming smile, looking directly into his eyes, happy about how their rocky friendship had grown from their first incident all those weeks ago.
He was glaring at her, hopelessly, smiling. She had such power over him that she had him wrapped him around her little finger and he couldn't do anything about that. No, she was not born to be a nun, she was born to drive him crazy. He craved and lusted for her. Oh, God how long could he keep his hands from her, how long did he have to be patient before revealing his feelings. And all the time she was clueless, totally oblivious to his suffering.
xxx
Later that evening everyone gathered for dinner. Everyone got two cookies and were delighted with the taste, even Elsa liked them. But following the Captain's orders, Frau Schmidt hid the rest in the kitchen. Maria hated that someone else had managed with her cookies only for fun.
And again a rebelliousness inside her was raised.
While everyone enjoyed little chit chat and Max jokes she took advantage of everyone's attention on him and dropped a napkin on the floor. Picking up the napkin, she tilted her head trying to see where the tray of cookies was, but nothing. It just wasn't a good angle. With everyone engrossed in Max's story about his adventures and funny situations she quickly figured out another plan.
Holding on to the table, she swayed quite lightly and imperceptibly, now seated and balanced on the back two legs of the chair and squirming to see where Frau Schmidt might hide the cookies. Until a stern voice scared the hell out of her, causing her to suddenly stop her searching while she barely kept balance on the two legs of the chair.
"Fraulein, are you dissatisfied with the quality of the chair, perhaps we should change it?" he asked amused.
Thank God she was holding the table, otherwise surely she would fall. She silently cursed and she didn't care he could read her lips. He was such a nuisance. Why didn't he leave her alone? Even Elsa was annoyed with his attention to her.
She answered something incoherent and continued with the dinner, still cursing her luck with her employer and his sharp mind, not to mention her impulse to erase his smug smile with a kiss, no, no kiss, a slap. Yes, she meant a slap, of course.
xxx
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