All For One

‘Good morning, Celine. Breakfast is ready. Be down in then.’ Nanny Lisa said as soon as I woke up.
‘Good morning.’ I greeted back as I wearily opened my eyes. I walked up to the bathroom and freshened up in a few minutes. As I looked as my reflection in the mirror, I started to wonder who these people were and why they called me a recruit. They could not be kidnappers could they? Even if they were, they had done nothing but help me since they forcefully brought me in. I suddenly thought of Jake. What happened to him? What if I escaped? My thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a knock on the door
‘You don’t have all day to get ready, Celine, everyone is downstairs already.’
‘Coming’ I said and hurried out of the room, When Nanny Lisa sais everyone, I expected to see a full table but I only saw The Young Master seated at one end of the table and Nanny Lisa. A few maids stood around the table. One of them was filling the glasses with water.
‘Come on’ Nanny Lisa said, signaling for me to sit down. Brian, on his part seemed to be drilling holes in my body with his stare.
‘Good morning’ I said to him while settling on a seat beside Nanny Lisa. He did not stop staring instead he said I should sit on a chair next to his. I reluctantly stood up and sat on the designated chair. ‘Anything else?’ I asked
‘Yes. Serve my food’ I could not believe how annoying he was. Even Nanny Lisa looked very surprised. I bit my lower lip and went ahead to serve him. After that, we ate in silence I felt the urge to ask a question.
‘Am I the only recruit here?’ I asked no one in particular.
‘For now, yes.’ Brian replied, not looking up from his plate.
‘What am I doing here?’
‘What were you doing out in the streets alone at night?’
‘I was lost’ I said, noticing some files on the table beside Brian with a very familiar logo. I could not remember where I had seen it. After we finished with the meal, Brian asked me to stay behind. He waited until the maids were done clearing out the dishes before he spoke.
‘Where do you live?’
‘I live in the province.’
‘You....’ the sound of his phone interrupted him. From the corner of my eye, I saw the caller ID saved as Jeremiah. It could not be the same Jeremiah I knew, could it? He excused himself from the table to take the call. After a while, he returned ‘You said you live in the province?’
‘Yes.’
‘Can you find your way home?’
‘Yes.’
‘Okay.’ He said and left the house in his usual emotionless manner. I turned to Nanny Lisa wondering if ‘Okay’ meant I could go back. She read my thoughts.
‘Perhaps he has something planned for you.’ I smiled and stood up from the table to assist he maids in the kitchen. ‘Where are you going?’ she asked
‘To the kitchen.’
‘Don’t be ridiculous, it’s what they get paid for. You just want some extra tasks.’
‘I do not have anything else to do.’ I said. ‘Nanny Lisa?’
‘Yes?’
‘What does the Young master do with other recruits?’
‘He studies them for a while and if they are good, he helps them back to their feet.’
‘And if they are not?’
‘I don’t know. It has been a while since anyone misbehaved. It’s up to Brian to decide what to do with them though.’ A cold shudder washed over me. I was scared but also prepared for anything. ‘Don’t worry my dear, as long as you are good, he would not do anything to hurt you.’ I smiled.
‘What does the logo on the files next to him stand for?’
‘That’s his company’s logo, BRW. It is a fine logo, isn’t it?’ I nodded. The logo seemed to spark up a memory but I could not quite place my finger on it.
Much later, I was bored so I decided to take a walk round the house. I had barely come down the last step when one of the men who brought me in the previous day informed me that Brian had ordered him to take me home. I did not know how to react to this news. I went upstairs to take the cell phone and to inform Nanny Lisa that I was leaving but she was not at home. I went downstairs and left with the man whose name I later found out was Charlie to the car. He drove for a while. I recognized the provincial round about and asked him to stop there. It was already late afternoon. ‘Are you sure you can go home from here?’
‘Yes.’ I said and thanked him before getting out of the car.