Real Life Stories - September 2004

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Galena showed me to a luxurious and spacious guest room where I unpacked. For the rest of the day, we chatted and caught up on old times. I noticed that despite the fact that they did actually have a maid女仆 — a woman servant, another Spanish lady named Consuela of 30 odd years, Galena never called for her when they wanted drinks and refreshments. It was Simon who got them after Galena's suggestion that they should be served. When Simon was busy getting the refreshments, I took the chance to apologize to Galena about the misunderstanding. She said" Please think nothing of it. In fact you might get a few more surprises." I did not have time to ask what she meant as Simon returned. We continued chatting till way in the afternoon. It was then that Galena told Simon to prepare dinner. It was so matter of fact as if it was his duty each day. Her tone was curt and nonchalant. To my surprise, Simon said "yes dear" and excused himself. There was an awkward silence before Galena called her maid女仆 — a woman servant to assist her in her preparation for a horse riding session. She invited me to join her. I asked about SImon but she said he was busy with dinner and we would be done before he finished.