Blind love (Part IX)
The days went by and Brandon finally had his bandages removed. He vowed to himself that he would find Casper. He started calling all the women that he knew and asked them out, one at a time. He figured that one of them had to be Casper. How else would she have known him? After every date he would kiss her in hopes it would match the kiss of the woman that he loved. He is disappointed with each kiss. He will never give up until he finds her.
Ariel spends her days in the back part of the mansion. She couldn’t bear the thought of seeing the man that she loved with other women. She thought that he was just going on with his life as she had told him to. She didn’t know his reason for dating all those women. She quit wearing the perfume that he could recognize and stayed mostly to herself. As time went on, Sharon couldn’t stand to see her best friend so heartbroken. She decided to take matters into her on hands. She had found out through the chauffeur that Brandon had wanted to find Casper so he could take her to the “Governor’s Ball’”. He wanted all of his friends and associates, to see the woman that he loved and to ask to take his hand in marriage. He was getting desperate. He finally called Linda Vanderjet up and asked her to come over. He thought that Casper’s voice sounded a little like hers but deep down he was hoping that it wasn’t her. She just didn’t seem like she could be Casper. He was willing to try anything to find her.
The morning that Linda was supposed to come, Sharon got up early and took all but one of Ariel ‘s uniforms and hides them. She took the last one off the hanger and put some of Ariel’s perfume on it and hung it back up. When Ariel grabbed it from the closet to put on, she noticed that it smelled like her perfume. She looks for her other uniforms but they were all gone. She turns toward Sharon and asks, “ All my uniforms are gone but this one and it smells like my perfume. Do you know where the rest of my uniforms are, Sharon?” Sharon tries to keep a straight face and says, “ I’m sorry about the smell, Honey. I was trying some of that perfume of yours and spilled it all over the place. I put all of your uniforms in the laundry except that one. I knew you had to have something to wear today.” At first, Ariel was upset over having to wear a uniform that would give her away to Brandon but she thought that since she works in the back of the mansion, that he wouldn’t be able to smell her anyways. She went ahead and put it on and told Sharon that she was going to work and walked out of the room.
Later that day, Linda Vanderjet arrived and met with Brandon. After speaking with her for a few minutes, he realized that there was no way that she could possibly be Casper. He was walking her to her car when Sharon walks up to him and says, “ Sir, I need you to come see something immediately. I’m afraid that it won’t wait!” He looks at her with concern on his face and asks, “ What is it, Sharon? What’s wrong?” She continues, “ I don’t know how to describe it, Sir. You will have to come see it yourself.”
He turns toward Linda and says, “ Thanks for coming by. I will see you later. I need to go find out what she is talking about. Good-bye, Linda.” He turns and follows Sharon to the back of the mansion. She finally walks up to the door of the room that Ariel is working in. Ariel sees him coming in and turns her back to him and pretends to work. Her heart is beating like it will burst from her chest. She wonders what Sharon is up to. She only knows that she can’t let him get too close to her. Brandon turns to Sharon and asks,
“Where is the problem, Sharon? I don’t see anything wrong.” She points toward where Ariel is working and says, “ It’s right over there. Can’t you see it?” He turns and walks toward where Ariel is standing. She sees him coming and walks away from where she was standing. He walks over to where she was at and looks around. He turns and looks at Sharon and gives her a confused look and says, “ I don’t see anything, Sharon. What is this all about?” She points at Ariel again and says, “ If you go right over there, I think that you will find out what it is all about!” He sees her nodding her head toward Ariel and walks toward her. She tries to walk away but he says, “ Wait right there, please.” He doesn’t know what it is all about until he gets close to her. She stands there with her back to him. He finally smells her perfume and realizes that it is Casper. His heart is racing as he puts his hand on her shoulder and asks, “ Casper, is that you?” She was afraid to turn around as a tear ran slowly down her cheek. She answered in a low voice, “ I don’t know what you are talking about, Sir. I am not Casper. My name is Ariel.” He slowly turns her around and looks into her eyes for the first time. He couldn’t believe how beautiful she was. She was prettier than he had ever imagined. He reaches over with his hand and wipes the tear that was running down her face. He looks over at Sharon and asks her, “ Do you have something that I can use to cover my eyes?” She reaches into the pocket of her apron and pulls out a clean rag and brings it to him. He asks her to tie it around his eyes. She puts the blindfold on him and he turns toward Ariel and asks, “ Do you mind if I do a little experiment? I promise that it won’t hurt.” Ariel doesn’t know what to do. She just stands there with her heart beating out of control. He bends down and kisses her. She couldn’t help but kiss him back. It felt good to be in his arms once more. After they kiss he pulls off the blindfold and grabs her and says, “ I found you! I told you that I would and I did! Why did you hide from me?” She points to her uniform and says, “I’m your maid, Brandon. What will your friends say?” Before he could answer, a voice from the doorway exclaimed, “ A maid! You’re kissing a maid! What are you thinking, Brandon?” Linda had followed them to see what was going on. He turns and looks at Linda and says, “ I would advise you not to speak that way about my future wife!” He turns back to Ariel and says, “ That’s if she will have me.” She looks up with tears streaming down her eyes and shakes her head yes. He grabs her and they embrace.
Sharon looks at Linda and says, “ Get out of here with your snotty self! Can’t you see that these two want to be alone?” Linda turns and walks away in a huff. As Sharon is closing the door, Brandon turns and says, “Thank you, Sharon. I will never be able to thank you enough. She looks at him and smiles as she closes the door and says, “ A raise would be nice!”