Lisa was allowed to have free weekends for herself. After having a breakfast mostly consisting of one roll with bread, Lisa officially had free time. But when she stayed in the villa, her host family asked her to vacuum their three-story mansion, to take care of the child, and to work in the garden, as those tasks are something a“family member” is supposed to do.
This is why Lisa, who already was tired doing her au pair responsibilitiesduring the week, told her host family politely that she was going sightseeing during the weekend.
Lisa wanted to eagerly distract herself from the dreadful reality of becoming a “maid,“although she planned to become a “familymember.“Stuck in the “dungeon“ and taking care of a naughty child, she felt to be left helpless in a foreign country. The only thing she wanted was to distract herself from that dreadful reality, to run whereas her eyes could see and escape the family who lied to her so professionally.
After having breakfast, Lisa wanted to go for a walk and breathe fresh air. Spending the whole weekend in the basement was not a good idea.
She had another au pair as a friend, so sometimes she could spend time with her, exploring the city.
But mostly after enduring so many humiliations during the week, Lisa wanted only one thing: to run away from the host family and forget about all humiliations she had to endure during the week. She wanted to forget about her unfair contract, forget about the dungeon she had to live in, and become just a normal young girl and enjoy her life in freedom. She wanted to feel alive, free from the basement.
Since it was Lisa's day off, and the family was home, she wanted to go out. She didn't want to sit around in her room. She decided she would go to the beach. She went back to her bedroom and got dressed for the day. Then she headed outside into the sun and started towards the beach.
After a light breakfast under three pairs of shrewd eyes with her host family, Lisa picked up the bag and went on a bike to the beach through the woods.
The daywas surprisingly calm. The morning was bathed in sunshine, not a cloud anywhere.
Soon, Lisa approached the beach. She pulled offher Teddy bear backpack, which Ben's grandmother fave her for Christmas, and sat down on the ground at the shore, hugging her knees and starringinto the distant horizon.
Lisa played with water and sand, sitting atthe shoreof the river on a long calm empty peaceful beach, while the sun was shining.
Meanwhile, the sun moved across the landscapes, over the deep trees and the river. The birds, high in the clean blue air, headed home again.Lisa was pondering about her naivety and mistakes, about her binding contract, about the inability to pay the fees if she would possibly quit her job, about her host family and about her dream. Then she lay on the grass, gazing at heaven and counting blue skies. She dreamed that one day that day she finally would be free as these blue skies were. She was dreaming that one day she would save enough money for her dream trip. She was dreaming how happy she would be if her dream would be fulfilled. But there was a lot of work to do and many cents to save for her dream.Lisa sat on the sandy shore all alone, gazing at the distant horizon. The sun almost set and its rays reflected on the surface of the river. She stared into the distance, dreaming.
30
On Monday, her working routine started again. Since Lisa lived in the basement, where there was no heat, taking a shower was torture for her. Thousands of cold drops fell like knives on her body. It also took her an eternity to dry her long, curly hair. However, Lisa still managed to look neat.
"You have to go to the hairdresser and cut your hair short," said Angelica.
Of course, Lisa wanted to save her curly hair, and the hairdresser was expensive as well. Once, when Anjelica was long at the hairdresser and Marc, Lisa and Ben waited for her. Marc said, "She's been so long at the hairdresser. We have been waiting for half an hour now for her. She is probably paying and paying the whole time. For more than thirty minutes it is so expensive!"
At three p.m., Lisa ate a piece of bread with a thin slice of sausage for lunch (which was everything she could find in the fridge).
At3:45 p.m. it was time to pick up Ben from kindergarten. Lisa got on the bike and rode through the quiet, green area in the direction of kindergarten.
After picking Ben up Lisa said, "Ben, first we need to go to the supermarket. I should buy something to eat."
"Yes! And I'm faster than you!" And the naughty boy sped up on his bike. After shopping, they went to a tennis court, where he always played with friends. After an active competition, he came panting to Lisa.
"Lisa, I want to eat," he said with a commanding tone.
"Good, now let's go home and eat some cereal or bread," Lisa said, remembering the instructions of his parents.
While Lisa was at home unpacking his backpack and sneakers, she washed them with soap. Ben took a huge piece of black bread, smeared it generously with chocolate cream and enjoyed it.
“Ben, isn’t that too much?“ Lisa asked.
“I’m hungry!!!” he shouted.
Lisa looked at him and thought that the child must be really hungry. She allowed herself a small piece of bread with butter.
Suddenly the glass door of the house opened. Marc came in and saw Ben satisfied and happy with a piece of bread with chocolate cream.
"What are you doing?" he yelled furiously.
"Ben was hungry after tennis and..." Lisa could not say her defense speech in the end because the angry father did not want to listen to , and picked up the phone to call his wife.
"Hello, Angelica. Do you know what the two are doing without us? Ben is holding a piece of bread with chocolate paste and eating it,and the nanny is next to him, also eating!" he shouted. "You know that sweets are harmful to a child? The dentist is too expensive " He suddenly turned to Lisa again. He was aggressive, and his face turned red.
"Yes, but the child was hungry,and I did not pay attention to how quickly he started eating the chocolate bread..." Lisa tried to explain.
No matter how many times Lisa defended herself, she was always guilty.
She went to her room and cried. She wasn’t to blame for what happened out in the country. She lay on her wooden bed in her little room and cried. This was the magical world into which she fell. She wanted to become a member of this family for a while, but instead found only confusion and a huge stone wall, the wall between her and her host family.
During dinner, Lisa kept silent, receiving two pieces of bread. Exhausted by hunger and already weak, Lisa swallowed the two pieces of bread without noticing their taste. Dinner was over, although it was not a dinner at all. Lisa gave thanks to God for what she received.
Once during dinner,Lisa was asked by the host father, "What do you save your money for?"