“You’re not allowed to go down there! How many times have I told you?” Gregory scolded his children, who had been trying to pry open the cellar door lock.

“Dad! But we want to see!” his son, Olly, complained.

“I said no, young man. Now, you both go back inside before I get angry!” he continued sternly.

“Dad!” his daughter, Julie, whined.

“GO!” he almost yelled at them, and they ran off with their shoulders hunched and heads downcast.

“That’s insane! You’re insane! We’ve been together for decades! I have a right to know what’s in my house!”

He didn’t feel sorry for being so serious with them. He kept something important down there, and no one was allowed to see it. However, his wife, Mirtha, was not happy with him.

“You said that was your man cave, Gregory. I don’t see why the kids can’t go in,” she said while they were getting ready for bed that night.

“It’s not for children, Mirtha. Do you want them to see something inappropriate? Do you want them to get injured or damage something valuable?” he shook his head and moved his hands around.

“You know what? I think I have to take a look down there. If there are so many dangerous and inappropriate things, I should see them. I have a right to know what’s in my house,” Mirtha shrugged, putting lotion on her hands and sitting on the bed.

“So help me, God, Mirtha. That’s my private space, which I told you I needed since we got engaged. If you can’t respect that, I’ll leave. I swear,” Gregory stopped moving and stared thoughtfully at her.

“Fine,” she huffed, scowling at him. She arranged the comforter over her body and plopped on the bed angrily.

Gregory didn’t care about her tantrum. He was serious about having his private, sacred space, and his family would have to respect it.

***

However, his wife was not done trying to discover what he was hiding down there. His children eventually lost interest, grew up, and left the house, so it was no longer their concern. But Mirtha had been trying to find out for years.

Once the children were gone, Gregory hired someone to clean their house, so Mirtha wouldn’t have to strain herself. She also expressed interest in finding a part-time job to get out of the house. Therefore, they hired a young woman, Rose. He told her that she had to clean everywhere except the cellar. She was not allowed down there.

However, Gregory didn’t expect what his wife would try to do. One day, Gregory had to return early from work unexpectedly and caught Rose in his office. She had been working with them for almost a year, and things were going well. She was punctual, responsible, and a good listener. Therefore, being in his office wouldn’t be a problem. She was allowed to clean in there.

The problem is that she had opened several of his desk drawers this time, and there were no cleaning or dusting supplies in her hand. She had also turned around quickly when he entered the office. Her mouth also formed a perfect little circle, and the rest of her face was like a deer caught in the headlights.

“Rose, what are you doing?” he asked calmly but severely.

“Mr. White, I was only cleaning,” she answered but gulped, which gave her away.

“Really? You clean inside all the drawers at the same time with no rag or duster or anything?” he continued, not raising his voice for a second.

She couldn’t keep lying. “Mr. White! I’m so sorry! Mrs. White told me to find the keys to the cellar, and she would give me a bonus! I really needed it. I didn’t think it was a big deal. Please! I’m so sorry!” Rose revealed, and Gregory sighed.

“Move, please,” he requested and grabbed his checkbook from one of the drawers as he closed everything. He took a pen from his desk and wrote her name on the check. “OK. Here’s your bonus, and consider it severance, too. You’re fired.”

“Mr. White, I’m sorry,” she said sadly.

“I know you are. I know this is not your fault. But I can’t have someone I don’t trust working for me. That cellar is mine and mine alone. Now, please leave. I hope you find a better job,” Gregory said. He wasn’t angry, just disappointed. Rose was a good maid, but he couldn’t have her in his home after that breach of trust.

When she returned home from her errand, Mirtha was naturally upset about the situation. “I can’t believe you would fire her just like that! It was my fault. That poor girl didn’t deserve that!” she yelled at him.

Luckily, Donna was there and got a chance to apologize for the incident. That’s when Gregory made a decision.

“I know it was your fault. You should apologize to Rose. In any case, I already called a friend who was looking for a maid. They’re going to hire her. I’m going to interview someone as our next maid so she understands that I don’t want anyone down there,” Gregory replied seriously.

“That’s insane! You’re insane! We’ve been together for decades! I have a right to know what’s in my house!” Mirtha yelled again, flailing around their living room.

“Fine. I’ll move out, and we’ll get separated, so you won’t have to worry about this again,” he decided, nodding.

“NO! Are you crazy? That’s not what I’m asking!” Mirtha stopped flailing and looked at him with tears in his eyes.

“I know what you want. But I can’t give you that,” Gregory continued calmly. “I asked this one thing from you, and you can’t handle it. So, I’ll be sleeping in my office tonight. In the meantime, I want you to think if you can keep living with me and not know this secret or if we have to go our separate ways.”

He walked to his office, closed it firmly, and left her to her thoughts. The next morning, she apologized because the last thing she wanted was a divorce. She promised to let things go and never ask about the cellar again.

Gregory was almost surprised. He was prepared for another fight, but he hugged Mirtha, and they moved on.

A few weeks later, he hired Donna, another young woman who was just as good as Rose. But he also installed cameras in his office and outside, right near the cellar entrance. He checked them regularly at first, and Donna cleaned and swept leaves without glancing at the door. She dusted, polished, and fixed what was needed in his office. But she never snooped around.

She was perfect.

***

Many years passed, and his entire family seemed to forget about the cellar completely. Mirtha made peace with it because Gregory didn’t go there that often. That’s what had intrigued her in the first place. He wasn’t using his man cave. But she gave up her quest for answers for their marriage’s sake.

Donna was working for them when Mirtha passed away. She was in her 60s and had gotten very sick. However, she had pain medication and passed in her sleep.

Gregory was a few years older than her and had already retired, so when his children and their families returned to their lives after the funeral, she was his only company. She loved books, talked about her children often, and treated him like a friend, which was highly welcomed during his grief.

Donna even became more of his carer, maid, and cook after a while, with a significant salary to reflect that. His children trusted her implicitly, too.

But Gregory had no idea what his wife had told their maid on her deathbed.

***

Donna was not sure this was a good idea. But she heard Mirtha’s regret. On her deathbed, Mirtha said she wanted to see what was in the cellar. Although Donna had not been that curious in all these years, she wanted to know then. So, when Gregory took his morning hour-long walk, she searched for the key. It took longer than expected, but she finally found it on his vanity mirror.

She ran outside and had trouble opening the lock. It was old and a bit rusty. But she pushed with all her might. With a metallic creak, it finally opened. It was dark and dusty down there. Donna had always been scared of dark spots, but she went down the stairs.

Her eyebrows pulled down in confusion at what she saw. What is this secret? I don’t get it, she thought but didn’t have more time to investigate.

“What are you doing here?” he asked. She was busted.

“Sir, Mrs. White said that her only regret in life was that she never got to see what was down here,” Donna revealed quickly. “I wanted to see for myself. I’m sorry.”

Gregory didn’t say a word. He only moved his head, signaling her to leave, and she hurried off. Afterward, he stared at the secret he had hidden for so long. Maybe, someone should know about this, too. But he wasn’t sure. He left the cellar, locked it well once again, and went into the house.

The next day, Donna wanted to apologize once more for the incident. She knew that others maids had been fired for snooping, so she was ready to lose her job. However, one of the neighbors told her that Gregory had been rushed to the hospital early that morning. Therefore, she went there, too.

Gregory was 71, and after running many tests, the doctors said it was only a matter of time before he passed because any treatment would only prolong the inevitable. They decided to put him in hospice care at the same hospital, and his children visited whenever they could. They were busy and had kids, but they did their best.

“Mr. White, what about your kids? Shouldn’t they be here, too?” Donna asked gently.

Luckily, Donna was there and got a chance to apologize for the incident. That’s when Gregory made a decision.

“Here,” he said from his bed in the hospital, reaching to his bedside table and producing the key. “I want you to really take a look down there. I know you couldn’t the other day. Don’t tell my kids. This is my final wish: you can throw out what you find or keep it. I don’t know. But… I don’t want anyone to know about it.”

Donna grabbed the key and nodded. After that peek the other day, which had been useless, she was eager actually to see what the secret was. However, the maid only found a briefcase full of women’s clothes, jewelry, pictures, and a few letters.

There was nothing else. “This is what he’s been hiding all along?” she asked herself, confused. Then, she read the letters and understood more. Afterward, she returned to the hospital and got the entire story from Gregory.

That briefcase contained the items of Gregory’s first love, a woman named Ruth. They were young and mad at each other many years ago. But Gregory was the son of a trucker and a maid, so Ruth’s parents disapproved. It was a tale as old as time.

They planned to elope, and Ruth had given Gregory her luggage already, which he had stored in his used car in preparation. However, Ruth’s entire family disappeared on the day they were supposed to elope, and he never saw or heard from her again. The big mansion was empty, and he was alone with no explanation.

All that remained was the luggage inside his car and his memories of their love. Gregory tried his best to become a middle-class man and eventually married Mirtha. But he could never give up the items on the briefcase, and he didn’t want anyone to see them. Ever. So, he came up with the man cave idea.

“That doesn’t seem like such a big secret. Everyone had a first love that didn’t work out,” Donna told Gregory when he finished the story.

“Maybe. But I think I was embarrassed, too – the girl I wanted left because of my background. Also, after many years, I think Mirtha would’ve had a conniption if she found out, so I continued with my secret,” he explained. “I’m at peace now. You throw those away.”

“Alright,” Donna muttered, unsure.

That night, she was still unsure about throwing these things out and asked her teen daughter what they should do. She said they should try to find Ruth and give Gregory some real peace. Naturally, the first place to start was social media.

They tried variations of Ruth’s name, which was in the letters. They also went by the couple of pictures Gregory had kept.

“Look, Mom. This girl looks exactly like Ruth in those pictures. She might be her daughter or niece or something,” Donna’s daughter said, and they decided to message her with the story.

To their shock, Ruth’s daughter, Opal, replied to their message. She explained that her mother didn’t use social media, but she would love to get her back together with Gregory.

“My mother told me about her first love and how she lost it because her father wouldn’t let her be with him,” Opal wrote to Donna’s daughter. “I always wished we could find him, but she told me not to try.”

Opal shared her phone number, and they talked for a long time, as Donna explained that Gregory never got rid of her things. She also revealed that Gregory didn’t have long for this world, and it would be an excellent gift for him to see her again.

They lived on the other side of the country, but Opal was eager to do this, and they surprised Gregory in his hospital room a few days after he first gave Donna the key.

The stoic man cried alongside Ruth, who kissed him. Her husband – Opal’s father – passed many years ago, and she never forgot about Gregory. However, she had nothing to remember him by because she had stored all her essential items in that suitcase.

Opal and Donna left them alone so the old lovebirds could reminiscence. “You know… love is funny. Some people never find it, and others never forget it,” Opal said.

“That’s true. But some things also happen for a reason, I guess. Maybe, they weren’t meant to be together,” Donna commented. “You wouldn’t be here, and neither would his kids.”

“That’s true, too. But I’m glad you contacted me. It’s like a real love story you don’t often see,” Opal smiled.

But Donna and Opal weren’t the only ones who decided on a surprise. When they returned to the room, Gregory asked them to get a minister, as he and Ruth were finally getting married.

“Mom! Are you crazy?” Opal questioned, shocked.

“Mr. White, what about your kids? Shouldn’t they be here, too?” Donna asked gently.

“You know what? Yes! Let’s call them and get them here quickly. I can’t wait to marry this woman,” Gregory replied, grinning widely.

Olly and Julie were understandably stunned by the entire situation. Still, they went along with it after a quick explanation from Donna and seeing their father’s smiling face eased their worries. The minister married them in that room, and they bought flowers from the gift shop.

It was a beautiful moment that Donna felt privileged to witness, especially because Gregory died the next day. After the funeral and everything settled, she returned the items to Ruth, who was pleased to have them.

After a while, she and Opal returned home, and Olly and Julie decided to sell the house. Donna found a new job with a great family thanks to Gregory’s kids’ recommendations, but she was pleased with her years with the White family.

And hoped that Mirtha – wherever she was – was relieved that the truth about the cellar had finally come out.