Having fun with Aria

Mia's POV

We wait for a while, and I almost fall asleep. I have not slept well in a long time. My parents and siblings were not the easiest people to live with, and the room I had in the house was cold in the winter and hot in the summer. I never had a lovely room like my brother and sister. Lorenzo always complains that Amara is my parent's favorite and that he is the black sheep. I can only laugh as he does not know half of the bullshit I have to face under my parents and sister. That is my past, and I need to figure out my future. 

"Don Riccardo, the stylists are here. Your sister came herself as she wanted to meet your new girl," Mario says. 

"Really? I bet she is only here to come and warn my new girlfriend about me," Riccardo laughs. 

"Why would I do that? I can see that she is unhappy already. Why is she wearing a waitress uniform? Ricci, you will not use this girl as a mistress, are you? She is still young, and you can not ruin her life!" A woman says as she walks onto the plane. 

"Aria, my lovely sister, I can see you still love me," Riccardo says. 

"Don't even talk to me, Ricci! I am disappointed in you. What did the poor girl do?" Aria asks. I do not mind them talking about me as if I am not there. I am used to it as it happens all the time at home. 

"Her father stole money from me. It has nothing to do with you, Aria. You are here to turn her into a lady. Good luck with that, as she has a bad temper," Riccardo says. I look at his sister, and she is beautiful. She has long brown hair and dark eyes like her brother. She is about five foot nine, like my sister Amara and she looks like she can be a model. I am not beautiful, and I am short. I am five foot two and have black hair and green eyes. I am nothing special. Riccardo only wants me as his mistress because I do not remind him of his sexy ex. 

"Hello, I am Aria. What is your name?" Aria asks me. 

"Hi, my name is Mia," I say shyly. I know she must think I am a hopeless case and can never be turned into a lady. 

"You have beautiful eyes and the perfect body. I wish I were as petite as you are," Aria says. 

"You are stunning. Why would you want to look like me?" I say. 

"Honey, do not put yourself down. I can see how my brother can be interested in you," Aria says. 

"Hahaha, he only wants me as his mistress because my father owes him money. He is not interested in me," I say.

"Well, let us get started. First, we will give you a facial, and then we will work on your hair. After that, I will show you how to do your makeup and give you a lot of beauty products you can use when I am not around. We will work on your clothing last," Aria says. 

"We are going to do all that on the plane?" I ask.

"This thing is more like a hotel with wings," Aria laughs. Aria sits down next to me as we take off. So, she is coming with us. I am glad as I do not want to be alone with Riccardo. 

"You have beautiful hair," I say. 

"Thank you, I can not see your hair because it is tied up in that bun on your head," Aria says.

"It is easier for me to have my hair up when I work," I say. 

"I see you are working at Rosa's diner. I love Rosa. I need to visit her, and I have not seen her in years," Aria says. 

"She looks like the day I met her. I wonder why she never got married again. She is such a beautiful woman, and the men still come to visit her with flowers," I say. Rosa never talks about her past, and she does not speak about her husband, and I think it is because she misses him. Rosa's husband was killed in a car accident, but he was a Don in the Italian Mafia, so it could have been a hit on his life. One never knows with the mob. 

"Rosa was married to an evil man. She hated him, and I will not be surprised if she is the one who took him out. I have known Rosa since I was a child, and I remember seeing her with brushes when she was married to Alfonso. After his death, Rosa was afraid of relationships and refused to date again. I can not say I blame her. How did you start working for her?" Aria asks. I am still shocked that Rosa's husband mistreated her! I liked my story better. What kind of man will mistreat a beautiful woman like Rosa? 

"I met her when I was hungry one day after school. I walked past her diner and saw the lovely food, so I went in and asked her if I could do the dishes for her for a plate of food. She said I should come in, and she gave me food. She asked me where my parents were, and I had to tell her my whole history with my parents. I will not bore you with that. It is safe to say I am not my parent's favorite child. Anyway, she offered me a job, and I took it as I needed the money to work through university. My parents did not want to pay for my studies, and I would not let them keep me from becoming something in life," I say. I see Riccardo frown. He is looking at me, and I know he is listening to Aria and me talking. I look out the window and down to the ground. I am not comfortable that Riccardo is listening to our conversation. I need to change the subject. 

"Are you a model?" I ask. 

"Hahaha, no, I am not. I love fashion, but I never wanted to be a model. One of my friends became a model, and it made her vein. She and I are not friends anymore, as she looks down on our other friends and me. She is only friends with Hollywood A-list actors and other models. She will not even greet us when she sees us unless she needs something, then she will contact me and try to use our other friends or me. I did not want to become like her, so I became a stylist and fashion designer," Aria says. 

"Oh, so that is why you are here? So style me for your famous brother," I laugh. 

"Yeah, he does not really care about his image, but he wants to use you as a buffer between him and the women always chasing after him," Aria laughs. 

"Oh, he does not really need me to do that. He can just use his personality, it will scare or any potential fan girl or lover," I laugh. 

"Hahahaha, I love the way you think," Aria says. 

"I am right here and can hear every bloody word you are saying," Riccardo says. He seems to be angry. 

"How does it feel to have a woman that can resist your looks, brother? It is obvious that Mia is not your fan," Aria laughs. I feel she is enjoying this at the expense of her brother. Riccardo glares at this sister but does not say a word. He looks at me, but I do not know what he thinks as he has a poker face on. 

"Wow, you shut him up," I say. 

"She knows it is a matter of time before you fall into my lap like an overripe fig," Riccardo says. 

"Is he always so full of himself? Does he know how off-putting it is?" I ask Aria. 

"Hahaha, you are priceless. It is the first time in years that I have seen a woman that is not afraid of Riccardo. You speak your mind and do not care if he gets mad," Aria says. 

"What is the worst he can do to me? Kill my family and me? As long as he kills my family first, I do not care. I am his mistress, and that is worst than being dead," I say. Aria laughs so hard that I think she is about to pass out. Riccardo looks at me as if I am crazy, and I know I am crazy from pissing off the Godfather. I am sure I will not make it to Houston as his eyes throw daggers at me. 

"She thinks she is adamant, but I know better. She is hiding her fear behind false bravado. She even called my personality a contraceptive," Riccardo says. Aria breaks out in laughter again. She looks at her brother, who has a smile on his face. 

"It is good to see you laughing again, Aria. Even if it is at my expense," Riccardo says. I wonder why Riccardo would say something like that. 

"It feels good to laugh again and not always be sad. I still miss Christian, but I know he left me for another woman, and I need to get over him," Aria says. So she also had her heart broken like her brother. 

"Did your family piss off a gypsy or something? Why are you all cursed in love," I say. Aria looks at me and laughs again. 

"I would not be surprised if it was my father, and he is rude and a drunk," Aria says. Wow, these people may have money, but damn, I do not want their problems. 

"Wow, and I thought I had problems. At least I never got my heart broken but my father may not be a drunk, but he is dishonest," I say. 

"Well, we have a good mother, and she is staying with Ricci. She left my dad when we left school and moved us to Houston to escape him. She worked as a waitress to help us get through university. My mother's parents disapproved of her marriage to my father, and when they found out that my mother was back in Houston, they came to fetch us and Ricci was trained to take over from my grandfather as the Don of the Marina clan," Aria says.

"Do not discuss our family with strangers, Aria," Riccardo says. 

"She needs to know our background. What if someone asks her, and she knows nothing about you or your family, Ricci? You know how nosy some of your old girlfriends are," Aria says. 

"Oh, great! Now I will be the target of all your fan girls and ex-girlfriends. I did not sign up for that," I say. If there is something I hate, it is jealous women, and I do not like them. Rich girls can be mean, I know. I was bullied in school, and my biggest bullies were wealthy, mean girls. 

"Well, honey, you must get tougher and stand up for yourself. I will not always be there to protect you. Talking about protection. This is your bodyguard, and his name is Enzo Valentino, and he will be by your side when I am not around. So do not even think of running away," Riccardo says. 

"Me? Running away from the big, bad Mafia Godfather? I may be ugly, but I am not stupid," I say. 

"Honey, you are not ugly. You are beautiful, and you will be even more beautiful when I am done with you," Aria says. 

"I hope you know I do not even know how to walk in high heels. So, yeah, as Don Marino said, I am not a lady, so good luck trying to turn me into one," I say. Aria looks at me and smiles. 

"Well, we will practice, and there is not a better place to practice than in a flying plane," Aria laughs. 

"I am going to break my angles," I say. I am not very optimistic about this training to become a lady. I know myself, have never worn heels before, and I do not like dresses. The only dress I have is my waitress uniform. I hope Aria has lots of patience.