Chapter 003

Christina’s POV

At 6 pm, just as I’d heard the maids discussing, a knock sounded on my door, and I had no doubt they were here to buff and doll me up for Scott’s coming. But I had other plans of my own.

“You may come in,”

Surprisingly, it was only the young maid I’d seen around Monica that was there. She strolled into the room, bearing a stoic expression.

“I’m here to prepare you for the young master’s arrival, ma’am,” she said in a tone stripped of all kindness, unlike Monica. It was the first time she’d be attending to me without the older maid giving her direct orders. Seeing how young she was, it calmed my nerves and made me believe I’d be able to communicate with her and get her to do my bidding as she must understand my predicament.

“Umm… that won’t be necessary,” I spoke, wringing my fingers in my lap but her annoyed gaze instantly cut to mine and she made no move to hide her displeased expression.

“I’m sorry, ma’am but I have orders to prepare you for the young master’s arrival and I take my job very seriously,”

For a moment, I stared at her, thinking of the right way to communicate my wish to her understanding.

“I’m sorry, I don’t wish to get you in trouble or anything. I’d just like to know more about Scott before we begin,” I drew in a deep breath but she huffed, rolling her eyes but at least, she wasn’t prompting me to do her master’s biddings anymore and I counted that as a little win. “You must know I’ll be living here for a while until I can bear him a child and it’s hard, throwing away my entire life to conform to this, but I’ve decided to make it work and If I’ll be staying here for a while, the least I could do is to get his favor and try to get his kindness so my life wouldn’t be a living hell,”

“Again, ma’am, I work strictly on his commands and I have no idea how I can help you,” her words came out in a bored tone but I chose to ignore it.

“I understand that. I only want to know how to please him. I assume you’ve been working here for quite some time and you must know some tricks?”

“I’d tell you right now, to give up on your plans, Ms Bell. The young master is not a man to be easily pleased and I must admit, it’s bold of you to think you, a mere surrogate would be able to please him,”

“I may be a mere surrogate but it’d make things easier if he’s at peace with me. Now if you don’t mind, could you tell me his likes and dislikes? You must know some as his servant,” I threw in that last bit to remind her of her status and I loved the way her face contorted with fury but I bit down on my lip to hold off my smile.

I disliked nasty people and I know I’d never get along with her. Maybe Monica was the best person to have had this discussion with. But anyway, I wasn’t going to give up until she gave me something to work with. Scott would be home soon and I needed to get started with my plan to save myself tonight.

“If you insist, Ms Bell, I’d have you know that the young master doesn’t show his likes and dislikes to commoners like me, but I’ve noticed two. The first one, he hates the smell of cinnamon and the second one, he hates being touched.”

The urge to scoff at his ridiculousness was strong but I resisted. He disliked being touched but had no problem doing that to me in my vulnerable state, without my consent. His arrogance was disgusting.

 The maid kept staring at me with an expectant look to let me concede to her master’s orders but I rose to my feet.

“Thank you, and you don’t have to worry about preparing me for his arrival. I’ll do that myself and groom myself properly for him, but firstly, I have a little surprise for him,”

Ignoring her, I left for the kitchen.

Monica was surprised to see me there and so were the others_two chefs and another man I hadn’t seen but he was dressed like a butler so I assumed he was one.

“You shouldn’t be here, Ms Bell. The young master would be home soon,” Monica said, coming to me while the Butler spoke to the chefs in low tones, instructing them on what to prepare for dinner and how to set the table before Scott’s arrival but I interrupted him.

“That won’t be necessary,”

“Ma’am?” the butler called with raised brows but I smiled sweetly at him, strolling past Monica to the center of the large kitchen. The place was a chef’s dream and I had no doubt that the chefs were having the time of their life, working here.

“I want to prepare his dinner just for today, as a little surprise. Surely, you wouldn’t take this pleasure from me, would you?”

His eyes darted to Monica and I followed his gaze to see she was still staring at the scene, a bit dazed with surprise and uncertainty.

“N-not at all, ma’am. As you wish,” he returned his attention to the chefs and clapped his hands once. Just like that, they filed out of the kitchen, leaving me there to do my bidding and I did so with a joyful heart.

It was an hour later when Scott arrived, still dressed in his custom-tailored business suit. He walked into the dinning room and handed his briefcase to the butler, who scurried away with it but it seemed he didn’t notice me initially because when his eyes finally landed on me, he paused, his gaze darkening, eyes narrowed to slits and his brows pinching together.

I saw the surprise in his eyes but as soon as it had appeared, it disappeared, and amusement took over. His lips tilted in a smirk and he took a seat. His eyes traveled to the younger maid who’d attended to me earlier, his brow raised in question and but then he looked away.

“You must be hungry, Mr Reid,” I spoke, forcing a smile and he appraised me with that amused expression that had my heart racing. I had no idea what was going through his mind but I only hoped he wouldn’t be suspicious of my plans. He came off as a very smart man. “I wanted to surprise you and show you that I could be civil and honor our arrangement so I prepared dinner,”

“I see,” his words came out in a low calculative drawl, that only spiked my anxiety.

I nodded to the servant and she served us. At first, he stared at his portion and dug into it but instead of eating, I watched him from my peripheral vision, as he tasted his first spoon of the food that I made with a generous amount of cinnamon. My eyes darted to the servant but her eyes were on him, with a sinister smile curving her lips. I was ready to witness his outburst, and my heart rate increased expectantly but then nothing came. Instead, he was eating quietly, chewing each portion delicately. After a few spoons, he even washed it down with wine. I was becoming impatient at this point, waiting for him to react but he didn’t. I glanced at the servant, my annoyance visible on my face but her eyes were still on him, and she was no longer smiling. Instead, her expression spoke of her surprise, her brows knitted together in a frown. My gaze returned to Scott again and I began pondering: 

Was he pretending to enjoy the meal so as to not make a scene or was he truly enjoying it?

While I was still lost in these thoughts, his eyes suddenly met mine and I quickly looked away, pretending to be more interested in the food.

“I appreciate your kindness, Christina, but next time, do not bother yourself with preparing my meal. Chefs have been hired to take on this duty and I’d like to keep it that way,”

His words weren’t what I was expecting but I nodded in acceptance and continued eating while fuming with my failure and disappointment. It was just my first task but I’d miserably failed at it. But then I remembered the words of the maid. He hated being touched and it was the perfect time to act on that.

Without second thoughts, I discreetly slipped my foot from my slippers and stretched it underneath the table, until my big toes grazed his pants. From the corner of my eyes, I saw him paused, his fork stopping close to his lips but then he wrapped his lips around it and continued eating like nothing happened. But it excited me that it was working. Hence, I continued, believing he’d soon have enough of me and dismiss me for the night.

Again, I rubbed my foot on his leg, gently tracing it from his foot up to his knee but then suddenly, his cutlery clattered to the floor and his face tensed in a hard unreadable expression. I gulped as my eyes widened and I met the servant’s gaze, who was smiling smugly.

Have I easily achieved my aim?

But my assumption was wrong because in the next instant, I was dangling over Scott’s shoulder as he marched out of the dining room, heading up the stairs.

“You little minx, you messed with me first,” he growled in a deep guttural tone that had my heart slamming hard against my ribs.