Kiara:
“You must be Kiara” a woman wearing a black dress and apron said opening the door for me, I smiled and nodded at her as she opened the door wider for me to walk inside the Brooke’s mansion. The house was bigger than it was in the numerous magazines it was pictured on. I couldn’t imagine anyone being able to clean the place on his own. But then again, I’m guessing that they could easily hire a bunch of maids to clean the place for them.
“I am Maria, I will give you the outfit you’ll be wearing and I’ll explain the details of your job here, Mrs. Iris would explain to you what she wants you to do at the company” Maria said and I nodded taking a deep breath as I looked around the house, imagining what it would be like living in a place like this was almost an impossible dream for me. The house was huge, and would fit at least fifty or sixty people easily, no wonder these people rarely rented a place to hold their events. The inside of the house itself was huge, and I was yet to see the yard.
“Alright, is there a place where I can change my clothes?” I asked and Maria nodded showing me to the bathroom. My eyes went wide the second I entered it, bloody hell the bathroom was even more expensive than the whole apartment Grace and I lived in. It was impossible how these people lived in this place so casually, the place could match a palace. Shaking my head at myself, I changed my clothes and tied my hair in a bun since Maria had her hair tied in a bun, folding my clothes, I walked out of the bathroom to find Maria fixing a plate in the kitchen.
“Um, sorry…” I said awkwardly, I didn’t know where to put my clothes, and I knew that I couldn’t just leave them here in the kitchen. I wouldn’t even do that in MY house let alone a stranger’s place. Maria looked at me and instantly understood my worry, nodding at a closet behind the kitchen’s door, it was an empty closet. Just a coat hanged there, and I nodded putting my clothes on one of the shelves along with my bag, my phone was inside my pocket in case Grace called.
“Today, a few friends of Mrs. Iris are coming, now remember as there can’t be any mistakes. Otherwise, both you and me will lose our jobs” Maria said and I nodded listening to her instructions. What to give and what not to, who to serve first, and Mrs. Iris being the host would be the last served. How to prepare a proper dining table and where to put everything, she had everything ready and set. They simply needed heating before lunch and we’d have them set on the table, the table itself was ready and set. According to Maria, one of the crystal glasses were for the cocktails, alcohol wasn’t consumed during the day, and there was another one for water. I had to be accurate and I couldn’t mix the two.
“How would I know who to give what, what if one of them doesn’t want a certain glass of juice or the glasses are done…”
“There are four types of juice, enough for all of them, don’t worry about that” Maria said and I nodded taking a deep breath to calm myself down, this was more intense than simply working at one of the restaurants where the costumer would simply make his or her order and I would be serving them easily.
The door of the house was knocked and Maria walked toward it, opening it for Mrs. Iris to walk inside. I looked at the woman who was wearing a white coat over her shoulders, she wore sunglasses which she took off as Maria took her coat and hung it inside the closet. The woman already had her makeup ready and the driver walked inside carrying what looked like a dress coming from the laundry. I had to admit that I was amazed and I couldn’t help but envy the woman, she had everything that a girl could ever wish for, whether it was power, wealth, or beauty. She had it all.
“Kiara, darling, nice to see you here” Mrs. Iris said and I smiled at her, I wouldn’t have missed out on a job like this one, it was considered easy money for me. A few hours which would help me earn a whole lot more than any job I have worked in throughout my whole life, and I have been working for quite a while, in different jobs, with different people. But none gave me an offer like this or even close to it.
“Thank you, Mrs. Iris, Maria just finished explaining the details to me, I won’t let you down” I said smiling, the woman nodded and walked up the stairs, a boy looking about seventeen or eighteen walked down the stairs and he frowned in confusion when he caught sight of me before he shook his head and looked at Mrs. Iris who was going up the stairs.
“You are?” He asked.
“Kiara, sir, Mrs. Iris hired me to help out Maria today” I said and the kid raised his eyebrow but nodded not saying a word. His eyes looking at Maria who looked down at her feet avoiding his eyes.
“Would you need me to get you anything Mr. Daniel?” Maria asked and the kid shook his head, his eyes looking at me once again before he walked back up the stairs where he originally came.
“Is something wrong? Did I say or do something to offend him?” I asked confused and Maria shook her head at me as she smiled softly seeing my worry and concern.
“Come on, let’s get everything ready. The guests should be here any minute” Maria said and I nodded heading back inside the kitchen and helping Maria fix the small tables that were in the living room.
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“Iris indeed made the right choice choosing the girl, look at how flexible she is. She really does know what she’s doing” I heard one of Mrs. Iris’s friends say, the woman was with her at the restaurant when she offered me the job. I smiled and entered the living room, serving the women with juice and Mrs. Iris smiled at me.
“Yes, it’s hard finding proper, good workers these days, most of them would take months of training” another woman said and I pretended not to hear them as I walked from woman to woman handing her the drinks, and finally Mrs. Iris. It was almost seven in the evening and the guests had already had their late lunch and were simply sitting in the living room as they talked. Well, more like gossiped.
“But you know Iris is a natural in whatever she does. Her skills cannot be denied”
I walked out of the living room and headed back to the kitchen, helping Maria fix things in the kitchen just as the house’s door was knocked. Both Maria and I frowned in confusion but she smiled “it must be Mr. Adrian”
She walked toward the door and opened it, and following her, I was curious to see Mr. Adrian in person. I’ve seen him in pictures of magazines, the internet, and newspapers. But never in real life.
However, my eyes widened when my eyes met the familiar brown eyes of a certain blonde, he bit his bottom lip and he nodded before walking inside the house without saying a word. He walked inside the living room and I heard the guests greeting him as they got up, he was being polite as he spoke to them, and Maria nodded at me to take a drink for him, something that I didn’t want to do. But I knew that I had to.
I thought he said that he didn’t live here? He was invested in his father’s companies…
Shaking my head at the thoughts, I picked up the tray and walked toward him, his brown eyes met my blue ones as I handed him his glass. He smiled and took it, taking a sip of the glass. His mum looked at me then at him before she turned to look at her guests who were distracted in whatever conversation they were having.
“You and me have to talk” Thomas whispered, I was about to answer but he shook his head at me to stay quiet. He was right, this wasn’t the place to argue with one another. Especially not in front of his mum and her guests.
I walked out of the living room, careful not to drop the tray from my hands as my hands shook. The memory of what Thomas told me was fresh in my memory, the fact that he was here in front of me.
What did you expect, Kiara? This is his parents’ house…
Taking a deep breath, I forced myself to calm down as I knew that I needed to get things done. I needed this job and I wasn’t going to lose it because of Thomas.
Thomas: “Why? Just why would you hire the girl here after you told me to stay away from her?” I asked mum once everyone had left. Her eyes met mine and she raised an eyebrow at me, looking me up and down before she walked back inside the living room. The woman was still angry with me, I was aware of that. But that gave her no right to do what she did right now. The fact that she brought the girl that she knew I had feelings for, the girl that I was with and SHE made me break up with. Why would she be doing so? “Mother…” “How did you even know that she’s here? Weren’t you the one who said that you would be staying at your apartment? So, what brings you here?” Mum asked angrily and I raised an eyebrow at her. “Last I checked this was MY father’s house, whether I was to stay at the apartment or here was MY choice. I don’t think I need to ask for permission on where I’ll be staying” I answered glaring at mum who raised an eyebrow at me. “This may
Kiara:I entered the house after a very long day of working at the Brooke’s mansion, Mrs. Iris was sure to instantly pay me after giving Thomas his drink, and asked me to leave a few minutes later saying that I did a good job and that she didn’t want to exhaust me anymore. Not that she did, I was happy doing what I was.“Grace! I’m home!” I called as I walked through the door, taking off my jacket, having changed back to my own clothes before leaving the Brooke’s house knowing that I couldn’t possibly get on the bus with maid’s clothes on, I would most likely be harassed and I didn’t want that. Mrs. Iris thankfully didn’t mind me leaving the house in my normal clothes. I later learned from Maria that not even she left the house with maid’s clothes on, these people really did treat their workers as humans rather than slaves.“I’m in the living room” she called and I walked to the
Thomas:“Alright, I’ll get them done. You should have them ready in your email before the day ends” I told my father who just had his secretary send me ten emails to look over, review, and check for any mistakes in the financials.“I’ll be waiting for them” dad said before he hung up. I sighed and read through the emails which would be keeping me busy for the rest of the day. I haven’t seen or spoken to anyone since I left the house this weekend. This conversation with my dad was the first in two days, Daniel has been sending me messages but I’ve been too busy with everything that I had to prepare to have time to speak to him, and I know that it was wrong. The kid was probably having it from mum who would be worried sick about me, but I needed time to get used to being alone and the new system that I would be living in.Checking the emails, I started reading through them. Though one person kept running through my m
Kiara:“Is there anything that you need, Mr. Adrian?” I asked smiling. Having brought Mr. Adrian his coffee, he smiled and shook his head, the man was a decent, well controlled human who treated his workers justly. At least that was the case with me, I have been working here for a whole month and so far everything has been going great.“Thank you, Kiara” he said softly and I smiled. Heading toward the door, I was stopped by a question that took me off guard “what is your major, Kiara?”“Sorry?” I asked frowning in confusion.“University, what did you study?”“I-“ I looked down at my feet, embarrassed of his question. Everyone here had a degree when I barely finished high school, having been forced to leave home when I was eighteen. Mum had sent Grace with me to London and the two of us were forced to struggle to stay on our feet, I have been working since to ensure that my sist
Thomas: “Mum? Hi” I smiled standing up to greet mum who came to the office. It being the third or fourth time she came to the office, normally dad wouldn’t let her come as not to interfere with work, and I knew that he probably didn’t even know of her being here. Well, not for long, I knew that it would be reported to him somehow. “Hello” mum said in a sass tone which made me smile. I cupped her cheeks and kissed her forehead making her smile, her and I had somehow gotten past our arguments, that didn’t mean that I went back to the mansion though. I do go there to visit, but I got used to living alone in the apartment that I didn’t want to go back. Jasmine, Lilian, and Daniel tended to come and stay over when they wanted to, which was mostly on weekends. The apartment technically being a penthouse, it had eight empty bedrooms, therefore each got a bedroom and we still had more for guests. “How are you?” Mum asked gently, she cupped my cheeks then looked at me
Kiara:My hands shook as I walked out of the office. Hugging the tray as I fought to stay calm not wanting to show my nervousness, having not seen Thomas for months, the last thing I expected was finding him here in front of me. Well, that was technically because the man never once showed up here. His father often left the office to go somewhere, his secretary always said that he would go to his son’s office, but it always stayed there.“Kiara? Are you okay? You look like you’ve seen a ghost” Diana, one of my colleagues said walking toward me. I shook my head, snapping myself out of the daze I fell into and smiled. I wasn’t one to open up to anyone and I had made sure not to make any friends in this office. Having heard a few rumors which were spread around about me, I made no attempt in trying to prove anyone wrong. But I made sure to keep my distance.“Yeah, I think that it’s lack of sleep” I said calmly, and tec
Thomas:“Thomas, where are we going?” Kiara asked and I rolled my eyes. Her and I have been walking for the past ten minutes because she refused to get in the car with me.“If you would have gotten in the car; we would have been there by now, princess” I said rolling my eyes.“I would rather rot in hell than get in a car with you” Kiara said angrily and I rolled my eyes once again. Having found out that she was to be my ‘waitress’, I was worried that I would end up getting poisoned one morning, and the thing was; I couldn’t even blame her for it. Having hurt her as badly as I did, insulted her, and cheapened her, I couldn’t expect any less from her.“We’re here” I said casually entering a café.“Seriously?”“What now?” I asked standing in front of Kiara who raised an eyebrow at me.“You dragged me out of the office, to co
Kiara:“Wait, you’re telling me, that Thomas. The Thomas, is now your boss?” Grace asked wide eyed. I sighed but nodded.The girl had come back from work to find that I was already home, having skipped most of the day after Mr. Adrian gave me the rest of the day ‘off’. I was thankful that he did, imagining myself finding out about Thomas being my new boss and me having to be patient about it in front of everyone was not in my highlighted to do list.“His dad retired and now, he’s the boss of the whole company. Meaning that I’d have to be serving him, that I would be seeing him on a daily basis, and I would have to be professional as not to pour a cup of coffee over his pants.“You forgot about not poisoning him, but then again, you’re not me. So, that shouldn’t be an issue” Grace teased and I glared at her. She laughed and raised her hands in mock surrender making me glare at her. I w
She smiled as he wrapped his arms around her from behind, hugging her tightly. Kissing her cheek from the back, his scruff scratching her cheek as she placed her palm on his cheek, gently pulling on his beard.It has been seven years since Kiara and Thomas got married, and both were expecting their second baby soon. Their first daughter was now five years old and was both jealous and excited to see her new baby sibling.“Heading to work?” Kiara asked her husband, turning around to face him. He pecked her lips, cupping her cheeks as he did.“Yes, mum is coming over later, she wants to see Elena” Thomas said looking his wife in the eye. Two years into their marriage, a while before Kiara gave birth to her daughter, Iris softened to the couple, and despite having her conflicts with Kiara; knowing that her and Thomas were happy only made her want them being together. As for Thomas’s uncle, the man loved Kiara and would come to spend hours with her, helping her when he knew that Iris would
Thomas:I laid on the couch with Kiara in my arms.“Thomas, you know that this isn’t going to be ending well” she said sadly. I knew what she was referring to. She was afraid of how her family and mine would react when they found out about us, but I couldn’t care less anymore. The two of us have struggled enough away from one another for me to care.“I cared about what they said before, and that only led me to making the biggest mistake of my life. I won’t be repeating that again, Kia” I said looking down at her. I kissed her temple and tightened my arms around her. She didn’t know how much I missed her, or how much it hurt me being away from her.“Yeah, but the things that are in stake this time are far worse than those that would be now. You have your company, I have my position, and I can’t deny how much Chris has done for me…”“Do you want this, Kiara?” I asked looking down at her. She frowned in confusion, looking up at me as to process my words “would you be willing to go all in
Kiara:“I did as you told me” I said walking inside the house to find Christopher, Grace, and mum setting the table.The pain I felt in my chest about the fact that I had hurt him the way I did, and intentionally did so, broke me. I didn’t even understand why it hurt me so much after what he and his family did, but seeing him as broken as he was broke my heart. The picture he sent me a long time ago, the picture was one that brought back memories to the time when we kissed. The time when he had hovered my body only to stop because he knew that I wasn’t ready yet.“Good, now he knows not to mess with you” Christopher said putting the plates on the table.“I just don’t want this to keep going, Christopher. I am here to work, not prove a point to a man who no longer means anything to me. With what I’m doing, it would seem like I care about his attention, and that is not something that I want to do”
Thomas:“Just why?” I asked Christopher. I couldn’t help but call the man after the meeting was over and I was sure that Kiara left the building. My eyes were fixed on the window as I watched her walk inside her company’s car.“Why what exactly?” Christopher asked, his tone menacing. The man knew exactly what I was talking about, and yet, he was questioning me about this. I had begged him to show me where she was, I tried to apologize to her, to see her for just one second. But no matter what I said, he and her sister denied me that; I couldn’t even blame them for it after what happened.“Of all people that you brought to face me. You sent the one woman you…”“You of all people aren’t one to discuss who I send to represent me. If I sent Kiara, it is because she is my representative, and she would always be from now on. Whether it is to face you, or to face my other business partners;
Kiara:My heart raced against my ribcage as I looked at Thomas as he spoke.The way he stood confidently as if he ruled the world broke me more than I could describe.Why?Because I felt like a lost kitten in front of him.Memories of what we went through played in my mind throughout the whole meeting, and I found it both harder to breath, or focus. However, I kept my eyes on him as he spoke, writing whatever he said, his voice making my heart race despite me not wanting to react to it.It was two hours later when he was finally done with the meeting and everyone in the room was dismissing themselves. I stood up to fix my things only for a hand on top of mine to stop me making me flinch “wait”I quickly removed my hand from under his. My blue eyes meeting his chocolate brown ones. The brown eyes which I’ve grown to force myself to forget. But it seemed like looking at them returned me back to memory lane. The urge to
Thomas:“Thomas, love, is everything alright? You’re late for work” mum said walking inside the house. Her eyes met mine before she scanned the house for any woman here or there, I playfully rolled my eyes at her behavior and wrapped an arm around her, hugging her tightly.“I am fine, mum, and no, I am not late for work. If you’re checking for a woman here or there, there isn’t one. Don’t worry” I said glaring at her and Uncle Xavier. They have been at this since Kiara left London, and if I said that it didn’t start annoying me; then I would be lying.“Thomas, when are you going to stop treating us as if we were your enemies? We are your family, and if we’re doing something; it is to keep you safe” mum said looking me in the eye.“By safe you mean lying to me, and plotting a scam with dad, right? Well, good job doing so. Now, if you two don’t have anything else to tell me,
Kiara:I sat on the floor hugging my knees as I cried.My weight couldn’t even carry me further away from the door, therefore, I leaned toward the door as I sobbed my eyeballs out.How could he have believed that I would be thinking of such a thing?“Kiara?” Grace’s voice forced me to pull my head up. Especially when she ran toward me and sat on her knees beside me, cupping my cheeks as she forced me to look at her “love, what happened?”“Grace, try helping her up, I’ll make her something warm to drink” I heard her boyfriend’s, aka boss’s, voice.“Come on, love, you heard Christopher, let’s get you to the living room” she said softly pulling me up to stand on my feet which were barely lifting me. She helped me walk to the living room, my vision blurry from the tears that fell from my eyes.We sat down on the couch before Grace wrapped her arm around me
Thomas:My vision blurred as I processed what Kiara had said.Mum who was in front of me froze as she took in my angered expression.“Kiara, love, where are you?” I asked trying to calm my voice, she was already as nervous as she was, I didn’t need to add to the burden. I waited until she responded, my eyes fixed on the wall in front of as I avoided mum’s eyes.“Still in front of the building, they’re bringing out my things…” she broke down again and I hummed in response.“Love, stay where you are, I am coming to get you. I will not take no for an answer right now” I said nodding at mum to follow me. She didn’t question me and the two of us walked toward the elevator, though her eyes remained fixed on me as she waited for me to hang up for her to understand what was happening.“Okay, I’ll be here”“It’s going to be fine, baby, I just want
Kiara:“Good morning, Mr. Adrian” I said entering the office. The man smiled as he looked up at me from the stack of papers he was reading. Having hired his old secretary back, I knew that he was doing this to make Thomas think that his stay here was a mistake. Everyone that’s been fired has been returned to his or her position, and it was suddenly like Mr. Adrian never even left.It was something that I didn’t appreciate the father doing to his son, especially after everyone had started prospering in their new positions. The company had gained more than it has lost, and this time everyone here knew that it was simply because the father was acting as if he was challenging his son. Grace had told me to be careful, this time Mr. Adrian could do anything to break his son. If he had started with his workers, he could do something to me if he knew that there was anything between his son and I.To say that we were trying to protect his relation