For a moment, the room is deathly still. No one speaks. No one even dares to breathe. My mother looks like she’d rather be swimming in a pool filled with dangerous crocodiles than be present in this room right now. I do not fucking care. I’d rather swallow my own vomit than let Mrs. Maria treat me like she treats my mother — like an unworthy piece of trash. Mrs. Maria lifts her nose in the air, her lips pinched with disgust.“Your daughter is very disrespectful, Milcent.” She targets my mother as usual instead of just addressing me. “First of all, she should understand that she’s not supposed to speak to elders in that manner. Second, it would be better if she just gave up her invitation. After all, what exactly will she be doing at the fashion week?”Okay. I’ve finally had enough. I get to my feet, my fingers tightening into fists at my sides.“First of all, if you have a problem with me, Mrs. Maria, I believe you should address me and leave my mother out of it. Second, what are y
CAMILAUpon hearing my voice, the man gets to his feet and turns in my direction. I open my mouth to speak once again but freeze, the words dying in my throat when I see his face. He has the most expressive, bright blue eyes I’ve ever seen. His jawline is a perfect definition of “Adonis” and those lips. God, those lips. They’re full and plump like the men in my Spanish telenovelas. Despite his worn outfit, this man looks like he just stepped off the glossy pages of some famous American magazine and for some reason, he looks really familiar.The way he stares at me makes my heart beat faster and my cheeks flush with awareness. No man has ever made me feel this way before. No man has ever had my heart burning with just a stare.His eyes rove over my body like hot licks of liquid fire and for the first time in my life, I am not creeped out by a man’s stare. Let’s just say I’m intrigued and leave it at that. “You never answered my question.” I snap, trying to gain control over my disto
Alex squared his shoulders and took a deep breath in preparation as Tariq knocked on the double glass doors of the lounge.“Come on in.” A female voice called from inside. He turned to Alex. “It’s time.”Alex nodded and together, they walked into the spacious, luxuriously decorated lounge. There were two women in the room and both their eyes were firmly fixed on him as he came to a stop beside Tariq. The first woman has midnight black hair like Camila, while the second one had blonde hair which he instantly knew was either fake or dyed. “Hello, Maria.” Tariq stepped aside, to give them a better view of Alex. “This is David Wyatt. He’s the kid I was telling you about. Your new cleaner from New York City.”Tariq turned to him.“David, this is Mrs. Maria, your new boss.” He pointed at the fake-haired lady. “And this is Mrs. Millicent Fernandez. She’s a cousin of the family.”Anger burned in Alex’s throat as he took a good look at the woman who perpetrated the death and torture of his
Alex stood silently, surprised at the tension he could feel rolling off Miguel in waves. What was the guy’s deal? Really. “Why don’t I show you to the servant’s quarters?” He said, lifting his nose in the air like Alex was beneath him.Tariq stepped in.“Uh, Miguel, David will not be staying at the servant’s quarters.”Miguel froze. Uh-oh. Alex had a really bad feeling about this. Miguel’s eyes were literally spitting flames when he turned.“Excuse me, sir? All the servants stay at the servant’s quarters. Why is he an exception?”Mr. Tariq took a deep breath and stiffened his shoulders. The air suddenly seemed to shift, becoming colder. “I don’t know Miguel but for some reason, I’ve noticed that you’re quite saucy and disrespectful today.”Shocked, Miguel’s eyes widened. “Sir…”Tariq lifted a hand, effectively cutting him off. “I never said I was done.” He said in an authoritative tone. “Do not interrupt me.”Miguel lowered his gaze. “Sorry, sir.”“I think you’ve forgotten that
Alex walked to the garden with unhurried steps, his heart beating wildly for reasons he could not quite understand. When he arrived, he paused and looked over the impressive display of flowers and maze of exotic plants. In the distance, he could sight a water fountain which was sculpted in the shape of Zeus with water spouting off his fingers. It was beautiful.After scanning the area for a few minutes with no sign of Miguel or Camila, Alex had to turn to the nearby guard for help. “Hey, man. Have you seen Miguel? The head housekeeper.”The uniformed guard nodded and pointed towards the statue of Zeus. “He’s by the fountain with Miss Camila. I saw both of them a few minutes ago.”Alex nodded. “Thanks, man. I appreciate it.”He stalked towards the fountain, wondering what Miguel and Camila were doing all alone at the innermost part of the garden.As he approached, voices filtered in his direction, both male and female voices. Alex tiptoed further, wondering what they were talking
“What the hell are you going here?” The guard from earlier asked, his face set in harsh, straight lines. “Are you a spy? Is that it?”Alex shook his head.“No, no. I’m not a spy.” He said quickly. “I’m the new head cleaner. Miguel is supposed to assign my duties so I came looking for him.”“I understand that but why are you peeping from the bushes?”“I just…”The guard looked over the hedge of plants and Alex fully expected him to explode at the sight of Miguel and Camila hugging like they knew each other intimately. Instead, he stepped back, folded his arms like nothing happened and asked;“Why didn’t you just draw his attention?”Alex was shocked at his reaction. He opened his mouth to ask a few choice questions when the guard cut in;“Miguel doubles as head housekeeper and Miss Camila’s therapist. Sometimes she breaks down during the sessions. That’s all. I know the sight can be misleading but that’s all there is to it.”Alex paused for a moment, mulling over his words.“Therapist
Camila shot him a look over her shoulder.“What do you mean? I just need you to zip me up. That’s all. I’m not asking for anything else.”Alex took a deep breath to control his raging nerves and stepped back.“I’m sorry. I don’t want to disobey your orders but doing this was never in my job description. I cannot do this, Miss. I apologize.”Camila turned to him and opened her mouth to speak but a deep voice interrupted her from down the hall.“Camila, what are you doing here?”She turned and Alex watched her eyes brighten as the stranger approached. He’d wanted to go back inside but instead, he leaned against the door and waited to see the man who was capable of making Camila smile.“Ethan! Oh, thank God. Can you help me with my zipper? I’m running late.”“Sure, Unicorn. What are you doing here? I’ve been looking for you.”Alex’s chest constricted painfully when he heard that nickname. He even had the right to call her by a nickname? Who was this guy and what was their relationship?
Alex was not surprised. It was very clear from their body language that the cleaners hated him. “But why? I mean, we just got introduced. I know I’ve definitely not troubled anyone since I came here. Why the hate?”Amanda looked away, her chin quivering with indecision.“Uh, sir…”“Just tell me. I promise I won’t tell anyone about our conversation.”She nodded and took a deep breath.“Do you remember the guy you reprimanded earlier?”“Diego?”“Yes. Diego Sanchez.”“What about him?”Amanda twisted her fingers over and over.“Well, let’s just say the cleaners are not particularly happy that Mrs. Maria appointed an outsider to head the unit. They all feel that Diego was more deserving of the position since he’s been here the longest.They think that Diego was cheated and you’ve been given a position that belonged to someone else.”Alex shut his eyes for three seconds and took deep, calming breaths.He could already see the disaster that a situation of this nature might pose. “Well, tr