It had been over a month since I signed the contract with Richard and to be honest there wasn't much to do. Yara wouldn't hear of me helping around the house, treating me like I'd break if I touched a sponge. And Remo; my assigned bodyguard wouldn’t accept my request to leave the house because ‘The boss’ disapproves of it.
I had gained a couple pounds and my bruises had healed, well, most of them.“You're wearing this boring outfit again?” Yara sighed, as she walked into my room with a tray of smoothie and snacks. “I really like you, Mrs. Lenora but I hate your sense of style.”“No one wears fancy dresses and jewelry at home," I retorted, snapping my journal shut.“You're the lady of the house at least look the part, on some occasions.” She responded, leaving the tray on a stool, she went ahead to open the window drapes muttering under her breath. “And let some light in, this room looks as gloomy as your outfit.”“Sometimes I wonder who is incharge of who.” I chuckled, taking a sip of my smoothie. “Mhm… this is delicious.” I moaned.“Vanya suggests you take a swim today, the weather is nice and you've been cramped up in your room for days.” She grimaced, going through my laundry. “At least you'd wear something colorful.”She was right, I had been in my room for way too long, mostly because I had nothing to do and nowhere to go. A swim in the pool didn't sound bad except for the fact that I can't swim.“Remo told me there's a theater in the mansion.” I diverted the conversation, I wasn't going to tell her I couldn't swim, she was disappointed already with my fashion choices.“Another dark room? absolutely not, I'll have your swimsuit ready.”“About that… I'm allergic to chlorine.” I lied, giving her the sweetest fake smile I could muster.Heading over to my walk-in closet, she announced, “There's no need to worry, we don't use that in the swimming pools, don't tell anyone I told you but Sir. Richard is also allergic, I mean you should know you're his wife.”Truth to be told, in the month I have lived in this mansion I have no information whatsoever on Richard, the only thing I know about him is that he's wealthy and busy.No one really talks about what he does for a living, which I do mind because, I sure as hell do not want to be married to a drug lord.The only time I get to see him is occasionally at breakfast and most of the time at dinner. I mean if we were going to put up a marriage charade we should at least make it believable to the staff.“I found a very beautiful, bathing suit.” Yara cried from the closet, “Oh wait, there's more!”“There really is no escaping this” I whispered to myself. *********I stood at the edge of the pool, dreading the thought of going in it. The last time I tried to swim, I almost drowned and ended up in the emergency room. I haven't gone near a pool ever since that day but here I was standing at the edge of one in a sage green bathing suit.“You're supposed to get in and swim, Ma’am!” Yara called, from the shades and I turned to glare at her. She laughed and walked back into the house, however, Remo, who had been watching me for a while, walked up to me, surprising me with a question, “You can’t swim, can you?”“Who says I can't?” I responded, trying to defend myself.“Your body language, it's too obvious, just lay down for a tan or something, there's really no one here to impress.” He stated, and turned to go back to where he had been sitting earlier. “You do know I'm telling the boss about it, right?” He said and when I didn’t respond he added, “Just letting you know.”And while I was thankful to Remo for getting me out of that one, I somehow wished he wasn't so cold to me, he reminded me of a certain someone I know, a certain someone who owned this mansion. *********The clinking of utensils echoed through the room, amplifying the awkward silence between us. I poked at the broccoli on my plate, my thoughts drifted to my current life and I caught myself sighing.Richard sat across from me savoring his meal, we usually had dinner together, mostly in silence but today's silence was overwhelmingly loud.“You seem bothered, what's on your mind?” He asked, all of a sudden, surprising me.“Nothing, I'm just pondering.” I responded, my gaze fixed on the plate rather than meeting his eye.“Care to share?” He responded, with his mouth half full.Do I care to share? It's not like if I told him, he'd grant it, just like he had refused to grant my other requests. Whether I cared or not didn’t matter, I'd tell him anyway and hope for the best outcome.“I don't want to be a housewife.” I muttered, still avoiding his eyes.“Be audible.” He ordered and I repeated my statement with more audibility.“I said, I don't want to be a housewife.” Taking a deep breath, I lifted my gaze to meet him and continued, “It's tiring staying in this huge mansion, every day with absolutely nothing to do, it's boring as hell.”“Isn't that the kind of life most women want?” He chuckled, cutting his last piece of steak.“W-well…yes,” I stammered, I mean he did have a point. “But, I want a job, I want to go out everyday and live a normal life, even if it's tons and piles of office work.”His lips formed a smirk and he said, “You're my wife, you can't live a normal life.”“Like you put a ring on it.” I muttered to myself, stealing a glance at my bare ring finger. There were so many things wrong about this marriage, and the top of the list was this annoying black haired but rather handsome man sitting across from me.“Vanya tells me your bruises are healed, after dinner get dressed we're making our first public appearance.” He announced, wiping his mouth with a napkin he got up to leave.“Tonight! B-but isn't it like too soon and where are we going?” I exclaimed, clearly shocked.He looked at me and replied, “To a jewelry store, we're going ring shopping.”I stood alone in front of a display case, in the jewelry store. Yara tried going all out in choosing my outfit for the night and no matter how much I objected to her idea of going all out, she simply wouldn't hear of it. “You're going out with the boss, you have to look your very best or else everyone would just think you're his P.A.” She had told me earlier and with how expensive I was looking, I couldn't imagine anyone thinking that. But of course at the end I wore something simple leaving Yara highly devastated. The necklaces sitting on the display case were stunning, I trailed my fingertips over the glass case as if I were caressing the gems on one of the necklaces. It was a real diamond, I could tell because this wasn't any ordinary Jewelry store, it was Harry Winston. “I would advise that you don't stand too close or lean on that.” A female staff walked up to me and suggested quite rudely.I gave her a confused stare and replied, “Yeah, I'm barely even touching it.” “Please
“You wouldn’t be this tired if you went to bed when you were asked to.” Richard nagged, as Vanya handed me a cup of coffee at the breakfast table.“Is this Latte?” I yawned.“It's a Macchiato.” She responded, gesturing for me to drink up.I took a sip and grimaced at the bitter taste of the coffee. I've always been a sweet tooth and did not have a good liking for bitter things. “I can't take this, I need cream with it and sugar.”Richard shook his head at Vanya in disapproval and she retreated to the kitchen in silence, “What do you mean, I can't have cream and sugar with my coffee?” I ranted.“Take your coffee and breakfast, so that we can leave, I haven't got all day.” He reprimanded.“I thought you said Remo was taking me?” I asked, trying to gulp down the coffee in large portions. “Times like this, you make me feel like I'm dealing with some sort of child.” Richard sighed.“I don't recall ever telling you I was mature, you just assumed that.” I retorted, taking the last gulp of t
“You know firing your secretary wasn't really necessary.” I said, going through an employee file I had picked from his desk.“You mean I should promote unethical work behavior?” He responded with a quizzical expression on his face.“No, I'm just saying she probably had a situation come up, for the Director of Operations to lie for her sake, I'm pretty sure it's an important cause.” I defended, my interest piqued at the file I was going through.I heard the ruffling of what sounded like paper and his voice along with it, “An important cause like what?” I turned the file towards his direction, pointing at a particular profile, as if he could see it from his desk, “Her file here says she's a Mrs… with two kids.”“What are you telling me?” He asked.“At my old job, our secretary usually came in to work very late, no one knew why she was always late until the day our boss threatened to fire her, she'd worked overtime everyday since that day. We'd notice her puffy eyes each time she came o
It had been a week since I had begun working at The House of Osvaldo, with my former experience, I had an insight on how things worked even though this was a luxury brand. Remo finally gave me the space I needed at work and I worked tirelessly with Michelle towards the launch of their newest fashion collection ‘Corletta’ .After one of my supervisions with Michelle and the designers for the collection, I made my way to the restroom to take a piss. I had my own private restroom but I didn't want to stress going up three floors to take a piss. The restroom was empty when I got in and I took a stall to relieve myself. I heard the restroom door open and some women chattering their way in, and for some reason I couldn't help but eavesdrop. “I was surprised as well when I heard the boss was married.” The first voice said, and the sound of water gushing from the tap accompanied it.“We all know he's gay, he's probably using her as a cover, I mean no one has ever seen him with a woman and
Richard's POVI woke up late with a terrible headache and an overwhelming tiredness. The headache had begun the night after I had gotten home from a business meeting but I had decided to sleep it off and this morning it had developed into a splitting one. Making my way to the shower I caught a glimpse of something or should I say someone through my balcony. I approached my balcony out of curiosity and there she lay on a beach chair in a two piece bathing suit tanning. I found my eyes trailing her body the bruises Vanya had told me she was decorated with but it seemed they had healed completely. I remember the night I had met her vividly, I had concluded a business meeting and was asked to out of for some drinks. Not being comfortable in loud places and brothels, I decided to leave early only to find a woman screaming for help as I was about to get into my car.At first I was dismissive, no one wants to involve themselves in brothel problems but she seemed desperate and I remembere
Lenora's Pov:After Tara left, Richard retreated back into the mansion and I called after him, “Richard, wait!”He stopped and turned in response. I walked up to him and placed my palm on his forehead, confirming my suspicion. “You're burning up.” I stated.“I know.” He replied, taking my palm off his forehead and continuing his stride. “Do I need to call Vanya?” I asked.“No.” He responded, sharply. “I'm fine.”“Let me at least come with you.” I insisted. “I said, I'm fine!” He yelled, and I saw him stumble a bit as he walked. I went after him, “Are you really going to act like this, even in this state?” I scolded, and he let out a deep sigh of exasperation. “I'm fine, satisfied?” He sighed, going up the stairs. “And don't follow me, you're only going to worsen my headache with your nagging.”“It's called caring, which I'm sure you can't relate with.” I snapped back. “Why do you care?” He retorted. And I raised my hand at him, showing off the ring on my finger, “In case you've
Lenora's Pov:The morning came in faster than anticipated, I woke up groggily to the sound of water. On opening my eyes I peered at my surroundings, it didn't look like my room and I instantly recalled last night's events. How did I even sleep soundly? Richard wasn't on the bed, so I assumed he was using the shower. The running water came to an abrupt stop and when I heard the bathroom door open, I pulled the sheets over myself pretending to be fast asleep. I heard him walk across the room, “Vanya, have someone bring in breakfast.” He said, moving to another part of the room. After what seemed like a minute he resurfaced and I heard him open what sounded like a bottle of water. Water droplets fell on my face and I jumped up, and met an indifferent Richard staring down at me. He stood shirtless, showing off his fit chest and damn was he ripped. I was almost tempted to run my fingers over his abs, almost.I sighed and hissed, “You know, there are other ways to rekindle with your inne
Lenora's Pov:“Ricardo!” An older woman exclaimed as we alighted from the car. The place we had arrived in was a large mansion, a type of house people with old money would live in. “Mamma, come stai?” Richard said, going in for an embrace, I didn't get what she said next because I obviously didn't know Italian. She glanced at me and said something to Richard, I guessed it as my cue to offer a greeting. “Ciao, Signora Giulia, Richard has told me all about you.” I said, giving her a hug.“Signora?” She gasped. “I wasn't sure to call you mother yet.” I explained, fiddling with my thumb nervously.She waved her hand as if dismissing the thought, “Absolutely nonsense, Mamma sounds very wonderful, come inside dear.” She said, taking my hand. I turned to Richard and gave him a wink and a thumbs up but of course, he rolled his eyes at me.“Tell me dear, what is your name?” She asked as we made our way inside.“Lenora.” I replied, giving her a sweet smile and she responded with an even swee