RINA
I pulled the kitchen door open and stepped inside. Down came the bucket on the floor; I plunged the mop inside. Pulling it out, I splatted it on the floor and began moping, my countenance, sullen.
The only thing playing in my mind was how I would tell Mammà I wanted out. Yes, I no longer cared we had a comfortable place to stay, didn't care we could afford to get three square meals. I just wanted to go home. Back to Baiadicenere. Back to my peaceful neighbourhood. At least, there won't be any macho guy staring daggers at me and threatening heaven and earth.
Granted, bullying was a usual phenomenon to me, but never ever had I been this insulted, and for what exactly? Simply because I'd said the truth?
I scoffed. Unbelievable. Rich people were nasty. They were…
I stopped myself. No, this wasn't me. As much as Luna's son had pushed me to the wall, I couldn't speak ill of the entire family. After all, the Alpha and Luna hadn't done me bad. It was just their obnoxious son. Why does he have to be this hostile? This was a question I didn't think I'd get an answer to.
I managed to keep the sad thought away and carry on with my chore. I took extra care in making sure the kitchen was spotless and that it smelled nice. Perhaps, if I was diligent enough, Signora Lucia would be pleased with me and I could bare my grievances to her. Yes, she'd then tell Luna who would call her son to order. May the moon goddess help me. That was all I could ask for right now.
Inserting the mop back into the bucket, I pulled the door open. I stepped into the dining room and was about to cross into the empty space when someone zapped across. The movement startled me. As a result, the bucket fell to the floor. Fortunately, it didn't topple over. That would have been pretty bad.
I looked up to find Mia sizing me up. Her dark brows were contorted by the thick frown on her face. I looked away immediately, intimidated by the once-over.
"I thought you should know by now, Rina Zante, that clumsiness isn't tolerated here."
"I'm sorry, Mia," I said, genuflecting.
She remained silent for some time and I had the urge to look up to find out what she was doing.
I couldn't bring myself to do so.
She muttered something under her breath, expressing bemusement about how timid I was. It didn't come as a surprise. I got that all the time.
"And where did you think you were going to?"
Huh? Unwittingly, I looked up at her. The scowl had reduced, but her stare was still cold. "Uhm…to the backyard."
"What for?" I was about to speak, when she continued, "Have you finished cleaning the kitchen?"
"Yes."
"You have finished the kitchen. As in, mop the floor pearl clean."
My brows pulled together slightly. I was confused. What was she getting at? "Si, Mia. You can check."
She took a step backwards and scoffed. Blinking swiftly, she spat out, "Did you just talk back at me?"
"What?" To say I was confused was an understatement.
"You actually talked back at me."
I didn't know how to begin giving my explanation. Didn't know how to tell her that she was overreacting. Why on earth would I talk back at her?
However, no word left my mouth. I was blindsided by my chain of bad luck.
"I see, you've grown wings. Heaven help you if I get into that kitchen and spot a speck, just a speck, Rina."
Shooting me one more glare, she sashayed into the kitchen. I didn't need to be told I had to wait for her. Somehow, I was scared. Scared that I hadn't been thorough enough and that she would find fault in what I'd done. I crossed my fingers, wishing that my stars were lucky.
Mia's footsteps echoed from the kitchen before she reappeared. I couldn't read the expression on her face. It was simply neutral. Flat.
"Looks like that was a piece of cake. Quite impressive." Out came her plastic smile. "I hope you channel that same energy in cleaning the toilets."
She took a step towards me. "Starting with Signoro Vincenzo's."
What! I couldn't help the fast beating of my heart and how dry my tongue went. Horror, pure horror was what this was.
I had to say something, anything. I couldn't keep quiet this time.
"Do you have a problem with that?" Mia asked before I could. Phew. Thank heavens. Yes, I could speak now.
"Yes. I… I mean no." I shut my eyes as the implication of what I had said blared. Oh no. "I'm sorry, no. No, Mia."
"Idiota balbuziente. That's what I thought. Now, run along. Hopefully you'll finish in record time as well." She air quoted the word 'record time' and huffed, walking off.
I remained standing, my heart slipping from its position in my chest and sinking down below to oblivion. I couldn't believe this. His toilet? I took my eyes up at the hallway that led to his room. Dear god. What I do for work.
***.
Saying one last silent prayer, I pulled the door open, coming upon this majestic room, chamber, suite, whatever the name it was.
It was a beauty! A white beauty.
I looked around, but couldn't find a bed. Two doors stood at the far end of the room. The bedroom ought to be behind one of those. Same for the restroom. As for where I was now, I guess this was a waiting room of some sort. The walls were pure white, and with the insane lightning, made this place look like heaven celestial.
I went deeper inside and came upon the rest of the room. There were ash coloured couches. The three of them, petite. They matched with the tiny rug under them. My eyes left them to rest on the surrealistic painting on the wall. It lingered there for some time before falling on the 32 inch TV. Wow.
I remembered what I came here for and tore my gaze away, chiding myself for getting carried away.
I walked to the end of the room and tried one of the doors. It wouldn't open. I turned to the other and it gave way. It was the door to the bedroom. Like the waiting room, this place was stark white. Although nothing much was going on here.
I'd have continued gaping hadn't it being for the squeak coming from my right. There was a door there and it was being pulled open. From the tiled floor, I could tell that it was the toilet.
Then, my heart stopped.
Rina ZanteHe... I pinched myself hard on my elbow. A very tight squeeze that'd stifle my irrational fear and timidity. It had to stop! My only job was to clean the toilet. That was all. I didn't know how it happened, but my gaze flashed at him. It freaking did. And that was how I met his wet body. Yet again, this was my first time seeing his naked body, albeit without him being fully naked and as much as I loathed to admit it, my bully was drop-dead gorgeous. Raven dark hair, spiky due to moisture, flattened against his head, drops of water trailing down his bronze skin. His blue gaze held mine, a piercing intensity to them, as he raked a hand through his hair, the dragon tattoo on his biceps flexing with the movement. He was sexy and he knew it.I shut my eyes as my airway constricted. I couldn't get that picture off my mind. Especially his rock hard chest that sprouted a few strands of dark hair,, his abs accentuated to a full display. Still with my eyes shut, I sensed him leave
Rina ZanteI placed our lunch on the tray and left the kitchen for our room. Mammà laid asleep on the bed, a light snores filling the room. A little sad smile sat on my lips. Watching her this way broke my heart. She was exhausted, having worked her butt off today. I tapped her. "Mammà."The snoring came to a stop as she stirred. "Hmm?" Slowly, her eyes let open. "The food is here.""Grazie a dio." I set the tray on the floor as she rose. Her loud yawn erupted and I glanced up to see her stretching. That was right: she was tired. Mammà had done quite a chore today by stoking up the kitchen with supplies. The market was particularly congested today. The rush had really stressed her out. I helped Mammà sit on the floor before securing my spot opposite her. It was true we had a table in the room. However, it was as good as useless since only one chair existed here. Besides, Mammà and I were fond of eating together on a single plate. We ate in silence and from the look on her face
Rina Zante"Che la dea della luna ti protegga.""Così sia." I opened my eyes, my amusement not hidden. "I'm relocating upstairs, Mammà, not leaving the county. ""You always need prayers. Always. I tell you this all the time." Although her tone was stern, she bore a smile.I pulled her to a hug, and planted a kiss on her chubby cheek. "Ti voglio bene.""I love you too." We pulled apart. "Remember what I told you. Be nice—I trust you on that anyway. And don't ever hesitate to let me know should you find anything disturbing, okay?"I nodded. I had told Mammà that Piccolo Maestro hadn't offended me in any way. Instead it was Mia I was concerned about. In my words, "she gives me bad vibes." Now, I knew it was wrong of me to put the blame on Mia. She hadn't really been nice, but then, she hadn't been that much of a problem to me. However, desperate situations called for drastic actions. I had to do what I had to do.Mamma had told me not to worry. She too had noticed that from her. All I n
VINCENZO “You’ll be driving Rina to school,’ Mother spoke up, tone firm. I cannot, to save my damn life, believe that this was what was happening right here, right now. Madre literally stood her ground, her thin lips further flattened by her deadpan expression. For the billionth time, I'd got to say: this was a joke. Madre had got to be pulling my legs. Maybe it was part of her "antics". One time, she'd found my gaming console lying carelessly on the floor and hid it as a way of teaching me a lesson. Now, that'd happened a long time ago. However, I couldn't help but think in that direction. Madre had been quite pissed, given that I hadn't consulted her before making Rina my maid. "Excuse me?" I wanted to be sure I'd misheard Madre. "I don't understand." "What don't you understand? Driving Rina to school and helping her locate her hall?" "Yes, that part." My voice was unbelievably calm despite the raging inferno in me. I still wanted to get the situation straight. Madre simp
Buckets of tears ran down my face. They came in such force I hadn't felt before. Hurt, shame, anger and disgust tumbled within me. Whatever had I done to deserve this? I'd taken a while to reflect. Was there a time I'd gone astray? Had I maybe done something terrible without knowing? My reflection turned up zero answers. That meant that I was either blameless(which was impossible) or I'd unknowingly erred. The latter looked to be a better explanation. I sniffed. We strayed ever-so-often. We did things that angered the moon goddess and gave her a reason to unleash her wrath. However, according to Mammà, she was a considerate being. All she needed from us was a repentant heart. Once, we turned away from our wrongdoings and sought her forgiveness, she would have mercy. Yes, one could call me crazy for all these mental ramblings. But could I be blamed? I wanted to get something straight. I wanted to know why my luck was this bad, this ugly. Yes, for heaven's sake, I had done bad. I ha
RINAThe young man gave me a crystal clear description, even a blind person would find his way around. I thanked him profusely, almost crossing the threshold of craziness. That was how grateful I was. As I raced down, I played the directions in my head. I couldn't afford to lose it. To my relief, I came across this open space with a stone work quadrangle. Next to it was the cafeteria. The amount of relief that washed over me couldn't be quantified. It brought tears to my eyes, it left my heart light. Yet, I knew it was too early to celebrate. The actual jubilation came when I recovered my bag. The cafeteria was almost empty now. Just some heads here and there. I flashed my gaze at the booth I'd stayed in. Instantly, my heart plummeted. It wasn’t there. The bag wasn't there! Still fixed in the same spot, I combed the cafeteria—the part within my line of sight. Nothing. No freaking thing. There was an elderly woman behind the counter. I dashed towards her. "Mi scusi, signora. Per
RINAI missed two of my afternoon classes. Half of the time was spent roaming about in search of my bag and the reclaim section the guy had talked about. The other half was me in the bathroom, spilling the entire contents of my tear duct. It was official. My bag had disappeared. Stolen, perhaps. The walk to the reclaim section hadn't been a success. As it stood, I'd be walking nothing less than a mile—in every sense of it. Two, I'd go through the rigors of getting my documents again—that was, if I decided to go on with schooling here. The probability of that was quite low. I was hanging around in one of the empty theater balconies, waiting for the clock to strike three. That was when the last class was held.Some minutes later, I left. I was able to locate my classroom thanks to the help of yet another janitor. Not surprisingly, stares were thrown my way. I tried my best to ignore them since it was likely that I wasn't ever going to step my feet here again. I sat in the last ro
VINCENZOMy eyes peeled open to meet the white ceiling. It took me a couple of blinks to finally sit up and get ready for class. I threw on a light hoodie, jeans and baseball boots. Something not bulky but solid enough to shield me from the creeping autumn chill. Grabbing my satchel from my study chair, I left the room for the private lounge. My breakfast was on the table and far across the lounge was the dumb maid. As I stared at her, memories of the previous afternoon flooded in. Memories of how she dared to flout my orders and talk to that Scaramouch. She was lucky she'd left on spotting me. I would have taught her and the fuckass dickhead a lesson. I dropped my satchel on a couch beside and sat. My gaze traced the platter before me. I wanted to be sure everything was in order. Satisfied with what I saw, I snapped my fingers, or rather I wanted to snap my fingers. A chanced gaze at Rina brought the action on hold. Her gaze was in its usual direction, but that wasn't what I was i