NYSSA'S POV:Roman Adams, the most notorious man in Cleveland and nearby cities as a whole, had just told me to keep him company. For a moment, my mind was a blank slate. My lips parted, but the words refused to come forth. I closed them again, then spoke when I finally found the right words. “I can't…boss…I need to wake up early tomorrow…”His interruption was harsh, the voice of a man who wasn't used to taking “no” as an answer. “That wasn't a request, Nyssa. It was an order. Join me.”He sat down on one of the pool chairs, then patted at an empty one next to him. I obeyed, slightly trembling. “Why can't you sleep, Nyssa?”I looked at my feet before replying. No matter how much he promoted me, I knew I would never feel fulfilled in the Adams estate. I would never feel as if I fully belonged. That was something I was sure of. “I miss my father. I miss going to school..”“You were sold to me as the repayment of the debt your mother owed, Nyssa. You're not here because I want you
ROMAN'S POV:Once again, Mia had outdone herself. I wanted to eat something different from the normal, so I had instructed her to surprise me. And surprise she had done. By the time I was eating my second helping, I was about to swear that it was the best Spaghetti Bolognese I had ever tasted. “How do you like your meal, Nyssa?”After the visit to her house in order to drop the groceries and supplies she had requested I bought, she had looked sad throughout. And now, even on the dinner table with me, she still looked sad. She ate slowly, and her mind was anywhere but on the food. “It's good, boss. Thank you.”I poured myself a cup of champagne, not knowing if to feel guilty towards her plight. I turned to Charlene, who like the previous day had still not welcomed the idea of Nyssa sharing the table with us. Her lips were turned down in an enormous frown, and I knew without being told that cracking a joke or asking her a question was going to end up in uncontrolled chaos. She was
NYSSA'S POV:Had Roman Adams just asked me to advise him?For a moment, my head seemed to go blank. After I had woken up late, my expectation was to find him ready to snatch the job of being his personal servant from me, and maybe giving me a pardon after I pleaded severally. Roman Adams asking me to advise him had certainly not been on my list of things to happen. “I asked you a question, Nyssa.”I swallowed hard, then said the first thing that came out of my mouth. “I think it's going to help a great deal if we know who the next chief of police is. If we can get him to also be on our payroll, then we can let Eddie Wharton go without pressuring him into accepting his job back.”The way Roman looked at me reminded me of times when a teacher couldn't believe that a dumb student had answered the question when the rest of the class couldn't. A knock interrupted the question and answer session, and Paul walked in moments later. “The cars are ready to move, boss.”Roman nodded before
NYSSA'S POV:“I never thought I'd see the day that Roman Adams would allow a servant to sit at the dinner table with him.”Right from the time that I had left the dining room, Mia had talked about the dinner nonstop. It looked as though she was in awe of me, as if she didn't believe the fact that it had actually happened. I didn't believe it myself. “It's nothing special, Mia. I'm his personal servant. He wanted me to see what it was like to sit on the same table with him, that's all. Nothing much…”Mia shook her head. “You're not his first personal servant, Nyssa. He has never done this before. You're starting to become important, I'm telling you.”I laughed it off. If there was anything I had learnt in the Adams estate, it was the fact that you never had to put all your eggs inside one basket. There was no need to get ahead of myself. It was just a visit to the dining room, and it was common to me, even if Mia said that it wasn't. “I must go to my room now, Mia. If I want to ha
CHARLENE'S POV:Every spoonful of food I took felt like lead to my tongue. The sight of Nyssa at the same table with me was enough to make the food unenjoyable. I looked away in disgust time and time again, and after a few minutes of silent eating, I knew I couldn't take it anymore. “How are you enjoying the food, Nyssa?”Nyssa's smile was timid, and so was her reply. “It's good, boss, thank you….The pie is just excellent.”The sight of the man I loved and tried so desperately to impress discussing with a servant I hated, a servant that had allegedly stolen my bracelet and was supposed to be put to death, was too much to bear. I stood up, dropping my knife. “You're going already?”When I looked back at Roman after the question, his voice felt like mockery instead of a genuine question. “Yes. I had a large lunch.”I left the dining room, convulsing with shame and anger. I didn't have a large lunch, just a protein shake. I was hungry, but the humiliation and the disrespect was too
CHARLENE'S POV:I stood from the window, watching Roman's Rover enter the Adams estate. When the door opened and I saw Nyssa leave the car, I looked away, scared of myself, and the extent at which my anger could go. For the umpteenth time, I had no idea what Roman saw in her. She wasn't anything like me. She was pretty, yes, but I was a real woman. I went to the gym seven times a week, ate the healthiest of foods, and made sure my body was always set and ready to receive Roman. What did he see in her?This was the same woman who had been accused of stealing from him, courtesy of me. Why would he even make her his personal servant in the first place?“Good afternoon Miss Charlene.”It was Mia, her head bowed. In her hand was the customary protein shake I had every afternoon to bolster the colour of my skin and the shine of my hair. I took care of myself extremely well, and I took pride in it. “Thank you, Mia.”I grabbed the glass and sipped the contents from the straw, my eyes not