تسجيل الدخولOliviaMelanie had left ten minutes ago but the tension she dragged into the room with her still lingered faintly in the air, clinging to the walls like cheap perfume after a party that no one enjoyed.CeCe had excused himself almost immediately after, suddenly very interested in a phone call that I knew didn’t exist.Coward.Now it was just me and Leonardo. Exactly how I preferred it.He sat at the head of the table with his coffee untouched, watching me carefully in that way men do when they realize too late that they have miscalculated a woman.I continued eating calmly.“You enjoyed that,” Leonardo said eventually.I cut into my fruit without looking up. “Not really.” “The girl is still young.” I smiled faintly. “And already exhausted. You should return her and ask for a refund.”His jaw tightened.Good.For the first time all morning, I finally looked at him properly. Really looked at him.There was something almost fascinating about Leonardo lately. The arrogance was still the
Olivia Breakfast was one of my favourite times of the day, not particularly because of the company, but because of the food. Rosa's cooking was still, by far, one of my favourites and, of course, there was the peace at the table when he was not around. That was exactly what I wished for after what happened this morning. Sometimes Leonardo joined me; sometimes he didn't, which was fine with me either way. And when he did, he had taken to reading the paper. This morning, however, he showed up with CeCe following close behind. They were having an animated conversation, CeCe relaying something funny about his adventures. Everyone knew there was nothing funny about what CeCe did for the family, but somehow, he always found the fun side of things. CeCe looked sheepish when he saw me at the breakfast table. “It's good to see you, Olivia,” he said, taking his seat. Leonardo said nothing, only giving me a smile that could melt ice, as though nothing had happened this morning, like he h
Melanie The east wing was old. Not old like my apartment before renovations, but like rich history kind of old. After the morning drama with Leonardo and his wife, I decided to explore the entire wing, just to see what my options were. So I walked. From one floor to another, maybe there might be a service door somewhere that was unmonitored.On the stairway, I trailed my fingers along the bannister; it was mahogany and cold, with carved lions at the base with their mouths open. They looked as if they were judging my presence then. I entered the rooms, no longer in a frenzy like before but this time deliberate and intentional about each room, and that's when I noticed minor features about the rooms; every room had a clock. But none of them matched. So every room had a ticking sound, one that I had never noticed before. Like the house couldn’t agree what time it was. The rugs. Persian. Threadbare paths where feet had walked before still looked good. The air smelled of lem
Leonardo After playing games with Olivia, I went straight to the dog kennel to see O. Stanley was in the kennel as usual at this time of the morning. O sat. Heel. Perfect. I hadn't seen him in a while and I had a job for him. “Stanley.” I called out. Stanley stood and rubbed his hands on a piece of clothe. “Boss.” “O needs retraining, I have a job that I want him to do for me.” I said looking at the dog. He looked better than he did before. His unkept look that he was rocking before was less visible. Stanley stood and waited. “I need him to do some tricks.” I said. “Make it stupid. Make it cute.” Stanley’s face was blank. “You want him to follow new commands?” he asked. "O, charm." I said but the words didn't register on O, his head tilted but he made no visible movements as yet." “Exactly." I said in answer to Stanley's question about O following new commands. "I want us to also change his name to Mel, if you can make him respond to that, that woul
Leonardo She left. Melanie, not Olivia. Olivia had left first. Quieter. Melanie left with book throwing and stomping of feet, and I could hear her door slam all the way from the old library. I deserved that, but that was the whole point of her. To serve a purpose and she had served it well. The walk to Olivia’s room had been long, and although no one saw what happened, I felt that the walls of the mansion had eyes that followed me everywhere simply to judge me. In a perfect world there was no point in running after either of them, but Olivia had earned her time in the sun, and that explained why I was standing outside her door like a lost puppy. Melanie was probably in her room with the door locked and, well...throwing things around. The entire house had known about Melanie. Everyone but Olivia. Until now. I stood outside her door and waited for her to open it. Then after a few words, the lock clicked. It was not a turn but a decision. And she made a good one.
Olivia I didn’t run. I walked. Through the east wing, past the rooms that smelled like dust and old money, out into the morning air that was too crisp for how sick I felt. I made it to the main house before my legs gave out. Not dramatically. I just sat down on the bottom step of the staircase and put my head between my knees. Breathe. In. Out. It didn’t help. I’d been prepared for a lot of things. For him to be gone. For him to be with Cici, murmuring about “security protocols.” For him to use his boardroom voice and tell me to stop asking about Cassie. I wasn’t prepared for ...him with another woman. and not one that young. I wasn't prepared for the way she looked at me. Not guilty, not smug, just knowing. She knew who I was. She had to have known. The way her eyes went from me to him. That wasn’t confusion. That was calculation. That look spoke volumes...it said, "so you’re Olivia." God. How long? How long had she been here, in the part of the house I never went to,
Leonardo The day Cassandra was born, I thought I was going to lose my mind with emotion. Luckily I didn’t, and three months later, here we were, as she slept peacefully in her crib while I watched her. Olivia was slowly adjusting to the demanding life of motherhood and the feeding times, most
Olivia I stayed where I was, even after Leonardo's mom's warnings, I stayed put. I stayed and convinced myself that Leonardo would have done something by now if he so much suspected that the baby was not his, but he didn't except fuss over O. Yes, that's right. The morning after the visit L
Olivia I lay in bed alone, I was 41 weeks and as big as a whale. My body wracked with pain. My first thought was that it was finally happening, I'd had a false alarm before but this was it. The day I'd been waiting for, and dreading, for months. I moved to lie on my back but that seemed to wor
Leonardo I moved my head, but it felt heavy. The surface where I lay was soft, which meant I was on a bed hopefully in my room, but how did I get up here? I opened my eyes, it was my room, but it was too bright, so I put my hand on my face, feeling the first signs of a headache start to appear.







