Chapter Three

Felix Grande kept shouting and raising his voice at Alexander who showed no remorse at all. After his fun time in the pub and with Georgina at a hotel, he was reported to have assulted a police officer and was detained for the rest of the day. Bella listened as Mr Felix ranted about Alexander's appalling behaviour and how it was a blot to him and his empire. Bella thought, he was going to wreck his father's empire even before he would take over. A little digust was stirred up in her heart towards Alexander. He had no respect even for his father.

The scene ended and Celia chased all the maids back to their duty. Christine caught up with Bella as she was tending to the dishes she had put in the dishwasher earlier.

"Why is Alexander like that?" Bella asked Christine.

"I don't know. No one knows. It's normal for rich kids to be spoilt" Christine replied.

"Hmmm" Bella said and started taking out the washed dishes from the dishwasher. "I don't think his father spoilt him" Bella added.

"Why do you say so?" Christine asked.

"Well…his father seemed strict talking to him. I don't think he would have given him the liberty to be misbehaving" Bella replied.

"You're right. It could be his mother. Have you seen the woman?" Christine kissed her teeth.

"What about Mrs Grande?" Bella stopped what she was doing and faced Christine, interested in what she had to say.

"Claudia Grande is a very very…" Christine sighed dramatically and continued, "permit me to say a wicked woman. She is too cautious about mingling with low class. She hates people like us and she doesn't care what happens to us. It's a good thing she's out of the country for some time else, you would have seen her inhumane treatment towards us"

Bella continued her work in thought as Christine continued, "and one thing everyone knows is that Madame Claudia loves Alexander so much. If she was around, she would have immediately gotten him out of jail yesterday. But Sir Felix, he never supports Alexander, he intentionally allowed him stay in jail and I know if Madame Claudia hears of this, she would make a serious issue out of it". 

"But can't she see she's ruining her son?" Bella asked.

"That is her business" Claudia kissed her teeth and continued "Sometimes, I feel pity for sir Felix. He just has so much to deal with. His work, his son's problems and his wife's excesses. I sometimes pray for him not to have a heart failure"

Bella wondered, she was grateful for how she was raised by her father. She maybe poor but she was not a deliquent like Alexander. She soon dismissed him from her mind and continued her work. Whatever goes on in the Grandes life was not her business. She was there to get her money and that would be her only focus. She would be almost invisible to the owners of the house, doing her duty and getting her pay till she makes enough money to pay for her culinary school and that would be the end of the Grandes for her. She concluded in her mind, that the rich always have problems sometimes more than the poor.

Working for Grandes did not seem to be very hard, though Christine have told Bella that the reason was that Madame Claudia was not around. According to Christine, Madame Claudia would have made things difficult for them. Bella enjoyed her first day there. After finishing her work that evening she went to the beautiful garden at the back of the mansion for a quiet time. The place was very beautiful, filled with different flowers and their unique colours. The beautiful scent of nature saturated the atmosphere. That place was peaceful. Bella walked round the garden, being carried away by every flower there. It reminded her of her home, the mountains and she started missing the serenity of nature back home. She spent her free time there till dinner time.

The next morning gave Bella another task, different from her assigned duty. One of the maid was not feeling well and Celia assigned her tasks of cleaning Alexander's room to Bella. The information did not go well with Bella. She wanted to avoid Alexander and the trouble she perceived he would bring her. She refused initially and asked that the work be given to someone else but Celia assured her that Alexander had gone out. With that, Bella decided to quickly clean the room before he would return.

She wasted no time in beginning as soon as she entered Alexander's room. There was less work to do as the room was not very dirty. She finished the large room snappily and moved to the bathroom. Little did she know that she was about to get the shock of her life begin the door. As soon as she opened the bathroom door, she came face to face with Alexander, naked. Overwhelmed with fear, she quickly shut her eyes very tight.

"I'm sorry sir. It's a mistake. I didn't know you were here" Bella pleaded with her eyes still shut.

Alexander said nothing but stood there shamelessly, staring at the lady before him. She was pretty and seemed naive to him. He had a smirk on his lips as he started to move closer to her. Bella heard his footsteps, opened her eyes and took a peek at him. On seeing him advancing towards her, she ran out of the room feeling nervous.

Straight to her quarters she went and buried herself on her bed. Her heart was pounding very fast. Why would that happen to her after the certainty in her mind that her path would never cross with that of Alexanders? She wondered the thoughts going on in his mind and her fear increased. She was in deep trouble and did not know how to rectify it.

"Oh God! Help me" She prayed.