Welcome to Paris

(Alana)

The flight was two hours and some minutes. When the jet landed, It was in the afternoon. The sun was bright and at its full peak. Throughout the journey, I was completely occupied with going through the city's brochure. I wanted to pin down some nice places I was going to be visiting. The city was huge, with countless things to explore. 

Paris had a reputation for being a romantic and cultural city. The city was also known for its high-quality gastronomy and the terraces of its cafés. Other than fashion, I was eager to know more and learn the French language. Although this was new to me and the people, I was going to try my best to adjust 

When we exited the jet, we found two cards already waiting for us. A slightly medium-height man wearing a black suit came to us. He looked to be French and well-kept

“Good day, Mrs. Romero… welcome sir,” the man greeted us with a low bow. I responded with a bow, not sure how to react since I had no idea who he was. While Ricardo ignored him like the plagues and made his way to the cars

I followed him and so did the man, my suitcases and bags were taken to the other car Ricardo didn't board. When I reached the car, Ricardo settled in. I was shocked when he slammed the door shut in a split second. The car drove away from their leaving me standing there with closed eyes. 

Blinking a little, I managed to open my eyes only to find another car parked before me and the black-haired man standing in front of me smiling

“Mrs. Romero, my name is Dennis… I'm the boss's assistant… he has an agent meeting, but this car will take you to the boss's house,” the man said politely showing the black car before me

“Nice to meet you,” I said, returning the same warm smile. He opened the back seat door for me and I settled in. Wouldn't it hurt to tell me he was going to an important meeting? It wasn't as if I would stop him. Dennis took the front seat together with the driver dressed in a white uniform with a police-like cap. This one was white. Probably what drivers wore

The car started moving, I rolled down the car windows, so I could feast my eyes on the beauty of the city. The cars whooshing by and the various people walking to the sides

This was a new place, I felt fuzzy inside. To keep myself busy, I dug into my purse and took out my pro camera. I loved the blue sky and the white floating clouds which I captured. The skyscrapers looked luxurious

It took like thirty minutes when the car started slowing down, and soon we reached some fancy neighborhood. It was nothing but glorious mansions which had me staring in disbelief. Rolling up the car windows, I settled back in my seat. The car was approaching a mesmerizing gold made gate which opened as soon as the car arrived

Seeing all the men dressed in black standing around. I guessed rich people loved having so many guards around, from the gate going to the entrance of the mansion I saw so many men standing like statues. If one wasn't careful, they would think they were indeed statues, not people. The car came to a stop. I was about to get out myself when Dennis stopped me

“Please,” he said once he opened the door for me and I stepped out while shielding my eyes from the sun…a cool breeze blew my hair in my face only to stop when I found some girls lined up in a straight line all dressed in the same uniform. Some were dressed in chef's uniform

“Welcome madam,” they all chorused with low bows. I was a little hesitant not used to such an approach

“Welcome madam, I'm Mrs. marks… the head servant,” an elderly woman elegantly wearing a black skirt reaching below her knees with a tucked-in white shirt inside and a black coat with black heels came forward and said with a smile.

“H-hello everyone” I greeted them, not sure what to do. But the lady said and guided me to the other male and females. She introduced them. One at a time. They were two chefs, a man and a woman, their names were French, hence couldn't remember them. Five girls were said to be the ones who cleaned the interior of the house. They weren't old, but could be the same age as me or more. The other men were gardeners, as introduced by Mrs. Marks.

“These two are Santiago's nannies…he's still at school but will be here shortly…the driver went to pick him,” the woman said introducing me to two women nearly her age, they bowed respectfully, and I did the same

“All of us will be at your disposal, if you need anything feel free to tell us…and if there are some things you don't find good, kindly correct us” Mrs. Marks went on and said as we walked inside the mansion. I was used to doing my things, sometimes my mom helped me. I didn't think I would get used to others doing things for me

There were numerous servants. We came inside and my jaw dropped. Just the entrance had me wondering just how wealthy these people were. I thought the farmhouse back in Italy was breathtaking, unfortunately, this was more of a resort than a mansion. Just how many people lived here

“The lower left wing is for servants.” The woman said pointing towards the left side then turned to the other side, “That's where the kitchen is…. I'll show you once you settle down, and all the guest rooms are downstairs, to the east wing... you'll find some game rooms for Santi… the lounge is down there,” Mrs. Marks continued giving me a tour while we headed to the stairs. Everything from top to bottom looked expensive. From the walls to the floor and the ceiling, as well as the chandeliers.

“And finally the second floor… You can take an elevator if needed. So, this part is where all the rooms are… sir and your room is down here… that one there is Santiago's room, next to it is his playroom…his drawing room is down the passageway to the right…don't mess with his drawings,” the man said the last words with a chuckle. I didn't understand who Santiago was. She mentioned him in every introduction 

“I'll have Dennis bring your suitcases up then you can choose which closet you want, we already prepared something for you to eat since you had a long flight” she added once we reached two pairs of gold-painted doors, and she pushed them open

“Oh gosh, sorry, Santi must have left these here,” the woman said when I nearly tripped on some paintbrushes lying on the floor as soon as I walked in.

“It's okay, but…who is Santiago?” I asked, not minding about the paintbrushes

 The woman straightened up and turned around. Her eyes beamed as if the question I asked her was amusing 

“The boss's son, oh gosh, sadly he didn't attend the wedding… no wonder you don't know him, he's a sweet boy, so charming,"she said facepalming herself then grinned happily, and I was left in a daze. Did I just hear son? 

“S-son…what do you mean son?” I couldn't keep from asking her. Did the man have a son, how come no one told me about this? Not even my parents nor Erin. The woman was staring at me with a questionable raised brow. But I was unable to hide my shock, did this mean the man they made me marry had a son…was he married too…did this mean I was some second wife or something.