Chapter 8: I've Been Watching You

When Victoria opened the box, there was a phone inside. It had no brand, looked like it was completely customized. The exterior was slick black and it felt light on the hand.

“Is this a new phone? For me?” She gasped in disbelief.

“Yes, last night you told me your phone is broken, so I’m giving you a new one. I already input my contact and Vincenzo’s. You can call me if you need anything” He told her.

“Also I set up a tracker on it, but you don’t need to know about that part.” Dante added in his head. She took the phone with a slight frown.

“What’s wrong, you don’t like it?” He asked.

“No, it’s not that. I like it, it’s just, you’ve given me too much. I don’t know if I feel good about it.” She responded.

“It’s fine. You saved me once; consider this my way of repaying you.” He spoke calmly.

“Wait, actually, there is one thing I need from you.” She stated. He smiled a little, realizing she was starting to rely on him.

“What is it?” He asked. She hesitated at first before replying.

“Can you get me some art supplies? Acrylic paint, canvas, brushes and some mediums?” She asked. He nodded right away.

“Sure, I will get them for you once I am back.” He replied briefly.

“Dante, we need to go, Pietro is already waiting for us.” Vincenzo reminded him.

“Anyway, I have to leave now, but we’ll see each other again in the evening.” Dante walked away and Vincenzo followed behind him.

“Is this really okay?” She asked herself. After she finished breakfast, she opened her suitcase and picked one of her nicer pair of clothes, tied her hair in a ponytail and grabbed her bag, ready to go out. She did not know where she was going, but she did not want to stay in and be left with her own thoughts after what happened. Victoria wanted to keep herself busy.

“Where are you going, madam?” Before she walked out of the house, one of the staff who prepared her room yesterday approached her.

“I’m going out for a while.” She replied.

“Master specifically instructed us to keep you inside when he is out, for your own safety.” She told her. Victoria stopped in her track and raised her brow.

“What do you mean? I have free will, I can walk outside if I want to.” She replied.

“But madam-“ The maid was about to say something else when Victoria opened the door.

“What’s your name?” She asked. The older maid paused for a moment before replying.

“I’m Tika, madam.” She spoke in a soft tone.

“Well, Tika, tell him I am going out. I will be back in a few hours.” With that. Victoria left the house. Tika stared at the door and sighed.

“Ah, how am I going to explain this to young master?” She wondered.

Victoria walked out and explored the new neighborhood. The area was completely different from her previous area. She did not know anybody there and everything was just unfamiliar. But that day, she was not going out for no reason. She wanted to find a job, because her life felt like a failure; the least she could do was get her own money.

After walking for fifteen minutes, she found a pizza place and a sign was placed in front of the restaurant, “looking for a waitress, apply on the spot.” Her previous part-time job was also waitressing, so she thought she would give it a shot. Victoria walked to the pizza place and saw a middle-aged man running the business.

“Would you like to order?” He asked her with a smile.

“No, I saw the sign outside and noticed you’re looking for a waitress. I’m thinking of applying. I brought my CV here.” She gave the man a print of her CV. The man looked at it briefly and handed it over to her.

“You’re hired.” He reached out his hand for a handshake and she smiled before shaking it. Well, that was probably the easiest thing she ever did.

“I’m Nicolo, the manager. I’ll show you around.” Nicolo brought her to the kitchen where she saw two young men, one of them was a bit chubby and had curly hair, the other one was skinny and tall with straight brown hair.

“These are the cooks in the restaurant, the curly-haired one is Mario and the other guy is Abel.” Both men gave her a nod. Nicolo brought her to the restaurant area and there were two women serving the tables there. One of them was a blonde with brown eyes and the other one was tan with jet black hair.

“These are our current waitresses, the blonde one is Teresa and the brunette is Alia.” He told her. 

“We have two other guys working as waiters for the night shift, but you’re going to handle the day shift so you probably won’t meet them.” After signing the contract, Nicolo gave her the uniform.

“You can start now.” Victoria was enthusiastic as she started serving the customers. She was a quick learner, so it didn't take her long to get the hang of it. Just as her shift of the day was about to end, the door opened and a man with curly soft brown hair, tan skin and green eyes walked into the restaurant, sitting on a corner table by himself. Victoria approached him, ready to take his order.

“I will take a pasta and some garlic bread.” He told her. She wrote it down and asked what he wanted for a drink.

“Cola is fine.” He replied. She smiled and nodded.

“Okay, I’ll process your order, it will take around fifteen to twenty minutes for them to be delivered.” He nodded and she walked away. Fifteen minutes later, she returned back with his order.

“Thank you, what’s your name?” He asked her.

“Um, Victoria.” She replied a bit hesitantly.

“I’m Angelo. I noticed you told your friend earlier that your shift is ending soon, so I’m giving you a tip in advance.” He placed twenty euros on the table. She took it and smiled.

“Thank you.” She walked away with a bright smile on her face. Once her shift was done, she walked out of the restaurant and saw a familiar looking car parked in front of them. She was about to walk pass by the car when the door opened and Dante came out of there.

“Victoria, wait.” Victoria turned her gaze around and saw Dante standing in front of the car. She stopped in her track and looked at him in disbelief.

“Dante, what are you doing here?” She wondered.

“I heard from the maid that you went out today, so I was searching for you. Let’s head back together.” He told her.

“What an odd coincidence.” She thought to herself. But Victoria was tired after standing all day and having a ride to cover her did not sound bad. She entered the car and saw Vincenzo on the driver’s seat.

“I just got a job at the pizza place, from now on I’ll work there during the weekdays for seven to eight hours a day.” She told him.

“I see, congratulations.” He replied rather nonchalantly.  The car was once again filled with silence. It was quite awkward but both Vincenzo and Dante looked exhausted, so she just let them be.

Once they arrived at the house, Victoria was about to go to her room when Dante grabbed her hand.

“Victoria, there’s something I want to show you.”