CHAPTER 7: THE BUMP

That was it, she had made a promise that she had no idea how she would keep. The rule was simple, tell the guests that Avena had gone on a trip and had missed her flight back home.

Aurora was not clueless to the happenings of the Russo family, she was well aware of the shady dealings and their occasional trouble with the police, so much that there were rumors of an ongoing investigation on the Russo family.

However, for now, she had bigger things to worry about and that was keeping everyone out of Avena’s room and making sure that no one knew about Avena’s disappearance.

She unlocked the cupboard and the dress caught her eye, the very same dress that she had helped Avena pick out for the party tonight. The bright red, full-length, plunging and neck mesh dress.

Aurora could not help but to smile when she took the dress off from the hanger and placed it over her uniform.

“You should try it on” Aurora jumped from the spot and turned around, only to be met by signora Meta, one of the older maid’s in the Russo household.

“No I cannot, its Avena’s and Signora Mia would kill me if she ever saw me trying it not or even looking at it” Aurora explained herself but signora Meta simply stared at her. Without waiting any longer, signora Meta shut the door behind her, walked towards Aurora and took the dress from her.

“Signora Meta, you will break it!” Aurora exclaimed but the older woman removed the dress from the hanger in a heist and handed it to Aurora, who stared at the dress not knowing what to do with it.

“What?”

“Try it on”

“No, I cannot try it on” Aurora told signora Meta as she stepped back from the dress.

“Why not?”

“Because it is not mine and therefore I cannot try it on and besides, if signoora Mia sees me even touching it, she will have me fired”

“She will not do anything to you if she does not find out about it”

“Why are you so adamant that I try on the dress?”

“Because you deserve it, for once I want to see you look like a princess. I have watched you grow up and this family treats you like rubbish even when you are nice to them”

“But—”

“But nothing Aurora! Avena gets everything she wants and she never has to work hard for it, they even got her this beautiful and expensive dress for her yet she runs away” Signora Meta exclaimed to her, she was clearly upset and it was evident. Without hesitating, Aurora took the dress from her and pressed it against herself.

“You know what, I will try on the dress but I am only doing it for you”

“Grazie my dear” Aurora turned around, walked into vanity room. She stripped herself of her cloths and tried on the dress. The woman staring back at her was a stranger, Aurora had no idea that a simple thing such as a dress could make one look this different and enhance their beauty.

“Are you done?” Signora Meta called out to her from outside the vanity room.

“Yes, I am coming” she called out and then stepped out. The look on signora Meta’s face was a replica of what Aurora had thought when she had seen herself in the mirror.

“So, how do I look?”

“You look beautiful my dear, like a princess, your mother would be so happy to see you dressed this elegantly” Signora Meta said as tears rolled down her eyes. Thinking on her feet, Aurora took a stack of tissue from the table nearby and handed it to her.

“Here you go”

“Thank you”

“You are welcome, now I need to take this dress off before Signora Mia sees me” she reminded Signora Meta and right before Aurora could remove the dress, signora Meta stopped her.

“No”

“No?”

“Not yet, let me put your hair into a bun first my dear” Aurora tried to hesitate but she stopped herself. For the first time in a long time, signora Meta was truly happy and Aurora did not want to be the one to ruin it for her.

“Okay you may but be careful with my locket, it’s been pretty lose lately,” Aurora warned Signora Meta, who carefully pulled her hair aside and placed it in a bun. Aurora looked at herself in the mirror and smiled.

“I look—”

“Beautiful, yes you do, just like your mother—” Signora Meta could not finish her sentence as her beeper beeped.

“My dear I have to go, it seems as though I am needed. Rich people problems, they hire all these extra hands yet they still need us to work like dogs” Signora Meta exclaimed but still keeping a smile on her face.

“It is okay, you can go”

“Are you sure you do not need my help to remove the dress?” Signora Meta asked Aurora.

“I am sure, now go before Signora Mia comes here and drags you out” Aurora joked and she was pleased to see that Signora Meta smiling.

“See you my dear” she kissed Aurora on the forehead before leaving the room. Aurora looked at herself in the mirror, stunned that she had looked her best and all that with the help of a dress.

Aurora looked at herself one last time, knowing that after the dress was removed, the magic of it all would disappear. Removing her hair from the bun, her heart stopped, her locket was missing.

Her locket was the only memory she had left of her late mother and losing it was the worst thing that could happen. Panic set in as she searched her neck, looked all over the floor and still she could not find her locker.

Signora Meta! She thought to herself, without thinking of the consequences, Aurora ran out of the room towards the direction of the garden where Signora Meta was stationed for the night. The consequences of losing her locker was not nearly as bad as losing her job, running past all the guest like a mad person and even when they looked at her as though she had lost her mind, did not bother her.

“Signora Meta!” Aurora called out repeatedly and she searched the premises towards an empty spot in the garden, the very place where she would retire to when she did not feel like working.

Aurora searched the garden, calling out to signora Meta but she was nowhere to be found, she turned on her heel running and almost out of breath.

“Signora Meta, my word!” Aurora yelled as she slammed into something, fell back, shut her eyes but something prevented her from falling. Realizing that she had not yet hit the ground, Aurora opened her eyes. Even in the dimly lit garden, she could see his beautiful hazel eyes looking back at her. She did not know whom this man was but his features were striking and it felt as though his eyes had captured her.

“You should watch where you are going, Mia Signora” Leonardo told Aurora, his deep voice awakening Aurora from her trance like state that she was in. She quickly pushed herself away from Leonardo, so much that he too stepped back and stared at her in utter shock.

“Don’t you ever touch me again!” Aurora yelled at Leonardo, still in disbelief that for the first time, she had been this close to a man and that made her feel some kind of way.

Seemingly unbothered by the way in which the woman in front of him was acting, Leonard placed his hands inside his pocket, silently observing her. She was very beautiful, that he would give her. Her beautiful dark chocolate skin, radiated as light from the dimly lit garden lamps bounced of her and her curly hair like a crown stood tall.

Snap out of it Leonardo, you are about to become a married man! His mind reminded him of his impending doom.

“I believe you were the one who ran into me” Leonardo pointed out, his reluctance to accept what Aurora considered his fault only infuriated her the more. Her face heated with anger as she realized that still, she had not found her mother’s locket.

“Oh just shut up you arrogant man, I don’t have time to mess with an idiot like you!” She yelled at him, not believing that she was the one saying all those words but she could not help but to panic. The tears burnt in her eyes but she refused to cry in front of a complete stranger.

Her anger rose, the more when the man in front of her burst out laughing, making a mockery of her emotions.

“How can you call me arrogant when you knocked into me because you were not looking where it was that you were going and the least you could do was apologize but no, you are a spoilt rich girl!” Leonardo told Aurora, now raising his voice, slightly irritated by her arrogant behavior.

To his surprise, Aurora lifted her hands, clapping it together slowly and smiling.

“Wow you think you know me, what makes you think that I am rich? Are you some kind of psychic powers?”

“No I do not, but that three thousand dollar tag sticking out of your dress tells me all that I need to know” Leonardo pointed out, only for Aurora to look beneath her shoulder and see that the tag was truly sticking out.

She was lost for words, she tried to argue but she could not tell a complete stranger that she was a maid in the Russo household.

“Speechless I see, I am in no mood to deal with an arrogant woman such as yourself, did your mother not train you well?”

“Don’t you dare speak ill of my mother! I am in no mood for your masculinity. All I want is my locket and I am basically just wasting my time with you!” Aurora told him, out of breath as she searched the floor of the garden.

She turned around and slammed into something hard, as she looked up, she was met with Leonardo’s hard chest. Her eye widened in shock as she looked up at him and Leonardo down at her.  Aurora quickly took a step back from him, only to slam into the shrubs behind her.

His eyes looked hungry as he stepped closer to her, every step he took was slow and the mystery behind his eyes was one that Aurora was quite familiar with.

“Stay away from me otherwise I’ll scream” Aurora warned him but Leonardo kept moving towards her, much that she shut her eyes and swallowed the lump in her throat.

Her heart beat fast inside her chest as she felt Leonardo’s hands in her hair and his breath on her skin, heating the parts it touched.

“Here you go, your locket” Aurora opened her eyes and there Leonardo was, holding her locket to her face. Her face brightened as she saw her mother’s locket, she quickly grabbed hold of it and held it to her chest. She moved away from Leonard, holding her mother’s locket close to her chest.

“It was stuck in your hair the entire time but you were busy being so rude that you did not see it” Leonardo spoke from behind Aurora. She was truly ashamed of her action, so much that her late mother would have been upset with her recent behavior.

She turned around to face Leonard, her lips opening to apologize to him.

“Leonardo!” Aurora froze, she heard Signora Mia calling out to someone and she was headed for their direction. Panic set in her as Aurora realized that she had worn the dress meant for Avena.

Without waiting any longer, she ran the other way. Leaving the stranger behind before, she was caught by her employer