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
“Oh, you’re here” Signora Mia found Leonardo standing by himself in the garden, looking upset.“Si signora Mia, I am just admiring your beautiful garden” Leonardo lied as he had not noticed the outline of the garden nor its beauty, his mind still stuck on the beautiful and arrogant woman he had just met.“Well you look awfully upset, come inside, some of your old friends are here to see you” Without waiting for Leonardo to reply, Signora Mia took hold of Leonardo’s arm and walked him into the hall.Seeing old friends had not done anything to put Leonard out of his misery, as the only thing on his mind was the beautiful dark skinned woman that he had met earlier. Something about her arrogant attitude made him want to put her in her place, he was used to such women growing up. Women who thought that their money could buy the people around them as well as the respect they thought they deserved.“My son, you look very disturbed. Did something happen?” His mother questioned him. Leonardo q
This was the final straw as Aurora dropped to the floor, with the letter still in her hands. She could almost scream so loud that everyone in the entire mansion would hear her. Tears ran down her face as she realized that Signora Meta was right, people like the Russo’s were not to be trusted at any cost.“You see what I meant my dear?” Signora Meta asked Aurora, saddened to see the young woman that she had raised as though she was her own daughter broken.“How could they do this to me?” Aurora asked, shocked as she was trying to come to terms with what she had just read in the letter.“Her assistant leaked this email to me, she told me not to show anyone else other than you because she knew that you are a lovely person. She did not want this to come as a shock to you, signora Mia is not planning on giving you any money for your tuition in fact, after the wedding she plans on sending you away” Signora Meta reiterated what Aurora had just read in the letter.Although she had read the le
If there was ever a time that Aurora was thankful to Avena for calling her, this was the time. In the time that Avena had yelled out her name, the handsome stranger had turned his attention towards the tailor. She had hoped that he would not come after her and surely, she had not seen him again.She had wanted to apologize to him but seeing him in the store had only made her angrier as she figured out the kind of man he might have been. From the way he spoke, he sounded Italian, at least one that has lived out of the country for quite some time.Aurora had come across such men before; they would come back and use the local girls, whilst flaunting their money or rather, money that belonged to their parents. They were the kind of rich kids such as Avena.“You look disturbed” Aurora turned to face Avena and quickly plastered a smile on her face. Avena was not one to care whether someone looked upset or not therefore, her comment was strange.&ldq
“Do it for your mother, do it for your mother” Leonardo repeated to himself as he looked at his reflection in the mirror, hoping that by saying those words repeatedly, it would somehow make things better for him but it did not.He had always heard that the mind was a powerful tool but now that he tried convincing himself, it felt as though his mind was not that powerful at all. Dressed in his designer suit, readying himself for a lifelong commitment with a total stranger, drained the last of the happiness inside of him. One that not even a designer suit could.His best friend, Ricardo had called him earlier to wish him the best of luck even though they both knew that there was nothing lucky about this union.The knocking on Leonardo’s door steered his attention away from his reflection in the mirror.“Come in” he answered, his mother peered her face into the room, smiling at him. Knowing that he could not display his unhappin
Aurora could not believe who she was seeing, she knew that the voice was familiar but she had not looked at the man before her throughout the ceremony and now that she had set her eyes on him, she was furious.*flashback*“Signora Meta!” she called out as panic set in her voice. Avena had eloped with her boyfriend and now the jobs of every employee was at stake and that worried Aurora. She looked in the kitchen, living room and everywhere else but still, Avena was nowhere to be found.“Aurora!” she turned around and there signora Meta called out to her and only then Aurora’s heart relaxed. She ran towards signora Meta and held her hand as she mumbled some words.“Calm down” Signora Meta told Aurora as she held her by both her shoulders as to calm her down. “What is the matter?” Signora Meta asked her and Aurora could not bring herself to res
*flashback*“I am not a liar, I am not a liar” Aurora repeatedly told herself as she sat in Avena’s bed. The party was in full swing and for the first time, everyone was catering to her needs and not the other way around. Her new mother in-law, Carina Romano was a sweet woman, making conversations with her and introducing her to all of her friends. The rest of the employees were pleased with Signora Meta’s decision, so much that none of them had acted out of the ordinary. They even referred to Aurora as Avena and often she would forget that she had gained a new identity as of this day.As soon as she got the chance, Aurora sneaked away into Avena’s room. Upon arriving there, she shut the door behind her, as she needed to be alone. Crying had been her last resort; she buried her face in her hands and fell to the floor.The guilt was overwhelming, a white lie was s
HAPTER 14: ALONE“This looks just like it did in my dreams” Aurora whispered beneath her breath. Leonardo heard what Aurora had said and looked, she looked like a kid in a candy store which only made him want to know more about his new wife.Aurora feeling his gaze on her, turned her head and their eyes met.“Why do you like staring?”“I just find it so amusing that someone like you would find such a place beautiful”“So in essence you are saying that I am too much of a snob to appreciate good architecture when I see it?” she asked him, Leonardo stared at her in silence and then cracked a smile from the corner of his lips.“You said it not me” Leonardo told her, smiled and walked into the beach house. Aurora stood at the entrance almost smiling herself, for the first time, she noticed that Leonard had some sense of humor.She
The sound of the waves smashing against the rocks soothed Aurora; it was unlike her little room at the basement of the Russo mansion, which was often cold. The feeling she had in her beach house room was peaceful and warm.Her bed was extremely comfortable and there were no springs pinching through her mattress. She had always ran her fingers onto Avena’s mattress just to feel the soft cotton gracing her hand but now as she slept, Aurora could not help but to smile in her sleep.Aurora awoke from her peaceful sleep, as soon as she opened her eyes, rays of light streamed through her curtains as Aurora realized that it was already morning and she needed to get up. Being a house cleaner almost all her adult life had thought Aurora to wake up at dawn without fail.**Leonardo woke from his sleep, feeling more tired than he had ever felt before, he looked at the clock bedside her bedroom table and it was already eight in the morning, two hours later than