Rey watched her silhouette die into the evening landscape. It was late in the evening when she got to the staff quarters.
The night was calm, a little warmer than the previous. She walked into her room, showered, changed into blue pajamas and sank into her bed, heaving.
"A dinner indeed. An evening well-spent! What on earth was that?" She squinted her eyes.
"Was he really serious about...? No. No. It can not be real. Oh girl! Snap out of it!" She scoffed, jerking up. Her light brown hair, hanging up, came falling over her shoulders in messy waves.
"But, hang on. Was I a little too rude to him?" Her rhetorical questions bounced off, as she drew in air through clenched teeth.
"Why am I actually feeling guilty? It's not like he's such a nice guy!" She said gritting and rolling her eyeballs, before falling back to bed.
"What am I even doing right now? I didn't do...anything wrong after... all..." Scanning her bedside, she switched off the lamp, yawning, as her voice trailed off drowsily to sleep in the darkness engulfing the room.
***
It was morning when Mia winked away her slumber. The thought of Rey's proposal last night was stuck in her head like it had just happened. She had woken up a few minutes earlier than her morning alarm set for 6:30 a.m. So, when it rang, she yelled for the bathroom.
"I got up before you today, motherfucker! It's revenge 0' clock. It's a cruel summer, baby!" She laughed, singing along to Taylor swift's Paper rings, bursting out of the TV, from a music channel.
She came out the door, got dressed and headed for the main house, feeling her stomach twist in knots of uneasiness. She stepped in a little earlier than usual, and headed for the kitchen.
Meanwhile, Rey was still asleep and when he was out of bed, his morning coffee had long cooled off, so Mia had to make him another.
"Tap! Tap! Tap!" She said, knocking on the door softly and there was no answer.
She called out a few more times and listened for a voice or probably the sound of footsteps to respond, yet, there was no answer. The courage building up in her was now quivering, as a result of standing in front of her boss's bedroom for too long a time.
After a while of silence, she decided to go in, slowly turning the door handle and walking on her tippy toes, intending to drop the steaming coffee and race out. She walked up to the bedside table and just before she could drop the saucer, a voice called her abruptly.
Busted!
"And what are you doing here?" Rey's voice said behind her, almost in a whisper. She almost sent the saucer sailing and clashing on the floor when she turned.
"I...I came to drop a warmer cup of coffee, since the last one grew cold." She tittered nervously.
What the heck! Rey was standing there in nothing but a towel, his bare chest and legs exposed.
Her eyes were burning at that moment, trying not to notice the veins running down his hands or the way his thick, bare chest, shaped like a V from his shoulders, flexed as he moved with a confident swagger.
She struggled to ignore the way the towel hung precariously low and how his veins bulged prominently on his biceps, bulging with a carefree ease that only accentuated his rugged physique.
"Oh! I see..." He said, running his hands through his wet, black hair, his intense brown eyes locked onto hers as he spoke.
A sly smirk then spread across his face, revealing a hint of mischief in his gaze, "A coffee indeed." He strode towards her, his eyes fixed on hers, and she felt her legs freeze in place as he loomed over her, his tall frame casting a shadow.
He leaned in, his face inches from hers, and reached out to take the coffee, his proximity sending a shiver down her spine. She mentally chastised herself, 'I swear totally misinterpreted that.'
He raised the cup to his lips and took a slow, savoured sip, his eyes never leaving hers.
"Hmm...nice," he murmured, his eyes crinkling at the corners as he savoured the flavour.
"Warm as usual." He raised an eyebrow, a subtle smile playing on his lips, hinting at a private joke or a shared secret.
"I'd be leaving now, Sir. I...I need to prepare breakfast." She said.
"I never stopped you from leaving, little one," he said, his voice low and husky, a hint of amusement dancing in his eyes.
"You were always free to go."
"Yeah...the door," she muttered, her words trailing off as she quickly turned and strode purposefully towards the exit, her footsteps echoing through the room.
***
At the breakfast table, she was silent as she served him. He ate slowly. The sun gave his morning skin a different glow as it flashed in through the glass walls.
"You know I may not have said this before but your cooking skills are fire!" He said, just after he was done eating, just before he left the table.
"Thank you!" A soft smile tugged on my lips and she busted it back to the frown soon enough. A minute later, the gardener was trimming the flowers, when Rey came out of the main house.
"Mr. Reynaldo, how are you doing?" He asked.
"I'm fine, Gary and you? "Oh! By the heavens, I'm fine, Mr. Rey!"
"Well...I can see that." He said, staring at his chubby face.
"Looks like you've been pulling some hearts all over the internet." Gary said, grinning.
"Oh...Gary, you just know how to tease me!" Rey passed his usual smirk. Gary poised his body and demonstrated with his hands as he continued rambling.
"You shine as bright as the morning sun, Take my breath away like a drowning wave, Maybe you kissed the moon on the night you were born, you're a joy to behold, a wondrous sight to see." Gary was a poet, a fan of Shakespeare and many classics—but specifically, Shakespeare—that he had read almost all his works.
"You are funny, Gary. See you later." Rey walked off to the garage.
"May your day be filled with flowers and wines, music and lines, Lines are pleasant as mine." Gary said, making a courtesy bow.
Rey waved his right hand without looking back. Mia was watching them from the top floor through a window in the guest room. She chuckled at Gary's lines as she watched him go back to work.
"Silly." She said, shaking her head.
"He's so good at those lines." She signed.
"Right! Let me call, Beatrice." She walked away from the window, picked up her phone on the table and placed a call. It rang twice before Beatrice's voice sprung out of the speakers.
"What's your problem, you little—!"
"Beatrice!"
"Hello sis! It's the kitten. He's just climbing all over me this morning." Beatrice's laughter rang throughout the phone.
"He's such a cutie!" She said, still laughing.
"How have you been?" Mia asked.
"I'm good. How have YOU been?" Her voice rose, placing emphasis on the "you".
"I'm...well, except for the fact that yesterday was a blast. I'm good, I guess!"
"What happened yesterday? Is it that nut job of a billionaire again?" Her voice became curious.
"Chill...I'm coming to that soon. It's going to blow your mind! But, How's Lucio? Has he gotten any better?"
"Look sis, I really didn't want this bothering you but Lucio isn't getting any better. I took him to the clinic after saving up some money from yesterday, and the doctor told me I'd have to come back some other time. They were totally booked."
"That's the least expensive hospital around here. I...I don't even know how to say this. It doesn't seem so bad, but it isn't getting any better either."
"It's alright, B. We'd be fine." Mia blinked away the tears threatening to fall off her lids and sniffed.
"Okay! That's by the way! Tell me about it."
"About what?"
"Yesterday, M. What happened?"
"Yeah..." Mia sighed. "It was that nut job of a billionaire, again."