Morning comes carrying a beautiful sunrise and a notification that makes me smile from ear to ear.

Gigi : Finally landed. I’m in freaking Paris. I can’t believe it. We’re going to the hotel to get some proper sleep. I’ll call you when I get up. Love You.

I’m so happy for her. She’s out there living her best life while I’m here just living my normal life. I get off the bed and head to the shower. When I’m done I put on a black dress that flares at the bottom and is about mid-thigh length. I then put on some heels and then fix my hair into my normal low bun.

A few drops of foundation, puffs of powder and some light mascara and lip gloss and I am all ready. I spritz on my perfume and go to the kitchen.

“Well someone woke up on the right side of the bed this morning”, Pierre says as I walk into the kitchen.

I smile at him and sit on the counter stool while he pours me a cup of steaming black coffee.

“Thank you”, I say in gratitude as he hands me the cup and puts a tray of blueberry pancakes in front of me.

I take a whiff of the steam rising from the coffee and a shudder of pure pleasure runs through me.

“Good morning”, Miss Jones walks in the kitchen with a smile gracing her aging face.

“Why are you all so happy today?”, Pierre asks us.

“It’s a beautiful day, why not be happy?” Miss June says as she pours honey into her cup of tea.

“What she said”, I reply with a nod before getting back to eating the delicious fluffy pancakes.

Heavy footsteps come in a few minutes later and with them the heavenly scent that is Alexander’s cologne. He looks mouthwatering in black dress pants and a crisp white shirt. He does not have a tie on and my eyes run down the top part of his chest that is peeking through the open buttons.

You saw a whole lot more last night though. My subconscious teases me.

My hands itch to touch his chest again. And for a split second I was transported to last night when he was standing in front of me.

He sits in his usual chair at the head of the dining table in the kitchen and waits for his breakfast.

Pierre pushes a big cup of coffee towards me.

“Could you please give that to him”, he says gesturing to the man sitting a few feet behind me. I nod and take one last gulp of my coffee as I am already done eating anyway.

I take the cup with the saucer that’s under it and carry it over to Alexander. I try to compose myself as I place it in front of him as I try not to think about last night.

He looks up from his phone to me and I see the shadow of a smile on his face.

Is he thinking of last night too?

“Thank you Miss Jones”, he says to me.

“You’re welcome Mr Cain”. I say with a smirk and walk away from him as I get out of the kitchen and start my work for the day.

Today is a beautiful Friday and I don’t have a lot of work to do since I have split up most of the heavy duty stuff for the week. It’s not even that much work now that I have gotten into a rhythm that works for me.

I spend most of the day wiping the railing on the massive staircase this house has. I go down to the gym and sanitise all the equipment. I don’t have time to be messing around with germs.

Not with the diseases wreaking havoc in the world.

I end up sanitising any doorknob I could reach in the whole house. I finally got to my last duty of the day which is to polish some of the decorative artifacts in the house.

A task that is not for the faint hearted or those with shaky hands. The whole time I am polishing, my butt is clenched tightly up because I don’t want to drop anything.

Some of these vases are worth more than my life.

When I am done I go to my room to freshen up. I walk into the bathroom and take off the dress and shoes.

This is an awesome bathroom with a big tub which I am excited about putting to good use right now. Once the tub is filled with water, I get inside and a sigh filled with pleasure oozes out of my lips. The hot water is so relaxing I can actually feel the knots in my body unwind.

After soaking in the bathtub for what seems like an eternity, I come out all pruny and feeling like an overcooked noodle. I rub some vanilla scented lotion on my body. There’s no way I’m letting my skin look all ashy and cracked up.

I put on a pair of leggings and a hoodie. I slip on some fuzzy socks on my feet and then go sit on one of the plush couches that is placed near the doors that lead to the balcony. The weather is amazing for most of the day but now it’s getting a bit chilly.

As I watch the moving clouds, my phone rings with a call from Gigi.

“Hey chica”, I say to her.

“Babe!”, she screams into the phone so hard I pull it away from my ear and just put her on speaker.

There’s no way I’m losing my hearing to this banshee.

“How’s Paris?”

“Rosie it’s so beautiful, I wish I could enjoy it with you”

I smile at that, “One day, we’ll do it together”.

“So how was your first night alone?”, she asks.

“It was okay.”

“Did you ask Bryce to sleep over?”

“I uhm, kind of did not even sleep at the apartment”, I sheepishly reply.

“So you slept at Bryce’s place?”

“Nope”

“Then where?”. I can tell she’s getting a little frustrated.

“I’m sleeping at the mansion”, I mumble onto the phone.

“I’m sorry what? Mansion as in Alexander Cain’s Mansion?”

“Yup”, I say popping the 'p'.

“Explain. Now!”, she says.

I then launch into the story and tell her about the assigned room and me living here until she returns from her trip. The only part I leave out is last night’s scenario. I’m keeping our little encounter in the kitchen to myself for now.

After about an hour of talking, we finally hung up. I go on to the kitchen and make myself a cup of hot chocolate while Pierre finishes preparing dinner.

Footsteps make their way into the kitchen, and a heavily pregnant woman wobbles in and lunges herself at any speed that a person carrying a child can at Pierre.

He meets her halfway and engulfs her in a hug. It’s actually very funny to watch them because their big bellies reach contact before their arms do. The whole ‘hug’ is awkward.

“Look at you, you’re so big”, Pierre says to the pregnant lady. He rubs his hand on her tummy.

“So are you Pierre”, she says to him and they have a laugh. I can’t help but look at them and smile while watching them have their conversation.

“Alexander did not tell me that you will be coming over”, Pierre says.

“I wanted it to be a surprise, so I told him not to tell anyone”, she replies.

“So you will be having dinner with him I assume?”, Pierre says while tending back to the food.

“Yes”.

“Good thing I made enough food to feed the French countryside then”, Pierre winks at her.

From where she was she could not see me so when she turns around, I am met with the same blue eyes Alexander has.

Surprise and then confusion swims in her eyes as we make eye contact.

“Hey, I’m Isadora, Alexander’s sister”, she finally says to me with a smile. I already registered that she is somehow related to him, because of the eyes and her very obvious British accent.

I smile back, “Rosalie, the new maid”.

“Oh yeah”, she nods “June said something about retiring and having someone new here”.

She wobbles towards me and sits on the chair next to me.

“So how’s it so far”

“It’s okay. A lot of work but I am surviving”

She nods “Yeah, well I’m glad you’re here. We’re going to be good friends” she squeals like a little girl.

Alexander walks in with a familiar face. It’s the guy he had dinner with a few nights ago at Le Petit Chateau. What was his name again?

Tony?

Timmy?

“Tommy, have you met Rosalie?”, she says to him.

Yeah, that’s his name. Tommy. He is a very good looking man with dirty blonde hair, brown eyes and a nice stubble.

He is a few inches taller than Alexander and has a bigger physical build. If it were not for the suit he was currently wearing, I would assume that he is a lumberjack.

He looks like he fights grizzly bears for a living.

He walks over to where we are seated and smiles at me.

“Rosalie, the girl from the restaurant”, he says. He holds his hand out for me to shake “Thomas Maurice Wendell Renton”, he says as we shake hands.

“That’s a mouthful” I say.

He chuckles “You can call me Tommy, everyone does”.

I nod.

“Has Xander been treating you well?”, he asks.

How do I answer that question? I mean we haven't exactly sat down around a bonfire and got to know each other but he definitely has not been the beast that everyone paints him out to be in the articles I read about him.

Yes, I took the time to read up on him a little after Gigi and I practically stalked him online.

“Yes”, is the only word that comes out.

“I hope he has been behaving accordingly”, Isadora says with a wink to her brother who has been quiet the entire time. He has been standing by the kitchen entrance , looking like a brooding, handsome movie villain.

I look at him and we make eye contact for a few seconds. Heat rises up my cheeks and I thank the heavens that I don't have fair skin because by now they would have noticed my flushed cheeks.

The men leave to go to the study and leave me with Isadora in the kitchen. Miss June comes in and has a conversation with Isadora while I help out Pierre with setting up the table in the main dining hall.

After I am done, Harvey lets the men know that it is time for dinner.

“You will be joining us for dinner?”, Isa asks.

I have not thought about that. Last night was my first night here and all I did was go to sleep because I was too exhausted to eat. Miss June has not said anything to me about how things work when you actually live here.

“Of course she will”, Miss June says.

She leads us to the dining hall and we sit down. I look around the table and see that Harvey and Pierre are already seated. Tommy is right next Alexander who sits at the head of the table. Isadora is seated opposite Tommy, with me to her left and finally Miss June on my right.

I feel out of place in my leggings and giant hoodie while everyone else is in proper clothing.

The table is decked up with various kinds of food and my mouth immediately waters at the sight.

My salivary glands are on overdrive.

We eat and have some light conversation. I could not get over the weirdness of how Alexander actually eats dinner with his employees.

Is he scared of eating alone?

Throughout the course of dinner I find out that Tommy and Isadora have been married for five years and this is their first child.

I could tell that Tommy is very proud to become a father. His eyes sparkle everytime he talks about their soon to arrive baby.

“So, Rosalie, tell us about yourself,'' Isadora says.

I look around the table and my eyes lock with Alexander’s. My heart started beating so fast I thought everyone at the table could hear it.

I shrug and turn my attention back to my plate, “Oh , I’m just a normal, boring person”.

“Oh come on.”, she says. “My brother is a boring person”.

“Hey!” , Alexander says to his sister.

I give in and tell them a little bit about myself. The whole table is quiet. Their full attention on me.

“So why are you here?”, Isadora once again asks. She’s a very inquisitive person, she would make a great journalist or lawyer.

“Isadora that’s enough”, Alexander gruffly speaks up.

“No, it’s okay”, I look at him with a smile. He gives me a nod.

“I’m working here to actually be able to help my family. We’re in a financial pickle with my parents helping out my sick grandma. I just want to take a bit of the strain off their shoulders. Plus I want to finish up college”.

“Well that’s very admirable”, Tommy says from across the table.

“Very”, Miss June says “Unlike some people who expect things to just fall on their laps”.

“Anabelle walker” Tommy subtly mumbles.

Miss June looks at him with a smile, while Alexander glares at the both of them.

So Tommy also has something against Belle?

“Sorry about your grandmother, what condition does she have?”, Isadora asks.

“Alzheimers”, I am trying to fight the tiny sob that is clawing its way up my throat.

“Terrible disease”, Miss June says.

“My prayers are with you”, Harvey speaks for the first time since we started eating.

“What are you studying at college?”, Tommy asks.

“Journalism and Media Studies, but my passion is history. I like art and once I graduate I’d like to travel the world to visit museums and landmarks.”

Tommy nods his head and takes a sip of his wine.

Isadora and Tommy leave a few hours later. I do the dishes and help Pierre clean up around the kitchen.

I have no idea what to do with the rest of my time so I decide to watch a movie. I go to the main living room and switch on the massive television.

Miss June said to make myself at home, so I do exactly that and put my feet up on the couch and enjoy the feeling of sinking in the plush Copenhagen daybed cushions. I grab one of the throw blankets and wrap myself like a burrito and watch A Walk to Remember.

I have seen this movie almost twelve times and every time I watch it feels like first time. You know that one movie that you NEVER get tired of watching, no matter how many times it gets under some people’s skin.

An hour into the movie, the space next to me dips as a body sits. I turn my head and see Alexander looking at the screen.

“Nicholas Sparks”, he says.

“Yes”, I answer even though his statement was not a question.

“You don’t speak much do you?”, he asks.

“That's rich coming from you”, I blurt out without even thinking.

My eyes widen at the realisation and I quickly apologise,

“I’m sorry, that was rude of me”

He lets out that beautiful sounding chuckle of his again.

“No, it’s okay. I really don’t speak much” he says. I watch him shift and turn towards me on the couch. “I prefer if my actions spoke. After all they speak louder than words”.

I turn my head to him and he grins. My heart literally skips a beat.

I turn my attention back to the movie and he speaks again.

“Which museum?”,

I look at him with a confused look on my face. “Huh?”

“Which is the first museum you’d like to visit?” he says, drawing his attention to the screen.

That’s an answer that I’ve had for a long time. And I don’t care how obvious it is, I would really like to visit Paris.

Why did you think I was so sour when Gigi told me where she was going?

“The Louvre” I say with a smile.

“Beautiful place”, he says.

Of course he’s been to the Louvre. He can afford to go whenever he wants.

Ugh. Rich people.

The conversation dies down after that and we finish watching the movie. Well he finishes watching the movie. I could not concentrate.

He is too close.

Plus he smells really good which basically becomes a lethal combination that distracts me. I kept stealing little glances at him through my peripheral vision, which I am sure he noticed because my idea of “Stealing a glance” is to gawk at the poor man.

As the end credits roll up the screen I unwrap the blanket off my body and stand up from the couch. He gets up and stands in front of me. His tall frame swallowing up my tiny self.

“Goodnight Rosalie” he says and my breath hitches in my throat. I don’t know what it is, but him saying my name has an effect on me.

You like him that’s why, my subconscious says to me.

I look up at him, almost straining my neck muscles in the process.

“Goodnight Alexander”.

I see his eyes flash with an emotion I’ve never seen before.

His eyes turn a little darker. Like I’m no longer looking at a beautiful island ocean but now a raging sea in the middle of a storm.

His eyes dart from my lips and then up to my eyes.

He looks as if he’s hungry.

Footsteps coming down the staircase break our trance and Alexander turns around to see Harvey. They leave together and I am left alone once again with my thoughts.

I go to my room and get into bed with a feeling of hunger that I’ve never felt before.