Rags to Riches. Really? (1st book of Really? Series)

Chapter 24

I made it back to the car with no trouble and let out a sigh of relief when I was cocooned in its warm embrace. My whole body became relaxed while I closed the door, knowing full well that my mother wouldn't be able to find anything about the past that I lived.

Ramont looked at me through the rearview mirror and raised an eyebrow. "Are you ready?" he asked, and I nodded in confirmation after I placed my seatbelt. He nodded and put the car in reverse before he started to back up the car onto the main road. "What all did you have to get?" he asked once he was on the main road.

"Paper work," I replied. I took the bag off my side and sighed before I moved a hand through my hair and grimaced. "And the winnings from yesterday." I shrugged, and my grimace deepened. "I didn't want my mother to find anything or someone else."

Ramont nodded slowly. "What was the paperwork for?" he asked and looked at me.

"Contract about me being able to fight there and keeping all of my winnings," I replied. I leaned back in my seat and sighed. "There are different things that each contract holds for both fighters and..." I trailed off and shrugged again. "I'm not allowed to say. It's breaking the contract, and I don't want to find out what happens if I do."

Ramont nodded before he pursed his lips. His whole body was tense, and I could tell that he thought the worst.

"Relax," I said and folded my arms across my chest. A small smirk appeared on my face, and I stared at him when he lifted his gaze to the rearview mirror and met my gaze before he looked back at the road. "Count expects me to beat the crap out of anyone that tries to "punish" me." I shrugged. "I think that they fight if someone breaks the contract, or else the one that I am set under."

Ramont nodded and relaxed a little. However, I could tell that he did not like the idea of me having a contract with someone that he had no idea about and didn't trust. "Your arrogance can get you killed," he warned, and I shrugged my shoulder because I knew that it would but didn't care. "That wouldn't be a good idea, Your Highness."

I pursed my lips when he called me "Your Highness" because that name sounded so foreign to my ears, especially since I had lived the life that I had lived for more than a lifetime. "Please, don't call me "Your Highness,"" I said and held back a shudder when I placed both in the same sentence. "I know that I am a princess, but I don't want to be called that."

"Then what do you want to be called?" he asked and raised an eyebrow while he glanced at me through the rearview mirror before he put his focus back onto the main road so that he wouldn't get stuck again.

"My name or Mir," I replied and shrugged because I didn't care which one he called me. "I answer to both."

He nodded and cleared his throat. "Then I will call you Mira or Mir," he said. "However, I will call you "Your Highness" or "Princess" in front of your grandmother and others. Is that understood?"

"Crystal."

***

A blonde headed lady greeted us at the door, looking stricter than strict. She had a tablet in her hands and a permanent scowl that could match my own. "Oh, good, you are here," she said and looked at the tablet. "Princess Mira, I presume, yes?" she asked and looked at me.

I grabbed the handle of my bag and nodded, my whole body tense. "Yes," I confirmed. "I am she."

She nodded. "Good, good." She cleared her throat and looked at the tablet. "I am Annabella, and I am the assistant to Her Majesty. My job is to make sure that everything runs smoothly and everything is done at a certain time and correctly."

I hesitated but nodded and stayed silent.

"It says that you have... a few jobs, yes?" she asked and looked at me.

I nodded. "I do," I confirmed. "I have three, but I am only working two at the moment."

She raised an eyebrow. "And what is the third job?" she asked.

"I am a lifeguard at the community center," I replied and shrugged. "They only want me to work during the summers." I shrugged again and grimaced because I had no idea why they only wanted me to work then and not every day since there was an indoor pool.

"Hmmm," she said and nodded. She cleared her throat and looked at her tablet. "Well, you are going to have to put in your two weeks notice for both jobs. You don't need to work any longer."

"No," I said immediately, and Sue looked up from the tablet and looked at me with a raised eyebrow.

"I beg your pardon?" she asked. There was a warning tone in her voice, and if I wasn't used to some scary men, then I was sure I would quake and say nevermind.

However, I was a street fighter. I was someone that had lived through some of the worst conditions and faced far scarier men than her. So, again I said, "no."

"And why not?" she asked.

I set my jaw and stood taller. "Because there is still a high chance that my grandmother doesn't want me, at least in my books," I replied coldly. "I am not going to give up my way of making a living until I know for sure."

Annabella opened her mouth to protest but stopped when she caught sight of Ramont doing something behind me. She closed her mouth and pursed her lips but nodded. "I would like your schedules, then," she said. "How many weeks in advance can you get them?"

I shrugged. "It depends," I replied. "How many weeks in advance do you need?"

"A year would be great, but I am sure that I can have two weeks in advance at a time."

I nodded. "I can give you that and their phone numbers."

"Good, good," she said and nodded. "Can you text them to me, now, or can you email them to me? That way, I can have your phone number too."

I stared at her with a blank look. My whole body was tense, and my heart started to pound a bit in my chest. I had no idea how to tell her that I didn't have a phone nor why she thought I would have one.

She looked at me when I didn't respond and raised an eyebrow. "Well?" she asked. "What are you waiting for?"

"I don't have a phone," I said slowly. "I can't afford one."

She blinked and blinked again. "Oh," she said finally. She cleared her throat and looked at her tablet again. "Well, I guess we will have to get you a phone then," she said. She cleared her throat. "Now, why don't we get you settled in. You have to babysit your... friend's siblings at five, correct?"

I nodded. "I do," I confirmed.

"Then, if you will follow me, let's show you where you will be staying." And with that, she turned in her heels and walked away, and begrudgingly, I followed her, leaving Ramont behind while he went to do something else.

Please let me survive this. Please.