Ugly Ronney: mafia romance [English]

Chapter 1-3

The room was warm, unlike the entrance to the house. The bright colors of the walls and the rug complemented the already busy décor, with many family photos, as well as trophies and magazine covers. Behind the imposing old-style desk sat a graceful woman with very short hair. Her oval face, without a single wrinkle and perfectly smooth, did not allow me to estimate her age. Her round glasses were placed at the end of her small nose and did not seem to bother her. Her pale dress, of impeccable taste, molded the top of her perfect figure.

Sitting at the back of her chair, she scrutinized me, inspecting every millimeter of my appearance in detail before resting her gaze on the Walkman hanging from my belt. Mrs. Khan pursed her lips, then her hands closed on her bare forearms. She seemed intrigued by me.

"Peter must have forgotten to cancel this applicant for the assistant position," the housekeeper intervened with a hesitant voice. "Would you like me to--"

Her boss raised her hand to ask her to be quiet. While she was sorting out files, I furtively observed the room.

"Where is her file? I can't find it in Peter's folder."

Miss Abigaëlle shrugged, looking embarrassed, before lowering her eyes and staring at the ground. Mrs. Khan sighed before declaring in a calm, but annoyed tone, "In addition to being absent today, Peter allows himself to send us candidates on a Sunday without any file or information about her."

She considered me with a kind but evasive smile. She obviously had difficulty understanding the choice of her assistant. My hands were so sweaty that I hid them behind my back. I forced myself to breathe calmly even though I was about to pass out. I looked at the big Rolex clock on the wall behind her. The minutes were ticking away slowly. I couldn't wait to get out of here.

"Please, Miss Jimenez, sit down."

No! This is not possible. I complied with Mrs. Khan's request, my face tense with disappointment. The matriarch glanced over my shoulder and I heard the housekeeper's footsteps quietly leave the room. The businesswoman in front of me took off her glasses and looked deep into me. I felt completely naked. Uncomfortable, I automatically lowered my gaze to my hands and tightened my baggy pants with all my strength.

"Who are you, Miss Jimenez?"

Had she guessed the real reason I was here? Her cold, suspicious tone sent a shiver down my spine. I closed my eyes for a moment and waited for my heartbeat to slow down. After a few seconds, I opened them again and took a deep breath.

"Who am I? Uh, a normal young woman, or almost. Well, I think so."

I cleared my throat and continued, trying to look as much as possible at my interlocutor, who was still staring at me with her piercing gaze.

"I turned twenty-five yesterday. To tell you the truth, I don't know anything about being an assistant."

My words made her raise an eyebrow.

"What do you mean? Why do you want this job, then? You understand that I can't just let anyone into my home. It's a job with a lot of responsibility."

"Yes, of course I understand. I think it was a mistake to come here today."

Mrs. Khan seemed taken aback by my attitude. Her fingers began to move nervously up and down her neck. She rose abruptly from her chair and stared at the ceiling to regain composure. There was nothing to disturb the silence around us. For my part, I tried as best I could to control the tremors in my leg. At that moment, I was sure she was going to ask me to leave. The matriarch looked around her office.

"What do you do for a living, Ronney?"

Ronney? She'd suddenly called me by my first name. Was this a strategy to get me to talk? So far, no one had shown any interest in my life, except maybe Caleb, and even then! I wasn't really sure.

"On weekends, I'm a voice actress."

"What is that?"

"I transform, or rather, I lend my voice to animated characters. It's mostly cartoons."

Mrs. Khan seemed both surprised and relieved to finally have someone normal in front of her.

"Do you like it?"

Funny question. Did it matter what I liked? I looked around the room before answering timidly, "Yes, it allows me to escape from my daily life. It's what I do best."

Mrs. Khan nodded slowly. She lost some of the stiffness she'd had until now. I did not see an Ogress in front of me. On the contrary. No, there was humanity in this woman, a very rare thing few people had.

"And during the week?"

"I help my parents at a restaurant in the Bakery District."

Mrs. Khan nodded again with an apologetic look. She knew the bad reputation of the neighborhood: poor and dangerous.

"Did you go to college?"

"No, I did not."

Again, I withdrew into myself and lowered my gaze.

"I dropped out of high school during freshman year."

"Ronney, can I ask you a question?"

Seriously? You've been doing that for several minutes already! I raised my head with difficulty.

"Are you single?"

Surprised and embarrassed, I adjusted my glasses and answered in a low voice, "To be honest, I just got out of a complicated relationship. He left me and...that's it."

"Yes, I understand."

No, you don't understand! I wanted to scream. The man I loved had left me for my cousin, almost a year ago now. They lived happily, while I could hardly walk because the pain was still so strong.

"Yes, really, I understand," she insisted, guessing my thoughts.

I saw, deep inside her, an absolute sadness.

"My husband died almost four years ago, and I still haven't grieved."

I still remembered the front page of the tabloids telling us that Yanis Khan had been murdered. I no longer felt like I was there for an interview. This woman really moved me. We were from two completely different worlds, but for a moment, we shared a few snippets of our lives.

"I am so sorry. It was a terrible ordeal for you," I said.

In the depths of her sad eyes were reflected all the shades of honey and brown.

"Are you an only child?"

"No, I have an older brother, Elio, who is currently living with my parents."

"And you live alone? In an apartment or a house?"

Her double question once again caught me off guard.

"Shared apartment. There's not enough room at my parents' house, and my brother is under heavy care because of his lung cancer."

"Oh."

The businesswoman pressed her lips together and gave me an understanding look.

"I imagine the healthcare costs must be astronomical for your family."

I replied with a slight nod of my head without adding anything. My life must have looked pretty bleak from the outside, and it was.

"You should find someone more competent and available for the job. Being your assistant must surely require a lot of time."

"And you don't have any?"

I shook my head vigorously. Mrs. Khan pulled her dress back into place and crossed her arms over her chest again.

"I'm not looking for an assistant for myself; it's for my son, Yeraz. It's for a six-month contract, until his thirty-first birthday."

A cold shiver ran down my spine.

"How hard can it be to get him one?"

"Difficult is not the word. I would say it is...impossible. My son is a man who doesn't always have good convictions, and he's surrounded by bad people."