RUN |on hold|

First Job

chapter 12

Asterin POV

God, my headaches would kill me one day.

Not that my headache was my only problem at that moment, no, but do you know the feeling when it feels like a hammer is hitting your head?

My eyes were stuck together as I tried to open them again.

Although I had spent the whole day sleeping or lying in bed...

There had been knocks on my door for ten minutes, which didn't help my headache.

Grumbling, I got up and rudely pulled the door open.

In front of it stood a somewhat too good-humoured Chiara. It was fucking 4 o'clock in the afternoon. What was she doing here and why the good mood?

My head throbbed as she walked into my room accompanied by Ryan. Ryan eyed me and the corners of his mouth pulled up slightly. Annoyed, I rolled my eyes and turned around.

"Nice suit, Asterin."

Ryan's deep voice sounded behind me and I squinted down at myself.  A black slip covered my lower body and a white shirt covered my upper body. Rolling my eyes again, I turned around and gave him the middle finger.

Ryan laughed softly while Chiara went into the wardrobe and said something about dinner. Actually, I had only listened until she stopped talking about dinner.

"Asterin? Are you even listening to me?" her voice rang out, but I just wanted to get back into my bed. I mumbled something as I pulled my blanket over my head. The pleasant warmth immediately enveloped me and a soft sigh escaped me.

But unfortunately the peace did not last long, because suddenly the blanket was pulled away from me.

Cursing, I sat up and stared daggers at Ryan who now stood grinning at the other end of my bed. You wanted to bathe in self-pity for once, but then you were interrupted by such an idiot.

While I was still sitting in my bed, by now with pillows wrapped around my body, Chiara was scurrying around my room, alternately holding up pieces of clothing. With most of them, however, she shook her head.

But after another ten minutes she seemed to have found the outfit, because she exhaled with relief and then came towards me.

Confused, I looked at her and gulped when I saw what she had taken out of the wardrobe.

Never in my life would I get into that scrap of cloth.

I would expect a proper pay cheque from Lorenzo for that.

Speaking of Lorenzo. I hadn't seen him in the last week. I had spent most of my time reading a book in the cosy wing chair or listening to Ryan and Chiara's banter. I hadn't even seen Matteo.

Anyway.

In the meantime, Chiara had dragged me into the bathroom and was now holding all kinds of things under my nose.

With a few final words that I couldn't really decipher, she scurried out of the bathroom.

Completely overwhelmed, I got into the shower and soaped myself up with the products Chiara had held under my nose.

After twenty minutes I got out of the foggy shower, dried myself and wrapped the towel around my body.

Whistling, I went into the room and first massaged care products into my curls.

After I finished, I looked at the dress, the scrap of fabric lying on my bed and raised an eyebrow critically.

Sighing, I let the fabric of the dress fall over my body and looked in the mirror. And the sight of me made me pause.

The black velvet fabric highlighted my fair skin and was tight but airy. A V-neckline accentuated my collarbones and the long arms fell down to my wrist in an open slit. My gaze fell on my legs which were almost completely visible. Since the dress only reached to the middle of my thighs, enough skin could be seen to make my grandmother turn over in her grave.

With a long breath, I stroked the fabric and looked at each of my curves that were visible through the dress.

After taking a good look at myself, I put on a pair of gold stud earrings and tried to put on a gold Necklace, which turned out to be more difficult than it looked to some.

Cursing softly, I gave up and continued with the make-up. A bit of mascara and a dark red lipstick.

I let my hair fall in its natural curls to my shoulder blades and then, necklace in hand, made my way downstairs.

The high heels still in my hand, as I was pretty sure I would fall down the stairs otherwise.

When I reached the bottom, I only saw Lorenzo. And he had his back to me.

I quietly cleared my throat to get his attention and almost immediately he turned to me. His eyes darted over every corner of my appearance as if checking to see if I was allowed to look like this.

"Could you put the Necklace on me?"

My voice sounded low so as not to upset the awkward silence.

Without a word he approached me and gestured for me to turn around.

Holding my breath, I handed the Necklace back to him and our fingers brushed. A light electric sleep flashed through my body and I had to suppress a shudder as he stroked my hair forward.

Warm hands met my cold neck and an involuntary shaky breath came from my mouth. And I could have sworn that he had laughed softly!

With slow movements he fastened the necklace around my neck and I could feel his warm breath on my neck. Involuntarily, the hairs on my arms stood up and at that moment I was grateful that the dress had long sleeves.

For a little longer than necessary his hands rested on the back of my neck until he finally withdrew from me and gestured towards the door.

"After you Grazioso."