Morozov

Chapter 15

The next day at dinner the worst thing to probably happen was announced.
"We will be out of state for a few weeks to months for Mafia matters," Mr. Rodrigues announced.
"What about Lucía?" I asked, hoping she would stay.
"She'll come with us since they affect her as well," Mrs. Rodrigues stated.

My food got stuck in my throat at her words and I had to painfully force it down with a gulp of water. As if that wasn't embarrassing enough I choked on the water and started coughing uncontrollably, forcing all the attention on me.

I steadied myself again after a few coughs and looked at my plate in embarrassment, acting like I was busy with my food. I could feel Mr. Rodrigues' venomous looks on me as I forced more food down to seem normal while they continued eating in silence.

Great, that left just Ace and me alone in the mansion. To my advantage it was a mansion meaning even if he wasn't at work, I could easily avoid him.

Mr. and Mrs. Rodrigues left the house an hour ago along with Lucía. I haven't talked to Ace since the incident three days ago and I also haven't been to school since Benjamin's friends embarrassed me like that. It's safe to say I felt like going crazy from seeing nothing but the plain walls of the mansion in days.

I worked out for four hours like the days before and took a shower afterwards. At least I could take care of myself because of the masses of time I had, so I did a face mask or a body peeling every day.

I was standing in front of my stained mirror with wet hair when an idea came to my mind. I took some scissors that were especially for hair and cut myself curtain bangs after watching a few tutorials. I wanted to have those for a long time and even if it looked bad, I wouldn't go out anyway.

I blow dried my hair and styled the curtain bangs and, to my surprise, it turned out pretty good. The short hair was perfectly framing my face, making me look more youthful and fresh. I smiled at my reflection satisfied when an idea came to my mind.

"Dan," I yelled out for my body guard and a few seconds later he stormed into my room, heading for the bathroom.
"What happened Miss Mallory?" he burst out while scanning the room with an alarmed look on his face.

I burst out in laughter at his reaction, causing his face and shoulders to drop.
"I told you to stop doing that. At some point I won't trust you anymore," he scowled at me.

"I'm sorry but it's just too funny. Anyway can you call a hairdresser over? I want to make some changes," I asked, earning a surprised look.
"I can do that but," he made a quick pause and moved just his head slightly closer with squinted eyes.
"Did you cut your hair?"

I put my hands above my heart and smiled at him in awe.
"You noticed? I cut myself curtain bangs but I think I want to go shorter," I stated, my heart melting at his mindfulness.
"Aahh yeah my daughter got those things too last week, that's why I noticed," he smiled while waving his hand to shove it off.

"You have a daughter?" I asked surprised.
"Yes, two actually. My older one is fifteen, the other turned thirteen yesterday," he said with a proud smile.
"Congratulate her for me," I said with a warm-hearted smile, earning a thankful one back.

He called over the best hairdresser in our area and I explained to her what I wanted. I wanted some more dimension in my blonde hair so she cut it and added some dark highlights to it. I looked at the finished product at the end and was positively surprised at how good it turned out.

Dan informed her that the money will be transferred to her bank account by tomorrow and then she left.

I watched dirty dancing on the couch in the living room when the front door opened and Ace came in. I expected him to come home soon because it was already 8 p.m.

We made eye contact for a few seconds before he walked to his room in silence. I continued with the movie and he came back, still in his trousers and shirt that was unbuttoned at the top.

He walked to the kitchen swiftly and I went in as well, wanting to grab a drink and then be out there as soon as possible.

I walked over to the fridge and filled up a glass with cold water. As I was about to walk past the kitchen isle and back into the living room, I hoped for Ace to do something so bad. But he did nothing. Not even a little grump or huff or a tiny 'hi'.

Nothing.

So I went back to the living room and focused on the movie again until it was over. His silent treatment really started to get on my nerves but I did not want to overstep the boundary that was between us. I knew I was just there for the arrangement and that there were no feelings involved in this.

I folded the blanket I had cuddled myself in and brought the glass to the kitchen as I approached my room to get ready to sleep.

In the middle of the night I still couldn't sleep so I thought about what I could do when the garden came to my mind. I haven't been there since I arrived here but I knew there was a big swimming pool and I spotted a heated whirlpool on the balcony down there as well.

I clipped my hair up and put on a baby pink, cheeky triangle bikini under my silk robe before quietly heading down to the garden.

I turned on the whirlpool and hopped in. I rested my chin on my arms that were sitting on the edge of the pool. The ceiling of the veranda was blocking my view of the sky but in the distance I could see it. It was a pretty cloudy night and I barely saw any stars along with the full moon that lid up the night.

As I was dazing off in my thoughts I didn't notice the glass door to the garden opening.