Since this morning there's been a lot of chatter around the kitchen from the maids. As usual, in the dining room as well, but for the most part, everyone is talking in mainly Spanish, so I can't really understand. Of course, not being here long enough to know which topics are important enough and which aren't, I didn't think much of what everyone was saying; but some constant word drops did make me dive straight into concern.
Italian mafia, attack, Christmas.
Now, that's enough to make me weary and concerned for the rest of the day - or at least until I figure out everything linking those words together and what they even mean for all of us at the mansion.
Since all of the maids and I had wrapped up dinner preparations faster than usual, we were waiting around in the kitchens, enjoying a small break before we were set to serve all the meals.
Elena, Vera, and I stood in a line against the counters, Vera focused on her phone, while me and Elena observed the kitchen. I spot Sam on the other side of the kitchen, making no effort at all (unsurprisingly) to listen to the other maids' conversations in a way that seems discreet. She looks over to us, noticing my stare and the single eyebrow furrowed at her, then throws an eyebrow raised at me back. She stands for another few seconds, clearly listening in again to the group of maids behind her while she pretends to stay busy in the kitchen. She 'cleans' the surface below her, and then once she's done, she puts her stuff away and struts over to us like she couldn't wait any longer to spit out the information she heard.
She comes over and places herself in front of us three. "You won't believe what I just heard." She tells us, getting both Vera and Elena's attention.
Vera smiles at her. "Were you seriously eavesdropping again?" She asks and Sam's mouth falls agape, pretending to be offended at Vera's question.
Sam scoffs. "No but seriously, I've heard some big stuff," She looks at us like we're stupid when we don't respond, "Have you seriously not heard a peep today?" She says, crossing her arms over her chest.
"I've heard talk since this morning," I reply, earning a nod of agreement from Elena, then a sort of shrug from Vera.
"Whatcha hear?" Sam asks, walking over to my side and propping herself up against the counter.
"Well, I heard stuff about the Italian mafia. Some sort of talk of an attack, something about Christmas, or well December twenty-fifth." I stay specific to everything I've heard when I give her the information, though I know those parts have been circling the mansion all morning - they're bound to have been heard everywhere by now.
Humming for a second, she looks up at me, taking the information I gave her in. "I heard that the Italian mafia are planning a big attack on the Spanish mafia on Christmas Day. The day of that yearly ball thing. It's in France this year." That sounds about right from what I've heard today. With a little extra added information.
A ball? That sure sounds fancy.
"A ball? They're that posh?" I ask quietly, earning a grin from Sam.
"Uh-huh. It happens every year. There's not been one held here yet though since we've arrived. I'm pretty sure it's usually here, in France, or in America, which is honestly kinda cool when you think about it. Imagine travelling all that way for a ball?!" Sam explains to me whilst I laugh a little at her interest.
She shrugs and leans back against the counter. She averts her focus back to the information that's been in the air all morning. "The Italian mafia is the Spanish mafia's greatest enemy. Their leader - Luciano - is Miss DeLaine's top rival. From what I heard, he's done some terrible things, and not just to her and the Spanish mafia. He's completely ruthless." Her words send chills straight through me. I could have done with not knowing that the place I'm currently at has an enemy who seems like the absolute worst person ever, with God knows what kind of abilities.
"Well, I heard Luciano killed Miss Delaine's father," Elena adds, which forces my eyes to widen. That sounds abhorrent. Entirely. I couldn't imagine being in her position. How must that have felt?
"Yeah, I think they've had problems going on for a while now, not that I know the reasons. They never got along, and now, from what I've heard, the Italian mafia are planning to attack on Christmas. Like, the best day of the year. Apart from my birthday." Sam says, nodding as all of us look at her with fake disappointment. Her sarcasm somehow never fails to surprise me.
Elena puts her hand in front of her to stop Sam from saying anything else. "Why the hell would he plan an attack on Christmas? Must be as heartless as they can come, jeez." Completely agree. I mean, why would anyone do such a thing on Christmas? Don't they have better things to do?
With all this stuff the girls carried on talking about, like the Italians attacking the Spanish, and the many attacks both mafias experienced from one another, it got me thinking if we were safe here. Who's to say that they won't attack the manor someday? Get us all killed or something, for all I know. The others know far more than I do of their attacks, I wonder if there's ever been one that happened on the premises.
"Has there ever been an attack here at the mansion?" I ask the girls, just about when we hear chatter start to flood the dining room behind the closed doors.
"No, not that we know of at least, don't worry, we're all safe here. This place is guarded with too many guards and technology for anything to happen." Vera assured me before everyone in the kitchen started moving again, ready to start serving the final meal of the day. I listened to Vera and her words. I'm sure we're safe here, but the thought of an attack happening here that could endanger all of us did slightly mess with my thoughts.
"That's our cue!" Says Sam, snapping me out of my head with her sarcastic tone, as she turns to where she was working before. We all walk off to pick up some dishes, following the routine of serving and waiting for everyone to finish.
I made sure to listen in more closely when I was serving, to try and hear more of what was being said about this so-called "planned attack" that was gonna happen. Whilst I placed some dishes around the table in the dining room, I managed to hear a few words here and there which i actually understood.
"Miss DeLaine still said she's attending the ball with many others. The Italians can't stop her."
"DeLaine is pissed, said she'll murder him if he ruins the ball."
I heard some more things being said too, but nothing I didn't hear from Sam before dinner. Of course, these comments were only uttered before the woman herself walked in and ended all the hushed chatter.
She must be fearless, Harlow. I can tell quite clearly. After everything I've heard today, and even from what I've seen so far while being here, especially what Elena said about her enemy playing a big part in her father's death, she must have had to deal with so much. And she's still here, dealing with more chaos.
I guess that's what settling into this kind of lifestyle is like. What being a mafia boss is like. I could never do something like that if I was in her shoes. Of all the people out there, I'm sure she has a lot of enemies. How could she not? I'm sure she's done a good handful of things in the past people haven't liked. She's bound to have crossed the minds of some of the most dangerous people out there, and not in a positive way.
The maids and I all finished cleaning up the stations around the kitchen after the last meal was served and mainly cleared. Once I was done with my part, I met all three girls at our main counters in the kitchen, waiting with them to be dismissed from the job.
Having worked in catering before, you'd think this job would be super easy, but The Coffee Joint was nothing compared to this. Cooking and baking here is more advanced, and slightly harder, but I admit I do like the challenge of learning how to make new dishes. I've learnt a handful of new things, and I can't wait to learn more. Doing this day in, and day out, however, has gotten a little tiring.
While I worked at the coffee joint, it was a nice and calm place to work, since it was only me and a couple of girls working. There wasn't much to do throughout the day which made it all that tiring. Sometimes I baked, but mostly I served and made coffee for all the different customers. But here it's different. A lot different.
I have to spend hours helping prepare food early in the morning, then also having to prepare dinner later on. There's a lot of food having to be made, and I'm constantly surrounded by many of the other girls whom I've never even spoken to and don't know. I'm also having to serve people who work in the literal mafia every day, which is certainly something I need to get used to soon. It's coming around slower than I thought it would. Being in their presence does make me uneasy sometimes - I need to get out of my head.
But what do I know? They could've done something awful before entering the dining room, and I'd be in their presence not knowing that. When it comes to men, I was used to a couple of looks daily from customers in Southhampton which I managed to overlook, but here I get a lot more, and the men are not often even trying to be discreet. And then there was Antonio that first day. I'm not sure whether I'm all that safe here with all of these people living and working here.
Forget the Italian mafia and their attacks, who's to say nothing will happen to me in here?
Fingers clicked in front of my face and snatched my thoughts away from me.
"Hey- have you zoned out again Elodie? You've been doing that a lot recently." Sam notes, tilting her head to the side to find out what's wrong.
We're still in the kitchen, waiting to be dismissed by our counters. "Oh, well, I'm still getting used to all this. The mafia, the new job I certainly didn't agree to, the fact I'd been taken from all my family and friends. Do you think Miss DeLaine would let me see some people?" I explain, amazed when I don't see a hint of surprise on their faces from my short ramble. I guess they might understand. They probably went through all of this when they first arrived here.
"We understand, getting used to it for the first few weeks, months even, was hard for us too. But I mean, there's not much we can do about that, we were picked and chosen and there's not really a way out. Of course, once they deem us safe enough, we have the option to leave, but I've heard a lot of the maids have stayed for a while before leaving for good. Planned their lives before heading into them, I guess. But most of us are happy the way we are here, we get paid a bunch, we have freedom around the mansion, and we can go out on weekends. You know. It might have been bad at first, but it's not all that terrible." Elena tells me, looking like she's drifting out into her own thoughts now.
"It isn't right what they do," I say, the girls turning their heads to me in questioning. I resume, "The auction I was at, the work we're made to do. We're in a completely different country, we didn't even have time to say goodbye to our lives before being thrown into a new one." I explain, hoping they understand what I'm saying. Vera nods, giving me a look of empathy.
"I mean, with the auction thing, it's a good thing you didn't get picked by someone else. Someone worse. I'd hate to think of what would happen if you got into the wrong hands." She says, putting her hand on my shoulder and giving it a small rub.
I think back to that night and remember how I saw so many hands strike up when they called each girl's name. When they called my name. And Luciano, I could tell the man was desperate when he kept raising his prices whenever Harlow did. What made me so interesting?
What if I'd gotten into his hands?
We're just about to be dismissed when Sam nudges me a little in my hip. "Hey don't worry, we've got your back. You'll get used to it. We'll do something fun every weekend to get your mind off things, hm?" She offers to me, politely taking her hand out for me to take it graciously, which makes me smile. I take her hand and she raises them both in the air as if we'd just won some kind of competition. I can't help the giggle that bubbles out of my mouth.
Once we're allowed to head out of the kitchen, the girls and I head back to our room, where we all go on and take turns getting ready for bed. After we're all done, we find ourselves all sitting comfortably on our beds, not exactly ready for sleep yet.
Since I have nothing else to do, and I can't fall asleep yet, I take my phone out from the bedside table and turn on the messages app, about to message Iris. But I'm interrupted when the TV alights, starting to play some playlist.
Vera had turned the music on, then turned to all of us. "Get your phones out of sight, we're playing truth or dare." She says, a grin forming on her lips as she notices Sam groans. Truth or dare? Now?
She steps out of bed to throw open her duvet, then climbs into her bed and covers herself up. "You know, maybe I can sleep now-"
"Oh shush Sam, come on, it's not like we can sleep anyways - and it'll be fun," Elena tells her, picking a pillow up from her bed, then aiming a shot at Sam with it. It hits her square in the face just about when she pulls herself upwards, making her fall back down onto her pillow.
We fall into a fit of laughter as Sam proceeds to grab the pillow in her hands.
She gets ready to aim it. "Elena, truth or dare?" She asks her, throwing the pillow over to her, which Elena catches and cuddles to her chest with a wide grin.
"Truth, I'm starting easy."
Sam nods, taking a second to think. "Have you ever.. had a guy go down on you?" Sam grins this time at Elena. Vera rolls her eyes, jokingly, putting a hand to hide her mouth so Elena doesn't see her quietly laughing at her.
"Is everything always sexual with you, Sam?" I laugh, asking truthfully. I don't think she could go a day without some kind of sexual commentary.
She turns to me, "You bet, Elodie." She smiles at me and turns back to Elena, tilting her head to get an answer out of her.
Elena clears her throat. "No, no one has ever gone down on me." Sam pretends to be shocked as Elena rolls her eyes.
"Wow, you're missing out-"
Elena interrupts her. "Okay my turn- Vera, truth or dare?"
"Dare." Vera says right away, "I'm not spilling any of my secrets." She tells us proudly with a pointed finger.
Elena, Sam and I glance at each other, all of us thinking of a dare.
"Got one. Vera, I dare you to download Tinder and open it near Damiano when you're with him next time." Elena says, leaning back on her bed, and crossing her arms over her chest.
Vera looks a little shocked at Elena's dare. "What, no! I can't do that to Damiano. That's like cheating - kind of. Yes? It is." Vera says, raising her voice.
"Oh calm down, I'll download it too and pretend to be some random hot guy who started texting you, and you can start texting me back when you are with Damiano. See what he does." Oh, Elena's being brutal right now.
"I'm not doing that!" Vera argues with Elena.
"Oh stop being so perfect and nice Vera, live a little, besides it's a dare, you can never back down from a dare," Elena smirks at Vera while she rolls her eyes.
Then she shoots Elena a fake smile. "You know what, okay, I'll do it, but if he says something it's all on you," Vera says.
"That's oh fine by me." Elena giggles, Sam and I joining in.
I notice Vera crosses her arms this time and looks my way. "My turn."
Oh God.
"Alright, Elodie's been awfully quiet tonight, truth or dare Elodie," Vera says, the girls all turning to look at me. I make myself comfortable on the bed.
"Truth," I reply confidently. I do not want to get tied up in doing a dare decided by these girls.
"Ooh, this is gonna be good," Sam mutters, enough for me to hear her.
"Have you ever done any 'on top of the clothes' stuff before?" She asks me and the other two girls put on their little wicked smiles and look at me.
My first thought was no until I remembered that time on my first week at the mansion when Harlow took me up to her office and things happened. Was that on top of the clothes? I mean, we didn't do much, but it had a big effect on me at the time.
"No, not really," I reply with a shrug, throwing the girls off of any ideas they could be storming up in their heads.
"Wait- not really? What do you mean by not really?" Sam asked, becoming far too interested in my choice of words.
Do I tell them? No, I can't. What am I thinking?
"I'm pretty sure you only get to ask one question in this game-"
Vera cuts me off, "This is our game Elodie, it goes our way." Vera tells me, smiling.
"It was only really, and I mean really mild. It's nothing, and I can barely remember it-" I say, trying to throw the girls off track of finding anything else out.
Vera laughs a little. "You're a terrible liar." Was I that easy to figure out?
I sigh, shaking my head slightly and tucking myself under my covers as I feel the heat rising to my cheeks. "I'm going to sleep, you guys can carry this little game on yourselves, you aren't getting any more out of me." The girls laugh and I hear their lamps turn off.
"Fine, but we'll get it out of you soon enough Elodie." Vera reminds me.
Sam lets out a groan. "We only played for like not even ten minutes guys." She tells us as we all start to get ready to go to sleep.
"We'll carry the game on another time."
"I hope not," I mutter to myself.
Elena seemed to hear me though, as I felt a pillow hit my covered body and I laughed, getting comfortable in my bed and ready for a fulfilling sleep.