Aria's P.O.V
Sluggishly, I flutter my eyes open and allow myself to adjust to the sun casting random beams of light around the room. Is it still Saturday? Why does this feel like déjà vu? Brushing the feeling off, I begin to pat the surface next to me in search for my phone. Once I come to the conclusion that my phone is, in fact, not there, I groan and rotate my body until the surface comes into view, resulting in me being in a very uncomfortable position. The things I do for my phone. Instead of standing up as any sane person would, I just stare at the table in confusion. Why isn't my phone where I left it last night? I sigh and prepare myself for the challenge which is finding my phone.
Before I manage to stand up, A deep chuckle erupts from a few metres away. My first thought is to run to the opposite side of the room and scream, but, deciding against it, I pluck up the courage to question the person.
"Do I know you?" I ask wearily as I lean further back into the sofa, using it as a source of comfort.
"I sure hope you do." He responds in a voice I know all too well. I'm not sure if I should be relieved or worried.
"Do you know who I am now?" He asks with a wicked chuckle
"Yes," The truth is, I wish I didn't.
"Yes, what?" He questions.
"Yes, boss"
"Thank you," He says, purposely lacing his voice with undisguised sarcasm.
I have been described as 'brave' and 'fearless' many times, but, that is not the case. I find some people scarier than words can describe, my boss being one of them, I am just an expert at hiding my fear. I don't mind being described like that though, I am glad that people see me that way, it makes my job much easier. Plus, my boss may be my boss, but, he has got to be fooled too for my plan to work.
"Why are you here?" I inquire, my boredom silently mocking him in every way possible.
He doesn't respond to my question, he just carries on sitting there, his body language giving nothing away about what he is thinking. He then pulls the hood from his black hoodie down and stalks over to me, never breaking eye contact. He finally pauses when he is directly in front of me, mischief glistening in his eyes.
"I think you know why I am here." He answers. His breath fanning my face due to our close proximity, the alcohol in his system making no effort to hide.
"Oh, get over yourself. I have something to tell you." I start. I guess I should just tell him now and get it over with, it may not be a very good idea to tell him while he is intoxicated, but, oh well.
He stays silent.
"I got caught," I say.
"You what?"
"I got caught," I repeat.
"You got caught!" He growls.
"Yes I did and you should be thanking me."
"You're really pushing me over my limit, Aria." He states.
"Hear me out, I got caught, but the King now thinks I am a maid, so, I can get into the palace whenever I want. And he expects me there every day except Sunday, which means that I can keep an eye on them for you. We don't need the files anymore either, so, if we end up getting caught as you did before, there will be no evidence that we have been in the palace because no one will know I am a member of your gang, seen as I am a girl." I say, proudly. There is no way he can punish me for this, I've won.
He bites his lip as he is thinking about my response. Please let him agree with me.
"I guess you're right. Don't mess this up though, Aria. You've had way too many second chances."
"Did you actually just agree with me?" I say, a hint of humour present in my voice.
He snarls at my question and strides out of the room and up the stairs.
"Well, that went better than I expected," I say to myself. I know that, for some strange reason, when my boss is drunk, he is nicer to me. Maybe his true-self comes out when he is drunk.
Okay, now I just need to find my phone. I rummage through every drawer and cupboard in the room, desperately trying to find it to check the time seen as there is no clock. Who doesn't have a clock in their house? I finish my search and my phone is still not in my hand. Turning around, I sigh.
"You have got to be kidding me."
There it is. My phone is wedged between two of the cushions on the sofa, visible to anyone who is looking. I must have been laid on it while I was sleeping. I groan for what seems like the tenth time today. Once my phone is safely in my hand, I turn it on and allow myself to process the information on the screen.
"Crap," I mutter. It's already ten to seven, I have ten minutes to get ready and get to the palace. The journey takes at least twenty minutes to walk!
*
"Damn it." I curse. I ran all the way here and I am still late.
Taking a deep breath, I press the button on the intercom, my hands shaking due to how nervous I am. A tiny red dot of light appears, signalling that someone is watching me through the camera.
"Visiting is closed." A mans voice echoes from the device, it must be one of the guards.
"Actually, I'm not a visitor, I am a maid. My shift started at seven."
"ID" He responds.
I bring the fake ID I designed yesterday up to the lens on the intercom, my hands still shaking from the nerves. I wasn't given any ID because the King doesn't know that this is only my second day on the job. Hopefully, he never will.
"One minute"
I wait patiently outside the gate, waiting to be let in. I have got to admit, my computer skills are non-existent so I hope that the guard doesn't notice.
"You are five minutes late." He states as the tiny red dot appears once again.
"It won't happen again," I say whilst chewing on my lip.
A buzz sounds through the air, causing me to turn my head in the direction of the gate. Slowly, the two metal guardians step back, letting me enter their fortress. I mutter a thank you and make my way over to the side entrance of the palace.
*
"Thank you, God, you have blessed me once again," I say. I managed to enter the palace and get my uniform on without anyone noticing. I suppose that the King will have already been alerted about my late arrival from the guard, but, as of now, I'm in the clear.
Picking up an old-fashioned duster from an extremely dusty shelf, I make my way out of the room and into the main hallway. How ironic, the shelf with all of the dusters is dusty. Giggling to myself, I get to work whilst admiring the palace.
Petite antique designs crawl up and along the walls like spiders, they often go unnoticed but when you see them, you will never be able to unsee them. Each design has one dominant colour designed to capture any passing person with one glimpse. Gold, gold is known as the colour of wealth and royalty, which makes sense, seeing as it is dotted around every inch of the palace I have seen so far. Warm red surrounds the designs, ensuring that the palace keeps its old interior appearance.
There are multiple doors scattered along the hallway, each one maintaining its old appearance, except one. One has been freshly painted and has pink heart stickers covering the top half of it. There is also a faint carving in the door which someone has obviously tried to hide by layering thick layers of paint repeatedly on top of each other.
Squinting my eyes, I try to work out what the mysterious carving is. I bring my hands up to the door and place the tips of my fingers onto the surface, aiding my vision so I can work out what the carved word is.
"Gianna" I whisper. But, there's no one in the royal family called Gianna, is there?
"You were strictly told to stay away from this room when you were employed by my father, everyone was."
My father. That could only mean one thing, and it's not good. I make a terrible mistake and look to my left to see the Prince stood in the hallway, focusing all of his attention on me.
"Sorry," I mumble and walk in the other direction, trying to avoid the Prince. I haven't prepared for this yet, this is the second time I have seen him unprepared. Why do I keep running into him?
"Maybe because you're in his palace, Aria" I whisper-growl to myself.
"Hey, I know you, wait up." He shouts as his footsteps echo down the hallway.
This time, instead of walking away, I dart around each corner of the palace until I come to a dead end.
"Caught you," He says with a smirk. This guy reminds me of the stereotypical bad boy which is involved in almost every book known to man. Is this guy actually a Prince? Because he sure doesn't act like one. Time to act.
"Actually, I let you catch me," I say, copying his smirk and twiddling with a strand of my hair.
"Sure you did" He responds sarcastically and crosses his arms against his chest which makes his muscles bulge out of his long-sleeved top. How can anyone be so muscular?
"Thank you for agreeing with me" I focus on his face instead of the current position his arms are in. I know that this is not the time to be admiring him, I am at work after all. If the King found out, I would probably lose my job.
"My pleasure," He says with a wink.
I snarl, of course, he would say something like that, he is an exact replica of Zach, the baddest bad boy of them all. Zach is a heartbreaker, a sporting genius and a player. You can't get worst than him, well, that's what I thought.
"You're the girl from the gym" He states, breaking me free from my chain of thoughts.
"Oh, you remember? I'm shocked. I thought buying girls things would be a normal thing for you, I mean, who pays out that much money for someone other than themselves for no reason?" I pretend to be stuck in thought which makes him snarl bitterly.
"It's not nice to make assumptions so early, it is?" He counteracts.
"Clearly not" I mutter, making sure he doesn't hear me.
"So, you're the infamous maid I have heard so much about, sneaking around the hallways and turning up to work late. You're not earning a very good reputation for yourself." What is it with this guy? One minute he is angry and then, within the blink of an eye, he is back to his bad boy ways.
"Who says I want a good reputation?" I question.
"Fair play" He answers.
Before I know it, amusement is dancing around in his eyes which causes mine to fill with worry. He is definitely planning something. As long as it's nothing which will distract me from my job, even more, it should be fine. I mean, he is obviously interested in me because he chose to interact with me.
"Seen as you're a maid, it is your job to clean this up." He says as he knocks a very expensive looking vase onto the floor as he walks past, making no effort to hide his amusement as he laughs until he is out of sight. I knew he was planning something, I had to go and jinx it, didn't it?
I begin to clean up the minuscule pieces of the vase from the floor. I breathe a sigh of relief once I realise that the Prince is gone and I don't need to act anymore.