The cafe Iliana worked at belonged to her mother. Brenda bought the cafe because that was where she and Adam had their first date.The cafe was a popular spot in Philadelphia and a lot of prominent people visited the cafe as it was known for its top-notch service. After Brenda died, Juliana made the cafe bigger and more modernized, and she left the previous name "Love at First Sip" since everyone already knew the cafe by that name. She employed new people there and got a new manager to head the cafe.
Iliana begged her aunt and uncle and even had to serve Melina for a whole month before they agreed to let her work at the cafe. She even promised to work twice as hard and do more chores as long as she was let out. She thought of running away through it but her uncle was too smart as she noticed that someone was always following her and she assumed that it must have been one of her uncle's guards to ensure she didn't run away or try to do anything that would implicate them.
"Lia! I have been waiting for you since like forever." Rina exclaimed when Iliana stepped into the changing room.
"I'm so sorry Rina. I had things to do."
"Oh my, Iliana, everything will be fine soon,okay?"
"Forgetting that, tell me about your date last night."
"Oh my God! Oh my God! Goodnesss Lia! It was Ammmaaazzzinnngg!" She said in a sing-song voice.
"Mmn, now you are giving me ideas" Iliana said winking.
"Come on, nothing happened. We watched a movie together and then we went to my favorite restaurant. It was quite boring at some point but guess what?"
"You slapped him and walked away?"
"Nope"
"You threw up on his face?"
"Come on Iliana!"
"You dumped a plate of food on his head?"
"You are terrible at this." Catherine said flatly.
"I know right?" Lia replied laughing.
"Anyways, he gave me a bracelet with our names engraved on it"
"Oh my God! Can I see it?"
"Yes." she replied dangling it in front of me.
"Wow! This is beautiful!! He seems different from the others. I mean he remembered your obsession for bracelets."
"Yes, I hope it won't end up like the last. And yes, what about you? What's up?"
"Well, the usual thing. Working, cleaning the mansion and coping with Melina's nonsense"
"Awwn, my baby has become so hardworking." Catherine said hugging her.
"Rina! Rina! I can't breathe!"
"And yes, Iliana, as usual, there were countless scarlet letters on your side of the counter alongside numerous boxes of chocolates. I'm pretty much sure the boss loves you alot now, I mean half of the customers here come just to see you." Rina said rolling her eyes.
"Come on, don't talk nonsense Rina"
"Whatever, I trashed the letters for you and the chocolates are safe with me." Catherine said.
"You can have them."
"Thanks. I guess we have to start the shift now."
After changing into their uniforms consisting of a t-shirt, jean and an apron, they walked into the cafe. There was a heap of customers waiting for their orders and it was just the two of them.
"The cafe is basically flooded with people. I wonder what is happening today."
"We have to hurry up."
After dealing with everyone's orders, Iliana fell back into her chair exhausted.
"Thank God we are through. I almost passed out."
"Are you okay Iliana? You look like you just slaughtered a million gorillas and was chased by the hungry hyena who wanted to feed on them." Catherine said with a frown.
Iliana : "....."
"I see that you have served all the customers but that doesn't give you a reason to turn my workplace into a discussion corner. Get up and move around to see if anyone needs anything. And that should be done by you, Catherine." Mr Anderson, their fifty year old boss, said while a smiling at a tired looking Iliana.
"Yes sir."
Turning around, Mr Anderson said, "And you, come to my office right now."
Catherine looked at Iliana with a worried look on her face but Iliana smiled at her and nudged her towards the serving area. Seeing her walking towards there, Iliana turned and followed Mr Anderson into his office.
"So what do we have here? My one and only Iliana looking so weak and tired."
"Cut to the chase. What do you want?"
"Of course you know what I want. I have been telling you for the past two months now. Your aunt specifically ordered me to make life difficult for you here but I've never done that before, have I?"
"Go straight to the point."
"Just become my mistress and I promise that you won't have to work so hard anymore. You won't have to stay in that house anymore and you will be rich enough to buy yourself anything you want."
"No." Iliana replied with a bored look on her face.
"I just pity your wife and children and no one else. I wonder if she knows the atrocities you have been committing. You know, technically sir, you only got this job because she put in a good word for you with her friend. If she sees the video I have with me, I wonder what will become of you Mr Anderson." Iliana said while twirling a penknife she always had with her on her finger underneath the table.
"You will do no such thing!"
"And who says I won't? You think I care about this job? Don't be silly old man. I mean, I don't even get paid for working."
"Okay, what do you want?"
"I want to be paid like a normal worker here without Juliana knowing about it."
Standing up from his seat, he moved closer to Iliana fearlessly, "Unfortunately you misunderstood me. You won't even need a pay if you agree to be my mistress." He said holding her hand.
"Let go of my hand!"
Ignoring her, Mr Anderson trailed his fingers up her arm.
Irritated, she continued "I said, let go of my hand Mr Anderson! Well, I guess you have to learn the hard way."
Suddenly, she removed her second hand from under the table and stabbed his forearm. Pinning him on the table, she said, "Don't ever try this again you hear? And you will have to listen to whatever I say if you don't want to get killed. Juliana must not hear of anything that happened here or else!" Iliana said while smiling sweetly at him and holding the knife under his neck.
"Y..yes.. grandmother."
"Very good. I am glad you now know who your grandmother is. Now, will you agree to pay me?"
"I...I..I.. wil..will do it. Just don't kill me"
"I won't waste my second kill on a bastard like you."
"You are a mad woman!" He shouted after she let him go.
"Well,I am bipolar and if that counts as being mad, then fine. It isn't my fault that you didn't find out earlier. Goodbye Anderson." She smiled and blew him a kiss as she walked out of the lavishly decorated office.
Once she was out of the office, Iliana ran to the nearest restroom, grabbed a bottle of soap, poured it all over her hand and started scrubbing it vigorously with her nails until her hand started bleeding. Foot steps could be heard were approaching the cubicle she was in, but due to the fact that she was extremely focused and blindly concentrated on cleaning her hands, she hear them. The door opened and a worried looking Catherine stepped in. "Iliana! Iliana!, What are you doing to your hand? Stop! You are bleeding!" "No, no I won't stop. I need to get his touch off my hand." Iliana said with her eyes focused on only her hand while scrubbing it harder. "Come on Iliana. Don't do this to yourself." Catherine tried stopping Iliana but got shoved away, her back hitting the door forcefully. "Iliana please stop. For the sake of your mother, please! Do you think she would be happy seeing you like this?" Catherine whispered. Hearing that
Iliana walked into Clara's room and she dropped her bag on the bed. She left the room and walked down the passage that led to her parents' former room. After walking down for a while, she stopped in front of one of the walls. On this wall, a huge painting hung. Moving her hands upwards, she pressed on a button on the painting's frame and the painting moved upwards revealing a brick wall behind it. She pushed one of the bricks on the wall and the wall opened to reveal a door. Typing in the passcode, the door opened to reveal a dark room. Stepping in, the door closed behind her, the brick wall took its place and the painting slid back down. Iliana discovered this hidden room when she was six years old. She had told her parents about it and they told her it was for security purpose. Therefore, it became a training spot for Iliana whenever Clara trained her. She looked around the dark room, her pupils adjusting to the darkness around her. Moving to the centre of
The next morning, Iliana and Clara were awakened by Melina's yells. "Dad, mum, we've been invited to the Harrison Heritage Hotel for a masquerade ball!" "Oh my goodness! That's fantastic. We may be able to form a marriage alliance with the Harrison family as a result of this. I heard they have a capable successor already." Juliana smiled as she walked down the staircase. "The Harrisons, on the other hand, are seldom seen in the limelight. But, in any case, chances only come around once. This is your chance to shine, my dear girl." Mark said as Juliana sat beside him. "If we ever hope to form a marriage alliance with the Harrisons, I need to impress them, particularly, the heir. The function is this evening. As a result, I have less time to plan. I need to get started right away." "Don't be worried, my dear daughter. Your mother is always willing to assist you in every way she can. Right?" "Of course" Juliana affirmed while leading Meli
I walked out of Mark's room and down the passage. On my way back, the guards around were looking at me with awe as usual. Ignoring them, I walked further down into the passage until I got to my room. Sitting on a chair, close to the window, I looked out at the dark skies. The wind blew gently across my face. Closing my eyes, I allowed memories of my past flash through my head. The feelings burning deep within me were too much to bear and I just could not hold it in any longer. A sharp pain from my eyes spread throughout my head and I knew I was about to get a migraine. A tear drop rolled down my face as I remembered my master and how he tried his best to protect me. "I can't believe I failed my mission. How did this happen? How?! How did I end up at the mercy of a man?" "He....th...that stu..pid man! He even had the guts to touch my hair. How da...re he!? How dare......" Unable to complete my statement, I dropped my face into my hands. "And he even ha
Clara entered her room and found Iliana trying to get into the gown by herself. "Iliana, do you need help?" "Yes!" "Fine, there and there....yes, it is done. Now your hair is next." "I can do that by myself Clara, focus on yourself for once." "Fine, fine." Clara said raising her both hands in defeat. She showered and changed into her gown as well. By this time, Iliana was through with her hair and was wearing the necklace that came alongside her dress. She slipped into her shoes and sat down at the dressing table. Applying a red lipstick and some mascara she stood up and turned back as Clara gasped at the sight of her. "Oh my God! Iliana!, you look like a nightmare dressed like a daydream. The dress really does look like it was made specially for you..." "Thanks Clara, you look beautiful as well." Iliana said looking at Clara's dress. Clara looked down at the dresser and applied her favorite lip gloss. Facing I
Clara and I entered the hotel which was filled with people mostly females in glamorous looking dresses probably hoping to catch the eye of some rich handsome gigolo as I'd like to call them or to win the heart of some rich family's heir. Some elderly people were present as well, perhaps, they were there to find a prospective suitor for their daughters or a suitable wife materialfor their sons. The waiters, dressed in their white and black uniforms were moving around with empty trays which I assume must have been filled with drinks that they had already handed out to the people around. We were walking down the stairs when the whole room suddenly went quiet only to be filled with whispers few minutes later."Oh my God! Look at the dresses those ladies are wearing. It looks so unique, I'm sure it wasn't made by a petty designer." A woman said to another."Wow! John, look at those pretty dresses, if only you could afford to buy me something that beauti
I could not believe it. The person I had waited for so long to see was finally here. His facial features were extremely enchanting and I could have sworn that my heart stopped beating for a minute there. The fact that his face was concealed behind a mask didn't diminish his charm but only added a mysterious aura to him. He made all the females around feel intrigued and mesmerized while the males around felt envious because they could not look that exquisite. Just one glance at his grenadine eyes and you are bedazzled, two glances and you are completely hypnotized. I was very sure that most of the men present here would actually become bent just for him. His beauty was completely out of this world. All the female socialites around me were stunned as they all had dreamy looks on their faces. A sudden wave of possessiveness swept over me as I felt like scooping their eyes off. 'Those filthy girls, how dare they stare at what is mine?' A voice at the end
I went outsideJust as I said I would last nightYou promised you would be thereBut you weren't there.I passed time staring at the skiesIt was beautifulJust like your eyesThe wind blew across my faceAnd I shivered at the contactA sudden cold spreading through meBut I still stood waitingwith a strong sense of determinationI laid on the grassHoping you would come soonTo make me warm againBut you never came.It is morning nowAnd just like the night passed awayMy heart died as well.**************************************************After he left, Clara came over and whispered into Iliana's ears."Iliana, we have to leave now. Stan