Chapter 3

STELLA

My dad's phone alarm goes off at 6am the next morning and I wake up with a start and then groan.

"Dad it is Sunday must we really be up at this hour?"

He yawns "Yes sweetheart, we still have a long drive to the town and then we need to meet up with Benjamin so that he can show us which house is ours and then give you a tour and brief run down on what you have to do tomorrow morning."

I stretch and groan again but I get out of bed and beat dad to the bathroom making him groan and I laugh. I have a quick shower and get dressed, I open the door just as my dad is about to knock. I laugh "I don't always take a long time in the bathroom."

"Ha, you would be in the bathroom all day if you could.." he laughs back at me.

"I am going to start putting our bags back in the car, okay dad?"

"Thank you Stella, I wont be long."

I repack our bags and then grab dad's keys, I open the door and head over to the car, opening the back door and pushing our bags inside. Once in I close the door, look up and around, there seems to be a few more trees around now and I had to do a double take in one spot thinking that I had seen that wolf from yesterday.

I jump as a hand is put onto my shoulder, I turn and see my dad making me sigh in relief.

 

"Dad can I ask you something?"

"You just did!"

"Ha ha very funny... But seriously are there wolves in this area?"

"I think so, Benjamin did mention something about a small wolf pack living in the woods near the town but they manly keep to themselves, as long as you leave them alone they should and will leave you alone."

"Don't worry dad I don't plan on disturbing them." he nods, takes the key back to the office and then we get into the car and continue on to the small town of White Wolves.

With leaving so early we drove straight through and managed to get to White Wolves just in time for lunch, driving through the town was actually quite interesting as there was more here then I thought there would be. Dad pulls the car to a stop in front of a small café right in the middle of town,

"Come sweetheart this is where we are meeting Benjamin and we can have some lunch while we wait for him."

I look at my phone and notice that I have some bars, I laugh a little as I have to turn the volume off because of the amount of messages that are coming through from Macy and Whytt. I scroll through the messages and laugh a little as Macy gets more and more frustrated that I am not answering, I send them a quick message telling them that I was okay and that I didn't have service for the whole trip and that I would call them later once I was settled. I sent an extra one to Whytt saying that I hoped that he didn't end up at that party with Savannah or if he went to the party that he didn't wake up next to her in the morning. I then put my phone in my pocket and join dad at the table out the front of the café, he had already been inside and ordered our lunch.

Just as we finish lunch Benjamin walks up to us with an older lady, "Afternoon, I was a little surprised to get your text saying that you were in town already, I wasn't expecting you two until late this afternoon."

"Yes well we had a good run and we will have a lot of unpacking to do. I think the sooner Stella is shown what she needs to do in the morning the better." I look at dad and then at Benjamin, for some reason I get the feeling that the two of them have planned the rest of my life out for me but forgot to include me in the conversation and decisions.

"Very good, Now this is Tabitha, Tabitha this is Stella. She is the one I have hired to help with boss Axel's private floor."

I didn't miss the slight fear that passes through Tabitha's eyes as Benjamin mentioned the boss but she covers it up very well as she says "Welcome Stella to our little family."

She then turns to Benjamin "Is he home?"

"No he is out on business, he wont be back until tomorrow around lunch."

"Thank you Sir. Now have you finished your lunch my dear?"

"Yes I just finished."

"Well then if it is okay with the males I would like to give you the tour and let you know where everything is." She looks at Benjamin and then my dad who both nod, she then holds out her hand to me saying "Come on dear."

 

I get up, move to her side and she gives Benjamin a slight bow of her head before she starts us walking away, I move quickly to catch up to her and look around saying

"This place is amazing but may I ask where are we going?"

"We are going there!" she stops and points to a five story mansion, I open my mouth to say something but nothing would come out. It was beautiful but what was strange was that there was no fences around it to separate it from the town, it was like it was part of the town and they didn't want it blocked off. She then starts walking again, as we enter I don't miss the strange looks that come my way from everyone inside the mansion, most looked to be around my age and most of them looked like they didn't want me there.

Tabitha grabs my arm and pulls me towards a small office saying "Okay this is my office and you will report to me before and after every shift. Were you told what time to be here?"

"Yes mam, I start at 5am till 8:30am and then again at 4pm till 10pm on weekdays."

"That is good. When you start the morning shift, make sure to be as quiet as possible so not to wake the boss and then when you do the afternoon and evening shift make sure to stay out of the boss's way, I suggest you do his office in the morning and then do his bedroom in the afternoon that way he is in one while you clean the other. Now that's for during the week, on the weekends..." she looks at me as she sits down behind a desk then continues "Do you know how to cook?"

"I know a little, My mum was just starting to teach me some of her more complicated dinner dishes, I took over cooking the basics when my mum died and my dad couldn't seem to look after himself, let alone me."

"Good, here is his weekend run down. Saturday mornings he has his breakfast on his own in his office which you will serve at 8am sharp, then dinner is at 6pm in his office again. On Sunday he has breakfast at 9am and then we all have Sunday lunch and dinner together."

"Um.. There must be a mistake as my dad never said anything about working weekends, told me that I get the weekends off.." Dad explained a little more during the final part of the trip this morning but if what she is saying is true then I definitely wont be getting any time to myself, its like I will be his personal servant.

"I'm sorry dear but it is for everyday of the week, if you don't work in town you work in here and Benjamin has made it very clear that you are to work in here and only here. Here! Fill this in and then I will give you a uniform for when you are working." I take the sheet of paper she hands me, I lean on the desk and fill in

NAME : Stella Sullivan

ADDRESS : To be Advised

AGE : 17 nearly 18

SCHOOLING : Last Year High School

WORK EXPERIENCE : Own house cleaning and cooking

RELATIONSHIP STATUS : Single - No boyfriend

SEXUAL STATUS : NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS!!!

After answering the relationship section where it asks me if I have a boyfriend and if I have ever had sex before I think on my friendship with Whytt and that I would have like it to be more. I don't have a boyfriend and haven't since my 16th birthday, even though I would have liked Whytt to be that and I have never had sex as the only time I ever thought about actually having sex I found him having sex with Savannah in my room, I put single for relationship status but I allow my attitude show when I answer the one on sex, as to me that is my business and only my business. I give the sheet of paper back to her she doesn't even look at it as she continues

"Good, now I will show you where you will be working and what you will have to do, now like all cleaners even if it hasn't been used you clean it, and his bed sheets need to be changed every second day or whenever he askes for them to be changed, so make sure you keep track of when you change them."

She then takes me to a small elevator at the end of the hall, Tabitha uses a small key card to access the elevator. We enter the elevator as soon as the doors open and the only button in there is for the fifth floor. Tabitha swiped the card again and the elevator moved. Tabitha lead me around the fifth floor rooms showing and explaining to me everything that I needed to do including a brief look in his bedroom and office, the last thing she showed me was the small kitchen where I was to make him breakfast and dinner on the Saturday and breakfast for Sunday. It was surprising but not to find that the small fridge and the cupboards were fully stocked. As we leave she says

"I will see you before your shift in the morning to give you your access key and uniform. Now Bet... Benjamin said that the Al.. Boss wont be back until lunch but still enter the floor as if he is there, so do it quickly and quietly. Right now I have work to get back to, Benjamin and your dad are waiting for you out the front."

I don't know how she would know that as I didn't see her pick up a phone or anything for them to tell her but I shrug it off saying "Thank you!"

I then head out of the mansion and meet back up with dad and Benjamin, Benjamin then shows us to what is to be our house at the edge of the town. It is a beautiful little dark brown 2 story cottage, with a even more beautiful garden surrounding and covering one of the sides. I walk up to the door, I expect it to be locked but it opens and I look back at Benjamin in surprise

"You are in no danger here, so there is no reason to lock anything up.."

I don't know if I actually believe him but shrug my shoulders and enter the cottage. I move around the cottage looking at all the rooms downstairs and then I head upstairs and find my room, it doesn't take me long to find the room my stuff had been put in. I walk over to the window and look outside, I smile when I see that it looks out over the back yard and the woods border that. I open the window, close my eyes and take a deep breath, when I open them I am sure I see a wolf standing just inside the woods edge. I leave the window open and I turn back to the door I let out a slight scream, step back hitting the window seal and put my hand on my chest.

"Benjamin, you scared the crap out of me... How long have you been standing there?"

"Not long, do you like the view?" he enters the room

"Yeah its beautiful!"

"Do you like wolves Stella?" he moves even closer to me

"I guess I do, they are a beautiful animal but aren't they dangerous?"

"Only if you make them so!"

I freeze as he stops within inches of me and again takes that bit of my fringe that hangs loose and rubs it between his thumb and index finger, he leans next to my ear and whispers

"You are very beautiful Stella, just a small warning for you... Don't tease a wolf if you don't want it to bite."

I look at him confused as he pulls back, kisses my lips gently, turns and walks back out of my room. I am a little dumb founded and just stand there and stare at my open door, I am brought back to reality by the ping of a message on my phone. I move away from the window, pick up my phone and smile as I see a message from Macy

'Hey girl, how's the new house and town...'

I decide it was probably a better idea to ring her, I put it on loud speaker and start to open my pile of boxes, she answers after the third ring

"Hey girl!"

"Hey yourself!"

"So how's the house? Is there any cute guys in town?"

"MACY! The house is actually a cottage, its beautiful and I was only in the town for a little while and didn't see many cute guys around but then my cute and your cute are two way different ideas..."

 

We both laugh "Why didn't you tell me you were going?"

"I didn't know until I got home early Friday and then dad and I got into a small argument over it. Macy he arranged for me to work for his boss's boss..."

"Really! Doing what?"

"Cleaning mostly with a little cooking on the weekends."

"Dam!! At least you know how to cook and your cooking is amazing."

"Thanks..." I sit on the edge of the bed and sigh before continuing "Mac.."

"What is it Stella?"

"Oh its nothing... So do you know if Whytt went to Max's party? Do you know if he was stupid enough to hook up with Savannah?"

"Sorry Stella but I haven't seen him and I probably wont until tomorrow at school."

"Okay, Well I must go, I have a lot of unpacking to do and would you believe my job starts at 5am!"

"Tell me your joking girl? There is no way you would catch me up at that hour!!"

"No I am not joking and its had to catch you up at any hour..." We both laugh again "I'll talk to you again later, Love you girl!"

"Love you too girl! Don't forget about me!!"

I smile as I hang up the phone and head down stairs to see what dad wanted to do for dinner.

We spend the rest of the day unpacking and for the first time in a long time I allow dad to order pizza for dinner as we were too busy for me to cook and if what Tabitha said was true and everyone ate dinner together on a Sunday we would be eating with everyone else I guess but for tonight we weren't invited.