Hello Everyone! This is my first time to ever post a fanfic so please help me out and review so I can improve!
The villa almost glowed in the warm light of the setting Spanish sun. It had taken a day's travel to get here and Lovina Vargas was exhausted. Yet, she couldn't help but admire the beauty of her employer's home. The pinkish stone and the tiled roof gave her a warm sort of feeling. This is home now, she thought to herself.
After her nonno passed away two years ago, she and her twin sister had taken odd jobs wherever they could to support themselves. But what ever they did, pleasant, or not so much, they did it together. They were the only family they had left. Now, Feliciana had abandoned her for that wretched German. He had money, and Feli no longer had to work as a bottom-feeding scullion. Lovina was at least thankful for that. Her sister was never cut out for the life of the poor. Her sorella had the life of a refined lady now, just like she deserved. But now Lovi was alone. Of course, her sister offered for her to come live with her and Ludwig, but Lovina's pride prevented her from accepting their charity. This was the third maid job she had taken since Feli left and she couldn't afford to be fired again. I have to take whatever shit this bastard throws at me, She resolved. Even if it kills me.
Lovina lifted the heavy, brass knocker and gave the solid front door a confident knock. A girl a little older than her with a distinctly cat-like smile opened the door almost immediately.
"You must be Lovina!" The girl said clapping her hands together excitedly. Lovina tried to smile back at her, but the girl's sweetness was a little much for her. She cracked a very forced grin. "I'm Bella," The girl continued adjusting her green headband against her sandy brown hair. "I'm a maid for Mr. Carriedo as well, and I'll be showing you your duties." She extended a small hand. Lovina looked at it with disinterest.
"Mr. Carriedo won't even greet me himself? That's promising." She said curtly. Bella laughed nervously before leading her inside. Lovina found herself in a cavernous entry hall, flooded with natural orange light from the sunset. The ceiling was riddled with skylights, which made the large hall seem even more open. Lovina imagined that it would be quite a frightening place to be in the dark.
"This way, Lovina," Bella said taking a left. Lovina hefted her suitcase with a groan of effort and followed after her. The next corridor looked similar to the last, full of skylights providing natural glow to the cold, stony walls. It must be easy to get lost in here. She thought to herself. The corridor seemed to go on forever and as she followed Bella, Lovina couldn't help but notice how beautiful the girl was. Her wavy, light-brown hair bounced as she walked, and although her green maid uniform was modest, it accentuated her petite frame. She couldn't have been more than twenty-five. Suddenly, Lovina felt very self-conscious. At only eighteen she was a little curvier than Bella, and she was sure her mahogany curls were messy from travel. And there was that particularly stubborn curl on the right side of her head that never behaved. She tried in vain to smooth it out as she walked.
"Ah, here we are." Bella said cheerily as they reached the end of the hallway. "This will be your room."
"I get my own room?" Lovina asked, dumbfounded. In her previous jobs, there were several maids to a small, often decrepit room, and even at her home in Italy she shared a room with her sister.
"Yes, Mr. Carriedo-er-Antonio, doesn't have many servants, so he wants us to live as comfortably as possible."
"Humph." Or he's up to something. Lovina thought cynically, Bella's on a first name basis with her master? That's not suspicious at all. She couldn't complain yet though, having her own room was a luxury. She pushed open the heavy oak door and saw a good-sized room with a large four-poster bed draped in deep red curtains. The room was very plush with a large chair, desk, and armoire as well. On the bed she found a maid uniform identical to Bella's only in pastel red with a headband to match. She held up the dress and wrinkled her nose. She didn't know what she expected, but she had always found maid outfits a little degrading, no matter how modest they were.
"Don't worry about that now," Bella said, smoothing out her own uniform. "You don't start until morning. Now, let me show you what your duties will be before supper."
Bella led her through the villa and showed her which areas she was responsible to clean, including the living room, library, and dining room. The villa had large windows, most of which were lined by tomato gardens. In front of one, there was a tall blonde man watering tomatoes with scowl.
"Who is that man?" She asked, gesturing to the window.
"That's my brother, Lars!" She chirped as she skipped over to the window. Bella waved at Lars vigorously until he looked up and stuck his tongue out at her for a fraction of a second before returning to his scowl and his watering. "Lars is such a joker." Bella said giggling to herself.
"Oh yeah, he seems like quite the comedian." Lovina retorted rolling her eyes. Bella must not have noticed, because she nodded in agreement and continued to lead Lovina through the house.
"Oh, and there's one more room that you'll be responsible for," Bella said leading her down a more narrow hall flanked with sconces. Despite all the candlelight, it was darker here, and far more ominous. There was a figure at the end of the hall in a ragged white shirt lifting a large crate of tomatoes and making their way towards them.
"Bella!" He called breaking into a jog. "You look lovely as ever." He said setting down his crate in front of them. His face was obscured by the shadows created by the candlelight and he looked kind of sinister. "Is this our little Lovi?" He said poking Lovina's nose.
"Hands off, bastard." She snapped, raising her hands defensively. Only her sorella called her that and she did not take kindly to being touched by strange men. "Who is this jerk anyway?" She asked turning to Bella.
"That's um…" Bella toyed with the hem of her dress. "That's Mr. Carriedo." She squeaked. Lovina's amber eyes widened with shock and fear.
"How many times have I asked you to call me Antonio, Bella?" He chuckled. "I see we have ourselves a feisty one huh? He said grinning. Lovina could feel the red creeping up her cheeks and looked down in shame. She couldn't believe she had already insulted her boss, and she hadn't even started working yet. If he was really this much of a creep, she would have to censor herself. She needed this job.
"I was just about to show Lovina to your room, Mr…Antonio." Bella said awkwardly.
"His room?" Lovina blurted loudly.
"Well someone has to do the dirty work." Antonio smiled wider. The shadows on his face caused him to look even more demonic. "Bella insisted that I get someone else to clean my messes if I was hiring again." Lovina shot Bella a look so fowl that it caused her to take a couple of steps back. "I'll show her the rest of the way, Bel. Get Lars to carry this to the kitchen for me." He finished carelessly nudging the crate aside with a socked foot. Bella smiled and bowed slightly before disappearing down the dimly lit corridor.
"This way Lovi!" He said making a large, sweeping arm motion for her to follow him.
"Mr. Carriedo, I'd really appreciate it if-"
"Call me Antonio, Lovi."
"Fine." She began again, annoyed. "Antonio. I'd really appreciate it if you didn't call me that."
"Call you what, Lovi?" He asked absently. Lovina bit her tongue to hold back a cry of frustration and insults. "Welcome to mi habitación!" He said pushing the heavy oak door open with one hand. His room was at least twice the size of Lovina's and probably ten times as ornate. Gold molding lined the painted ceiling adorned with naked cherubs and a crystal chandelier hung low over the massive bed. But despite how beautiful the room should have looked, it was marred by its complete state of disarray. There were chairs overturned and clothes were scattered everywhere. She thought she saw a pair of underwear on the chandelier but she was too embarrassed to inspect it further.
"How can you live like this?" She muttered, not expecting him to hear.
"Oh it's not usually like this." He stepped into the light. He was a little short for a man, but muscular. His green eyes shone with warmth under his loose, messy, brown, curls. He was not the intimidating figure she thought he was in the hall. In fact, Lovina thought Antonio looked quite harmless. "My friends Gilbert and Francis were here a few nights ago, but It's been busy and then that rotten Englishman…" He trailed off as he noticed her confused expression. "But now I have you to clean it up!" He finished with a sunny smile.
"Right." She answered curtly. Entitled bastard. She thought bitterly. He even thinks he's above cleaning up after himself.
"You'll be responsible for my laundry, sweeping the floors, cleaning the windows, and you may have to get on the bed every once in a while to-"
"Excuse me?" She demanded, rage bubbling hot inside her. "You may be my boss you philandering Spaniard, but if you even think for a second that you'll be able to take advantage of me you have another thing coming! Idiota!"
"I just-" Antonio backed away from her, but she grabbed him by his shirt.
"You listen to me, bastard. I am your maid not your puttana." She recalled how her previous employers had treated her and shuddered. She'd rather be out on the street than become like so many of her previous co-workers.
"Lovina, that's enough!" His stern tone caught her attention and she froze. His once bright expression had turned severe and she was a little frightened. He pried himself out of her grip. "The chandelier." He said jerking his head toward the ceiling. "The easiest way to clean it is if you stand on my bed."
Lovina felt the color rushing to her cheeks and her eyes began to well with tears. She had really screwed up now. She looked down to hide her tears. "I-I-" She stammered.
"I imagine you'll want to wash up before supper." He said unsmiling. He opened the door and crossed his arms.
I must have really offended him. She thought shuffling out of the room. I'm such an idiot. She chided herself before he slammed the door behind her.
Thanks for reading! Please review! I need all the help I can get.