A/N: It's time for the next chapter! Thank you again for everyone who commented, and to rest of you readers as well. As someone pointed out in the comments, there was and probably will be errors with grammar, and I'm not even going to rant about how English is not my native tongue, because I've studied English ten years and I should know these things. Oh well, I do my best to white as correct English as I can, and I guess that as long as people understand what I write, little mistakes won't be that awful no?

Read &Review please, it would make me happy!

XOXOXOXO

Chapter 3

Okay, it seemed like someone up there really didn't like the Italian teenager, because if he did he wouldn't put her through all this shit did he? She had been late at work on her first day, Mr. Carriedo seemed to hate her for no reason (okay, she'd been late, but no one is perfect!) and she had made herself look like a complete fool in front of her host couple's son, who technically was her boss as well. And things only got lot worse when Lovina got a better glimpse of the Spaniards towel. It was same size and shade of red as the one the Italian had used only about an hour ago to cover her body from the intruding maid. Oh fuck, someone optimistic enough would have convinced herself that it could have been just from the same set, but Lovina knew her luck. She started to wonder if there was anything on the table that could be used to commit a quick and painless suicide.

"HI!" Spaniard greeted the Italian with enthusiasm as he noticed her, remembering her from earlier. He shot her a warm, gentle smile that could have melted an entire glacier within a minute. No wonder Candice's smile had seemed so familiar; it was almost identical to her son's one. It took almost a minute before the Italian teen managed to mumble silent and bashful "hi" to Antonio. Despite her respond being slow, it seemed to brighten the Spaniards already joyful mood.

Mr. Carriedo didn't seem impressed when his son took his place without any intentions to apologize of being late, and he made it very clear with his ranting that he disapproved the way his Antonio had dressed up for the dinner. He thought it was very inappropriate to dine shirtless, and Lovina couldn't help but to agree with Mr. Carriedo on this one, but for a different reason – because the bastard sat opposite her, his amazing pecs showing directly at her. Fuck, they were like magnets pulling the young Italians eyes towards them. He was definitely ripped – not that he had gigantic muscles, but they were well defined, which was something Lovina liked a lot more than over trained bodies (she found them rather disgusting). It distracted her, but she would never admit it.

Unlike most girls of her age, Lovina had never been that interested about the opposite sex. She didn't drool over the good-looking/cute men/boys on the covers of the magazines. She had never had posters of handsome actors or musicians on the walls of her room (her sister's posters didn't count!). She had never gone on a date with anyone, she still hadn't had her first kiss nor had she never had a crush on anyone. Lovina couldn't help but to wonder why this bastard had an effect like this to her.

"Lovi, aren't you hungry?"

Italian woke from her trance and turned her gaze towards Candice who seemed worried, which made her forget the fact that the woman had just used the nickname that Lovina allowed to be used ONLY by her little sister. Only now, Lovina noticed that people had started to eat already.

"I-I am. I was just thinking about things", Italian responded, hoping that no one had noticed her staring Antonio far longer than was natural. Luckily, it seemed like no one had, so the teen started to investigate the dishes more closely. Everything looked delicious, but the amount of settings in front of her confused her. There were multiple plates and cutleries, and truth to be told – she didn't have even the slightest clue of which to use with which, except for the deepest plate and the big spoon. They would be for the soup.

She started to search soup bowls with her eyes, finding a few, but excluding one they all were out of her reach. She didn't want to disturb the others (or she simply had no courage to ask the man next to her hand over the bowl for her) so she reached the bowl near her, hoping it had something she'd like in it. She poured few scoopfuls of soup on her plate, admiring its reddish color. Was it tomato soup? She spooned up some into her mouth and it did have tomato-filled flavor in it, but it included different kinds of vegetables too. Its texture was thick yet soft, wonderfully luscious. The temperatures were perfect, extremely warm but not hot enough to burn one's mouth.

Lovina decided to eat slowly so that the others would have already moved on the main courses when she was still enjoying her starter. That way she could observe what others would do so that she knew which fork and knife to use and when. Damn it, she loved food and almost everything related to it but she hated all these fucking stupid eating etiquettes. Dining time was supposed to be the time of the day when all family members gathered to eat and have fun together. Lovina, like every self-respecting Italian, knew it.

She missed the days their whole family, even the distant cousins living in the same city or nearby areas, all gathered under the same roof to eat together almost every weekend. Those days were long gone though, since many of them had moved away years ago and about as many of the remaining ones were now resting six feet under the ground. Oh, and certain someone had spent the last five years a bottle in his hand, trying to get himself to an early grave. Fuck, Lovina started to feel sick when thinking all those things. Thinking of dead bodies and his grandfather's severe alcohol problem almost took away her appetite.

The Italian shook it off, trying her best to push unwelcome memories from her mind. She noticed that she had unconsciously finished the soup on her plate, which made her to look quickly to her right where the man was stabbing the salad on his plate with a fork. So, the narrow one was for the salad. The teen decided to make a safe choice with the salad – the basic green one tasted always good if only the ingredients were fresh and high quality.

"So, Lovina", Mr. Carriedo suddenly spoke, getting Italians attention and awaking the entire table's interest, as if only now they all noticed the newcomer. "How is it that a girl of your age has decided to choose a career like this?"

Lovina finished chewing the lettuce in her mouth quickly and swallowed. She took a quick look to the other end of the table before giving her answer. "If I had a choice I continued my studies, but we only had the money to fund the education of one of us."

"One of you? You have siblings?" Candice asked with enthusiasm, like having a sibling or siblings was a rare and incredible thing, but Lovina had already concluded that she found everything so fucking adorable and nice that it made no sense at all.

"Yes, I have a little sister, Feliciana. She's twelve, but I think her mental age is somewhere near five." She almost chuckled at her own words.

"Still, I think it's quite harsh that your parents make you work", Mr. Carriedo grunted, and Lovina almost detected pity from his voice. Almost. "I'd understand if it was a family business, but to send a young girl from a big lively city to countryside with over 20kilometers distance is quite brutal. It's almost like your parents don't care if you're gone."

Lovina almost dropped her fork because of a sudden burst of anger and sorrow conquered her mind and body. She wasn't sure if he was suggesting that her parents hated her or that her parents were simply irresponsible but it pissed her off anyway. If the speaker had been anyone else (except Candice, she doubt if she could ever yell to her) she would have already either stormed out of the room or started to shout at them. She, however, was already in such a bad terms with mister Carriedo that she dared not to raise her voice. She would definitely be fired after that and it was something she couldn't afford.

"I- they had no choice", Lovina managed to say silently while fighting the tears. She would not start to cry. Not in front of a bunch of people she barely knew. Not even if they were talking about a topic that was one of the most painful and hard ones for the teenager. "They… they just aren't physically capable to work right now, but someone must earn some money for us to live so..."

"Why, are they sick?" Antonio and Candice asked in unison, not smiling for the first time Lovina had seen them.

"Well…" Lovina started, not really wanting to answer the question. She had been in this house only for some hours and the people were already asking questions that tended to make the Italian flip or cry. "…my mom's been in hospital for some time now and-"

The Italian never managed to finish her sentence, which was probably a good thing, since the topic was sensitive for her. And for the Italians great surprise the one to interrupt her and turn the conversation elsewhere was Mr. Carriedo. With a quick glance Lovina was able to detect that he seemed to regret ever starting the topic – he seemed to be much better at reading atmosphere than his wife or son.

The next topics had nothing to do with her, so she was allowed to eat in peace. She wasn't that hungry though, so she decided to have just something light and right at that moment she spotted a basket full of her favorite fruits; a basket full of juicy, plump, fresh tomatoes. And in that basket she saw the most perfect tomato she had ever seen. She reached for it, but when her hand landed to the red fruit she desired, her hand felt something else towards it. A hand, a hand that was definitely bigger than hers and more masculine. That hand belonged to Antonio.

"Oh", Antonio removed his hand and stared the embarrassed Italian who had made the same gesture. The Spaniard was half-expecting the Italian to grab the tomato now that he had backed up, but instead of taking the one she had wanted at first she quickly grabbed two smaller ones and started to munch them, making sure she had no eye contact to the Spaniard. She finished them with a few bites and after she was done she jumped up quickly and loudly enough to get Candice's attention.

"I- I promised to call my sister as soon as possible. Is it okay for me to leave?" Lovina had promised to call Feliciana but she wanted to get far from Antonio (why, because he bothered her). She received an approving nod from Mrs. Carriedo and as soon as she had received it she run off, wondering why Antonio has such an influence to her.

XOXOXO

Lovina hurried to her room and picked up the phone as fast as she could. She couldn't help but to feel a bit guilty that she had forgotten to call Feliciana sooner. After all, she was her only living relative who wasn't completely out of her mind. She dialed the number, which she wanted to call and waited. For a moment she thought no one would answer, but when the Italian was about to disconnect the call she heard how the phone was picked up. A warm, enthusiastic and loud voice introduced herself with such an happy and childish way that it almost made Lovina puke. Well, at least Feli wasn't crying her eyes out because she thought that Lovina hated her just because she didn't call sooner. Stupid idiot had probably forgotten that she even had promised to call at all.

"Why the hell did it take so long to answer, dammit?" Lovina growled, knowing very well that her tone would most likely upset her sister, as it did. Lovina rolled her eyes while listening how Feliciana kept repeating "I'm sorry" with such a fast pace that Lovina lost the count. She stopped only after Lovina had told her to shut up.

"I-I'm sorry sorella!" The younger Italian apologized as she firmed her grip from the phone. "I was making pasta and I didn't want it to burn." Of course. Pasta. To Feliciano it was all about the pasta.

"I'm not mad at you stupido", Lovina sighed as she sat down to his bed. "You just whined the whole morning for me to call you when I get here. I forgot so I thought you'd be sad but it seems that you thing food is more important than me."

Feliciano only chuckled to her sisters words. Lovina was always saying harsh things at her and someone who didn't know them would have thought that the elder Italian always bullied her little sister. But they were both used to it. And Feliciana was well aware how hard it was for her sister to show her feelings to other people. It was hard for Lovina even to admit these feelings for herself.

"So, you like it there~?" Feliciana asked, smiling. She wanted to hear more about Lovina's new employers and hoped that they were nice people. She was a bit sad that Lovina had to move so far from her but she knew it was important for both of them.

"Hmm, the lady of the house is very nice. She's very understanding, gentle and beautiful", Lovina told. She considered bringing up some of her flaws like how she was a bit slow and forgot things more often than average person, but she decided not to. Instead she started to tell Feliciana about the remaining two Carriedos, starting by pointing out what a douchebag Mr. Carriedo was and how he had no sense of humor. Feliciana didn't find his sister's words surprising – she had always gotten along better with women, especially if they were older. Lovina usually didn't get along with people her age.

Lovina also mentioned Antonio, but didn't say much about him because for some reason Lovina found it hard to say anything about the youngest Carriedo. She could have whined how he was inconsiderate (he did 'stole' her juicy tomato after all) and how stupid he was – well, she did tell Feliciana that he had probably even lower IQ than what Feliciana had, but she seemed to take it as a compliment for her, not an insult towards Antonio, since she started to celebrate how she was smarter than the twenty-year-old Spaniard. Sometimes it was hard for Lovina to believe that she and Feliciana were related.

They were, by nature, like the exact opposites of each other. Lovina was hotheaded and short tempered and didn't like showing her feelings and weaknesses to others, while Feliciana was always incredibly cheerful, chatty and showed openly whether she was happy or sad. Also, she positively had one of the shortest attention spans in the world. Their only similarities were on their looks and actually, if it wasn't for their height difference and the fact that Lovina had already gained curves and a rather fine pair of breasts (that's what the boys in their neighborhood said, Lovina, of course, disagreed), they could have gone as a twins.

"Is nonno home?" Lovina asked. Not only she had promised to call for her sister, but her grandpa had also demanded her to inform when she gets there. Just to be sure that the 'fine' people didn't treat her granddaughter badly.

Feliciana hesitated for a moment, like something was bothering her. Lovina didn't like it when she was like that – it usually meant something was wrong. "Umm… he went to the hospital." The younger Italian's answer was nervous.

As much as Lovina hoped he'd gone to the hospital to check his own health (which Lovina knew was quite bad), she already knew he had gone there for a whole different reason. Lovina bit her lip and dug her nails to her mattress, trying to control her emotions. "He went to see mom?"

"Y-yes", Feliciana admitted, sobbing. "H-he read some things from some medical magazine and wanted t-to suggest them to doctors."

Lovina stomped the floor beneath her feet furiously and swung her hand so that it made her luggage to fall from the bed. "Feli… why didn't you stop him?" Lovina almost shriek, making the younger Italian shove the phone further from her ear. Lovina's eyes were getting damp but she didn't allow herself to shed any tears. "When does he understand that he can do nothing? He can pray and use any tricks that he wants but mom is not waking up!" Lovina yelled, unloading her frustration. Her words made Feliciana to cry but she ignored it. "She's been in coma for over five years; I think it's time to give up the hope. Things won't get any better, Feliciana!"

Lovina didn't exactly like to be the party pooper, but she had to think rationally since it seemed she was the only one capable of doing so. It was clear that the longer you were in come the less likely it was for you to ever recover. She waited patiently her sister to stop crying, because yelling and demanding her to stop would only make things worse. Only waterproof way to make her stop would be a kiss and a hug – unfortunately it was impossible to give those via phone line.

"I- I know", Feliciana squeaked as she managed to calm herself down. "It's just… papa is gone and mama, too, plus grandpa is never home." Lovina noticed easily that the further Feliciana's sentence went the more arcane her words were. The elder Italian feared that she might start to cry again. "A-and now you're gone, too, and I'm all alone."

Lovina couldn't help but to compassion towards Feliciana. She knew how hard it had been for the two of them to live (practically) together and for now on it would be even harder for Feliciana. "I- I understand it feels bad but I promise I call you every single day, and come to visit as often as I can", Lovina assured, hoping it would brighten her sister's mood a bit.

"C-can you get back when it's our birthday?" Feliciana asked hopefully. Lovina wasn't sure if she could arrange it since it would be in the middle of a week when she was supposed to work, but maybe (if she worked really hard the next couple weeks) she could get things arranged.

"Don't worry, Feli. You know how much I hate birthdays, and you know even better how much I hate spending my birthdays alone." Lovina heard Feliciana celebrate on the other side of the line but the elder Italian wasn't as enthusiastic. She knew it could be a hard task to arrange things to work as wanted, but one thing was sure – she would spent her birthday with Feliciana. At any cost…