The next morning, the Enchanted Dominion's newest employees were standing around the kitchen, waiting to start their new jobs. While some looked good in their new uniforms, the rest looked ridiculous in their pale pink or baby blue outfits. Though they wanted to complain, they kept it to themselves. After all, they were being paid good money for their jobs. They could manage wearing them just a few hours a day until the summer was done.
"Gil, you must be excited about the new job," Jay commented as he buttoned up his work-shirt. "You get to see your crush every day."
Gil groaned as he slightly banged his head against the wall. "Uma and Harry promised not to say anything."
"They didn't," Jay insisted with a simple eyeroll. "Almost everyone knows you have a crush on her. You made it obvious when you gave her that rose-safe-thing last year."
"Audrey?" Ben assumed. "You have a crush on her? Since when?"
"A while," Gil admitted bluntly. "Can we just drop it? I don't need everyone knowing, especially since I'm working at her parents' resort."
"Everyone knows you like her," Jay reminded once again. "Maybe by the end of the summer, you will have the guts to ask her out on a proper date."
"Between work and summer classes, I will have no time for dating," Gil informed irritably. "I'd be lucky if I could pass my classes with my crazy work schedule. I don't even know what I was hired as, yet they have me working nearly twelve hours a day. I have only an hour break before I start the next second half of my shift."
"Maybe as a custodial worker?" Jay speculated with a careless shrug. "Or maybe you'll be Audrey's personal servant?"
"Haha," Gil sarcastically laughed with a bitter eye-roll. "Very funny. Maybe they hired you as a comedian. With your bad humor, you'll be fired within an hour."
Just as Ben began snickering at his friend's humor, Stefan Rose walked in with a clipboard in hand and a couple waiter aprons in the other. "Adams, Arabia, you two are waiters," Stefan assigned while tossing the aprons to them. "When needed, you'll caddie for those who wish to play on the golf course. Playfair, you are the new security guard. You will walk around the resort to make sure no one is causing any mischief. You have morning and evening shifts, but on other days you'll have afternoon and night shifts. I suggest getting as much sleep as possible to avoid dozing off."
"Let the torture begin," Gil grumbled to his friends, causing them to snicker once more.
"Miss Queen," Stefan continued, as though he didn't hear the complaint. Handing her his clipboard, he informed, "I'm told you're efficient, so you will handle member activities. I was also told you are proficient in Chemistry. You will be paid extra for tutoring my grand-daughter, Audrey, a couple days a week."
Before Stefan could continue, Mal and Uma walked in, talking and laughing with each other as Harry trailed behind them.
"What are you three doing here?" Stefan interrogated, narrowing his eyes at Uma. "And Miss Facilier, what have you done to your hair? That's not what it looked yesterday."
"I dyed it teal, because it's my favorite color and it's not against the rules," Uma stubbornly insisted as she ran a finger through her new teal-colored pony-tail. "As for the second question, my shift for my waitress job starts in five minutes. I was hired as a part-time lifeguard and part-waitress."
"And this is mine and Mal's lunch break," Harry spoke up, knowing the purple-haired girl would be too fearful to say anything. "Uma and I made sure to wait until someone took over before we left the pool, so it's not like anyone is going to drown while we're gone."
"Be that as it may, make sure you clock in and out on time," Stefan reminded with a stern glare. "Three infractions of any kind will result in the termination of your employment. I assure you, my wife and I will be watching to make sure you are following every rule."
"This is going to be a long summer for us," Uma whispered to Mal, who subtly nodded so the evil man couldn't see her actions.
With one final glare toward the mischievous teenagers, Stefan turned on his heels before swiftly exiting the kitchen.
"Okay . . ." Evie slowly began after a few moments of silence. "Now I know why Mal's so afraid around him. That man scares me too."
"I'd rather have Ben's treatment at Tourney camp than work for a man like him," Jay stubbornly claimed with a reluctant shake of his head. "I'm tempted to quit to avoid his torture."
"We can't let him ruin our summer," Ben claimed positively. "Let's look on the bright side: we get two free meals a day, we can use the pool when off duty, and we're practically getting paid to hang out. It can still be a great summer!"
"Can it?" Harry challenged forcefully. "That man is going to make Mal's time here hell because he knows her mother. If he finds out Uma is her cousin, she's going to be treated just are poorly."
"I can handle myself," Uma barked quite rudely. "There's nothing he can do to me . . . but I'm worried about Mal too."
"I'll be fine," Mal reassured unconvincingly, her tone too soft to be normal. "If I can try to avoid him somehow, then I won't have anything to worry about. I just hope he won't try to take my wings either. . ."
"He won't," Ben vowed as he wrapped a comforting around her waist to console her. "I promise, no harm will come to you."
A couple days later at the end of another long workday, Mal was completely exhausted. Her hand couldn't be any sorer from drawing so many pictures. She received so many requests that day that she never had a chance to take a break.
As she slid her time-card into the clock to punch out, a hand reached over her shoulder, holding another time-card. Turning her head, she noticed her prince smiling down at her mischievously.
"Ever been on a golf course?" Ben wondered as he clocked out.
"We're employees, Ben, not members," Mal reminded pointedly. "And I don't play golf. I don't know how."
He raised an eyebrow in amusement. "Who said anything about playing golf? I have a better idea."
The idea turned out to be the picnic Ben had promised on the last day of school. He set it on the green for just the two of them, complete with an array of her favorite fruit: fresh strawberries.
As they settled on the blue picnic blanket, Mal looked around cautiously. "Are you sure it's okay to be out here?"
"Absolutely," Ben answered with a nonchalant shrug. "Unless the jackrabbits decide to turn us in."
Mal laughed, feeling relaxed and happy for the first time since starting the job. "So, how's kitchen duty with the others?"
"We try to find ways to make it fun," Ben answered. "I just hope I can save enough money to pay for college. I know it will cost a fortune, and my parents are saving pennies to afford it, unlike the people at this place."
"You'll get a scholarship though," Mal reassured. "With your Tourney skills and good grades, I'm sure you can get any scholarship you apply for."
"But I can't rely on that," Ben argued with a disgruntled sigh. "I don't want to rely on Tourney to get me into college. After high school, I want nothing to do with it, no matter how much my father will hate me for it."
"Speaking of hatred . . ." Mal trailed off with a reluctant sigh. "I think it's about time that I tell you what happened between my mother and the Rose family, and how your grandfather was partially involved."
Ben tilted his head in confusion. "Grandpa Maurice? How?"
"He was my mother's and Stefan Rose's art professor when they attended Moors University," Mal informed with a small smile. "Mom said he was her favorite teacher in college because his unique perspective transferred into his artwork, just like it does with mine. Anyways, Mom and Stefan were childhood friends when they decided to attend MU together. Within the first few weeks of starting college, Stefan impregnated a classmate while drunk at a party. This 'classmate' was Leah. Being a 'responsible' person, Stefan decided to drop out of college to get a job to support her and the child."
"Mom was alone," Mal informed with a soft sigh. "She didn't have any parents and could barely afford college tuition on her own. Mom found a job so she could afford a small apartment off campus and pay for two college classes each semester. Truthfully, only one class pertained to the degree she wanted while the other was an art class, just so Mom could still be taught by your grandfather."
"When the new school year started, Stefan came to Mom for help," Mal revealed with a saddened gleam in her eye, remembering how the story was told to her. "Stefan practically asked her to drop everything to raise his child, a baby girl, for him and his wife. Supposedly, they didn't have the money or proper living conditions to do so. Reluctantly, Mom agreed, because she couldn't say no to an old friend in need or to the baby girl that had stolen her heart. Mom still attended her college classes, choosing to bring baby Aurora with her. Every now and then, Aurora would have a small fit during class, but Maurice—your grandfather—would take her in his arms and walk around with her as he continued his lecture. Your grandfather did absolutely everything he could to help Mom with Aurora, but making sure to maintain a professional relationship as teacher and student."
"A few years later, when Aurora could walk and talk on her own, Mom made a new friend." Mal paused a moment to take in a shaky breath. "Within a few weeks, Diaval moved in with Mom to help her raise Aurora. Mom said he would visibly brighten every time Aurora would call him 'Uncle Diaval', while she would call Mom 'Godmother'. Years passed on, Mom nearly finished her degree and Aurora was just about to turn sixteen when . . ."
Ben waited for a moment, assuming she would continue. When she didn't speak, he assumed, "Stefan came back for Aurora?"
"He somehow became rich after fifteen years and wanted Aurora back," Mal answered, shaking her head in denial. "He sued my mother for the custody of Aurora, though he did nothing for her. His lawyers told him the judge would rule in Mom's favor unless she was unable to care for Aurora any longer. That is when Stefan decided to do something about it."
"Your mother's inability to walk," Ben presumed as the pieces slowly started to come together. "Stefan caused it? How?"
"Car crash," Mal replied as her eyes became gleamed over with tears. "He paid a man to rig a vehicle to hit them head on while Diaval was driving Mom to class during her final semester of college. Diaval knew he couldn't stop the vehicle in time, so he used his body to shield Mom as best as he could. He didn't survive the crash, while Mom miraculously did, but it costed her ability to walk and her best friend. The court date was one week later, and, due to her injury, the judge deemed her unfit to continue caring for Aurora. If Maurice had been there, his testimony could have changed the outcome, but Stefan once again paid a different man to keep the information from him until after it was too late."
"I'm so sorry," Ben apologized sympathetically. "I can't believe someone would do something so cruel to an old friend after they've done so much for them. Despite everything she's been through, your mother is still one of the kindest persons I know."
"Mom's luck turned around for her," Mal reassured as she tried putting on a brave smile. "She was introduced to my dad by Jay's father, who was a mutual friend. Mom and Dad fell in love at first sight, they married a year later, and then had me, which was a surprise, considering Mom's condition. Everything turned out good in the end."
"Still . . ." Ben started with a shake of his head. "I wish something could be done so your mother can have some consolation about what happened to her friend."
"Well I think we should change the conversation before we ruin the mood completely," Mal insisted. In her attempt to change the subject, she grabbed a random grape with a mischievous smile. "I bet a batch of your favorite chocolate-chip walnut cookies that you can't catch this in your mouth."
"Oh, you're on!"
Waiting until his mouth was wide open, Mal lobbed the grape in the air, trying to be as sloppy as she could with the throw. Surprisingly, Ben managed to catch the grape in his mouth, though he ended up falling on his back in the process. Laughing at his own fall, Ben sat up while reaching a hand into the grape container. "You're turn," Ben claimed with a childish grin. "Double or nothing. You catch it, you don't have to make any. Miss, and you have to make two batches."
Mal raised a curious eyebrow, knowing her boyfriend was planning something suspicious. Nonetheless, she opened her mouth wide, expecting to catch it with ease.
She didn't expect three grapes to bounce off her nose.
"Hey!" Mal exclaimed through a laugh.
"You didn't catch a single one!" Ben informed, quickly standing to run away from his girlfriend.
Grabbing a handful of grapes, Mal chased after him, throwing one at him every now and then in retaliation. When she had none left, Ben swooped her into a giant embrace, their contagious laughter echoing everywhere. Just as they were about to kiss—
"What do we have here?"
Mal froze, her happy expression immediately changing to one of worry. Ben could feel her tense up in his arms, but couldn't say anything since she had quickly turned to face the older woman.
"We overlooked your hair color," Leah sternly reminded as she had her arms crossed over chest to show her stubborn side. "But now you are frolicking on the golf course. We're not off to an auspicious start, Miss Fae."
"It was my fault Mrs. Rose," Ben quickly intervened to prevent his girlfriend from being scolded. "It was my idea to have a date out here. I should be the one to bla—"
"That is irrelevant," Leah barked quite rudely before turning her attention back to Mal. "This is strike one. Don't get all three. You wouldn't want something bad to happen to you."
