50 Shades of Drake 1 and 2

Chapter Seventy-Six

   "Hola? Hola, Senor Graham?" The voice was high-pitched and thick with a Latin accent.

    Destiny hurriedly wiped her eyes and exhaled with relief. Aubrey wasn't the person who'd walked through the door. It was the cleaning lady. What was her name? Francesca? Destiny turned off the television, ejected the VHS tape, and grabbed the tape she'd set on the floor. She stood up and brushed off the skirt of her dress just as a middle-aged Latina woman rounded the corner.

    Francesca had dark brown hair pulled back into a ponytail. She wore a maid's uniform and everything - very professional. She held her purse in her hands and looked at Destiny with wide eyes. "You are...you are Destiny, yes?"

    Destiny nodded and went over to introduce herself. "I'm Destiny. Nice to meet you. Francesca, right?"

    The woman smiled. "Yes. I will stay out of your way, I promise."

    "You don't have to worry about that," Destiny said with a wave of her hand. Truth be told, she was desperate to socialize with someone other than Aubrey. She excused herself so she could return the VHS tapes back to the closet. She sat on the floor of the closet, in front of the closed drawer.

    She'd been so bratty and difficult with him. She'd given him such a hard time. That was mainly because for the life of her, she couldn't understand him. She didn't understand how he could be so loving and caring and yet have such a depressing outlook on love. But after what she'd seen, she understood. She felt like she understood everything. Understanding those few tidbits of his past helped her to realize just why he was so resistant to the notion that love existed. Two very meaningful relationships in his life, his parents' and his own, had crumbled right before his eyes. Both relationships failed, in part, due to a complete lack of trust.

    Later in life, he met a kinky stripper who was into BDSM. And while Destiny was sure that some of the aspects of the BDSM lifestyle genuinely appealed to him, most likely the lifestyle as a whole appealed to him because of the strict guidelines. The arrangement was contracted. The roles of each party were completely laid out in the contract. Each party knew what he or she needed to do. And a contract was a legally binding document. If a party failed to do what they were supposed to do, legal action could be taken. The contract periods were also short. If one of his women started messing up towards the end of the three-month period, she could easily be replaced. Simple. On the surface it seemed that there were no pesky feelings or emotions to worry about. It sounded more like a business partnership than a relationship.

    Until I came along, Destiny thought, reaching out and touching the closed drawer. She couldn't get the image of a young Aubrey out of her mind. The sadness in his eyes had been heartbreaking. She stood up and smoothed down the skirt of her dress and returned to the living room area. Francesca was dusting and cleaning even though the room looked spotless. Cleaning Aubrey's place must be the easiest job ever. He's a neat freak. There's hardly anything to clean.

    She sat on the living room couch and made small talk with Francesca as the woman cleaned. She was Dominican, had a husband, and three young children that she loved dearly.

    "Which part of the city are you from?" Francesca asked her

    "I'm...from Arizona, actually," Destiny responded. "The United States."

    Francesca's eyebrows shot up. "Oh. And you...you and Mr. Graham..."

    Destiny hesitated.

    Francesca laughed and waved her hand in the air. "It's okay. I know."

    Destiny lifted an eyebrow in interest. Just how much do you know, Francesca? she wondered. She didn't get a chance to ask the question out loud.