In The Eye Of The Beholder

Chapter One: Up in the Air

Alysia bit the inside of her cheek as Sophia soaked the worn fabric of her black dress against her thigh with tears, she barely had the mental capacity to console the rightfully sobbing seven year old, Alysia stroked her hand absentmindedly down the little girls tight blonde ringlets.

Tears were burning at the corners of her eyes and though no one would question her if she wanted to let them fall, she held them at bay out of shame that they were not for the benefit of her employer's funeral.

"My former employer." She thought to herself and a fresh wave of anxiety had more tears gathering at her lashes and she squeezed her eyes closed against them, ignoring the rebel tear that tracked its way down the slope of her face.

Mr. Dellario had been the best boss Alysia had ever had, and she had had more than she cared to recall, he spoke little to no words to her on any given day unless it had to do directly with a task within the scope of her job and was never once inappropriate with her, her checks were always on time with generous overtime pay, and above all that Alysia had grown to love the Dellario children. 

More tears stubbornly snuck their way down her cheeks and she swallowed against the bitter taste making its way up her throat. She could kiss the life she had foolishly grown accustomed to goodbye all with the untimely death of her employer. She somehow knew Stephen and Sophia would be fine without her, no matter what they had each other and they were brilliant, resourceful children that Alysia had always thought were well past the other children their age in most things. 

They would be fine but her, now her paychecks would stop coming until she could find another job and it was doubtful she could make as much money as she had been at this job, she'd certainly have to  get two jobs again to afford the rate her Aunt was having her pay their debt back at.  She had the sickening fear of once again struggling to even provide food for herself as she watched the money dwindle from her bank account. She had thought, that just maybe, those days were finally behind her at twenty-seven, that she was a mature adult who was breaking her generational curse. 

"Al, I'm cold" The sweet voice of her youngest charge had Alysia's mind barreling back to reality as she looked down into Sophia's bright blue eyes, "How much longer do we have to wait for Uncle to come?" 

"Uncle?" Alysia asked confused, she had worked for Mr. Dellario for almost two years, since his very public and dramatic divorce from his ex-wife Clara Elliott, a British pub waitress/auditioning model before she married billionaire businessman Evan Dellario, the oldest of the infamous Dellario family who was known for being shrouded in secrecy, never once had Alysia met an additional member of the Dellario family "Is it your mother's brother then?"

"Mummy has no brothers or sisters, only Daddy does." Sophia explained softly while twisting the rings Alysia wore on her fingers "Uncle Damien is a very busy person now that he's in charge, so we don't see him a lot like when Grandpa was in charge." 

"But he's coming for you today?" a piece of Alysia's worry was easing off her shoulders, this must be why she knew they would be alright, the Dellario's protect their own and though she was unlikely to ever see them again, she knew they would be safe and well cared for.

"Yes," the young voice of a boy on the cusp of being a man joined the conversation and Alysia looked to her left to see Stephen sit down on the wooden bench next to her and his sister in the long marbled hallway, the echo of his black shoes fading down the way "He called me last night to let me know the details of his arrival, it shouldn't be much longer now." Though he was only fourteen, Stephen Dellario acted more mature and well spoken than most of the people Alysia knew of her own age, his maturity and understanding of compassion and loyalty burned brightly behind his intelligent blue eyes. 

"Have you rested, Al?" His mop of blonde curls flopped to the side and despite the concern on his face Alysia thought he looked like an adorable puppy, one she wanted to protect so he could stop being so mature all the damned time. "I can watch Fia while you find a room to rest for a bit, we can't start until everyone arrives."

As if to punctuate Stephen's sentence the doors at the end of the hall to their left burst open, a flurry of people and noise making their way towards them, it had been more than a year since Alysia had seen Clara Elliott and still it felt too soon, the look of disinterest that filled her eyes as they swept over her own children had Alysia's chest burning with a rage she was fumbling to contain. 

Two hands squeezed her own and she glanced down to Stephen and Sophia looking up at her, watching her, she took a calming inhale through her nose and focused back on the now famous model, her mile long legs were on display in her short bubble skirt black dress that came up like a halter around her neck, jewelry was dripping from her thin frame and her gaunt cheeks sucked even further in as she returned the favor and gave Alysia a quick scan "Alysia, I see you're still looking as impoverished as ever." She sneered down her nose at her, which wasn't hard to do as Clara towered well over Alysia's short five foot' one body. "Do what my late husband paid you to do and keep his spawn out of my way." she brushed past them without another word and filed into the conference room with her entourage of people.

"Come." Stephen suddenly said as he stood up and looked down at them, ready to lead them into the conference room to hear the reading of their father's will "Uncle's here."