Isabel Sanchez was an angel. Her eyes so pure, full of innocence. Her trip to Italy was the worst nightmare she could have possibly imagined.
Dante Belluci was the devil. The Capo of the Cosa Nostra. He never showed even a hint of regret for every s...
I woke up by a knock on the door. "Isabel may I come in?", the voice asked. I instantly recognized Marie's gentle voice, and croaked out a yes. I rubbed my eyes trying to adjust to the daylight beaming into the room. Marie shot me a warm smile and held out a new maid's uniform. "Capo had ordered it for you, he had trouble..." she quickly stopped herself from finishing her sentence, and awkwardly trailed out of my room.
Trouble? Ha. With what? I took a shower and dressed myself, and by my guesses, it was probably 7 AM. My professor had to be at least some what worried of my absence. Maybe he was already looking for me. At least I hoped so, I couldn't stay here much longer. I had no form of entertainment; the only thing I found amusing was hearing Dante's groans from afar. The uniform Dante had gotten me flowed to my knees, and it was quite loose - and itchy. I tugged at the high neckline itching me. This day couldn't have gotten any worse.
I tidied up my room and began searching for Marie, I had no idea what my schedule was, or what I had to do. I had no sense of direction in this humongous house, but I eventually found Marie. She had introduced me to the other workers, Allegra and Costanza, who both appeared to be in their mid 40s. Allegra and Constanza had both come from Italian-American families who work for the Cosa Nostra, and weren't residents of this home. "Isabel, how old are you, you look awfully young", Costanza worriedly asked me. It was no question that I was the outlier from all of the workers here, everyone looked aged. "I'm turning 20 in a few months", I answered. Costanza scrunched her eyebrows and shook her head, "you poor thing, you are so young. You shouldn't have been dragged into this mess". She brushed my cheek with her hand, and all the other women shared sympathetic glances at me.
I hadn't realized that this was the last resort, the unwanted option. I wasn't sure if this was even better than Dante choosing to kill me. It seems like I would have to be his servant forever. These women had motherly instincts and made me feel comfortable in this hell of a mess. "What is the schedule of cleaning today?", I asked Marie. "Isabel, now that Costanza and Allegra have arrived, we don't need much help around the house", she smiled. "I would love to help", I insisted. "No, no, no", the three women chanted almost synchronously. "A pretty girl like you shouldn't work, get some rest bellissima", Allegra said to me. "How about I bake a cake, I promised yesterday I would", I said, feeling guilty about not being able to help. "That sounds perfect", Marie responded.
I nodded and walked over to the kitchen. I was obviously unfamiliar with the pantry so the preparation took longer than expected. I decided on making a coconut cake, my specialty. My family loved when I baked them this cake. I shivered thinking about the people my life revolved around and couldn't bear to imagine how worried they would be right now. I collected myself and went on with making the batter. Marie, Costanza, and Allegra all were like mother figures, ad that was more than enough I could ask for in this hell. I walked into the pantry and almost gasped. It was almost the size of my room back home. I found the butter, cream, and coconut shreds and began to make the cream.
About an hour had already passed and the cake cooled down, so I started decorating it. I knew my new companions would love it, and I was excited to relieve my stress with one of my favourite deserts. I set it on the cake platter and searched for Marie. "Marie, the cake is finished. Why don't you all take a break and we can all have a slice of cake?", I suggested. Marie agreed, but I noticed that something was off. "What's wrong Marie", I asked. "Nothing sweetie, but I noticed that you have flour all over yourself. Why not take a shower and change your clothes, I'll set something out for you. Capo won't be home for a while, so don't worry about being out of uniform.", Marie answered. I had just noticed the splotches of flour over my arms and uniform - oops. I should've been more careful.
I took Marie's advice and took a shower to clean myself. I decided to wash my hair, and my curly hair began to take its form. As I dried myself, I noticed that Marie had laid down a beautiful yellow sundress on my bed. I doubt that Dante would be pleased if I wore this, but he wasn't here, so hey, I'll make the best of it.
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I admired the dress, and its soft feminine look. The way it hugged my curves and pronounced my already defined features. I parted my damp hair behind the dress and began walking toward the kitchen. "Marie, this is so fucking good- mind my language. I want this every week, I love this cake", Dante said. Shit. Dante. I gulped as I peered into the kitchen and looked at him licking his plate. Seeing him be childish softened my heart, but he was still the same guy who ruined my life. I stiffened up and took confident strides to the kitchen. Marie smirked at Dante as she watched him devour another slice of the cake.
Dante noticed me and immediately stood up and crossed his arms. "She couldn't wear the uniform I got her?", he said annoyed. Allegra turned around and gasped, running toward me. "Oh my Isabel, you look stunning! My dress fits you like a glove, exactly like how it did on me 10 years ago." Allegra was beyond ecstatic; I realized that she probably lived here beforehand and her room was untouched. I smiled, but I felt my heart protrude when Dante's eyes were glued on me.
Chatter filled the room about memories in this house as the women erupted in laughter, but Dante didn't seem happy. He glared at me, his eyes alone peeling of my dress. I suddenly felt Dante pull my waist toward him until I had no way to escape this situation. Suddenly, everyone's attention averted to us.
"Isabel, you have a lot of nerve trying to wear something to get attention when I had just got you your new uniform. You should have some decency and learn to do household things like Marie. Learn how to make the cake she made, that's why you're here." He growled. My eyes felt hot and wet, and Dante seemed satisfied with himself with what he said. He continued to devour the cake until Marie spoke up. "Capo, I do not speak against you, but I can assure you that Isabel made this lovely cake. That's why she needed to change her clothes, her uniform got dirty" Dante looked like he had just seen a ghost and cleared his throat.
"It was fucking grainy anyway", he muttered under his breath. Just as he was about to leave, he grabbed my wrist and tugged on the hem of my dress, "and if you need some fucking clothes so bad, tell me. I don't want you wearing hand-me downs, makes me look like I don't care for my workers." He got up and left. For some reason, he was acting colder than he did in the past few days. Something had changed in him, but I was in no position to judge him because I disliked him as much as he disliked me.
