Their Masks

Their Masks (Mitchelle's and Amelia's)

Mitchelle was wondering where her sister was when she saw her in the arms of the boy how had come to offer his condolences moments ago. It was a surprise to her that the boy and her sister were close. She would have never guessed he was anything but a playboy.

But that was the last thing on her mind when a car that stressed its owner was riddled with money drove up the dirt road to where she stood next to her mother.

She was more surprised when Marcus stepped out of it. She knew about his paycheck. Heck, she was the one who made sure he got it. There was no way in everything that was green on this earth that he could afford half the price on that car.

Everyone who had been present for the ceremony was already making preparations to go back to their dwellings. Mitchelle didn't want to strain the truce she had managed to make with her mother. She needed to take her home first.

"Do you know that man?" Her mother's question was very direct as always. The woman didn't know how to be anything but direct in her life.

"Yes, Mama. He and I used to work together."

Her mother looked at her for a while then back to the man who stood next to the luxurious car, patiently waiting for the two to make their way to him.

"Used to? Does this mean you are not leaving?"

"No, Mama. I plan to face my demons before they mutate further than they already have."

Her mother spoke nothing as they finally reached the boy. He was as polite as the first day Mitchelle had met him, offering his condolences to both women and asking if he could borrow the daughter for a few moments.

"I need to take my mother home, Marcus. Whatever it is I-" Mitchelle was silenced by her mother's hand. The old woman knew what she saw here. It might have been a long time, but she knew how a man in love looked like.

"Lexi can drive just as well as you," her mother had already begun walking away when she turned back and spoke again, "I want you to bring my daughter back home in the same condition I am leaving her in now, boy."

"Yes, ma'am. She is safe with me."

The woman knew she was safe with him. He reminded her greatly of the man she was just from saying goodbye to today. It seemed today was indeed a good one to leave her room for.

Mitchelle didn't understand what had just happened, but she didn't have time when Marcus had embraced her with an intensity that only one does to his lover.

"Why didn't you tell me you were coming? I would have come get you in time."

"I wasn't coming alone."

Everything made sense when the passenger door of Marcus's car opened. Of course it was Amelia's car. That should have been clear the moment Mitchelle saw the vehicle. But with that aside, what was her former employer doing here?

"Ma'am. I didn't know you were coming here."

Amelia was not surprised by the meek behavior that the assistant was taking on. She had conditioned her body to appear that way so she could survive in the world Amelia was from. It was probably that ability that lasted her all those years as her assistant.

"You don't work for me anymore. You don't need to call me 'Ma'am' every time you see me."

"Uh... yes. Of course, ma'am."

Amelia felt it was too ingrained in the girl's subconscious to be formal so she decided to get to the matter of business that had led her here.

"My driver told me a bit about you. He was quite passionate to be fired so that he could attend to important matters in his life."

Mitchelle turned to Marcus but the latter offered no emotion of acknowledging this to be true. The decision for this conversation had been decided before Amelia ever boarded the plane here.

"But as I reminded him, he is under a contract that is too binding to just break haphazardly."

Of course, she would be standing in the way of her happiness. The rich brat existed in this world to do nothing but make her life miserable. Even now that she didn't have to do anything for her, she still held so much power over Mitchelle.

Was this then all she was going to have? A few hours with Marcus before this spoilt brat took him from her.

"I saw one of the Ventica companies on my way here. I hate it. Has no one in this city ever heard about something called color?"

Mitchelle felt her teeth grind in disgust. She wanted to hurt this girl so badly. She not only dared to come to her father's funeral and tell her that she was never going to see the man she loved ever again but now she was taking cracks at the very home she had been raised in?

"Wait," Marcus breathed too low for the pompous brat to hear. Why was he not angered by this girl at all?

"That place needs a serious overhaul," Amelia went on, a sly smile on her face, "Sometimes a good assistant or a competent driver can turn profits in a company."

Mitchelle's mind went blank. There was no way. There was no way that Amelia Ventica, the one, and only Amelia Ventica that she had worked for all these years, was about to be this generous to a nobody she didn't even know the name of.

Amelia was surprised it took her assistant that long to see what she was driving at. She was never good at being subtle when it came to working for Amelia Ventica. But she was good at it. Even if she was never going to tell her that, Amelia was thankful for the four years the girl had devoted to her.

"I don't think I can fire you just yet, driver. If I did that then I can't dump this crappy job on you."

"I understand, ma'am," Marcus' voice was impartial and neutral as all the times he had ever replied to Amelia. But it was his face that betrayed him. He wore a look of utmost gratitude as he stared Mitchelle. Amelia knew her work here was done.

She heard the crunching of the gravel as a car approached where the three stood. It was about time her ride got here. She might have been here with a worthy cause, but she was in no way comfortable in this small city that the two lovebirds had decided to make their nest in.

"Well, I'll leave the car. You'll need it if you are going to get home on time, Mitchelle."

Amelia was a few steps away from the two lovebirds when she was thinking if this is what people felt when they helped their friends. She didn't know at all. She never had such a thing as friendship in her life. And this was not something she was doing out of the kindness of her heart.

She was simply paying her dues to a mask that had shown her the right way to walk in this life.

"Thank you, Amelia," the assistant's voice stopped her short of entering the car. Many people had given their gratitude to her in the past. She knew that they were all liars. Her mother had said she loved her when in reality she hated her. There was never going to come a day that Amelia would be convinced any gratitude she got was sincere, especially not from the assistant who had spent four good years silently hating her beautiful mask.

"For what?"

Mitchelle had never known why she worked for Amelia when the job was torture. She was no closer to understanding the rich girl and her actions, not with that smile on her face. She knew that even if what brat did here was a good thing, it was not out of the kindness of her heart.

She had lived with the spoilt brat for too long to know that Amelia Ventica did not like having debts. It made Mitchelle disgusted when she realized the girl thought they were now even.

But she had long since fashioned a good mask to deal with the rich girl's whims. It seemed it would have more uses in the future as well.

"For finally saying my name."