Scars To Your Beautiful : A Modern Beauty and the Beast retelling ✔

32. Through your eyes

Callie breezed into the kitchen, and halted in her tracks when she noticed Maxime talking to someone she didn't recognize.

"Hey Maxime, who's this?" The lady's attractive features puckered together, when Callie asked.

Maxime's grin had widened. Something in the way he got so comfortable around the young lady, drifted a thought in Callie's head that made her realize who it was. Leona. "Our two part time housekeepers have finally crossed paths. Hallelujah."

Leona was more stunning than Callie expected. Blessed with unblemished dark skin, though not as dark as Viola's, and jet black hair, Leona's looks rivalled those of supermodels, especially with those long legs and heavy lidded almost-brown eyes.

Leona's smile reached her eyes and something about how beautiful she looked, made Callie straighten herself. "Hey, I'm Leona. I'm happy we finally got to meet."

Maxime looped his arms across Callie's shoulders, halting her from speaking. "And she's Callie."

Leona looked between their faces and stiffened at the sight. "I see."

Callie felt slightly startled by her cold response, but she was sure it had to do with Maxime.

Maxime had his gaze glued on Leona's heart shaped face and watched her movement, as she made her way to the kitchen sink. "I'm hoping you two would get along. This house needs a little more life in it. Since you two only get to meet on Mondays and Tuesdays, you'd have less time to know each other better, unfortunately."

The switch in the work timetable meant Callie had to work on Fridays through Tuesdays and Leona worked only from Mondays through Thursdays.  Mondays and Tuesdays were the only days they shared and Callie was a little disappointed by that. Though Callie had quit her job at Alpha's to have more time to work at the Manor, her new work schedule only covered five days instead of the whole week as she had anticipated. Still, she felt a little relief to have more time to relax at home, rather than working every damn day.

Leona glanced their way, with a softened look. "Well, I'm happy to have another girl around me. Just try to keep up, Callie. I like my things really fast and I don't joke with perfection."

Callie gave a quick nod. She could see why Larkin found her intimidating. "I'll be as fast as I can."

Returning her nod, Leona reached for a mop and disappeared through the hallway. Callie's voice came out as a whisper. "I finally got to meet her. She's beautiful."

"And intense." His lips curled up. "Admit it, you were thinking that."

Callie knew well enough about his feelings for Leona, so she was careful not to shake things up. "She's a driven woman. That's a good thing."

Maxime raked his fingers through the thick length of his black hair and settled his lips into a tiny frown. "That's true, but it can be exhausting at times."

"You two dated?" He gave a nod, when Callie asked. And she pressed on. "For how long?"

The pained expression on his face couldn't be missed. "Almost five months. Pretty short."

Callie let a brief silence flow between them, before inquiring. "What changed?"

Maxime sighed. "I dropped out of college. Leona's pretty ambitious and my antics didn't match her vision anymore. Cheers to that."

Callie held his gaze once again. "I'm sorry about that."

His shrug wasn't as convincing as he let on. It was clear he still loved Leona, and she loved him back too. But she seemed like someone who wasn't willing to compromise things for anyone. "I'm over it. We've both moved on."