"Get up little girl," I hear Gianni yelling at me, way too early in the morning.
"Ugh! Have you ever heard of knocking?" I grunt, looking over at my alarm clock. 8:30 am.
Great! Who wants to be up this early!?
"I don't have to knock. Get your ass up, and get ready. Emilio wants you downstairs and ready for breakfast in 30 minutes. Don't keep him waiting, you won't like the results," he says harshly as he slams my door shut.
I just roll back over, and cover my head. 5 more minutes, and I'll be good. I'm so not a morning person. I mean I would be, if morning started at noon.
"Alessandra! Why are you not up and ready young lady?" I hear Emiliano's voice, sounding very irritated.
I popped my head up and looked at my alarm clock again. 9:00 am! Oh no! How did my 5 minutes turn into 30 minutes?
"Oh! I'm so sorry Emiliano! I fell back to sleep after Gianni came in here," I apologized sincerely.
He looked at me with narrowed eyes, he was angry with me. His light blue eyes were definitely looking darker, and I was feeling very intimidated.
"Alessandra, get up and get ready right now. Do. Not. Lay. Back. Down."
"Yes sir," I said, climbing out of bed, and hurrying towards the bathroom.
"Be down in 30 minutes, no less. Do you understand?"
"Yes sir." I was definitely scared of him, out of all of them, I was the most scared of him.
He didn't say anything else, just left to go back down stairs, I assumed. I hurriedly ran into the bathroom, and jumped in the shower to get ready.
I scrambled into the kitchen 30 minutes later, and found Emiliano and Stefano sitting at the kitchen table, drinking coffee and talking in hushed voices. As soon as I stumbled in, both of their heads snapped in my direction, and their conversation stopped immediately.
"You will have to have cereal. The boys didn't save you any breakfast," Emiliano said in his regular cold tone.
"I-I'm not h-hungry," I stuttered out, looking down at my feet.
"Alessandra, you will have some breakfast. You can just have a piece of toast, or a small bowl of cereal. But you must eat something." He said and I just nodded my head.
"Verbal Answers, Alessandra."
"Yes sir," I said as I made my way to the bread to make a piece of toast.
"Good morning, Alessandra. Did you sleep well?" Stefano asked, looking at me with interest.
"Oh yes sir, thank you. The bed is much more comfortable than my last bed, and way bigger. It was like sleeping on clouds." I exclaimed, excited about the best nights sleep I had had in years.
"Well that's great, tesoro. I'm glad to hear you are comfortable here," he replied with a genuine look on his face. I'm not sure that any of my brothers know how to smile, but at least he didn't look angry or cold at the time. I also don't know about being 'comfortable' here either, just the bed is comfortable, that's it.
I grabbed my toast out of the toaster, buttered it, poured a glass of apple juice, and sat down in front of Emiliano to eat. Stefano bid us 'goodbye' and made his way out of the room.
"Alessandra," Emiliano started, causing me too look up at him. He did not look thrilled with me to say the least, and it took everything in my power to stop myself from looking back down at my plate. "I know that you are used to being on your own, and that you probably had no schedule or routine at your old home. However, in this home, you will live by a routine, and strict schedule. Even when you're not in school, you will still go to bed by 10 pm on week nights and you will be up every morning, Mon-Fri by no later than 8:30 am, and breakfast is served at 9 am. I expect you to be dressed and in the kitchen by then. Weekends are different, those are Antonio's days off, but I still expect you up and downstairs by 10 am, at the latest. Am I understood?"
"Do the others have to follow these strict guidelines?" I almost slap my hand over my mouth, as his eyes narrow at me again. He was already upset with me, and now I'm back talking? Breaking rules already, way to go Alessi!
"No, they don't. Your brothers are not your concern, Alessandra. You are a child, you are our responsibility. You will do as your told, and not worry about what the others do. And without any back talk, am I clear?"
"Y-Yes S-Sir," my whole body was trembling now. I was scared of what he might do, now that I broke a rule.
"I think since you had trouble getting up this morning. You can go to bed at 9 pm tonight, and maybe that will help you get enough sleep to get up tomorrow morning on time. If sleeping late becomes a habit, then we will switch to a 9 pm bedtime permanently." He didn't say it, but his look said 'do you understand' so I nodded my head, then added a quick "Yes sir," to go with it.
So that was my punishment, an early bedtime? Ok, I can definitely handle getting in trouble here. I wasn't scared of going to bed early. A part of me was still uneasy about getting worse punishments, but so far so good.
"Now," Emiliano sighed, "Put your plate and glass in the dishwasher, and let's go shopping, we have a lot to do today."
I immediately got up and did as told, and looked at him expectantly, as he led me out the kitchen door, through the front door, to the awaiting limo, with Vittorio standing by the open back door.
"Good morning Miss Alessandra, and Mr. Mazzanti," he smiled at both of us.
Emiliano just nodded at him as he stepped in the limo.
"Good Morning, Mr. Vittorio," I said with a smile, while I stepped in the limo after Emiliano. Vittorio made his way to the drivers seat, and we were on our way.
When Emiliano said shopping, he wasn't messing around. It was only 2pm, and the trunk was already full with bags from places like, Apple, Gucci, The Gap, Banana Republic, Michael Kors, Uggs, Doc Martins, Nike, Kate Spade, Chanel, Dolce & Gabbana, Victoria's Secret, Adidas, and even Dell! Some brands I had never even heard of.
I was exhausted. I swear he made me try on 100 different outfits and at least 50 pairs of shoes. I had never seen so many bags, and Emiliano had most of them shipped to the house.
After we had finished shopping, he picked an outfit and shoes out for me, and had me change in the bathroom at the mall. I guess he wanted me to look more presentable when we went to lunch and the school. I was just glad he picked out a pair of jeans and T-shirt from the gap, with my new favorite adidas shoes. He wouldn't let me get any ripped jeans, he said they looked ridiculous, and no way was he paying for jeans that already looked worn out. I didn't bother to argue, he was buying me everything I wanted and needed. Who was I to complain?
When we finally finished shopping, he had Vittorio take us to Del Gatos, an Italian restaurant downtown. I had never seen so many tall buildings, and all the pictures on buildings of famous people. I was amazed by everything around me. I just kept looking around in awe. I didn't even notice we were at the door to the restaurant, and somehow walked right into the closed glass door, and would have fallen on my butt, had 2 strong arms not caught me under my arms and pulled me back up.
"Oh! Thanks Emiliano. I can't believe I did that," looking around, I could see that I was getting lots of strange looks from passers by. My cheeks tinged pink, and I immediately looked back down.
"Look up tesoro, or you will surely walk into something else," Emiliano gave me a small smile. He actually smiled! I can't believe Emiliano Mazzanti smiled at me!
He opened the door, and put his hand on the small of my back leading me through it.
"Mr. Mazzanti, how nice to see you sir. Would you like your regular seat today?" The beautiful brunette hostess, asked my brother.
"Yes, Anita. That would be lovely," Emiliano said in his normal cold tone, again.
Anita smiled as she led us to the back of the restaurant to small secluded booth. She handed us both a menu and told us to enjoy our meal.
As soon as we sat down, opposite each other, I just had to know, "How does she know you so well? Do you come here often?"
"You could say that," he started, looking me in the eyes, "I own this restaurant."
I sat there stunned. He owned a restaurant? Is that how he had enough money to buy me all those expensive clothes and shoes today? Could a restaurant really bring in that much money? It seems a bit excessive though.
Once I looked at the menu, I started to realize that, indeed this restaurant must bring in enough money to buy all the things he bought today.
"Wow! So that's how you were able to afford all those things you bought me today. This restaurant must do really good business," I was surprised to say the least, that he owned an entire restaurant.
"Yes, Del Gatos does very good business. However, no, this is not our only source of income. We own several hotels around the country, and in Italy. We also own a few Casinos in Atlantic City, and Vegas," he said nonchalantly, as if it were no big deal.
I sat there with my eyes wide, hanging on every word he was saying. I couldn't believe my family owned hotels and casinos and restaurants. This is so cool. No wonder they were rich.
"We? You mean like you, and my other brothers? Is that the 'family business'?" I wanted to know everything.
"We, as in, your brothers and you. You have just as much right to the Mazzanti money as any one of us. However, until you are 25, I will be in control of how your money is spent. And yes that is the family business. However, you will not be involved in any of our businesses ever."
"What? Why?" Why wouldn't they want me to help out with the businesses? I could be a great help when I get older.
"Well for one, you are 13 years old. Your brothers and I decided that your future will not be in the Mazzanti family business. You can start your own business or follow your own dreams. You will always have access to the Mazzanti money though."
"Why do my brothers get to decide what my future holds?" I was getting upset now. I didn't care about any Mazzanti money. I had two directions I was deciding between for my future. One was art, and the other was business management, which would be perfect for them!
"Alessandra, lower your voice," Emiliano said as his eyes narrowed at me, "You will not have anything to do with the Mazzanti family business. That is the end of the discussion, and you will not bring it up again. Understand?"
"Yes sir," I backed down immediately. His narrowed eyes, and icy tone, told me that there was no room for argument. And my best bet was to let it go. So I did just that.
An uncomfortable silence fell between us as we looked at our menus. I, of course was not hungry, and as expected, he made me order something, even if I couldn't eat it all. So I settled on something familiar on the menu, Spaghetti and Meatballs.
Once we were finished eating, we got back into the limo, and headed for my new school.
It took about 45 minutes, but we arrived at what I could only describe as a massive school. There were several different buildings all over the place, and one huge football field to the side of the school. We parked right in front of the largest building, which was massive all by itself. To say that I was intimidated would be a huge understatement. I was completely terrified of this huge building in front of me. I would be expected to attend here every day?
"Oh my," is all I could manage to say, staring at the huge building in complete terror.
"Don't look so scared tesoro. It's not as intimidating as it looks. All of your brothers have attended here, and you will have 3 brothers here with you." Emiliano was trying his best to comfort me, but I was not feeling it.
I just shook my head, and followed him through the front door, and to the front office. When we walked to the receptionist desk, I swear I thought she was gonna fall out of her chair when she saw my brother. Her hazel brown eyes instantly turned flirtatious, and she started twirling the end of her bottled blonde hair with her finger.
"Mr. Mazzanti, so happy to see you today. How can I help you?" She had this high pitched nasal tone that literally irritated my ears. I went to reach for my ear to plug it, when Emiliano caught my hand instantly, and put it back down to my side, all without saying a word.
"I brought my sister here to register for this school year, Ann," Emiliano said putting his arm around my shoulder.
Her attention slowly slid over to me, and her smile instantly dropped, replaced by glare. Woah! What did I do to her?
"What's her name?" Ann was suddenly in a sour mood. I looked at Emiliano who had an ice cold look on his face, and a glare of his own, directed towards Ann. Thank goodness!
"Why don't you ask her yourself? With a little less attitude please." Emiliano said in an icy tone, that I, for one was glad I wasn't on the receiving end of, this time.
Suddenly her smile was back, but it didn't quite reach her eyes, and she seemed to force herself to look at me. "What is your name sweetie?" She muttered.
"Uh-um, Alessi. No! I mean Alessandra Mizzanti," I stuttered out, trembling next to my extremely angry brother.
He must have sensed my apprehension because he suddenly gave me a reassuring squeeze on my shoulder, and when I looked up at him, he actually winked at me. All the tension left my body, and I felt completely relaxed.
Ann's phone beeped, she picked it up, and her eyes fell back on my brother, she mumbled a 'yes he's here with her' and then a 'yes sir' and hung up.
"Principal Newbury is waiting for both of you in his office," she said as she pointed toward a closed wooden door.
"Thank you," Emiliano said, as he put his hand on the small of my back, directing me towards the door that had the name 'Principal Leon Newbury' on a golden metal plate on it.
He placed a quick knock on the door and then opened it, guiding me inside.
"Leon," He said reaching his hand out to the man at the large oak desk, "Emiliano," Mr. Newbury said back, shaking his hand.
"You must be the infamous, Alessandra Mazzanti, I heard about all these years. You have certainly been missed by your brothers, and your father, he talked about you all the time. He was a good friend of mine," Mr. Newbury said all in one breath.
He knew my father? I try not to think about it much, but ever since I found out that I had a father and brothers, all I could think about was what my father must have been like. I guess I'll never know.
"It's nice to meet you, Mr. Newbury," I smiled politely, and shook his hand as well.
"Sit. Sit. We have a lot to discuss," he said, pointing at 2 chairs for Emiliano and I.
"Ok. Well first, as you can see, there are several buildings outside of this main one that we are in. Each building is a grade, starting from Kindergarten to 5th grade. Then in the main building here are the 6th to 12th grades. So all your classes will be in this building, except for your PE class, which will be in the gymnasium on the back of the property behind the main building."
"Now, since you're going into the 7th grade, you will have 2 elective classes. Emiliano has chosen a foreign language, Italian, to be exact, and Physical Education."
"School starts at 8 am and ends at 2:45 pm, each class is 50 minutes long, with a 10 minute break in between each class. To go to your locker, take a bathroom break, and get to your next class. Your lunch period will be right after your 4th hour class at 12 pm to 12:50 pm. You will need to be at your 5th hour class by 1 pm. Are you with me so far?" He looks at me, as he hands me a paper with my class schedule printed on it, and a map of the school. Also a list of school supplies each of my teachers requested to begin the year.
"I'm taking Italian? I was taking Spanish at my last school," I looked to Emiliano for an answer.
"Yes, well, you are Italian, and I would like you to learn the language of your home country," he said nodding his head.
"Well. Do I have a choice in this?" I asked, quickly getting upset. I was really starting to get a good understanding of Spanish, and I knew I could keep my grades up in that. If he changed it to Italian now, I would be starting over new, and I didn't know if I could keep the grades up on that.
"No," he said, looking at me, as if to shut me up quickly.
So as usual, I just put my head down and nodded with a quick, "Yes sir," and looked toward Mr. Newbury. "I'm with you sir. I understand everything you told me."
"Good. Now, you seem like a very nice respectful young woman, so I'm sure I don't need to go over the rules with you, but I will anyway. There will be no cursing, no lying to teachers, no cheating, no running through the halls, no fighting, no skipping classes or being late to classes. You will always respect your fellow students, as well as the staff here at New Haven Hills Academy. You must always dress in your school uniform, unless told otherwise by staff. You will also have school provided PE uniforms," he handed me a booklet with the schools name on the front of it, "And here is a list of the rules, and the consequences of breaking said rules. Also other school policies and any other information you might need to know."
"I'm absolutely sure you won't have any problems out of Alessandra. She's a good girl. But, if you do, I would like to be informed immediately," Emiliano said, looking at Mr. Newbury.
I gulped, thinking of school consequences, and then coming home to more consequences. I never was a troublesome student, so I shouldn't have any problems right?
"Well great. I'm glad to hear that. So, all that's left to do is to get your school ID made, and that is how you will pay for your lunch everyday. Your brother will put money on your account, and it will be accessible to you through your ID card. It's important that you don't lose it. After that, I will send you down to the school store, and your brother can purchase your school uniforms," he said while looking at me, smiling a genuine warm smile.
"Well, thank you Principal Newbury," I said. He and Emiliano started standing up, so I followed suit.
We all said our good byes, as Emiliano and I made our way out of his office and headed back to Ann to get my picture taken to make up my ID card. That took all of 10 minutes, then we head down to the school store.
Emiliano and I argued about whether I should get skirts or pants. He didn't want me in skirts, but I really wanted them, so I tried out my puppy dog eyes on him. In the end, I got 2 skirts, and 10 pairs of khaki pants, along with about 20 polo shirts in the school colors. Red, Black, and White. He also bought 10 of the PE uniforms, a school jacket, and a few T-shirts with the school emblem on them, as well as some sweat pants.
FINALLY! We were on our way home. It was 5:30 pm, and I was exhausted. My eyes would barely stay open on the 45 minute drive home. I didn't even realize I had somehow laid my head in Emiliano's lap, and dozed off.
I was a little shocked when I woke up, and looked up to see him looking down at me, "Come on, Alessandra. It's time to go in the house. We will heat up our dinner, and then you can unpack your bags in your room, until bedtime. Don't forget bedtime tonight is at 9 pm."
"No worries, I may be asleep before 9 pm tonight," I said, trying to cover up my yawn with my hand, sitting up and stretching.
As we walked in the house, my jaw dropped and Emiliano's hand suddenly landed in front of my eyes, covering my line of vision.
"Shit!" I heard one voice say.
"What the fuck!" Another voice hollered.
And I just stood there grabbing at Emiliano's hand, trying to move it so I could see.
"What is going on?" I said, trying my best to look through his fingers.
"Room. Now," Emiliano said in my ear.