Thursday morning
The annoying blaring of an alarm clock, got Maria up and out of bed. She was a yawning mess and had bed hair that stuck to her face in clusters. Nevertheless, her beauty still pulled through all her flaws in the morning.
The first thing she did, was take a look at her alarm clock. It was eight in the morning, and she was meant to meet up with Mark around ten. The distance from the city and Mill Neck was worth an hour of preparation time.
"Let's get this day started" Maria said as she got out of bed and walked towards her closet. She pulled out simple clothes and tossed them on the bed before she unbuttoned her pajama top and took it off along with her bottoms.
As they fell off effortlessly, she kicked off the pajama bottoms and more of her soft porcelain skin had come into view along with the underwear she had worn to bed. Her beautiful figure under her clothing could make one mistake her for an A-list model.
As soon as she shut the closet, the looking glass resting on the adjacent wall, reflected her figure. Looking in the mirror, she slightly turned her body to the side while looking over her shoulder. She then moved her hair away from her back and on the mirror, one of the secrets she his from the world, came to view.
Around her back area, there was a dreadfully deep scar, which started from her shoulder and moved down her shoulder blade. Then, moving downwards and towards her right hip, there was a slave marking tattooed there, with an arrogant '01' next to it.
Seeing these two things, brought back horrible memories for her. And she couldn't help but graze the scar with her right hand. Although it had happened a long time ago, it still stung a bit
"It still hasn't healed, up until now" Maria mumbled "Maybe it's because I've been too active ever since I got it" as she let her hair fall back, it covered the scar and marking. She walked away from the looking glass and headed straight to the bathroom.
She carried out her morning routine and got out with a towel wrapped around her naked body. She put on her underwear before putting on the clothes she had chosen for the day and stood in front of the looking glass.
She had worn a beige turtleneck, russet skort and white sneakers. She picked up a brush and evened out her hair before brushing it to the side and picking up her phone and keys, she walked out of her room and shut the door.
"Where are you headed so early?" she heard Helen ask. Helen was still dressed in her pajamas and the top buttons of her top were open, displaying her bountiful cleavage. She was swirling a cup a coffee she had just brewed "Don't tell me you plan on leaving without breakfast" she gestured towards the plate of eggs and bacon, along with another cup of coffee, placed next to it
"You know me too well" Maria sighed as she sat down and hurriedly had breakfast. It didn't take her more than fifteen minutes to finish her meal before she stood up and gave Helen a hug "You've gotten better"
"Thanks" Helen said as Maria pulled away from the hug and rushed out the door "Have a safe trip" she hollered before the door shut.
Maria had just left the building when a black Mercedes pulled up in front of the building. The onlookers were in awe of the car and wondered of whom it had come for, due to the tinted windows. But Maria wasted no time and got into the car before shutting the door.
After all, the car was one of Mark's luxurious cars. However, when compared to the rest of Mark's cars, the Mercedes was the most low key. Butler Frank and the Page mansion's driver, had used this car to drop Maria off, the day before.
After a while, the car finally took off while everyone stared at it.
******
Mill Neck, New York
It was a working day at Wayne Corp. However, after taking leave from Gabriel, Mark was standing in the living room of a duplex which costed millions of dollars to design, build, and furnish.
The building was designed, built and furnished, to be gifted to the best workers of Wayne Corp. It wasn't the only building that was owned by the company; as there were many spread across New York. Each had its own luxurious design, expensive building materials, and costly interior and exterior furnishings.
The duplex was one that had specially been gifted to Mark, because of his identity. It was painted silver on the outside, a small porch, with a large lawn, and stone pavement that led to the house. Light fixtures were placed on the outside walls of the house and from the streets, one could see the black steel gates and redbrick fence.
Inside the house, it had white ceilings with beautiful detailing of poppy flowers around each edge, beautiful light fixtures, slate grey walls with straight white lines from ceiling to floor at every corner, a single wall with the design of a gold lotus flower, expensive furniture, and black framed French windows. The rooms were all soundproof and the windows were bulletproof and made of one-way glass.
Coupled with the rooftop pool and garden, the sustainable clean energy source, and security system, the house was both safe and peaceful. It also gave of a classic and modern feel which reminded Mark of his own house. It was also close to his house, which made it his personal favorite.
However, right now, he was preparing the house for Maria's arrival. A lot of workers were in the house moving furniture, stocking shelves, cleaning, and there were even some that were cooking food and wrapping it up, before placing it in the deepfreeze to cool. One of the workers had even passed by him, with a big box of sanitary pads.
'Did I order those?' Mark wondered while his eyes followed the figure of the woman moving the box 'I might have ordered it. I did task them to make or buy things women couldn't live without' he thought as he sat majestically in an armchair and fished his pocket for his phone
He had been in the house since eight o'clock and with the time being ten minutes passed nine, he could already guess that Maria was on her way. With those thoughts, he put his phone away and asked one of the workers to prepare breakfast for him, so he could pass the time.
Time moved swiftly as Mark ate and the workers laboured. After forty minutes, the workers had already finished all they needed to do and were waiting for Mark's orders as he finished his meal and pushed the plate aside. One of the workers swiftly took the plate and washed it before coming back to join his coworkers.
At that time, Mark stood up and scanned everything; inspecting their work. He slowly nodded his head in satisfaction which made the workers sigh in relief.
"Is everything ready?" Mark asked
"Yes, Sir" they answered in chorus and he nodded his head
"Well done. You can leave now" Mark said while they dashed to pack up their things. As though remembering something, he let out an 'Oh' before saying "I almost forgot. When I return to the company, I'll raise your salaries by ten percent" as soon as he said that, the workers cheered
"And also, if Gabriel starts looking for me, never mention any of this to him or inform him of my location. I'll cut your salaries by thirty percent if that happens" Mark instantly added and they went silent "Is that clear?"
"What do we do?" one of the workers whispered to the one next to him "Mr Wayne is our boss"
"And Mr Page gives us our salaries" the other worker whispered back "Plus, he can do anything and the boss won't say much. It's clear which one I'm gonna pick" as soon as he said that, the other workers replied
"It's clear as crystal, Sir" and picked up their things before leaving the duplex.
Just then, Mark received a message and as soon as he checked it, his heart leapt and he put the phone back in his pocket after taking deep breaths.
'Now, stage two of my plan, will finally begin' Mark though as he walked towards the entrance door.
******
A black Mercedes pulled up in front of the duplex and Butler Frank got out from the passenger seat before opening the back seat door for Maria. She got out of the car and stared at the house in awe.
'I thought I was meeting Mark at the Page mansion' Maria thought 'Maybe Butler Frank made a mistake?'
"I've made no mistake, Miss Maria" Butler Frank said as he shut the door behind her "This is the master's duplex. He ordered me to bring you here, to discuss the matters he talked about...over the phone with you"
"Oh" Maria let out as Butler Frank bowed before entering the car. Both him and the driver were off after that.
Maria stood there while blinking in shock as she stared at the disappearing Mercedes. When it was no longer in sight, she turned around, to see the door to the duplex opening. Mark was leaning casually against the door.
He was dressed in a baby blue button up shirt and black formal pants. Both seemed to be tailored to his size and accentuated his relaxed yet dangerous aura. But to Maria, he just looked like a handsome businessman.
"Come in. Let's get started" Mark said and she pushed her thoughts to the back of her head, before she walked forward and pushed open the black steel gates.
After entering the compound, she shut the gate and walked towards the duplex on the stone pavement while admiring her surroundings. She walked up the stairs and onto the pouch, hesitantly, before standing next to Mark.
"G-good m-morning, Mark" she stammered and he smiled
"Good morning, Maria. How was your drive here?" he asked
"It was fine. Thank you"
"That's good" Mark said as he stopped leaning against the door and gestured to the inside of the house "Please, come in" he said before entering inside and Maria followed behind him while she shut the door.
******
Inside,
Maria had just raised up her head and could only remain wide eyed and unmoving. Mark seeing her expression, chuckled internally.
From the ceiling, to the light fixtures, to the furniture and even the white marble floor which reflection her beautiful face, each and every part of the place, screamed 'I'm incredibly rich'
"Welcome to my duplex" Mark said while walking ahead of her
'Duplex? Are you sure this isn't a mini mansion?' Maria thought as she followed him
"Do you want to look around?" Mark asked and she nodded silently which made him smile. He led her around the house despite knowing her mind had already gone completely blank.
Maria wasn't even aware of when Mark's tour around the house had ended and she was sitting on the sofa in the living room while Mark sat opposite her in an armchair.
"So, do you like it?" Mark asked
"I actually don't like it....I love it" Maria said in a rather calm tone "This place is really beautiful. It must hold some importance to you"
"It's my favorite out of all the other small houses, I own" Mark started and he took one of her hands in his and fished out some keys from his pocket "Moreover, it's a good thing you like it" he put the keys in her hand "Cause I want you to have it" he closed her hand on the keys and removed his own hands.
Maria slowly opened her hand and stared at the keys in awe. The silver keys were in her hands and Mark had said he was giving her, his favorite house.
"I-I can't accept this" Maria said "What would your wife say?"
"If it's Vivian you're worried about, there's no need" Mark said "My marriage with her is strong because we trust in each others decisions. If I'm giving my favorite house to you, she'll understand. After all, it takes you fifty-eight minutes to drive from the city here and then back" he said and she instinctively clutched the keys
"But..."
"And, according to Frank, your living conditions aren't the best either" Mark said as he reached under the armchair and pulled out a folder before dropping it on the centre table "I didn't want to inconvenience you. And this house is only twenty minutes from my mansion. As such, it was the only option I had left"
"B-but this is too much" Maria argued "Just the payment you'd give me would have been sufficient"
"It's not too much. The last time we spoke, I promised you accommodation and a lot of other stuff" Mark said as he handed the folder to her " You're the thirty sixth nanny I'm hiring for the twins. Within the span of four years, I've lost thirty five nannies to those two. I even had to create a bank card that'll cover any of the damages they cause. Giving you a house is the least I can do for you. You can read the documents if you like, before signi..." before he could finish, Maria put the keys in her skort pocket and stretched out her hand
"Can I have a pen?" she asked
"You're not going to read it?" Mark asked surprised as he gave her the pen "Those two actually managed to give a woman in her thirties, a trauma of ice cream and almost got a woman in her forties, drowned. That's actually a contract that you don't mind..."
"Mark, I trust you" Maria said as she took the pen and signed the contract "I'm pretty good at reading people's intentions. So I know you're not planning anything against me" she handed the contract and pen back to Mark "Plus, I feel a deep connection with the children. So....the contract to me, is just a formality"
Taking the contract from her, Mark stared into her eyes and could feel a warm sensation overcome him. "I see" he murmured as he glanced at the contract 'You already feel a connection with them. If only you knew' he thought as he put the folder away
"So, are you accepting my token of appreciation?" Mark asked and she smiled
"Of course" she said "Thank you, Mark"