Settling in... Was the hardest thing she'd ever did. Constantly finding herself lost in the many corridors of a mansion, failing to find her room over and over again as she moves her belonging to and from the from door.
Insisting many times that the maids didn't need to help her. Not the butler.
Now she had it coming for her.
Dragging the last suitcase across the painfully long corridor. Settling for the door at the very end of the corridor so that it is easier for her to remember.
"I hope you're settled in now. It's nearly lunch hour, I request you shift into Mirabelle." The assistant says as she stands at the door while Mirabelle drags the suitcase to the foot of the bed. "I told him Serena would be going out to get her things, preparing for the stay. So after lunch, you'll be playing the roll of Mirabelle and soon after your duties are finished you will take a long shower to remove the perfume and revert back to Serena's persona. We've contacted her, so don't worry about staying in this persona for long."
Mirabelle sighs as she throws herself back and sits onto the bed, dropping her gaze down to her feet as the fatigue finally hits.
"I should get paid for overworking. A load more." She glances towards the assistant who smiles at her and nods her head before looking down at her tablet. "Besides, what do I do if he's trying to get intimate, he's been wanting to kiss Serena so badly and you know that's dangerous if he finds out I'm not her."
"There is no predicting what he'd do. Just try your best to come up with an excuse." She shrugs her shoulders as she looks around the room and nods to herself before scribbling something on the notepad. "He's never been as physically close to Serena as he has with you. Try not to excite him. Subtle touches like holding hands and letting him touch your face will mislead him into thinking you're interested. Serena usually avoids that."
"Okay." Mirabelle nods slowly before dropping her eyes back down to her feet as she uses her own feet to work the shoes off. "But... Isn't it sad that... Serena won't try to love him? He can't see that she's not interested, but he must have felt it, right?"
"He's noticed, which is why he wants to get better for her sake." She explains as she tucks her tablet under her arm. "Serena is planning to cancel the wedding of he doesn't get his eyesight back in the next six months. Luckily he's scheduled for two. But he doesn't know this yet because I made sure the news doesn't reach him. You see... He's very sensitive despite his cold front."
"Sensitive? Well he sure knows how to insult me for a sensitive guy." Mirabelle rolls her eyes, getting the assistant to chuckle under her breath when she finds it hilarious that he compliments the same woman when he doesn't know it's not Serena.
"He's never this bothered by anyone. Maybe it's because he hates being treated as though he's not well." The assistant explains before straightening her back and taking the tablet back in her hands. "Try not to let it get to you. Now hurry up, we need to go prepare his lunch and this time, you can't be late."
"I know." Mirabelle frowns as she gets up from the bed and walks over to one of her suitcases, opening up the smallest zipper and pulling out her perfume.
She makes a few puffs onto her dress, careful not to get it onto her skin, knowing too well it will be impossible to wash off if she did.
She follows the assistant back into the corridor once she's done and can't help but marvel at the countless guest bedroom doors littering the corridor.
"He gets a lot of guests, huh?" Mirabelle asks as she walks up to the assistant, falling into step with her. "There are a lot of rooms."
"Sadly, the only visitors are his parents, on rare occasions and Serena, also on rare occasions. He has no friends." She explains and Mirabelle frowns at her, feeling slightly pitiful for her patient now that she is aware he's almost alone.
She could only be glad he has an assistant who seems devoted to him regardless.
"You act like his friend." Mirabelle says as she glances back up at the assistant who raises a brow. "You care about him a lot."
"I'm only doing my job. But on some occassions, yes, I am like a companion to him. We engage in small talk but we limit it to business and nothing personal." She explains as Mirabelle nods in understanding. "Perhaps imyou, as Mirabelle can try befriending him. Maybe that will make him heal better and aviate the stress of the surgery going wrong."
Mirabelle chuckles slightly, feeling how impossible it could be just to get him to line her when he always seems annoyed by her presence alone.
Making into the kitchen, Mirabelle is surprised to already find Derek sitting on one of the stools by the counters, staring down at something on the table, not wanting to make unnecessary eye contact as the chef makes his food on the other side of the kitchen, giving him the much needed sounds from the sizzling and boiling to relax his thoughts.
"Derek- I mean, Mr Richmond, you could wait in your room, I could bring it up." Mirabelle says with her usual unsettling tone of voice, surprising herself why she can't talk normally despite talking fine with she was playing the roll as Serena.
Catching the sharp and electrifying scent from Mirabelle's unmerciful perfume along with her unnerving tone of voice, Derek closes his eyes and clenches his jaw, the annoying taking in his entire body.
"She's already here?" He is actually asking the assistant who raises both brows and glances down at Mirabelle who frowns. "Could have taken a bit longer bringing her."
"Remember, she was in the car at the back with me." The assistant chuckles as she gives Mirabelle a slight nug to get her going. "It's almost lunch, she has to guide you."
"I can eat by myself." Derek clenches his jaw, already missing, Serena's presence. But now he has to deal with her. "Send her to her room, I don't need her whilst I'm here."
The chef glances towards Mirabelle, wondering why he's so annoyed with her when she only locks eyes with him and shrugs her shoulders as he places the finished plate in front of Domen.
Smelling the scent of the food closer, Domen can tell the food is right in front of him. He feels the counter for a fork and accidentally brushes his fingers against the heated bowl of soup to go with the meal.
He flinches and takes back his hand, cursing under his breath when he knows too well he's not used to eating in the kitchen.
He can't tell where the spoons and forks her without knowing where the edge is first.
"Sir, you clearly need some guidance, stop resisting and let her do her job." The assistant says as she pushes Mirabelle to Derek who presses his lips together while taking in a deep breath. "Let her do her work."
"Whatever." Derek clenches his jaw as he feels Mirabelle leaning closer to him.
She studies the utensils around the plate as well as the contents on the plate, studying which utensil is used for where.
"I'll make it easy for you, I'll place the utensils in a specific order so that no matter where you went, you'd know where everything is." She instructs but he doesn't reply, only waiting for the instructions.
Mirabelle goes around placing the forks according to size, where the meal is seated on the plate, and how accessible it is.
It takes only a moment before she finally sets the spoons, knives and forks in the right place.
"Okay, I'm done." Mirabelle sighs as she glances down at Derek, wondering if he's even listening considering how quiet he is. Hardly saying a word as compared to when she's pretending to be Serena. "The forks are to your left, spoons to your right. The first fork is the main fork, you can find it by placing four fingers right after the plate. Seconded by that is the salad fork, lastly the desert fork. On the right are the knives, same order, main knife which is sharper for cutting steaks, second by the softer one, mostly for desserts and things like potatoes. Above the plate, just feel with your fingers softly from the edge of the plste are the spoons. The serving spoon is first, then the soup spoon and the desert spoon is last."
Derek doesn't nod to show he's understood what she's saying, instead, he traces his fingers, checking within his brain which spoon is which.
"Try grabbing the desert spoon." She says and watches as he does as she's instructed, locsting it without any mistakes. "The steak knife?"
He traces back to the plate and places four fingers between the edge of the plate and the first spoon, successfully locating it.
"Wow, you're a good listener, Mr. Richmond. And pretty smart too." Mirabelle stands there amazed she's able to convince him to do as she asked him to. Amazed he even listened.
Listening to her compliment almost makes him smile as he can't help but feel more confident whenever someone praises him for his intelligence.
After all, it's what he's unwilling to hide, but to boast about it.