"Good girl," his words rang in her head, scaring and torturing her at the same time.
It was remotely silent in the room, save for the rapid thumping of their hearts, as their eyes locked. His finger remained on her lip, lightly stroking it, whilst she stared at him with eyes totally ridden with confusion.
"You—" he was about to speak, when his buzzing phone interrupted. "Saved by the buzzer," his mind whispered as he withdrew his finger from her lip, and pushed it into his pants pocket.
He took two steps back, and pressed answer. "What do you want?"
"Hey big bro. I see you're still as cranky as ever," his younger sister Claire, said.
"You have exactly ten seconds to state what you want," he responded brusquely.
His commanding voice sent shivers down Fay's spine, as she wondered why he was always so stern. She threw her face to the side, unable to reconcile the man that had her disregarding her family, with the man who stroked her lip, and now this man whose eyes spat fire and brimstones. One man, too many contradicting emotions.
"Fine, but you're never any fun."
He could picture her pouting after that statement, while her twin lurked behind her shoulders. The image caused a warmth in his chest. For his family, he would wrestle the devil, which some people may say he shared an identity with.
"Grandma wants you and your wife to come for dinner. 'it's an order' in her words,' ' she mimicked.
"You sure I can't raincheck?"
"If you could, I'd be a thousand dollars richer right now, cus you'd be paying for the information."
That almost made him chuckle. Bless his mother for raising such smart girls.
"Fine, but I have one more question," he said.
"Yes, aunt Celine is going to be present," Blaire, the other twin chipped in.
Now his lip curved a little. "I owe you both a thousand boxes," he said, and ended the call before he could hear their reaction. Who wants to listen to teenage girls screech, after all?
He grew silent, and Fay knew the call had ended. She played with the hem of her gown, hoping he'd leave without speaking any more words to her.
"You, you're coming with me."
"Oh no!" She cried inwardly. He had in fact not forgotten her presence.
Taking a deep breath, she turned around. "Where? If you don't mind me asking?" She added for good measure.
"The house workers. They're waiting to meet you."
"What wor—" her lip sealed when she saw his eyes squint dangerously.
"After you." He nudged his head towards the door.
Biting her lip, she clasped her fingers in front of her, and hurried forward. When she arrived at the door and didn't hear any footsteps behind her, she paused.
"Why are you stopping?" He asked.
"I don't kn—-"
"Fine, I'll go first." He cutoff her words again, and walked forward.
On getting to the door, she tried to move out of the way for him, but he had other ideas. As she moved, he grabbed her hands, and brushed past her, so she was behind him.
A gasp escaped her throat when she felt his touch, but he didn't give her the time to process anything, as he practically dragged her behind him.
It all happened so fast, by the time her brain start functioning again, they had arrived at a room filled with the people she assumed were the workers.
As if on cue, they all bowed, pretty much confirming her assumptions. Her face grew pink just by watching them. Three days ago, she was in the same position. She had no idea how she was supposed to transition from servant to served.
"Good morning sir. Good morning ma," they chorused.
"Hey," he waved.
Reflexively, she was about to bow when his hand on hers tightened. She quickly straightened up, and squeezed out a tight smile. "Good morning everyone," she said, wishing the ground would open and swallow her from the embarrassment she felt.
Whilst the workers saw their boss being protective of this woman by holding her hands, Ace knew he had to keep her close to avoid suspicion.
"I'll just go straight to your point. Everyone, this is Fay Landon. Technically now Fay Atticus. She's my wife, and now the mistress of the house," he announced.
A mixed reaction greeted his announcement. Most of them cheesed in excitement, a few of them remained stoic, and the rest had a curious glint in their eyes.
"Whatever questions, or requests you have concerning the running of this house, direct it to her. Is that understood?"
"Yes sir!"
"Great. Marilyn, come with me please," he said, and turned around with Fay's hands still stuck in his.
Helplessly, she followed behind him as he dragged her into another room. This one looked like an office room. There, he let go of her hand, and glided across the office table to his seat.
As he sat, the door opened, and a woman stepped in.
"Sir," she was about to bow, when he waved a dismissive hand.
"We're going to the family house for dinner tonight. I'm entrusting my wife's look in your hands. Don't fail me."
"Dinner? Wife?" With every word he said, Fay's head spinned. She was used to her aunt, and life in general dictating her life, but now, it seemed there was an additional dictator to the ever growing list.
"You'll be delighted with the result," she replied confidently.
"See you tonight," he said with a note of finality, as he switched his computer system on. But Fay did not understand they had just been dismissed. She remained standing, waiting for him to at least look at her.
Behind her, Marilyn tried to get her attention too, but when she didn't respond, she thought it was because she wanted some few minutes alone with her husband. Smiling ecstatically at the smell of romance lingering in the air, she stepped outside, giving them their privacy.
The sound of the door closing, withdrew Ace's eyes from his computer screen. But as he raised his head up, his heart jumped to his mouth when he saw green eyes just staring at him.
"Why are you still here?" He asked in a cold voice.
"You didn't dismiss me," she said, her brow furrowed slightly in confusion.
"I said see you tonight, didn't I?"
"Oh," her face fell. "I'm sorry, I thought you were talking to Marilyn."
"You need to start using your brain more, Fay. It's not just there to fill up space, you know?" He shook his head, and returned his eyes to his screen.
His words were so harsh, and sudden, her lips started to tremble. Turning around, she scurried away, fighting with every ounce of her innermost strength the tears threatening to spill from her eyes. Shutting the door behind her, she didn't have time to burst into tears, as Marilyn was just outside, waiting for her.
She didn't know she had it in her, but in exactly three seconds, she had conquered the tears, and even managed a smile. "Hey, I'm Fay," she stretched out her hands like she was meeting her for the first time.
Marilyn leaped for joy inwardly. Everything chef Lynn said about the boss's guest was true. It so happened she was actually his wife, and not just his guest. They all had some questions regarding the wife part, but it didn't take away from the fact he had married a gorgeous girl, who had the kindest smile.
"I'm Marilyn," she quickly took her hands, feeling heavily privileged. "And tonight, you're going to be the most stunning woman to ever grace this earth," she said in the same confident voice she had used with Ace.
Fay didn't know if she was supposed to be excited for the night, or downright terrified.