Today, signals the start of my first day as a semi-free person, since I met Lorenzo.
The conversation had come up, as I was adamantly curios as to how, my people at work were not alarmed that I had been absent for quite some time.
But apparently, Lorenzo, being Lorenzo, fabricated a story, that I had been contagiously ill, and as such, needed quite some time of.
If there was anything contagious, it would be Lorenzo's insanity.
But nevertheless, this was my first step, towards complete freedom.
I was currently having breakfast and listening to Lorenzo droning on and on about the rules of my partial freedom.
"You are to be chaperoned by Raphael, you are not to leave his sight, for any reason at any time, unless of course you have to use the bathroom."
"I know, I know."
"You are to be back by ten pm, any later than that, and you would have exceeded th limits of your curfew, resulting in you being on the receiving end of a punishment, of my choice."
"Understood, can I go now?"
"Have you finished eatin-"
"Yes, yes I have, am I permitted to leave now?"
"Yes, you can, the car has been prepared out front, call me when yo-"
"Goodbye Enzo, I shall be back in time for dinner."
And with that I got out of my seat, and practically ran to the front.
The man I presumed to be Raphael opened the car door for me, and I slid inside, grateful to finally be away from Lorenzo's piercing gaze.
"Where to Miss Petrova?"
"Oh no need for such formalities, we are going to be seeing a lot more of each other as it seems, you might as well be comfortable around me, please, call me Yelena."
"I would appreciate sticking to the formalities, so if you wouldn't mind Miss, where to?"
Well he was going to be a tough nut to crack, just like his boss.
"Work, I'd like to go to work please."
On getting to work, An came up to me with a worried look on her face, she hadn't heard from me since the gala, so I understood her concern.
The day went by in a blur, with An constantly coming to check on me, and Raphael hovering over me at all times.
It was quite a stressful day, but I had no intentions of heading back to the villa just yet, it was only 7:23 after all, and I wanted to enjoy my new found freedom.
I exited the bathroom to find Raphael waiting at the door.
"Where to next miss? The villa I presume?"
"Oh no, not at all actually, I'd like to head to a bar, I'm parched and in desperate need of a drink, a strong drink."
"Are you sure miss? It is already getting late, and in consideration of your curfew would you not-"
"I do not believe I stuttered Raphael, if you are unable to take me to a bar, that is fine, I'll have you know that I am perfectly capable of walking to one myself, so if you are so desperate to return to the villa, then by all means, go, you'd have a whale of a time explaining yourself to your boss."
"There is no need for that miss. Definitely I can take you to a bar."
"No further obligations then?"
"No."
"Good."
I got into the car and Raphael drove us away.
Just then my phone began to ring, it was my father, I had not spoken to him in so long, he changed ever since my little sister died, he became more closed off, stricter, and I wished I didn't have to answer him, but I relented anyway.
"Privyetik papa, how are you?"
"Oh skip the pleasantries Yelena, your mother and I are quite disappointed in you, you are already at the age, of which you should be married, why do you continue to let us down?"
"Papa, I-"
"No, you are to come home tomorrow, if you are not with an eligible man by then, we will pair you up with someone we choose ourselves."
"Papa you cannot do that, I will not hear of it!"
"Well you leave us no choice Yelena!"
"We do not intend to let the Petrova bloodline die with you!"
"You will meet with us tomorrow, you have no say in the matter."
"Papa, please do not do this, I don't-"
But the line went silent, and all I could hear was a faint beep, indicating that my father had ended the call.
"Pa- Papa?"
"Fuck!"
Now I almost never cuss, however my father brought out, a much more aggravated side to me, I did not want to marry the next Tom, Dick or Harry my father chose for me, now I suddenly found myself really in desperate need of that drink.
As the car arrived, I got out, Raphael must have heard my earlier outburst, because he asked.
"Is all well Miss?"
"Very, very well indeed."
As I got to the bar, I asked the bartender to give me his strongest drink, five glasses later and I was wasted.
A man in a business suit came up to me, but I instantly didn't like the vibes I got of him, so I started walking away from him and heading for the bathroom.
"Where ya headed love? Don't you wanna have a bit of fun."
"N-No, thank you."
Suddenly the man grabbed me and dragged me into a stall, this was it, I was going to be defiled, by this wanna be business man.
"NO!"
Just then, the door to the stall was hurled away, and Raphael grabbed the man by the collar, I took the opportunity and the chaos to grab myself another drink, I needed it.
By the time Raphael found me again, I had had more than three extra drinks, I was wasted, and he had blood all over his clothes and face.
As he approached me, I smiled.
"Y-You have blood all over you."
"Don't worry miss, it isn't mine."
He tried to get me to move out and towards the car but I could barely stand upright so he picked me up and tossed me over his shoulder.
I giggled.
"Ha, you killed him, he had such a big belly as well, did you find out what was in it?"
I was so drunk, I dint even realize when we had gotten to the car, he opened the back door, tossed me inside, and got into his seat before driving off.
Upon getting to the villa, Raphael helped me out of the car, and we both went in to face a fuming Lorenzo.
"Enzo, hiiiiiii!"
"What time is it?"
"Enzo, I missed you, did you miss me?"
Turning to Raphael he spoke again.
LORENZO
"What is wrong with her?"
Raphael unfolded all the events of the day to me, including why he was covered in blood, I was angry that Len had put herself in danger again, but was glad that Raphael was there, and had seemingly dealt a great deal of damage to the perpetrator.
"She is wasted Lorenzo, let her off the hook for tonight, you can give her her punishment tomorrow."
"I know."
Saying that, I approached a giggling Yelena, picked her up and took her to her bedroom, before she passed out in the middle of my living room.
On getting there, she wasted no time before she began stripping.
"What are you doing?"
She gave me a confused look and said.
"Changing dummy, I can't sleep with all this on."
She resumed, but I stopped her before she went to far, because then both she and I would regret what happened next.
I opened her wardrobe and retrieved a button up shirt, then handed it to her, before turning my back to her, giving her the privacy she needed to get changed.
When I turned back to face her, she was trying to climb unto the bed, but slipped and fell off the side.
I went to help her up, and I placed her back on the bed, but in the process fell on it as well.
She lay un top of my arm, and when I tried to take it back she made a whining noise and said.
"Don't go!"
And thus I ended up laying in bed with Len, while she slept I lay wide awake, knowing that the morning to come would be pure chaos.
Filled with yelling, embarrassment, hangovers, and punishment.