LISA'S POV
I woke up very late this morning. My back was a bit better than yesterday, though I could still feel the pain.
It was sore and bruised and tender, and even though I hated to take painkillers, I swallowed pills the doctor had recommended yesterday.
My head was a little fuzzy from the sleep, and my throat was a bit dry. I had a faint memory of waking up earlier in the night to go to the bathroom.
My phone rang. I stared at the caller ID.
It was the hospital.
I quickly picked up the phone.
"Hello." I answered immediately.
I was expecting to hear one of the doctors or the nurses, but instead, I heard my mum's voice.
"Hello. Lisa." Her slightly shaky voice care through the phone.
"Mum." I screamed.
She was awake. She was AWAKE!!!
"Oh my God, Mum." I cried. My eyes began to tear. I could not stop the tears.
The last few days, I had been so afraid that I might lose her.
She was a bit drowsy, but she sounded better.
I cried on the phone. I could not talk for the first few minutes.
"How are you mum?" I finally asked.
"How are you feeling? When did you wake up? Are you okay?" I blurted out a lot of questions.
I wanted to be there with her. I wanted to see her. I wanted to hug her.
"I'm okay, Lisa. My darling." She spoke softly.
"How are you? Where are you? I miss you." My mother said.
I wiped a tear from my eyes.
"I'm good mother. I'm at work." I replied.
"You know, you never told me anything about your work, Lisa, or what you do. I was more than surprised when I woke up and found myself in the hospital. Or when the doctors told me all the hospital debts and bills has been paid by your boss." She said.
"Who is he? Your boss. Why did he pay the bills? Lisa, is everything okay? You're not in trouble are you?" She asked.
"I don't like this, Lisa." My mum said.
"I can feel it in my heart. Something is not right. He must have paid a fortune for all those bills. What kind of job is this? Lisa. Do you have any idea how much that bill would have been? Why would he do such a thing?" She questioned.
I didn't know what to tell her.
What could I say?
The truth?
That I was sleeping with my boss. That he paid the bills because of the deal I made with him.
No way.
My mum will kill me if she knew. She wouldn't understand.
So I decided to end the call quickly.
"I will tell you everything when I come to visit. I love you mum. Take care of yourself. Okay. Goodbye." I quickly ended the call.
I sighed and closed my eyes.
"I'm so sorry." I whispered.
A part of me was relieved that she was okay, but the other part of me felt so bad.
My mum will not understand.
What had I gotten myself into?
She won't understand that I did this for her….at first.
And now, I've fallen in love with my boss.
After the call, I slowly stood to my feet and stretched. Time to work.
I got into the shower and took my bath.
All I could think of while the warm water ran over my body was the conversation with Henry.
Was I really stupid enough to fall in love with Mr Jackson.
But… he was so hard to resist.
From the first day I stepped into the mansion and saw him in the private room.
He was like a drug. An addiction.
The thought of him.
His face. His perfectly sculpted body.
It was intoxicating. Even when he hurt me with his words. And when he kissed me. When he touched me.
It was as if something else had taken over my mind.
Something beyond control.
But no matter what, no matter how much I tried to fight it, I knew it was hopeless.
Especially after the pleasure he introduced me to yesterday. Just a little taste was enough to drive me crazy.
I wanted more. I needed more.
The handcuffs…the blindfold. The whip on my ass. It was all a thrill.
A thrill that I craved.
I had become a sex-crazed maniac.
All I could think of was having sex with him.
I got out of the shower and dried myself off.
I wrapped the towel around my body and then opened the bathroom door.
The steam from the shower floated into the room. It was so quiet.
There was no noise coming from the hallway or from the rest of the mansion.
I looked out the window. It was a beautiful day.
The sun was shining brightly. The clouds were scattered across the sky.
It was perfect weather.
I quickly got dressed into the maid outfit for the day. It was a simple white dress and a black apron.
My hair was tied into a neat bun.
I checked my appearance one last time in the mirror, before heading out.
I got the things I needed to clean and went to Mr Jackson's room.
I wondered if he was inside. My heart began to race at the thought of him.
Maybe he would invite me in and have sex with me again.
I hoped so.
I walked into the bedroom and was surprised to find it empty.
Where was he? Did he leave the mansion?
I didn't know.
I began to tidy up the bed. It was messy and unmade. I also vacuumed the floor and wiped down the surfaces.
I rearranged the things in the closet and dusted off the furniture.
After the room was clean, I moved onto the bathroom.
The bathtub was filled with water for some reason. I drained it off.
I could still perceive the scent of Mr Jackson, everywhere. His smell filled the entire room.
I closed my eyes, as I took in a deep breath.
My fingers caressed the side of the tub.
I imagined him sitting in it, with his eyes closed.
Just like the day I saw him in the tub, naked, stroking himself.
My breathing quickened.
His hand.
I recalled his grip on his member. His fist tightened and his hand moved quickly.
"Ahh."
A small gasp escaped my lips.
I felt my insides throbbing. The ache between my thighs grew.
I quickly shook my head and continued with the cleaning.
No. No. I shouldn't be thinking about that.
After cleaning, I made my way downstairs for lunch.
I had skipped breakfast and I could feel my tummy grumbling.
When I entered the kitchen, the workers stopped and stared at me.
They had a strange look on their face. I braced myself for whatever they had to say.
This wasn't going to be like the last time they bullied me. I was ready to stand up for myself.
I took a step forward and the entire kitchen became quiet.
The servants glanced at me.
"Hi everyone. Good afternoon." I said and walked over to the counter.
No one responded.
I was a bit confused by their actions.
Usually, they would laugh or talk or say mean things. But not today. They were unusually silent.
Then finally one of the chefs spoke.
"Good afternoon, Lisa." He said. "How are you feeling today?"
Then he gestured to the servant's dinning area. "Why don't you sit down, I made a special lunch for you. It has all your favorite foods and desserts."
I nodded and made my way to the seat.
This was different.
The other workers were being nice. They hadn't called me names.
"Thank you." I replied as I took my seat.
The chef dished out the food and placed the plate in front of me.
"Here, eat." He said.
"Mr Henry instructed that we give you the best care. And I also want to use this medium to apologize for our behavior yesterday. It was wrong of us." The head chef said.
Then he turned to Mary who sat by a corner. She was looking away and trying so hard to avoid my gaze.
"'Mary." He called her name.
"Is there anything you want to say to Lisa?" He asked her.
I turned to Mary. She was chewing on her finger nails.
She sighed and looked up at me.
"I'm sorry." She said.
"I'm sorry for what I did yesterday. It was wrong of me to say those things to you and also push you against the table." She said.
The other servants were staring at her as she spoke.
"And I'm also thankful that you didn't tell Mr Henry or Mr Jackson that I'm the one who caused you the bruise on your back. That would have been bad. And I know the last thing you need is to have more trouble."
Then she looked at me.
"So thank you. Thanks for keeping your mouth shut."
She then turned to the other servants.
"All of you. Thank you for not telling on me."
Then she turned back to me.
"To be honest, I don't know why I said those things. Maybe I was a little jealous of you. But now I've realized that there's no need of your affair with Mr Jackson because it's nothing." She stated.
"I actually feel sorry for you, Lisa. Mr Jackson just used you and threw you away. Now he's about to get engaged and married and you will be known as nothing but the maid who was foolish enough to get into the boss' bed." Mary said.
Mary's words felt like a stab in the heart.
Engaged? Married?
What?
My eyes darted across the room. What was she talking about? I didn't understand.
My heart was racing.
No.
It couldn't be. There was no way, Mr Jackson is getting married.
He didn't…I haven't heard about any engagement or wedding.
For some reason, I felt like I wanted to puke. My head was spinning. And my throat felt dry. I was breathing fast.
"What…What are you talking about, Mary?" I asked.
"What do you mean…marriage?" I stammered.
"He didn't tell you." Mary mocked. I could see the sheer pleasure on her face. She was enjoying every minute of my confusion.
"He didn't tell you." She repeated.
"I'm sure he didn't. Why would he? You're nothing to him, Lisa. Just a fling. you're nothing but a distraction. A dirty secret." She said.
I shook my head.
No. This wasn't happening.
"I….No ." I stuttered. I didn't know what to say.
"Oh yes, Lisa. You should have heard the news this morning. It was all over the media. Mr Jackson is getting engaged soon. Do you really think in that dumb little head of yours that Mr Jackson would ever consider marrying you? That you are worthy of being his wife. Of becoming Mrs Jackson. You are not. You are nothing but a plaything. You're ...." Mary was still speaking when the head chef cut her off.
"Mary! Enough!" He shouted.
Mary clamped her mouth shut.
"That's enough. Stop talking." He said again.
I was frozen. It was like time had stopped.
I couldn't breathe.
I pushed the plate away. Everything was a blur. Nothing made sense.
"Lisa. Are you okay?" The head chef came closer to me. He tried to place a hand on my shoulder but I pushed it away.
"I'm fine." I snapped.
Then I stood to my feet and walked out of the kitchen.
There were tears running down my face.
I was crying. Tears were running down my face.
Mr Jackson was getting married. And he didn't even tell me. He didn't have the decency to say anything.
Fck.
How could he do this to me?
After everything. After last night. He didn't say a word.
I was so confused.
Did it all mean nothing to him. Was he just playing with me.
My heart was aching. There was a lump in my throat. I was so angry.
He had used me. He was using me.
And I was a fool. A bloody i-diot.
I had believed him. All those sweet words. I believed him.
Stupid. Stupid.
He didn't mean a single word. All the promises.
My eyes were filled with tears and my mind was so foggy.
I didn't know when I accidentally bumped into someone. I slipped and almost fell but a pair of strong hands reached out and steadied me.
"Lisa."
I looked up at the person I had bumped into.
It was Enzo.
"Enzo." I cried.
"It's okay, Lisa. I've got you." He whispered.
I was shaking. I couldn't hold myself together.
Enzo was holding me. He was looking at me. He could see the tears streaming down my face.
His fingers caressed my cheeks and he used his thumb to wipe the tears away.
"Shhh. Calm down, Lisa." He said.
But the tears wouldn't stop.
He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me into a tight embrace.
"I'm sorry." I mumbled.
"I'm so sorry." I told him.
"Sorry for what, Lisa. You have nothing to be sorry for. Nothing." He said as he stroked my hair.
I buried my head in his shoulders as I cried. Having his arms wrapped around me was comforting.
He was so warm. His body was strong and firm. He held me tighter and his chest rose up and down.
"Lisa." He whispered.
Then he pushed me away and placed both hands on my shoulders.
He looked down at me and then leaned forward and kissed my forehead.
His lips were soft and tender.
It was like the whole world had stopped.
All my sadness had evaporated.
I looked up at him. His eyes were dark. His hair was ruffled. And he was staring at me.
Maybe, I thought to myself. Maybe, I was falling in love with the wrong man.
Mr Jackson had done nothing but break my heart.
He had lied to me. Used me. Thrown me away.
Yet, here I was, crying in Enzo's arms.
Enzo was the better man. He loved me. I could see it in his eyes.
All he did was shower me with affection.
He never once lied to me.
Maybe…I was a fool for not falling in love with Enzo.
We stared at each other.
Then without thinking, I leaned forward and kissed him.