Taken (Dark Desires 1)

The hallways were much longer than Veronica would have ever expected, with doors lining either side.

“And here,” Maria said with a smile. “Is your room.”

Maria opened the door, and again Veronica could not keep the look of shock off of her face.

The room was large, and it was complete with a king-sized bed with a four-poster frame and curtains. The room also had a vintage vanity, a small cream colored sofa, and a chair, as well as a long bench at the foot of the bed. The bedclothes were a dusty rose color, and they complimented the cream colored walls and dark wood of the furniture and floors. To offset the hard word of the floor, there was a large, soft rug that matched the color of the bedding and tied the room together.

There was also a nook surrounded by a window where veronica could picture herself curling up and reading if she ever had the time to do so.

“And the bathroom is just over there, and your closet is there,” Maria pointed to two different doors.

“Thank you,” Veronica said, more than a little shocked by the opulence of her dwellings.

“Why don’t you take a minute to unpack what you’ve already brought,” Maria suggested. “And then I can give you the whole tour.”

“That sounds great,” Veronica nodded. Maria gave her a smile and then made her way out of the room.

Veronica sat down on the long bench at the foot of her bed and released a soft whoosh of air that had built up in her lungs. She was struggling to accept the fact that soon, this was going to become familiar to her, and it would be as natural as breathing to live here.

In a haze, Veronica unpacked her few belongings into the large walk-in closet. Her small quantity of clothes seemed even smaller compared to the size of the closet. Once the rest of her clothes were there, it wouldn’t seem quite so large, but there was no way they would fill it up either.

She put her suitcase in a corner of the closet and looked around, making sure she liked the way she had placed her clothes. She stepped out of the closet and took in the sight of her extravagant room once more, then she left and went downstairs to meet up with Maria.

Once there, Maria went through the house with great detail. She left no stone unturned, letting Veronica know what each and every room was, and which ones she was responsible for. By and large, the household staff took care of most of the things, but she was still responsible for the small maintenance items, and of course anything that the girls impacted.

“Speaking of the girls,” Veronica spoke up as they came up in conversation. “Where are they right now?”

“They’re out with the interim nanny,” Maria explained. “We just wanted to give you the chance to get the lay of the land and then meet them. They should be in at about noon; they went to see a movie.”

“Okay,” Veronica nodded. She appreciated the time she had been given to get to know the house, but her main job would be interacting with the girls, so she was eager to meet them.

“Well, that’s about all I’ve got for you,” Maria said, clapping her hands together. “Make yourself at home! Unless of course you have any questions.”

“Actually,” Veronica said, and Maria raised an eyebrow. “I do have some concerns about my moving situation.”

“Oh that,” Maria waved a hand. “Not even complicated. We have the best movers. We would just need your permission to enter the premises and we will take care of breaking the lease and everything. You don’t have to worry about any of that. And any furniture you have can either be sold or put into storage at Mr. Davenport’s expense at your discretion.”

“Actually, that’s just the issue,” Veronica spoke up. “I live with my boyfriend, so our things are kind of mixed up together.”

“Oh,” Maria blinked, as though that possibility hadn’t even crossed her mind. “Well that does complicate things a bit.”

Veronica waited as Maria seemed to think the situation over in her head.

“Well,” Maria frowned a little. “I’ll have to call Mr. Davenport and work out the situation with him. Do you mind if I step out for a moment?”

“Of course not,” Veronica smile pleasantly.

“The house is as good as yours,” Maria gestured around as she turned and pulled her phone out. “Make yourself at home.”

Veronica watched as Maria went out the kitchen door onto the porch in front of the pool. She couldn’t help but feel a little awkward, but she figured she may as well try to normalize all this as soon as possible. So, she moved into the kitchen and took a glass from the cupboard and filled it with water from the sink.

She moved over to the breakfast bar and sat down on one of the cushioned stools. She sipped at her water as she went through a mental list of the things she was responsible for. She assumed she would likely do her set of chores while Davenport was at work so that she wouldn’t be disturbing him in the evenings when he was home. That certainly wouldn’t be hard, and she could do it all while keeping a close eye on the girls.

As Veronica was thinking of these things, Maria came back into the room, and she turned to look over at her.

“Mr. Davenport says not to worry,” Maria said with a calm smile. “He is going to take care of absolutely everything.”

Veronica frowned a little, and she opened her mouth as if to speak, but Maria held her hand up to stop her.