"Now that's something I don't see every day," the elderly receptionist said behind me.
I turned to her and asked, "What do you mean?"
She chuckled. "Aria is never like this when that Sophie woman comes to pick her up."
"Really?" I asked, turning my eyes to Aria once again, feeling my heart ache for the little girl at the reminder of Sophie's mistreatment.
Aria excitedly carried on, telling me about all the wonderful things she'd done at school today while I encouraged her by smiling and nodding. A moment later, another little girl showed up. The cutie with a mop of thick red curls and sprinkle of freckles across the bridge of her small nose was Susie, Aria's best friend.
"Hi, Mia," Susie said once Aria had introduced me to her. "Aria told me all about you and stuff. She said you cook very nice spaghetti Bolognese. It's my favorite food too. So can we make it together when I come over this weekend? Can we? Can we, please?"
I chuckled and nodded. "Of course," I said.
Not long after, a woman named Lisa, Susie's mother, who like her daughter had bright red hair and freckles on her lovely face, introduced herself to me. I didn't know how I should present myself to her in relation to Aria and James, so I simply said, "I'm Mia Donovan."
The receptionist didn't forget to aid me in my introduction and added, "Mr. Maxwell's girlfriend." She even winked at me.
I blushed profusely at this while Lisa said, "Wow! James is finally getting real. That's great news. Congratulations."
Aria chose that moment to announce to everyone, "Mia's my girlfriend too. We slept together last night, you know, in my daddy's bed."
Oh no, I thought. Was Aria going to tell everyone what had happened? Instantly I felt more than a little embarrassed. I wanted to stop her, but the little girl was too excited. I found I couldn't interrupt her. So I stood there, my face bright red, as I listened to Aria reciting the tale.
"When I went to bed, it was just me and Daddy, but when I woke up this morning, Mia was in there with us too. I slept on the right of the bed, Mia in the middle, and Daddy on the left. It was the best slumber party ever."
She turned to Susie and said, "You should do that sometime. You know, sleeping with your mommy and daddy. It's so warm and cozy and just the best ever."
At this, Susie turned to her mom and asked, "Can we, Mommy?"
Lisa chuckled and said, "We'll have to ask your dad about that."
Susie pulled a face as she turned to Aria. "We have to ask Daddy, and he might say no."
Aria pulled a face too. "That's too bad."
Both Lisa and the receptionist burst out laughing. The three of us chatted for a bit about the two girls, and then fifteen minutes later, Aria and I returned to the car where John was still waiting patiently.
Back at the mansion, once we stepped into the large kitchen, Aria said, "I'm so hungry."
Martha, the house cook, chuckled and offered, "What would you like to have, Aria?"
Aria thought about it for a moment and then said enthusiastically, "Some chocolate cake, please."
A few minutes later, I watched her heartily consuming her chocolate cake, Sammy and Alfie by her side. Across the countertop, Martha leaned toward me and said lowly, "Miss Donovan, did you know? Miss Wilson has been fired."
The subject interested me, and I turned my eyes to Martha. "Really?"
I wasn't surprised. It was James after all. If Sophie were a man, it would have been worse than just getting fired. Much worse.
Martha continued. "She's finished packing her stuff, and I saw a moving van outside about half an hour ago."
I nodded at this. Of course, I wouldn't have known what had happened because I'd been in the library all morning, reading. After that, I'd been chatting on the phone with Andy and then Savanah, so I hadn't been paying much attention to what was happening around me. Then James phoned me and requested I go and pick Aria up for him.
Ms. Lane entered the room, and her eyes rested on me. I gave her a slight smile and said, "Hello, Ms. Lane."
The proficient housekeeper nodded. Then she said, "Mr. Maxwell called. He said his brothers will be coming for dinner tonight."
Martha immediately made a big fuss about what they should concoct for dinner and went about preparing a nice, hearty menu because the two younger brothers had particular tastes.
Ms. Lane turned to me and said, "I assume you heard about Miss Wilson?"
I nodded.
"Well, I can't say she didn't have it coming, behaving as she did," Ms. Lane said. She eyed Aria. "It's a good thing she's gone." She smiled, which surprised me because I'd always thought Ms. Lane was rather cold and distant.
She returned her attention to me. "Aria likes you. She's more herself since you've arrived. I'm glad." With that, she headed out the door to continue her work.
I stood there dumbfounded. Honestly, I'd always thought Ms. Lane didn't like me. I grinned, relieved and elated that James's staff was beginning to warm up to me, like Martha and John for example, and now the highly regarded regal housekeeper Ms. Lane as well.
"Aria, I'm going to be up in my room for a bit," I said to the little girl who was still enjoying her chocolate cake. "Do you want to show me your painting when I'm back?"
With her mouth full of cake, she nodded. I chuckled and then headed out the door.
On my way up the stairs, I heard my cell ding, informing me I had a message. I quickly checked it and found it was from James.
James: Scott and Eric are coming for dinner. Wear something pretty.
Scott and Eric? They had to be his brothers. As I headed into my room, I wondered what they were like. Without a doubt, I was sure they had that arrogant, elite demeanor just like James, the type that made girls weak in the knees yet made them want to run in the opposite direction at the same time because they were so far out of reach, like a sort of god.
My mind was still on the Maxwell brothers when my eyes caught sight of a piece of paper sitting on the bedside table. As I went to pick it up, I was pretty sure it wasn't there before.
Up close, I read the note, and it said:
I know you're dying to talk to me about what I did to your walk-in closet and your dresses.
Let's get it over and done with.
I shifted my gaze lower and saw there was a time and place for the meeting. There was also Sophie's signature at the bottom of the page.
I placed the piece of paper back on the table, thinking Sophie really did want to have a showdown between us. Then I thought it was a good idea since we needed to get this over with once and for all.
Chapter 17
Mia
After Aria had enthusiastically showed me her painting, which to my pleasant surprise turned out to be of us playing in the park on Sunday, I headed back to my room to shower and change for dinner while Aria had her private piano lesson with Mrs. West.
Twenty minutes later, I had finished showering and about to put on my cute dress when I heard Aria's voice in the distance, across the hallway.
"Is Uncle Scott and Uncle Eric really coming tonight? I can't wait to see them. I missed them so much 'cause I haven't seen them for a while. Will Grandpa be coming as well? Will he? Will he?"
I didn't miss the urgent excitement in her voice. I heard James chuckle and then say, "Yes, sweetheart, Uncle Scott and Uncle Eric are coming but not Grandpa. He's still in Japan."
"In Japan? Again? Oh, I know. Next time when he goes to Japan, maybe we all can go there too. Like as a family. Grandpa, Uncle Scott, Uncle Eric, Daddy, me, and Mia. Like a very big family. It's gonna be so much fun, right, Daddy? I want to go to Japan. Can we please, Daddy?"
James laughed. "Of course we can. How about when you have your next vacation?"
At this, I heard Aria shrieking with delight.
"Now then, haven't you made Mrs. West wait long enough? She'll be upset if you don't return to your piano lesson."
"I know... But she knows you just got home, and I told her I missed you and wanted to ki
ss you and talk to you for a bit and that I can't wait. She told me it's okay, so that's why I came to see you... But I'm going to go back now."
James chuckled again. "Good girl."
"But really, I can't wait to see Uncle Scott and Uncle Eric, Daddy." She paused for a moment and then continued. "Okay. Okay. I'm gonna go now."
I heard James say, "Have fun at your lesson."
"I will," Aria said loudly.
Then I heard her little footsteps running down the hallway, followed by the shutting of a door. I assumed Aria had gone off to her piano lesson with Mrs. West while James went into his room to shower and change for the evening. After that, all was silent.
A few moments later, I was dressed and headed out the door, thinking about Japan, me, Aria, and James. Wouldn't that be nice? A trip to Japan. I had always wanted to go there.
Suddenly I shook my head. Good God, what was I thinking? I was getting way ahead of myself here. Aria's suggestion had put some very inappropriate ideas in my head. After all, I was merely James's mistress. Nothing more and nothing less, so...
I was just passing James's door when I halted and stared at it for a moment. Then I couldn't help myself and gave it a few knocks.
"James?" I called out softly. "James?"
Silence.