Ties That Bind Us

Allegra's Life

Allegra prepared herself for the exchange, the money for her mother. After Callum had provided her with the money, she had come to realize that that wasn't the end of her worries. The deadline was two weeks and by grace,she already had the money now but the problem became how she would contact Antonio so she could give him the money.

The thought had left her worried the whole day and she could barely get any sleep that night, the next morning was terrible as a huge headache seized her and she had eye bags under her eyes. She knew she would look terrible and she didn't even want to get out of bed but when she remember she had to go to work,she grumpily and grudgingly trudged herself out of bed.

She went into the bathroom and took a quick shower before brushing her teeth. As soon as she was done freshening up,she threw on a polo shirt and some jeans before topping it up with matching flats. Her state of mind would not let her prepare breakfast so she didn't, she just grabbed from left over pizza from the fridge and microwaved. The pizza had almost gotten burnt because her mind had managed to wander from reality at the last minute and she was partially grateful that she hadn't decided to cook,knowing that she could have probably caused a fire and the extra stress would have made her late for work.

She quickly ate her pizza,only taking a few bites before gulping a healthy amount of water,after which she grabbed her bag and left the house. She took a cab to her first place of work a restaurant which wasn't very far from home. She had chosen to work here though the pay was a little less because it was closer to home and the closeness would enable her to be able to quickly go home to see her mother during lunch break or when there weren't much customers and her boss would not notice her absence.

Getting there,she gets seriously scolded for arriving late but she couldn't take it to heart as she had zoned out during the whole lecture from her boss and had barely heard what the lady had said, except for the part that if she came late again, it would be deducted from her pay cheque.

During lunch break, she wanted to rush home to go check up on her mum but then she realized that the woman was still in the Mafia's custody. She couldn't hold back her tears and Sherry, her friend and coworker asked her what the problem was.

She wanted to hide it but Sherry wasn't someone who could be swayed off so easily, once she had set her mind on finding out something, there was no going back and she certainly would not rest until she found out.

After being pestering for a minute or so,Allegra finally opened up to Sherry about her mother's k********g but she excluded the part in which she had gone hysterical, a state which fate had weirdly used to bring a dashing Knight to her,who went by the name of Callum.

Allegra also failed to tell Sherry about the deal she had made with Callum or even the circumstances surrounding the deal,she felt she couldn't trust anyone with this kind of information and so, she lied about the source of the money instead, saying that she had borrowed it from someone.

It was evident that Sherry found it hard to believe it that anyone would just borrow a poor 18 year old girl the sum of 15 million dollars just like that, without any collateral, interest or at least something in return but she didn't want to drag the matter out or imply that Allegra was lying or only telling half the truth. She knew that they were friends and understood that there had to be a reason she why Allegra would decide to hide where she got the money.

Sherry only gave some encouragement and friendly advice, trying to cheer her up and the same time low key telling her to be careful in whatever she did,especially as the case concerned the Mafia. Allegra continued working and finished her shift at a little over noon. She didn't have time to rest or have some Fu ,she didn't even go home,it was straight to her second place of employment.

She worked for a wealthy business couple who weren't at home most of the time as a full time babysitter. The driver usually took the kids to school because their parents left the house very early in the morning and brought them back by 2PM after they were done with all their lessons. By that time,Allegra would already be waiting for them and she would babysit them till their parents arrived, most times late in the night when the kids had already been safely tucked in bed and were sleeping peacefully.

Allegra's heart went out to them because it was obvious that they hardly saw their parents or spent time with them and kids were still so little. They were three in number,two boys and a girl. The first child was Brooklyn, he was nine and he was in the seventh grade,he was a very smart kid and was also very cute. The second child was Daisy,she was just five and she had just gotten into the third grade not too long ago. She was a cute child but she appeared moody most of the time,always withdrawing to herself, her stuffed bear in her hand. 

Allegra felt that the last child was most affected, he was still baby,being barely two but he wasn't even getting his mother's attention at all. A mother's love was being supplemented by a daycare and Allegra couldn't help but admit that nothing about it was right but she knew she couldn't do anything about it and besides, if the couple weren't so busy making money and had most of their time to spend with their kids then they wouldn't even need her and then she wouldn't get paid so she couldn't complain much. She only wished that the couple would adjust their schedule so that their children could see and spend time with them everyday even if it was just a few hours.

Being someone who didn't grow up with a father's love,she knew how hard it was for them,especially as both parents were practically missing from their lives. They were nothing more than rich orphans because their parents made such to provide them with everything that they could ever want as long as it was something that money could buy but they couldn't spend time with them. Allegra knew that the kids were unhappy so she always tried her best to make her time with them memorable and they had really come to love her and always waited eagerly for her arrival.

Allegra arrived quickly at the Callisto Mansion which was home to the kids she was babysitting. After getting out of the cab and paying for it,she couldn't help but notice and get that gut feeling that she was being followed. She looked around but couldn't see anyone but then her eyes caught sight of a familiar looking car,she remembered seeing the car that morning while she was in the taxi that drove her to work. She wanted to be sure that she was actually being followed and it all wasn't just some weird coincidence so she walked forward, not looking behind and then she felt it again,that feeling that someone was following her.

She pretended to drop her bag and when she bent down to pick it up,she finally caught him from the corner of her eyes. The man that was following her. He was tall,broad and gruff looking. He also had dark hooded eyes that spelt something dangerous, a dark aura surrounded him and his appearance certainly proved that he wasn't just a stalker or some secret admirer, no he wasn't. He was something more and then she remembered, Mafia. He had to be from the Mafia. She tried to taking a closer look without eliciting any suspicion from him but it was hard due to her position.

A good look at his beautiful features proved that he surely had to be of Italian descent and Allegra felt a weird sense of relief that he wasn't just a kidnapper. He was certainly one of Antonio Giovanni's men and she was sure that this man had been sent to watch and follow her because Antonio might be scared that she would place it safe and run away to save her own life,not caring about her mother's but she certainly wasn't like that. Her mum was everything to her.

The thought of walking up to him and telling him that the money was ready and she wanted the exchange to be done crossed her mind but she decided against it, advising herself to go into the mansion first and take care of the Callisto kids. Since this guy appeared to be following, she could meet up with him whenever.

She was already running late for her designated time with the kids and she didn't want them to complain about her to their parents so she quickly went in and did her job.

She took care of the kids,cooked and fed them lunch,played with them,helped Brooklyn and Daisy with their homework, listened to them talk about their day in school, bathed them,cooked and also fed them some dinner, before tucking them into bed with a bed time story. Baby Tucker seemed quite grumpy that evening, he didn't want to eat the food she made him and he continuously kept crying, Allegra feared he was coming down with something and made a note to herself to inform his parents to schedule him for a check up.

The eighteen months old child for some funny reason she couldn't place, had his own room and he slept in a huge cradle. Allegra carried him in her hands,and rocked him back and forth, singing all sorts of lullabies just to get him to go to sleep. It had been a long day and she was bone tired from having to do so much and she worried she would fall asleep first with Tucker still in her arms from just hearing herself sing.

After the third lullaby, Tucker finally showed some signs of falling asleep and Allegra took advantage of it,patting him gently until he closed his eyes. The baby snuggled to her bosom,holding onto her dress tight as if he was afraid that she would go away and Allegra couldn't help but smile as she remembered the deal she had signed.

It wouldn't be long now and she too would become a mother, she would have a cute little baby just like Tucker and she would love him with all her heart and give him all the care in the world, she would make sure to never let him go.

That joyful thought lasted for just a second as the other clauses of the contract slammed into her mind like a piece of steel. According to what she had signed, she would have to be absent in her baby's life after he or she was born and she would be no different from these children's parents, if not worse,having to be completely absent from her child's life from the day he was born. The thought left a bitter taste in her mouth and she decided to gently drop Tucker in his cradle since he had fallen asleep.

She kissed him lightly on the forehead before quietly leaving the room to check on his siblings. After making sure they were still soundly asleep, she gathered her things and took a look at the time,it was about 7:30 PM and she wanted to leave but she knew she couldn't leave until their parents had arrived.

She was afraid of being engulfed in her own thoughts and just as if they had heard her prayers,they soon arrived and gave her a bonus for taking such good care of their kids. After thanking them,she took her leave. She boarded a cab and just as she had suspected, that car was following her again.