Chapter 13
1117 Words
Rachel
The next morning I asked for my breakfast to be sent to my room, I was a bundle of nerves. I still couldn’t believe I had made such a scandalous deal with Enrique. I slowly drank my tea when the man himself opened my bedroom door and walked in.
My eyes bulged and I reached up to cover myself with a blanket.
“Enrique?? What the bloody hell do you think you’re doing in here? You cant just walk in my room like that unannounced!”
He smiled at me. “You did the very same to me two weeks ago.”
“That doesn’t matter! I’m not properly dressed.”
He looked down at how tightly I was holding the blanket to my chin and shook his head. “If I’m going to teach you how to seduce a man-more specifically what men like in general-then you’re going to have to start trusting me.”
My stomach dropped a bit.
Trust him? Could I do that? To talk to me yes, show me even yes, but see my body for how broken and imperfect it was…no.
“Fine, but I have boundaries.”
He nodded. “That’s good. Let’s hear them.”
He walked over to the foot of my bed and sat down. He was wearing a crisp clean white shirt under a light orange vest and dark blue pants. He had recently bathed because his back hair and facial hair were a bit wet and he smelled of soap and firewood. It was a pleasant smell.
As if reading my mind he playfully tugged on the blanket. “I have a small fire place in my washroom. I get cold quite easily so the smell of smoke lingers. It’s quite annoying.”
I shrugged. “I don’t mind it.”
He smiled. “So what are your boundaries?”
I sat up straighter but inched away from him-suddenly realizing how close he was to my leg.
“First, I don’t like being very close to. Not.. down there..” I said nodding towards my feet but he thought I meant somewhere else.
His black eyes got sad. “I hope you do realize I would never do such a thing. I wouldn’t do anything without you wanting me to.”
I wanted to correct him, to tell him that’s not what I meant. But I stopped myself because I couldn’t tell him what I really meant. I just nodded and continued. “Second, I don’t like being caught off guard in the mornings. I’d prefer if we started our lessons in the afternoon.”
“I’m usually out on the afternoons. Viscount duties and all.”
“Then when you get back. After dinner maybe? And if you’re here one afternoon we could do that.”
He nodded. “Fine, but not too late. I have friends to see and things to do.”
I rolled my eyes knowing what two friends he was talking about. “And finally, you have to be honest with me. If I’m doing something wrong..if I don’t play out a certain act or scenario right you have to be brutally honest. I don’t want you taking it easy on me.”
He grinned. “I’d expected nothing less.”
He got up and as he began to walk away I called out to him.
“What about you Enrique? As I’m helping you find a wife and during our lessons.. What are your boundaries?”
He looked at me for about 30 seconds before he spoke in a flat tone I had never heard from him before. “Don’t hold my hand. That’s all I ask.” As he walked away he called out again. “We start tonight in the tea room.”
After he answered my question he excused himself and walked out of my room. I was a bit confused at his request but didn’t question it. They were boundaries for a reason.
I got up slowly and painfully began to make my way to the washroom when there was a knock on the door. I panicked thinking it was Enrique but mother walked in with an older woman.
“Rachel my dear, this is Mrs. Abarca. She will be helping tend to your needs.” Mother smiled at me. “All of them.”
I looked at Mother a bit upset. “Why not you?”
Her smiled faltered a bit. “Because I have meetings to tend to with your brother my dear. He is a grown man but he needs assistance making decisions regarding our estate and money. He’s a bright young man but I know more than he does.”
“Will they even let you into said meetings Mother?”
Mrs. Abarca spoke up. “The men here highly respect women, so if Lady Thompson and Lord Oliver demand it, then they will accept it.”
Mother grinned and hugged me. “Don’t worry my dear, Mrs. Abarca knows about your condition, and she is a former nurse as well. She will take care of you better than I.”
“You told her?!” My face grew hot with anger.
Mrs. Abarca walked towards me and shook her head. “I noticed the first day you arrived my lady. I was the one who asked to assist you.”
Tears filled my eyes. She had noticed.
All these years I thought I had been so smart and quick about hiding my.. condition. Yet it turns out someone was able to point it out in a matter of seconds. Who else has noticed?
I looked at Mrs. Abarca and noticed she had said everything with loving and warm eyes. She was a shorter rounder woman with brown eyes and gray hair that was pulled back into a tight bun. She had soft wrinkles and rosy cheeks. She looked at me with respect and acceptance-not pity.
I felt a bit better and nodded towards Mother.
“I’ll be fine. Have a nice day Mother.”
She hugged me and walked out. She smiled as she left-a smile I knew that meant she was up to something.
Mrs. Abarca offered her arm to me. “Washroom my lady?”
I nodded and took her arm.
“What dress should I prepare for you my lady?”
I thought about my first lesson today with Enrique and how I wanted to show up ready and happy to learn. I needed to break away from my dull wardrobe and begin new.
“The pale yellow dress will be fine, thank you.”
This was going to be a new chapter in my life.
- Writer
