Secret Love

CHAPTER2

"Welcome, welcome my baby girl" Aunt Miranda said to Julia as she hugged her tightly.

"Oh! Aunt I missed you too" She said smiling.

I

Before her was the biggest mansion she had ever seen, it stood high and tall and she couldn't get enough sight of it.

"This is wonderful. Aunt you should have persuaded me sooner,I can't believe it took me this long to be here" Julia said as she looked at the mansion in awe.

"Let's go in, you need to take a rest. Your things have been taken to your quarter." She said and held Julia's hand as she led her into the mansion.

The outside of the mansion did as much justice as the inside.

The ambience of the mansion was rich and boogie, she had always known houses like that existed but never had she thought she would ever get to work in one, especially one owned by the famous THE STONE FAMILY.

"Wow this is......." She kept saying in awe as she took in all that was before her.

"I'd like for you to rest for a while and then once it's dinner time I will ask for you to be called to the kitchen. Then I can introduce you to the family." she said as they got to a door.

"This is my room?" she asked as she pushed it open.

It was way better than what she had back in the countryside, the fresh fragrance coming out of the room made her feel at home.

"Thank you Aunt." She gave her aunt a kiss on the cheek and went into the room.

She went next to the window and drew it open. Her Quarter was in another section of the room.

The air in this part of the city was so different from what she was used to back in the countryside. For a second her mind trailed to Durian,she wondered what he would be doing at that time. If he would be searching for her as she had left before he got back from work.

He had been calling incessantly and she had changed her number to prevent him from reaching out to her. She didn't want to keep thinking about him.

"Ah I'm so tired" she said as she laid on the bed. She must have been so tired as sleep soon drew her close.

"Hello" She said to the young girl in front of her door who had been knocking.

"Hello. Aunt Miranda asked for you to come down. I can see you’ve changed into the dress" The girl said smiling.

She seemed really friendly and would probably be 20 years of age.

"Oh thank you. I'm Julia" Julia said, smiling at her.

1"1 am Rebekah. Aunt Miranda has said a lot about you" She said, still smiling as she led the way to the kitchen.

The kitchen was to be expected of course with expensive silverware and a huge round dinner table in the middle.

"I'll need you to serve dinner in the dining hall" Aunt Miranda said.

"Not here?" Julia said surprised.

"Only the Staff dine here. You need to be careful and make no mistakes She warned. She was treating Julia like she would any other new staff.

"Yes Ma'am" Julia said calmly.

Soon they were done serving the food and stood at a corner as the whole family began trooping out.

Julia gently adjusted herself as she faced her head down just as she had seen the other staff do.

"Aunt Miranda,you look great as always" A young man playfully walked up to her and planted a kiss on her cheek as she smiled.

Aunt Miranda had been working for that family for 35 years already,she had watched the family grow into the empire it had become. She had also helped look after the family over the years and it showed by how much respect they had for her.

"Hi mum" The young man said as he took a seat facing Julia.

"I'm guessing your brother won't be joining us." The woman who was their mother said.

She was richly dressed but comfortable,she seemed really accommodating although she looked stern.

"Mum you know how Reid is, he is still back at the office and he will be working late." Julia still hadn't gotten his name and although she was really curious as to what he looked like,she kept facing down.

"Who is the new girl?" He finally took notice of Julia.

"That is my niece Julia I told you about ma'am" Aunt Miranda said smiling proudly.

"Hello Ma'am, Hello Sir' Julia finally rose her head up to greet them.

She finally took a good look at them all, the woman who Seemed to be the woman of the house looked to be in her early 60s or late 60s,she was smiling gently at Julia. It was just the woman and young man who had entered earlier.

"I'm Gregory but you can call me Greg." the young man finally said as he continued eating.

"Yes Sir Greg." was all Julian said and went back to facing down.

The dinner was a long one and she was worn out from standing all evening. Contrary to her former job, where she had to stay seated at her desk all day long.

After the dinner, the 5 staff in the house consisting of the butler, Aunt Miranda, Rebekah,and two other male staff were gathered in the kitchen as they set the table for their dinner.

Contrary to anyone's expectation, there weren't as many staff as anyone would have thought. Julia, who wasn't really hungry, excused herself and went up to her quarters.

As Julia was finding it difficult to sleep,she had begun to feel hungry and decided to go to the kitchen to get something to eat.

She picked up her phone to check what time it was and it was just twenty minutes past one in the morning, she gently adjusted her night dress and headed for the kitchen

The hallway to the kitchen was dimly lit by candles as she walked slowly to avoid waking anyone up.

"Oh my God!!!!" She let out a scream as she held her chest. It was pounding loudly as she was shocked from finding anyone in the kitchen at that time.

I "Who are you?" The man asked. He was wearing a gray colored suit as he had a plate of salad in front of him.

He had a surprised look on his face as he looked at Julia from head to toe.

"Uhm my name is Julia sir." Julia said as she stood straight. She felt unsure as to what to say or do as she didn't even know who was before her.

"I do not care for your name,l mean who are you?" He asked, this time standing to face Julian.

Standing so tall with a broad shoulder and a cold look, Julian didn't know what to say as she began stammering.

"I’m the the new.........

" She was cut short before she could complete her sentence.

"What is going on here? I heard your scream" Aunt Miranda said as she walked into the kitchen.

"Oh Reid, are you just coming in, you should have asked for me so I could've fixed you a proper meal" Aunt Miranda said as she moved to pick up the plate of salad he had on the dining table.

"I'm guessing you both have met. Reid, this is my niece Julia." she said to Reid who was now sitting facing Aunt Miranda.

Julia heaved a sigh of relief as she clearly wasn't sure how to have handled the situation.

"I'm sorry if I must have startled you,l didn't mean to. I was expecting to find anyone sitting in the dark in the kitchen." She finally said.

"Reid, she is the new live in maid and only just got here

yesterday.

"You don't have to fix something for me right now, l will feel too heavy later in the morning and I have a very important meeting to attend.

“Goodnight Aunt" He moved in closer and gave Aunt Miranda a gentle kiss on the cheek,grabbed an apple from the basket on the table before leaving.

He didn't even look in Julia's direction as he walked past her.

"Why are you awake sweetie?" Aunt Miranda asked as she tapped on the seat for Miranda to sit

"I was beginning to feel hungry and wanted to come get something to eat." Julia said as she took an apple from the basket.

"I left food for you in the fridge, 'll just heat it up for you." she said as she headed to the fridge.

"That is so sweet of you Aunt. But Aunt is he,usually that cold?" She was referring to Reid. He had left a strong impression on her despite not having said much to her.

She took a huge bite of the apple as she began chewing.

"Well Reid has always been a quiet boy, well now he is a man.

I'd advise you to always show perfection whenever he is present because he hates tardiness."

Hearing all of that made Julia even more curious about what kind of man Reid Stones really is.