NORA

It's different from the usual night that I would've had.

I don't see Maggie, but there are a lot of servants tonight who are serving drinks and appetizers to the guests in the lounge. The guests, being all, women. There's not a single man in sight. Not one. Which I find odd.

And the ages vary from Mrs. Sofia's to the one who seems even younger than me. She makes me meet all of them and introduces me as my mother's daughter. Some of them, too, know of my mother, which strikes as odd, but I push it under the rug, not wanting to get another thought in my head.

"Nora, come take a seat. Have something to drink." Mrs. Sofia gestures toward an empty spot on the couch, and I take that.

It's strange. They all seem so... poised, rich and well, I don't know how to put it, but they have an air around them that tells me that they're more than just mere acquaintances. There's something else, something that I'm not able to wrap my head around yet, but it's definitely there, especially with how Mrs. Sofia speaks with them, with a bit of authority that she hasn't used on me before.

I sit back on the couch with a flute of champagne in my hands, and my ears perk at the conversations around the table.

"...the season should be upon us soon enough, isn't it?"

"Yes, in two weeks, it should be time." Mrs. Sofia says, sitting near me. "It's going to be quite a big one. Many will be coming to town. The preparations have begun from the moment I returned."

"The season?" I look at her, curiously.

She simply smiles at my ignorance. "It's just an event."

"Oh, you've got to put Nora up to speed already, Sofia!" One of her friends, who was sitting the closest to her, says while looking at me.

"She'll come up to speed. Don't worry."

I'm trying to understand, everything, but it's hard. It's like they're talking and not, and there's something in the subtext that I don't know of, which makes it all the more difficult.

My phone buzzes beneath me, and I look at it briefly to see Elena calling me. I had forgotten to tell her that I'd be occupied tonight.

"I should take this," I say to Mrs. Sofia quietly before getting up from the seat and walking out of the lounge.

"Hey!" I pick up the call.

"Hey, you were supposed to be online tonight. Where are you?"

"Actually, there are a few people in the house that Mrs. Sofia invited, and she asked me to attend. So, I'm here with her. But we'll catch at night?"

"Ah, why didn't you tell me?"

"I forgot."

"It's cool. Enjoy your night then. Give me all the details later!"

"Love you." I hang up on the call after that and press the phone to my stomach while staring ahead at the empty hallway upstairs.

There are so many parts of this house that I haven't even seen yet. So many. I should probably go back inside and continue listening to what I can't understand. Or I could go down and get some actual food.

Before I can think of anything, a girl steps out of the lounge, from the same door that I came out of.

"You must be Nora."

I turn to her and nod, "Yes."

"I'm Olivia," She extends a hand, and I take it. "I've been hearing so much about you. My mother is a good friend to... Sofia."

"Oh, I hope all good things." I joke.

"Very," She chuckles and pulls back. "Well, I know it gets exhausting to be in all that, listening to them go on and on about the most mundane things."

"Oh, no—"

She cuts me off, "No need to be modest, Nora. I've seen the way they talk, and I'm tired of it. Let's take a walk, unless you really want to go back inside."

I'd rather choose the walk... or food. God, this insatiable hunger still hasn't gone away.

We walk across the hallway and then into another, further away from the noises and all that chatter.

"So, you've been living here?"

"Yes."

"You like it here? In this town? In this house?" Olivia asks me, briefly looking in my direction.

I nod, "It's... good. Just gets a little overwhelming sometimes. I have never been away from my parents, or my hometown—and suddenly, they're no longer here, and I'm here."

"Oh, I'm sorry for your loss."

"Thank you." I brush a stray strand of hair away from my face. "Have you been here before?"

"A few times, with my mama mostly. Though never alone and definitely not upstairs here. Always curious about how Vincenzo lives."

I halt at that, turning to her.

"Mr. Marcelli? You know him?"

She bursts out into loud laughter that echoes through the silence. "Mr. Marcelli? You call him that?"

"Yeah... why?" I feel heat creeping over my cheeks. "Should I not call him that? He doesn't like it?" What am I even doing, thinking about all these things?

"He's not your dad, is he? Or your uncle?" There's something about the way she speaks that is far more confident than I can ever be. "You can call him anything, considering that you are living here."

"Yeah, probably." I slip away from a moment. The nightmare comes before me, and I think of all of them that I've seen with him present.

"Do you like him?"

"What?" I snap back to reality.

"I mean, do you like him? Living here? With him?" she rephrases the question, and it still doesn't sound right.

"Y—yes. It's not that bad." It couldn't get worse. "I like Mrs. Sofia. She's really nice."

"Yes, yes, she is!" Olivia nods before stopping in front of a door that takes me a moment to recognize. "This is it, right?" she asks, turning to me.

"The—" I look up at the door and then back at her. "We probably shouldn't be here." I say as quickly as I can when I see it is Mr. Marcelli's room.

"Oh, there's no harm. He's not here to straighten us or do whatever he wants." She rolls her eyes at that. "He won't find out, don't worry." And she pushes the door open before stepping inside.

I stand at the door for a second before looking back to see if there's anyone here. It's quiet, and I follow after her.

"I was right, it's very—"

"Dark?" I say, completing her words.

"Yes. And gloomy."

"Do you know him well?" I ask while staying rooted near the door. I don't want to get caught, so if anyone comes, I can run quickly, and I don't really want to invade anyone's privacy either.

Olivia, on the other hand, doesn't really care. Her heels stomp all around the wooden floors of his room, every inch and every corner.

"Quite well. He's known around the town, which I'm sure you know by now."

"Actually," I straighten. "I don't know much about him. All I know is that he was a friend of my parents. He's very private. Doesn't speak much about himself, and I don't know how much of what to ask either. And very snappy." And brooding. And intimidating. And rude. The list goes on. "I wanted to cry when I played chess with him."

Olivia laughs again, loudly. "Oh, you played chess with him?"

"Barely."

"Well, you're still lucky. You're his responsibility—the rest of us, not so lucky." She's digging through something when she says that.

I furrow my brows and step further in. I can't see her, so I have to come around the corner. She's in his closet, which reeks of him. She's looking through clothes that are neatly hung on the rack or on shelves.

"What does that mean?"

"It means you can get away with a lot of stuff, but not us." She pulls away and turns around, facing me. "He's very strict on rules. Always has been. You'll get a pass if you break them because he won't be too hard on you, but not others," she explains, looking me up and down before stepping out.

He has already gone off on me. Countless times, if I add. That was nothing, according to Olivia?

"How so?" I ask, following her outside. "What happens if you break his rules? Is he dangerous? Or does he hurt you?"

She closes the door of his room, and then we're back in the cold hallway.

"Vincenzo has his ways, you know. And if you break his rules, it's a problem. He's very strict. You won't see him smiling at us. If you can make him smile, it's quite a victory."

"I haven't seen him smile at anyone, to be honest."

"Good, and neither will I, probably."

Right. So, I haven't even seen the good side of him, I'm guessing. If there is one. Probably not.

"Come on, we should head back. They'll begin wondering where we are." Olivia pulls my arm, and we head back to the lounge.

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