A work in progress.

2008-02-28T01:11:19Z

Aubrey gave a lazy stretch and rolled bonelessly out of bed, moving to stand at the window. The window looked out over the vineyard, workers moving back and forth busy with the harvest. It had been ages since he'd stayed at the villa long enough to be around for harvest, forgetting how the atmosphere of the place changed with the work being done.

Moving away from the window, Aubrey walked out of the bedroom and down the main stairwell. He hadn't bothered to get dressed, padding silently through the house on bare feet and in a pair of pajama pants. Aside from the workers in the vineyard, the only other people around would the those that kept the house looking nice and running smoothly. He paused in the doorway of the kitchen and watched an older woman move about getting lunch ready for everyone. While those he employed here had the option of getting their own food for meals, he also had a cook to prepare meals for them. Though, the chief wasn't the one that was moving about the kitchen. Talia, the woman who supervised everyone and picked up where others slacked some days was there instead. She was, above all of his staff his favorite, though it probably had something to do with watching her grow up, get married, and then have children of her own. She'd started working at the villa when she was seventeen as a maid, now at forty-two she ran the house with an expert hand. She was also the one person in the house that knew what he was, and the only one he had much dealing with. She lived in the first floor wing of bedrooms with her husband and the other people that worked in the house. Once upon a time her children had lived there too, and it was oddly enjoyable to have had the laughter that had rung through the house, but they had grown and moved on with their lives outside the villa.

He was pulled out of his thoughts by a startled shout as Talia finally noticed him in the doorway. A hand over her heart she gave a small glare at Aubrey. "You startled me, Signore Remmington."

Aubrey gave a faint bow and a sheepish grin. "Sono spiacente, Talia." He pushed off the doorway and moved into the kitchen. When he reached the island that held the lunch she was working on he leaned against it, his hand snuck out towards a mixing bowl that held the makings of the dessert she was preparing for later.

The smack of wood against flesh rang loud through the kitchen. Talia pointed the spoon at Aubrey as he took his hand back, rubbing it softly. She'd hit harder than she would one of the other men that might sneak a taste, but she knew what he was and what he could take. How she managed to hit as hard as she did without breaking that spoon amazed him sometimes. "That is for later." Her voice was stern, like a mother chastising a child. She knew that she was the only person that could get away with doing what she just did to Aubrey, both the smack with the spoon and the chastising, which is why she tried to keep it to a minimum. "When did you get in?" She moved the bowl to the counter behind her to keep him from attempting to try it again.

His eyes tracked the bowl's move with a look that said she was being mean at not letting him try it. "Late last night." He paused, giving the appearance of breathing should anyone walk in and before he could say more a sharp inhale of breath stopped him. He turned towards the doorway and gave the woman standing there a grin.

The woman looked like a younger version of Talia, which was appropriate being that she was Talia's youngest daughter, Estella. He'd met her when she was but an infant and hadn't seen her since, but the look it his eyes said she grew up well, and earned a lighter smack to his upper arm from Talia. She tilted her head in an almost nod to Aubrey, a faint blush in her cheeks from both the look she'd gotten and the fact that he was shirtless. Her eyes moved from Aubrey to her mother and she raised her brow. "He doesn't look like one of the workers Signore Remmington hires." The fact that she was talking about Aubrey in front of him didn't seem to bother her much, though to be fair it didn't bother him either.

Talia gave a disapproving look to her daughter and gave Aubrey a briefly sympathetic smile. "This is Signore Remmington's son. He's taking over the business for his father." That earned Estella's blush to deepen, not expecting that. It had been a game with his staff, because he didn't age he put in an appearance a few times for a few years and then a couple decades later reappeared as the son of the father, and Talia had been wonderful at keeping that working.

Estella turned to Aubrey and gave a soft bow. "My apologies, Signore. I didn't know that you or your father would be visiting anytime soon..."

Aubrey caught her chin and raised her gently out of the bow by it. "An easy mistake. My family has a habit of not saying when we are going to be visiting." He gave Estella a charming smile, "And please call me Alex, Signora Mancini." He released her chin and moved a couple feet to kiss the side of Talia's head. "I'll get out of your hair, but just so you know I'm staying for a few days at least."

Talia gave him a one armed hug before watching him make his way back towards the stairs and his section of the house. She also knew that rolling muscle thing he was doing as he left was for her daughter's eyes, because he'd never done it for her after she married. He was good at only tempting those of his staff that were single. And when her daughter didn't turn around after he was out of sight, she gave a light swat to Estella's arm, earning a jump and a small squeak. "It'd be best not to get involved with him."

Estella's eyes titled towards the direction Aubrey had gone before giving her mother a small frown. "Why not? He seems perfectly nice."

"He travels too much, his family as a whole never stays in one place too long." Talia explained as she finished with the lunches. It was one of the reasons there were so many people staffed both in the vineyards and in the house. Talia handed to platter with lunch on it to her daughter. "But since you are here, make yourself useful and feed the hungry people outside, si?"

Estella took the tray from her mother and in passing gave a a kiss to her cheek. "Si, mama."

shexwrites

A work in progress.