Total pages in book: 33
Estimated words: 31205 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 156(@200wpm)___ 125(@250wpm)___ 104(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 31205 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 156(@200wpm)___ 125(@250wpm)___ 104(@300wpm)
Once she realized Diago was not home, and like the previous night, she was going to have to fend for herself, she rummaged through the cupboards until she found some cereal, along with some milk. The milk was easy to find in the fridge.
So, after she ate breakfast, enjoyed a second cup of coffee with cream and sugar, she cleaned the kitchen and then sat at the counter for an hour. One full hour, waiting for instructions. That was what she had to do back home. Her mother, father, or brothers would give her instructions. Here, there was no one to tell her what to do. No letter with a list of instructions.
She went back to the library, sat down, and read some more.
Throughout the course of the day, she’d been drawn to the doors leading outside. After reading for the longest time she could ever remember, she’d gotten to her feet and looked out at the garden, and in that moment, all she wanted to do was walk. Only, she couldn’t.
The doors were locked, as she did try them, and she didn’t know if there was a code or key needed to get outside. All she could do was look, and wish.
Then, lunchtime came, along with her growling stomach, and she had no choice but to wander back to the kitchen. She made another sandwich, cheese and pickle this time, and it was so good.
After the sandwich, she wandered back to the library. She loved to read, but didn’t want to do so all day. In fact, as time ticked by and the loneliness started to seep in, she wished she had asked Diago more questions.
He’d sort of given her permission to explore, and she had tried to do that to no avail. Last night, she moved briefly from room to room. She knew what each room was, but did not linger too long in any of them. She had still been reeling from being taken by him.
Her parents hadn’t put up much of a fight, which was interesting. She should have known her father wouldn’t, seeing as no one wanted to marry her.
She’d heard her parents fighting about her. All they ever did was fight. Her father felt that even though daughters were useless, they could make an investment on her wedding day, especially when it came to who he wanted her to marry.
Vanessa pushed that crap to the back of her mind, because there was no point in thinking about it. She wasn’t with her father or her mother. She wasn’t with anyone, so all she could do was deal with what she had now.
This was her life … Diago’s … whatever he wanted to do with her.
Did he want to play with her? Use her? Torment her?
Vanessa had none of the answers, and now it was nearing dinnertime. She opened the fridge and decided she wanted pasta with meat.
After the last six months of being on a strict no-carb or flavor diet, she needed the break. She needed good, yummy, delicious food, filled with meat and cheese, and all the good stuff.
She grabbed some chicken, along with a nice wedge of parmesan cheese. She was going to make chicken parmesan. Delicious thick pieces. And she’d even put some in the fridge to eat cold.
With the chicken on the counter, she found the meat chopping board, sliced the two breasts in half so she had nice thin pieces. Next, she found the mallet, and gave each piece a whack, which felt a little more fun than it should have. After this, she moved onto the bread. She dropped the bread into the machine, whizzing it until it became fine breadcrumbs.
“No carbs, not today. Eat your heart out. Bread on the chicken, pasta underneath, and I may even have bread with this and make myself a sandwich.”
It was nice to give a big “fuck you” to her parents by eating what she wanted. If Diago wasn’t going to give her rules, then she would do whatever the hell she wanted.
With the bread in a bowl, she grated tons of parmesan and added plenty into the bread, along with fresh chopped parsley, salt, and finally, a nice healthy pinch of pepper. She did use a little too much and had to sneeze to the side as it tickled her nose. Giving a little sniff, she moved back to the food and got to cooking.
Her next plan was a garlicky tomato sauce, and she added olive oil to the pan as she cooked. She couldn’t help but smile. The only thing missing from her happiness at that moment, was some music. When her parents were away, and Maureen took her into the kitchen, she loved to cook and dance.
In that moment, Vanessa stopped. She couldn’t help it because she missed her best friend, her nanny, the one person she could trust with every secret.