005 · The Countess

"It's the best color, babe," I chuckled.

"No, it's not. It's eerie, creepy, dark, smells like death, and is the void of all colors. I hate black," my friend cried.

"Well, Rosewood Manor is mine, and I'm the one whose gonna live in it, ain't I? So, what matters is what I like, babe. You picked the color of your townhouse," pink, let me tell you, she picked pink. "And I want black."

"Ugh, talk to her, Cassie, she doesn't listen to me!" She passed the phone. "This gothic madness was supposed to be a phase, why is she stuck in it until now? Ugh, she would look better in pink."

More like yellow than pink, as my skin is tanned, and I have long wavy raven black hair, with light green eyes. Yellow and gold look good, and though I like gold, I still prefer black. Black and red, and other dark tones, but mainly black, and secondly red, then thirdly gold. That's that.

"Alright, Lea, what shade of black do you want?" Cassie asked, a lot more technical than Sera, who gasped in dismay at her question, and I almost cracked at it, but I held the laughter inside. "Black, ebony, crow, charcoal, midnight, ink, raven, oil, grease, onyx, pitch, soot, sable, jet black, coal, metal, obsidian, jade, spider, or leather black?"

"Ugh, it's all black, it's the same thing," Sera growled at the back.

I rolled my eyes at her stupid comment as an Architect, "Sable for the walls, raven for the arches of the windows and doors, obsidian for the doors, jet black for the windows and stairs. Tell him to get black marble to renovate all of the indoor stairs from upstairs and underground."

"Yeah, boss!" She chanted.

"Hey, I'm the CEO!" Sera cried.

"And Lea pays both mine and your salary, idiot. She's the boss."

"Ugh, I hate that you have a point," she pouted dramatically.

"Did you talk to aunt and uncle, Lea?" Cassie asked.

A nod, "I did. Mami freaked out as I imagined, papi kinda did too, but then I managed to get them to soften up, and they made me promise to only move to Rosewood Manor after they've inspected everything after the reform, themselves. They also asked to take care of finding the best cyber-security company for me. That is, before they began to flirt, get lovey dovey, and almost make out in front of me, then I ran out of mami's office, nauseated." I picked a croissant and kissed it, "Now I'm in their kitchen, eating up Véronique's delicious chocolate croissants with tea."

"Don't make us envious," they groaned together.

Just to make them envious, I took a crunchy bite, "Hmmmm, this is delicious," I moaned, making Véronique laugh. "Bye, babes," I hang up. "Ugh, I think I'm gonna combust, I was soooooo needing your croissant, Véronique," I cried, putting my phone back in pocket, and leaned closer to the island, pretending to hug the crystal tray in front of me. "Can you make like… ten of these for me to take with me tomorrow?" I pouted.

She petted my hair that's tied on a loose bun on the top of my head, softly, "Of course, Lea," she beamed. "I'll make you some tiramisu, lemon pie, some Swiss cheese with ham sandwiches, and that dark chocolate with peanuts brownie I know you love. With some London fog tea latte, and iced green tea. You'll be going in the jet, right?"

A nod, "Yep."

"Then I'll also get you that fruit salad you love with strawberry, blackberry, peach, plum, green apple, kiwi, mango, pomegranate, and sliced bananas, with condensed milk and granola. Just put it on the cockpit kitchen and it'll be good to eat whenever you want!" She winked.

I pressed a hand on my heart, "You are my angel. Can I steal you?"

Véronique laughed brightly, "Only if you double my payment."

A grin curved my lips, "How much does mami and papi pay you?"

"€15.000 per month," she put a black straw to my cup of iced tea.

"I'll pay you €35.000, then," I held the cup up and brought the straw to my lips. "But let's wait until I move to the manor, it's still reforming, it'll take about three to five months. I'll give you accommodation and give you a car for you to travel around when I'm not there."

"I'm a widow, and my kids are already graduated, so that's good for me," well, she's 57 years old after all, mother of twin girls that are both a year younger than me, and both criminal lawyers here in Lyon. Though she's been moving around with mami and papi even since I can remember, and her girls attended Law school in Boston University when we lived there.

"Tell my parents later, they will probably feel even better that I'll have someone like you, of their trust, with me in there," I didn't think she would actually agree to go with me though, it's a good surprise.

"I always dreamed of knowing Scotland," she said softly.

"Your dream will come true then," I winked. "You can come with my parents when they head to Scotland to inspect the manor after I'm done with the reformation," fuck, this croissant is really out of heaven. "You are fluent in English, that won't be a problem. Who knows? Maybe you will find a new partner in there and settle down on Scotland highlands."

Her pale skin turned bright red, "That would be funny."

"Wouldn't it?" I grinned amusedly.

"Do you want to marry a Scottish man, Lea?"

Oh? "I don't have a nationality preference, but maybe from the UK, anywhere in the UK. Scotland is part of it, so, if it happened, then great."

"I'm going to be the chef of your marriage," she beamed.

I almost choked on my tea, "Too early for that, calm down, I have yet to even date a men seriously. It'll take a long time before I get married."

"When you do, that spot is mine," Véronique winked.

"Aye," I chuckled, unable to take her seriously.