Lana's house was a short distance from the mansion. The house was a well furnished and spacious two bedroom apartment with a study room, its own little garden and fence. The kitchen was also well equipped and the toilet was easily flushable unlike her last apartment where she had to manually fill up the cistern and when she flushed she had to hope that it actually went straight down the sewer.

She checked the time on the wall clock after she had securely bolted the doors. It was exactly fifteen minutes past ten. She went into the kitchen to prepare a sandwich as she reflected on her day. She figured that working for Andrew would actually be less stressful than she had previously imagined.

She held a lettuce in her hand as she recollected Andrew's features. Boy was he good looking! She imagined him giving her a massage with his long slender fingers but quickly brushed the image aside. He was her boss and he was to be respected. Frank had told her that although he acted like a rude egotist sometimes, she had to learn to put up with it and that it basically didn't matter if she felt unhappy that he replied greetings grudgingly and barely said thank you.

Bad habits with good looks, she thought.

She repeated the statement over and over in her head. "He is my boss, he is my boss, he is my boss."

She closed her eyes and inhaled. Something within her reminded her that he was wealthy and so he probably had other better looking females of his class that he would rather associate with; elegant, sexy, rich...

Lettuce.

She washed the lettuce under a running tap and forced the subconsciously formed image of Andrew's hand wandering around her body away as she prepared the sandwich.

The thought of her family soon crossed her mind. She debated within herself whether or not she should inform them of her new job. It would definitely impress them that she was now working for a first class family. She wondered if she should also tell them that she could support them financially now that she had a better paying job and was living rent free. She wondered if her father would finally be proud of her, if he would finally be less angry that she did not become a nurse like his mother and grandmother had been.

With this job, she thought, she could finally prove that she could be responsible and happy and be able to support her two younger siblings without having to be a nurse.

She walked over to the telephone and called her father.

"Who is it?" the curt voice of her father yelled from the other end.

"Father..."

"Oh, of course it's you, calling in the middle of the night because you've never been time conscious."

"I'm sorry, I..."

"You're always sorry about something," her father cut in. "Is there anything important you would like me to know, huh?"

"Well, I called to know how everyone is..."

"We're all the way we've always been, and you? I believe the same thing for you, too. You're the way you've always been."

Lana began to think it might have been a bad idea to call. She should probably just forget about them all and go on with her life.

"What do you really even do in that town anyway?" her father continued. "I have a friend who's just relocated from there, he says it's impossible to make a living being a waitress. So what do you really do, huh? Do you work in bars? Pubs? I heard they're popular over there, so what exactly..."

"I have a new job, father," Lana mildly shouted over the phone.

There was silence for a while.

"What kind of job?"

"I work for a nice family and they pay me well enough," her voice croaked as tears began to gather in her eyes.

There was another pause.

"I knew it, servant job, that's all you do. If you had gone to medical school..."

Lana slammed the telephone back to its holder and let the tears fall freely.

She walked heavily to the couch in the living room and let her weight down on it.

If he would just understand... If he would just listen...

She brought her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around it. Her whole body jerked violently as she sobbed. Biting her lip tightly she stopped herself from screaming. She wished she could take a train to Ohio that very moment and explain how hard she had worked over the years, how much she had thought of them, and how badly she wanted to help them. If he would just listen. If they could just have a normal conversation without him stating his stupid desire for her to become a nurse.

She jerked violently again. Mucus ran down her nose.

By the time the clock struck one, she had fallen asleep.

****

Andrew was seated in the corner of his room designed for study–a small alcove with a wooden desk and chair.

He was trying to compose a mail when there was a knock on his door. He guessed that Frank had come to tell him that the doctor had arrived.

"Come in."

Frank popped his head in, his face showed worry.

"Sir? Your father wants to see you."

Andrew raised a brow of surprise. "My father? What's he... Well tell him I've just gone to meet up for a doctor's appointment."

"He's in the living room, sir, I just welcomed him in."

"Isn't the gatekeeper supposed to notify you whenever he's coming?" he rose angrily.

"I guess he forgot..."

"Nonsense!"

Frank gulped.

Andrew sighed and massaged his temples. "I'll be down in a minute."

Frank nodded and closed the door.

Andrew shut down the laptop and moved to the door. Noticing his long kaftan swept the floor, he bunched it up at his waist and walked out.

With the living room now in view, he could see the smiling face of his old man talking with... He cocked his head to see. His new assistant! And she also seemed to be laughing about something!

He frowned and proceeded to the room to meet the one person that always brought a frown to his face.