HISTORY AND PLANS

　　Staying in the Estate with Camilla, proved to be productive for Lisa as well. It feels like vacation time for her where she has enough time to rest and enjoy herself. She spends most of the time with Camilla and they go about taunting Jessie and Sandra as much as they can.

　　It is the second day of her stay, and Lisa leaves the room to go meet Mary who had immediately liked her after the episode with Jessie.

　　"Hey Mary, " Lisa greets.

　　"Miss Lisa, what can I do for you this morning?" Mary asks politely.

　　"You are such a boring woman, Mary. Why do you have to be so formal? Anyway, I have grown bored of Camilla and I decided to come to make trouble with you... Do you need help in the kitchen?" Lisa demands.

　　Mary shakes her head with a smile. She likes how humble Lisa and Camilla were. They don't put themselves above any other person. They consider everyone to be equal and do their best to make everyone around them happy. Mary wants to open her mouth to tell Lisa that there isn't anything for her to do when a man's voice fills the kitchen.

　　"Why not come with me instead?"

　　Mary and Lisa turn around sharply and find Peter standing by the kitchen door.

　　"Good morning Sir, " Mary quickly says, bowing low.

　　"Good morning Mary. I have told you that you will break your back being so much." Peter warns her.

　　Mary is polite and obedient to a fault no matter how many times he reprimands her about bending is much, she doesn't listen to him.

　　Lisa on the other hand stays quiet. She has been avoiding being with Peter alone since she got to the estate. She tried to go everywhere with Camilla so the guy doesn't get a chance to talk to her. She saw the way he looked at her and she isn't a child. She knew what he wanted and she tried to avoid it as much as she could.

　　"I am sorry sir," Mary says with a small smile.

　　"It's okay. Huh, may I steal Lisa from you for a few minutes please?" He asks and Mary pushes Lisa towards him.

　　Lisa gulps loudly but she knows there is no escape for her, she has been running away from the conversation for too long.

　　Peter outstretches his hand to her and she reluctantly takes it, ignoring the way her hand-blended so perfectly with his. This is why she has been trying to avoid him. It isn't just about Peter but her as well. She can't resist him no matter how much she tries. She knew it was going to end badly. She shouldn't be involved with him and she is only trying to avoid that.

　　"You have been running from me, haven't you?" Peter whispers as they leave the kitchen and head out to the garden.

　　Lisa stays quiet. Thinking through her words a million times before deciding to bring them out.

　　"I think we need to start all over again. Maybe we started on the wrong foot," Peter suddenly says as they reach the chairs in the garden.

　　Lisa turns to him and pulls her hands from his hold. "Since we Are being honest, I find you creepy. " —and sexy, her inner voice adds.

　　"How?" Peter asks, seeming hurt by her response.

　　"Well, you stalk me. I saw you in that cafe. Why?" Lisa asks. Of course, she knows the guy is only trying to catch her and Camilla red-handed and maybe even have a good time but afterward he would throw them in prison. she needs to be wise.

　　Peter chuckles as he sits in the concrete seats of the garden. Lisa hesitates but also takes a seat close to him.

　　"I don't know but yeah, you are right. I have been stalking you." Peter finally confesses.

　　Lisa smiles discreetly. Now they were getting somewhere. If the guy wanted something from her they could as well just get it over with.

　　"Why did you stalk me? Or should I say why do you stalk me? Because even while I am here you have been looking for ways to have me cornered, " Lisa states firmly. Her heart is stumping hard at the closeness between their bodies but she pushes her hormones away. This is like a peaceful meeting between two parties and if she makes a mistake she and Camilla will be in trouble.

　　"Well, I wanted to know who you were Lisa Maurice..."

　　The way he mentions her name sends butterflies crawling against her stomach and she fists her hands to control the strong yearning to stars feeling for him.

　　"You got my name from your research?" The first time they met, she had mistakenly mentioned her name and broken the rules about pickpocketing but she didn't give him her full name. She told him her name was Lisa Maur. So, she knows he got her full name from snooping around about her.

　　"Why are you so interested in me? Why do you stalk me?" She demands as calmly as possible?

　　"First, I started doing it because I was helping Ethan. But then, I discovered something about you, that I couldn't ignore... " Peter says with a voice so serious it could change the minds of every hard drug dealer on the streets.

　　"And what's that?" Lisa asks.

　　"You are Damon's sister aren't you?" The name makes a thunder strike in Lisa's heart and she feels like a dam will soon break.

　　"You knew my brother?" She asks, shocked. Ever since her brother's death, she has never seen any of his friends.

　　"Yeah, that day in the bus, it was what pulled me to you. The way you were counting numbers, Damon used to do that..." Peter sounds broken and hurt. "I know I shouldn't be opening old wounds but I want to know, what killed Damon? "

　　Lisa hugs herself as she feels cold air swirl around all of a sudden. When was the last time, anyone asked about him? Aside from Camilla, no one has asked.

　　"He got sick. The doctors requested a ridiculous amount of money which I couldn't get at the time... So they stopped his treatment." Speaking about it brings back the emotions she felt that day. She feels her heart twist and a single tear rolls down her cheeks. That day, she had cried so much, she was certain she would never be able to cry again in her life after that. She begged the doctors, pleaded with them even but no one was going to treat her brother for free.

　　"He was fine one minute and then all of a sudden he just got sick..." Her voice broke as he explains to him. "The doctors say he was hiding it. And it got worse..." She sniffs and wipes away from the single tears rolling down her cheeks. "I tried but, " she shrugs. "I guess I didn't try enough."

　　She gets up from the seat, sniffing away her tears. "I should get back inside, Camilla might be worried about me." She says and without waiting for Peter's response, she walks away from him and heads into the house

　　Peter feels terrible about her story. He wish he knew her then, so he could have helped. He had enough money. More than enough to be precise and he could have helped but he was away.

　　He remains standing by the garden but promises to take very good care of Lisa, if not for anything but to fulfill his vow of taking care of Damon's sister.

　　As Lisa walks back into the house, she doesn't see the spies glaring at her, Sandra and Jessie. Ever since Lisa came into the house, Sandra had grown restless.

　　She felt their attraction and it almost made her go mad.

　　"Peter is attracted to that Lisa girl!" She whispers to Jessie as they watch Lisa move to their room.

　　"Those street rats are dangerous. They are here on a mission. Not just to steal money but to get our men too!" Jessie spits.

　　Sandra pulls her hair away from her face and starts pacing in her long dinner dress. This one is in baby blue and it sweeps the ground like a Cinderella's ballroom dress.

　　"We have to eliminate this particular rat. I can't sit still and watch her take over Peter's heart. No, I can't allow that!" There were too many things at stake. She will lose everything she has worked hard for if she lets the rat win.

　　"No, we have to terminate her!" She repeats.

　　"How do we do that?" Jessie asks, turning towards Sandra.

　　Sandra is silent as she starts thinking. If they physically try to terminate her, peter would be pissed off at her for the rest of his years and she doesn't want that.

　　As she moves she remembers the conversation she had in the dining hall on her first day.

　　"We need to find a way to get her thrown out in this house. She called you a cook didn't she?" Sandra starts and Jessie looks on at her like an idiot.

　　"You will make a pie and offer it to her as a peace offering..." Sandra starts

　　"But I will be the first suspect when something happens to her;"

　　"No, because you will only poison one side of the pie. You will eat the part without the poison and she will never suspect!"

　　"That's a brilliant plan! I think we should get working on it right away so we can get her out of the way as quickly as possible. After her, we will get another solution for the second rat." Sandra says and Jessie is very excited to start. The sooner they got rid of her the better.