Chapter Four [Anni]

 

Chapter 4

 [Anni]

            A maid scuttled into the guest bedroom and pulled back the wine colored drapes, letting in the beautiful sunshine. Tracey awoke immediately and shielded her eyes because the light was so bright. Noticing she was struggling to see, the maid closed the drapes enough to still light up the room, but not blind her.

            “Sorry, Miss. Is that better now?” She asked in a soft, sweet tone.

            “Yes. Much. Thank you.” Tracey said. 

            “Mr. Mendena is planning to take you out to lunch at 1:00 today. He told me to tell you to be ready by then. And there’s also breakfast downstairs if you’re hungry now.” She said before walking out of the room. Tracey’s uncle, Hector Mendena was her mom’s only brother and he just happened to be filthy rich after he won some lottery ticket and now all of his dreams have come true.

She got up and took a quick shower. Cool and refreshing, not to hot and not to cold, just right. Her favorite shampoo, Pantene Pro V was sitting on the shower shelf. Uncle Hector always bought her favorite shampoo, soap, conditioner, lotion, perfume, and makeup to use while she was visiting. She got out of the shower and looked through the bureaus to find where the maids had put her Dr. Pepper T-shirt. She pulled it out and noticed her jean shorts were on the other side of them. Cool! Now she didn’t have to go searching for those. She pulled them both on, brushed her hair out, and found the makeup in the bathroom. She rubbed some brown eye shadow on, swiped on the black mascara, ran eyeliner along the bottom of her eyes, and glossed her lips. Not bad! Black American Eagle flip-flops would do just fine for her today. She closed the door behind her and skipped down to the patio where they always serve breakfast.

She sat at a small table and looked over the menu. She loved French toast, but she just wasn’t in the mood for it. Eggs? Too plain. Pancakes are boring. That’s it!

“What can I get for you today?” She recognized the voice immediately. It wasn’t just the waiters, but also Nate’s.

“A cheese omelet with bacon on the side. Apple juice for the drink.” He jotted it all down and then looked up at her smiling.

“Anything else?”

“Yeah. Can you bring a bottle of ketchup?”

“Sure thing. Will that be it for you?”

“Yeah. That should do it.”

 “Ok. It’ll be right up.” He said taking the menu and walking away. What? Why did he pretend like they had never met before? She was a bit bummed now, because she wanted to talk to him. She stared out the window for five minutes until the food came. Nate set everything down nice and orderly.

“There ya are. Enjoy!”

“Uh. Thanks!” He stood there for a moment just looking at her.

“Nate, are you bothering Miss. Conner?” A strict Italian voice said emerging from the back.

“Romaro!” Tracey yelled running up to give him a hug. He was the cook. She had helped him cook when she was really little. He always thought she did such a good job cooking and that she should become a cook someday.

“Tracey! So good to see you again! Have you thought about cooking food professionally yet?” He asked returning the hug.

“No not cooking it, but I have thought of eating it.” She said smiling at him.

“I have missed your bubbly personality in the kitchen much. I am just glad you haven’t lost it.” He said laughing. Nate looked bewildered like he had missed something.

“Don’t worry, Romaro, Nate isn’t bothering me.”

“Good! Good! If he does you just let me know and I will take care of it. I have to get back to work my little angel, let me know how you enjoy the food. And Mr. Nate has to get back to work too.” Romaro said kissing my head, looking at Nate sternly, and then heading back to the kitchen.

“You’re Miss. Conner?” Nate asked confused.

“Yeah. Why?”

“I’ve been wanting to meet you, that’s why I’m here.”

“Well, you met me on the plane so why are you working to do something you’ve already done?”

“I didn’t know you were Miss. Conner. I just thought you were Tracey.”

“I am Tracey.”

“No. You’re Miss. Conner.”

“I’m Miss. Tracey Conner.”

“I know.”

“Then why were you all like you’re not Tracey you’re Miss Conner?”

“Because you are.” He started laughing and she did too.

“I don’t get it.” She said still laughing.

“I don’t either. I was just playing around.”

“Well, you need to stop playing and get back to work.” She said trying to mimic Romaro’s voice as well as Brit imitates him when she told her what he sounded like.

“Yeah. I probably should. Meet me out in the gardens at 7:00.”

“Ok. Why?” He had already left though. It was just Tracey and her omelet.

 

 

It was 12:30 only thirty minutes until Uncle Hector was taking her to lunch. She was back in the guest bedroom. She flipped on the TV and started surfing the channels. Nothing good was on so she turned it off. It dawned on her that she hadn’t opened the envelope the stewardess had handed her from Nate. She searched for it in her carry on bag, but it wasn’t there. She knew she put it in there. Where else would she have put it? She glanced at the table beside the bed and there it was. She opened it and took out a small sheet of paper that had some symbols on it. Line one: girl plus key plus circle with little circles around it.  Line two: girl plus key plus heart plus boy plus heart plus ring. Line three: circle with line through it, girl, fire minus girl equals fire, circle with little circles around it. Line four: girl, ring, boy plus star plus two squiggles, one above the other equals a peace sign, an and sign, and the circle with little circles around it.

It almost seemed like a timeline of things that need to happen before the rest can take place. The girl plus the key reminded her of what Nate said about King Neptune’s daughter coming across a key on her 17^th birthday, but what does that circle with all the other little circles around it mean? The second line makes like total sense. The girl has the key to the heart of a guy who she is in love with. This guy is in love with her also and has a ring that will pronounce them married. The third and last line make no sense at all though either, and there’s the circle with all the other little circles around it again. Maybe the peace sign represents peace and I’m assuming & means and, but I can’t distinguish the fourth line one bit. What in the world is everything supposed to mean put together though? Is the girl in all three of them the same girl, is the guy the same guy, and is the key the same key? Maybe she’ll ask Nate when she visits him in the garden later on; he should know since he gave it to her.

“Knock! Knock!” Someone said as they knocked on the door.

“Come in!” Tracey said stuffing everything into her pocket as a girl about her age or slightly older came in.

“Hi! I’m Anni. Your Uncle sent me to come and tell you that he will be another ten minutes so you can just wait in the parlor if you’re ready now.” The girl said standing there expectantly.

“Thanks for letting me know. I’m Tracey. Do you work here? You’re not wearing the usual uniform so that’s why I ask.”

“No. I don’t work here, but I’m staying here for the summer. My mom is a good friend of your Uncle’s so he’s letting me stay here for the summer and go sailing on the ocean.”

“Sailing?”

“Yeah. I have my own sailboat. I could take you some time if you’re not too busy.”

“I’d like that.” Tracey said as she studied her face. Anni had ink black wavy hair and a milky complexion with bright shimmering green eyes. She looked as though she could be the sweetest and prettiest girl in the world, but if you got on her bad side there was no telling what she might do. Tracey was afraid to befriend her not knowing what she was like, but she figured there would be no way to avoid her so she did anyway.

“Cool. I’ll talk to you later since you have to get going.” Anni said as she left Tracey’s room with a smile.

“See ya.” Tracey yelled after her and scurried downstairs to meet her uncle. They both walked in at the same time.

“Hey, baby girl.” He said giving her a hug.

“Hey, so where are we going to eat?”

“It’s a surprise. But don’t worry I’m sure you’ll love it.” They walked out the doors and climbed into the back of a limo. Five minutes later, the driver pulled up in front of a cottage. It had flowers blooming in every color. They draped the arch and the sides of the cottage itself with delicate patterns. Tracey stared in awe as it took her breath away.