Esmeralda
Pulling out the key card from the side pocket of my new red and white uniform which I had gotten a few weeks ago, after resuming my new job as Alpha Kade’s personal housekeeper, I tapped it on the card reader and the door swung open.
Strange excitement ran through me as I fought the urge to repeat the process.
Giving in to the urge after being overpowered by my childish behaviour, I flashed the card on the card reader and tapped it, waiting for the door to open, which it did in a blink of an eye.
Why does it feel so good?!
And why do I feel like repeating the process again?
Esmeralda, it is not a toy, remember? I scolded myself in vain.
Urgh!
I’m a bit childish, I knew it.
Giggling sheepishly as I caressed Alpha Kade’s card, I repeated the process over and over again before satisfaction coursed through me.
Much better.
Pocketing the key card safely, I fumbled with my pockets before taking out a bunch of keys to open the door to Alpha Kade’s personal store room.
Urgh!
It felt so heavy compared to the key card.
I couldn’t deny that a tiny bit of me missed the key card feeling. So flat and smooth and light. It was almost like you were holding nothing.
Unlike the bunch of cold keys. As cold as Alpha Kade.
You’ll do this tomorrow, Esmeralda. I consoled myself, taking my mind off the key card and resisting the urge to toy with it.
“Which one is it?” I asked no one in particular, holding out the dangling keys before me with my brows knitted in confusion.
Fuck! I haven’t mastered the keys yet.
“Let’s try this one,” I mumbled to myself, selecting a key before putting it in the keyhole, turning it till I heard a click sound twice that filled me with joy. I couldn’t imagine trying out all the keys till I found the right key.
“Good job, Esmeralda,” I applaud myself, filling my cheeks with a blush.
“Good, job, Esmeralda. You did it,” My breath hitched the moment a memory sparked in my head.
The memory of my mother applauding me when I topped the class.
It was still fresh in my head. Her bright smile and her encouraging words filled my head.
Back then when I had a life. Not now when I was living in the shadows.
I heaved a deep breath, disengaging myself from my past. I didn’t want it to ruin my mood.
I wanted to be like Jade who wouldn’t let her memories weigh her down.
I wanted to live in the moment. But could I?
“You’ll be fine, Esmeralda. You’ll definitely be,” I whisper to myself, muttering words of encouragement as I carry all the items that will be needed in cleaning Alpha Kade’s room.
Opening Alpha Kade’s room, his delicious scent made my insides flop a hundred times.
Though it was faint, It was so overwhelming, as if he was present in the room.
Invisible but present.
Did he just leave the room?
The delectable scent of warm honey, citrus and sandalwood had me sniffing the hell out of almost every item in the room like a crazy bitch. Relaxing me, yet igniting a fire in me.
Courtesy, mate bond.
A strong urge filled me to take hold of his possession. Maybe one of his throw pillows would do, or his handkerchief or his shirts.
He had many of them, why would one missing item raise suspicion from him?
Almost giving in to the strange urge that almost drove me crazy, I withdrew immediately after Jade’s warnings echoed in my head.
Since I wasn’t able to take his belongings, I would come here every day to sniff the hell out of them.
Good thing I was placed in his quarters.
I wish I could stay here with him.
But he is an asshole.
Esmeralda, you should be working, not drooling over Alpha Kade. I mentally scolded myself.
Who wouldn’t drool over him the high and mighty Alpha Kade?
He was so hot.
Concentrate! You are here to work. I told myself again, snapping myself out of my fantasy.
Urgh!
Work. Work. Every time. Not like the work was stressful. I wasn’t used to working. After being locked up for years behind a cell, I didn’t have to work, except my attention was needed during the Moonball ceremony.
Groaning inwardly as I made my way to the large window that was covered by drapes, my hands parted the drapes, allowing the brightness of the sun to seep through the room.
Much better.
Why does he not open his drapes?
Doesn’t he like fresh air?
What is it with him and darkness?
I was about to turn against the window when my eyes caught sight of a garden. A very big and beautiful one, just like the one outside the window of the pink room I slept in.
Just like the one Jade showed me when I was lonely and brooding over Selene’s absence.
Memories ran down my head, memories of the swell time I had with Jade in the garden.
It was so vast in size with a plethora of varieties of flowers. The ones I had seen and the ones I wasn’t familiar with. Flowers of beautiful colours lined up in rows, making the garden appear magical.
I remembered how shy I was at first, but after spending more time in the garden, I loosened myself, having a feeling and the heavenly scent of almost all the flowers.
A blush stained my cheeks, leaving them in tomato shade as I remembered Jade tucking water Lily in my hair. I wished I could see my reflection in the mirror, but Jade’s words caused a tingling feeling in me.
She called me beautiful.
Beautiful. An adjective no one described me as, except Selene, Jade and Madam Dora.
Beautiful. An adjective I don’t refer to myself as anymore.
To others, I was always that ugly Omega with weirdly coloured hair.
I knew those words weren’t a bluff. I could sense the sincerity in it.
Locking gaze with my reflection in Alpha Kade’s full-length mirror, I was greeted with a pleasing sight. With a flawless face.
Even with the absence of the flower tucked in my hair.
I was beautiful.
Not just because Jade said so. But because I was beginning to see myself as beautiful.