ContractxFamily

Chapter 13

Anya pov

I'm woken up in the morning by Heidi saying we had another photoshoot today. 

She and Wilhelm get me out of bed and then Heidi dumps outside the bath and says I need to smell fresh.

"My smell won't go through the cameras, Heidi!" I exclaim.

"How is Master Damian supposed to work if you smell like you've been sleeping in a pile of bin bags," she responds as she leaves only to yelp to see Wilhelm still in my bedroom.

I can hear her apologising to him repeatedly for being too friendly with me. I slip down into the heated bathtub scented with rose petals after taking off my pyjamas. I listen to Wilhelm lecture Heidi whilst secretly wishing he had such a relationship with Damian, which would be quite weird since the age gap between the two of them is significantly larger than the age gap between me and Heidi.

Memories of Wilhelm and a younger Damian playing chess together and a more recent Damian playing snooker under Wilhelm's guidance.  Doesn't seem like he is very good.

Not that I know how to play Snooker.

After the bath, Heidi hands me a long black and white polka dotted dress, where the top half of the dress was white with black polka dots and the skirt half was plain black up until the rim of the dress where the white and black polka dot pattern continued.

As I put on my stockings and gloves, Heidi used a blow dryer to dry my wet hair then brushed it all down. Finally, she decorated my hair with a set of black rose hair flowers.

"You look so pretty," Heidi squeals. "Master Damian's jaw will drop to the floor when he sees you."

At least she believes that. Even sleeping in separate rooms, Damian's staff believes we're a legitimate couple. 

"Am I not eating breakfast?" I ask.

"You'll be eating at the..." she suddenly covers her mouth.

A secret?

Should I read her mind or not?

Damian won't like it if you're not surprised, a voice in my head says.

Wouldn't he expect me to have read their minds by now? I ask the voice.

Then do the unexpected and be surprised.

Oh yeah, good idea!

Heidi leads me downstairs to and outside to the car where Damian was waiting for me. His eyes widen slightly as he sees me, I try to see what he is thinking but his mind is still blank.

He helps me into the car and we sit next to each other quietly as Wilhelm drives us to the park.

When we arrive, Damian comments, "My usual team all retired early. Something about losing all their equipment and being unable to afford to be news. Some even got arrested for bribery."

Sounds like Mama and Papa's efforts.

"Know anything about it?"

"Not a clue," I lie as he leads me through the park. We arrive at the photo shoot set, with an entirely different crew but at the centre of the set was a picnic under tree on a pink rose mat. 

There was neatly cut sandwiches, fresh croissants, a row of watermelon slices and a whole chocolate cake with coconut and pecan frosting.

"Are we going on a Picnic or are we working?"

"Both," Damian shrugs, he takes my hand and leads me onto my spot on the mat. He examines the food and scowls, "Why aren't there any strawberries?"

The crew exchange glances, "Baer has gone to buy some," an assistant informs us. 

"I'm here!" a boy not much older than us calls out, holding a basket. "The queue was a bit long at the market, I managed to buy some strawberry torte as well!"

A feel a delighted smile creep onto my face, Damian catches it and relaxes a bit. "Alright, you've saved yourself."

"Can I have some now?" I ask Damian with a pleading face. 

"Eat something proper first," he scolds me. "You haven't even had breakfast."

Baer places down a bowl of strawberries and carefully places the strawberry torte directly opposite the chocolate cake.  

"Focus on the food, Anya," Damian mutters, he reaches over then places a croissant in my hand and then a series of flashes started from all around us.

I start to feel dizzy until Baer comes up to me with a pair of sunglasses, "This should help, Miss."

"Thank you, Baer," I nod as I hear Damian mentally note to give Baer a raise.

I nod at Damian, knowing he let me hear his intentions and then the photoshoot continues. I eat my croissant then Damian cuts me a thin slice of each cake then gives himself a larger slice of the chocolate cake.

"Hey!" I exclaim as I take my plate and teaspoon.

"You can have more later," he mutters. 

I eat the whole chocolate cake slice then one of the camera crew instructs Damian to use a spoon to give me some of the strawberry tart. "Just put the spoon near her mouth," he says. "She doesn't even need to open her mouth, just smile."

Suddenly there is a series of whispers between the crew, then Baer comes over to me, "Miss Anya, is it possible for you to take off the glasses just for one shot, they want to take this photo from the back of Mister Damian and focus on you." 

Damian and I, exchange glances, Damian signalling to me that it was my decision. 

"Just one," I say turning back to Baer. "Can we take a break after that?"

Damian nods at the crew, "That is fine."