A Princess in Paris

Chapter One

Maria's POV

 I glanced at my watch for the millionth time in a minute. The seconds hand wasn’t moving! Or, to be exact, that’s how it seemed to me because I was checking it so often. I couldn’t help it: I was just very excited to be going to Paris for the first time in my life. I could hear my heart beating, and I was sure that the twenty people around me could hear it too.

            I sighed. This was the longest trip I’d ever taken and it also was the farthest away I’d ever been from home. Without a previous notice, the train stopped. Surprised and a little mad at the conductor, I found myself on top of a young man, a boy, who had also fallen when the train stopped. When I could get myself to stand up again, I apologized to the boy on top of whom I fell.

“I am so sorry! I should have been more careful. Are you alright? Is there anything I could do to make up for my clumsiness?” I stammered this as I felt people’s stares land on me and I could feel my cheeks burn.

“Oh. It’s alright. I am fine. I am glad that I could cushion your fall,” the boy answered. He got up and looked away without saying any other word. But from where I was standing, I could see the hint of a smile on his face.

I stood up in a hurry and dusted my skirt. I then ran off to get a taxi, but the boy I just saw was following me! What was I supposed to do?

I got in one of the taxis lined up in front of the train station. The boy got into the one right behind mine. And after a while I realized that we were going in the same direction! I started to feel chills running up and down my spine. What if the boy was some kind of stalker? What had I gotten myself into?

The taxi stopped in front of the Pomerleau Villa and the man was still behind me. I bowed and thanked the driver. The guard at the door let me in after I introduced myself and stated my business. And the man was still behind me! I rang the doorbell and the family butler opened the door for me. He led me to a very beautiful woman who was talking on the phone. I later learned that this beautiful woman was the head of the richest family in France.

I bowed my head to the woman that was in front of me. Her long blonde hair lay perfectly on her shoulders. She was talking on the phone when I stepped into the room but from the very few words I heard her say, I knew that my new life was going to be an adventure in this house. Madame Pomerleau did not talk to me, though. She had the butler do the talking for her. I had no idea why, but I just listened as carefully as I could.

A few minutes later, Monsieur Gérard, the butler, led me to the large family room where four people were sitting down. I only recognized one of them: the boy I had seen this morning. He was the second oldest master I was going to be serving.

“These are the people you will be serving from now on,” Monsieur Gérard started. Then, he pointed to each one of them as he introduced them to me. “Young Master Jacques, Young Master Jean Claude, and the two young misses Charlotte and Georgette. You will be their helper whenever you are needed.”

I bowed my head for the fifth time that day and said as politely as I could, “I am Maria Croix. I am honored to meet you all. Please take care of me from now on. I will try my best to serve you in the best way I can.”

“Nice to meet you too, Maria,” Jacques said as he shook my hand. I smiled. Maybe rich kids weren’t all cocky and mean.

“Will you come and play with us?” Two tiny voices asked in unison. I bent down to make eye contact with the adorable little girls who had just talked.

“Of course I’ll play with you,” I said. I looked up to see where Jean Claude was, so that I could say hi and apologize for this morning, but he had left the room when I was talking to his siblings. The little girls took me by the hands and we went to their suite. And I must say that it was rather gigantic for two seven-year-old girls.