SILENCE || A. Grande (DISCONTINUED)

¹³𝐓𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞

"How dare you, Tilio!" My tante yelled at my cousin, then slapped her in the face. "Go clean the floors in the dining room. How dare you get my precious Y/n dirty!" She yells and points towards the dining area. My cousin, Tilio, and I were playing tag outside in the garden, then she accidentally pushed me, making my dress and stockings get dirty. I tried to cover it up and not make it look like she pushed me, but my tante already saw how dirty I looked and now she is making Tilio clean.

"Y/n, dear. Come here please." My tante gently commanded. I slowly walked towards her, biting my lip. "Oh, my poor baby. We will need to get the best tailor in France to fix this." My tante said, looking at the rips and tears in my dress. She looked at my hair and noticed how messy it was. "Oh, and she messed up your hair. I am going to kill her!" Tante says about to go to the dining area.

"Tante, no, please." I quietly beg her while holding onto her wrist. She shakes her head. "What did I tell you about staying silent?" She said, looking in my eyes. I look down and let go of her wrist. She made her way to the dining room, and the last thing you heard were screams and cries coming from Tilio.

I think about how I did nothing to prevent that from happening to my one year older cousin. Now we have such a bad relationship. If only she knew what Tante did to me to keep me silent. I am so sorry, Tilio...I didn't mean for you to get hurt.

"Y/n, love, is everything okay?" Ariana asked, putting her hands around my waist, and her head resting on my shoulder. "Yeah...just thinking." Ariana nodded and stayed there for a bit before walking away. She went into the piano room and started playing a sweet melody that I taught her.

"You're getting married?!" Tante said surprised. I nodded with a wide smile. "To whom?" She asked, her tone changing a bit. "Her name is Ariana. She's Italian. Taller than me, but not that much. Rich. Has lots of friends-" my tante cut me off.

"And the reason why you're getting married to her is because of business, yes?" I nodded my head in confirmation. "When will I get to meet her?" Tante asked. "Um..." I looked at my mother who only looked at me. "If I'm not going to meet her in any time soon; I demand the wedding be here."

"But, tante-" I try but she cuts me off. "Silence, Y/n. The wedding will be here, in the mansion. She is allowed to bring her family, but I am not paying for the plane tickets." I look down, tears in my eyes. I should be use to her controlling my life, but why am I not?

"Hey, Ariana. I'm going to take a bath." I say, finally being done with the dishes. "Okay. I'll join you in a minute." I smile. A bath with Ariana is exactly what I need.

* * * n's

"Wow, the bath is all nice and warm.." Ariana said and got in behind me. "I know how you like your baths, you like them warm so you could think." I reply. "You know me so well, Y/n." I smile. "I know." I state.

Ariana reaches for the shampoo and pours some in her hand. "How do you get this stuff?" She asked smelling it, then putting it in my hair. "Get what stuff?"

"Shampoing au citron."

"My tante—she gets it from her company. She sends me a fresh case every month." I answer. She smells my hair and I practically feel her eyes roll back at the lemony smell.

"It makes me think of summer." She says as she continues to scrub my hair. "Really?" I chuckled. She hummed a 'yes'. "It smells delicious, Y/n/n. It smells like..."

"Like lemon cake. And whipped cream on top. Not a lot, just a dollop. And water on the side to wash the lemon cake down." I say, describing the sweet snack. Ariana paused and looked at me. "Where did you get all of that from?" She asked.

"My tante made that for me every Friday after my home lessons. That's what shampoing au citron was based on—the smell of lemon cake fresh out the oven." I say, sighing at the sweet memory.

"What happened to your tante?" Ariana asked. "Nothing...the trip me and my mom went to wasn't actually about business. We were going to see my aunt...to tell her about our wedding in the summer."

"Really?! I can't wait to see her. When is she coming?" Ariana asked. I bite my lip and turn around to face her. "She's not coming." I pause,

"We are."