His eyes twinkle at the comment.
“Mermaid, Uncle,” Mia says, pointing at me. Alejandro chuckles. “Pretty princess.”
“I completely agree,” he replies.
The look he gives me makes my whole body blush and come alive.
“Thank you,” I say coolly, as if that forest of butterflies isn’t going batshit crazy inside my stomach.
Estelle doesn’t miss the look Alejandro gives me or the silent interaction. I won’t mistake taking her for a fool, and definitely not when she sits opposite me with purpose. Like she wants to keep an eye on me. Us.
She’s the only member of staff who joins us. The maids lock the doors to the kitchen, and I assume they won’t come back until we’ve finished.
“Please eat. We just tuck in here,” Alejandro says, watching me.
“Okay. I wasn’t sure if we were waiting for anyone else.”
“No, it’s always just us, or mostly Estelle and Mia. It’s a rarity that I’m back home for dinner, but I’ll try to be when I can.”
I start with the chicken, swirling it in the sauce then putting it in my mouth. The flavor hits my taste buds instantly and sucks me in. I’ve never had Brazilian food before. This is delicious.
“This tastes amazing.” I beam.
“Delia is an excellent cook,” Alejandro answers with pride.
“She definitely is.”
Estelle is watching me with observant eyes and an unreadable expression on her face. There’s an arrogance about her I don’t like; it’s condescending and patronizing as hell.
It irritates me. If my circumstances were better, I’d ask her what her problem was. She clearly thinks she has me figured out. She doesn’t have a fucking clue who I am. No one does.
We all start eating, and I try to focus on how good everything tastes as I try different things on my plate.
“How was your first day here, Lucia?” Alejandro asks. His gaze flits between me and Estelle.
“I had a really good day. Mia is a breath of fresh air. I’m sure we’re going to have a great time together.”
“That’s really good to hear.”
“I’d like to hear about your experience with children,” Estelle cuts in. “You seem so young, barely a child. How old are you? Eighteen, nineteen?”
One look at her tells me she’s not asking my age because she thinks I don’t have enough experience. She’s doing it because of the way I looked at Alejandro, and I’m guessing she thinks I’m too young for him.
“Why don’t you tell Estelle about your impressive résumé? I’m sure she’ll be as impressed as I am.” Alejandro smiles.
“Of course.” I look at her. “I’m actually twenty-five going on twenty-six. But thank you so much for the compliment. I think I get my youthful looks from my mother. She was fifty-five when she died but didn’t look a day over thirty.”
“My sincere condolences for your loss,” Estelle says. I feel like her words might just be for Alejandro’s benefit, however, because there’s nothing sincere in her eyes.
“I started working with children when I was fifteen,” I begin, and dive into my experience. I tell them about how I spent my summers working at the daycare near my mother’s workplace, and how I decided to change things up when I was eighteen to go to Russia and be an au pair for a couple who were musicians.
I tell them about all the placements I managed to get while at college. By the time I get on to how many languages I can speak, Estelle looks defeated. I can see she’s trying to think of some reason to hate me or find me unsuitable but comes up short.
“Now I’m here,” I bubble.
Mia rests her head on Alejandro’s chest and closes her eyes. Poor child. I probably bored her, but I can tell I impressed the hell out of her uncle, and his opinion is the only one that counts here.
“Well, seems like you’re more than qualified. Not just a pretty face looking for a change of scenery.” Estelle rests her elbows on the table.