Chapter Thirty Three

"What's the suitcase for?" She asked, stretching slowly in the bed.
"A trip." Axel's voice was once more all business, Rosa's curiosity, however, now was piqued, she wanted to know what he had planned for her, she had agreed to one month and her mind was desperate to know what that entailed. Perhaps she should have been a little more insistent when he had spoken about the deal. Perhaps she should have pushed it a little more and asked exactly what he had planned instead of accepting blindly.
"Won't you tell me?"
Axel smiled, a small movement of his lips that briefly lit up his face and opened him up to her once more. But it was gone in an instant, replaced by the blank unreadable expression she had come to know him for.
"You'll find out soon enough. At least allow me to have some surprises. You should shower, since your clothes will be here soon."
Rosa looked at him and couldn't keep the surprise off her face. "Clothes? You got my clothes from my apartment?" Part of her wanted to feel violated but after everything that had gone on between them, she just couldn't manage it.
"No. I've sent out for clothes. I've had some of my favourite designers send over whatever they have."
Shock made her body numb. Designers? Sent out for? Expensive custom made clothes? There had to be some mistake, there was no way that any designer clothes would ever fit her curvy frame. It just wasn't possible.
She recalled the humiliation of the last time she had attempted to buy some designer clothes, nothing had fit, she wasn't a size zero. She wasn't even close to being a size zero nor would she ever be. Panic thrilled through her body, the thought of being humiliated all over again and this time in front of Axel made her swallow hard, she could feel her hands shaking.
The doorbell finally rang and Rosa jumped, it felt as though she had been waiting forever, after showering axel had bundled her into a large fluffy robe and left her sitting in the living room. That was if she could call it a living room. It was one of the largest and most opulent rooms she had ever sat in.
The couches were a combination of cream and black leather, the walls were tastefully done in cream except for one signature wall which was also black, swirls of silver were laced throughout the wallpaper giving it a rich tone.
There was nothing overly ambitious in the room, she just had the impression that everything was picked out by a designer specifically to complement everything else, Rosa could see nothing of the real Axel in the room. In fact everything smacked of the cold hard exterior that he liked to portray. It was a facade, nothing more and nothing less.
Axel answered the door while she stood in the middle of the cream rug on the floor, part of her had wondered if she should have answered the door herself but if she was honest it would have felt a little weird answering the door to someone else's house.
A young woman bounded in the door, her blonde hair was cut short and curls framed her pixie-like features, behind traipsed several other young women all carrying clothes bags. Rosa swallowed the lump back in her throat as she watched axel greet her.
Her small dainty hand lingered on his arm as he turned to her.
"Rachel, this is Rosa. The woman I was telling you about. I trust you will be able to help her pick out some suitable outfits."
Rachel smiled up at axel, but the moment she turned her gaze back to rosa it changed. The smile remained but it had hardened onto her face like a mask. Rosa knew she did not like her.
"Of course we can sort something out." She moved over to her and took Rosa's arm in hers, her fingers dug into her skin as she manoeuvre rosa towards the bedroom.
"Axel, I'll let you get back to organizing your business and I'll tend to her. Don't you worry about it—I'll make sure she has an outfit for everything that you asked for."
Axel smiled at rosa in encouragement, she couldn't blame him, he was being so kind and generous, so how was he to know that the woman leading her into the room wanted her guts for garters.
Once the door was closed behind them, Rachel dropped her facade entirely. "So you're the new one? My! My! but he does have some strange tastes sometimes."
"What is that supposed to mean?" Rosa's voice had gone icy, she was tired of being treated like she was a lesser human, she didn't deserve it. If axel didn't want her then he could tell her, the last thing she needed was someone else telling her she wasn't worthy.