Her visions of a future internship were suddenly looking less certain. Cassie couldn’t bear to think that her dream might already have been compromised thanks to her own foolhardy actions.
“We have a very busy day today. Ms. Rossi prefers to start early. Now, if you don’t mind, I’d like to give this to her before it gets cold.”
He tapped respectfully on the door and a moment later, it was opened.
“Buongiorno, Signora. How are you this morning?”
Ms. Rossi was dressed and perfectly made up. She had a different pair of boots on today; these were cerise, with big silver buckles.
“Molto bene, grazie, Maurice.” She took the coffee from him.
The Italian pleasantries seemed to be a formality before the conversation switched to English, Cassie realized, as Maurice continued.
“It’s chilly outside. Shall I go and turn the heating up in your office?”
Up until now, Cassie hadn’t known that Maurice could smile, but now his face was stretched in an obsequious grin and he was practically fizzing over with the desire to please.
“We won’t be there too long. I am sure the heating will be adequate. Bring my coat, will you?”
“Of course.”
Maurice took the fur-collared coat from the wooden stand near the bedroom door. Following close behind her, he began talking animatedly.
“Wait until you hear what we have in the pipeline for Fashion Week. We had an excellent meeting yesterday with the French team. I’ve recorded the whole thing, of course, but I also have the minutes and a summary prepared.”
Cassie realized that Ms. Rossi hadn’t said a word to her. She must have seen her standing there, but her attention had been completely focused on Maurice. Now the two of them were heading toward the office where Cassie had been interviewed the day before.
She didn’t think Ms. Rossi was deliberately ignoring her—at least, she hoped she wasn’t. It was more as if she was completely distracted by work, with her full attention on the business day ahead.
“I have the sales reports for the past week, and there was a reply from the Indonesian suppliers.”
“I hope it is good news,” Ms. Rossi said.
“I think so. They’re requesting more information but it seems positive.”
Maurice was practically fawning over Ms. Rossi and Cassie had no idea whether he was ignoring her unintentionally or doing it deliberately, perhaps to show how much more important he was in her life than Cassie was.
She followed them to the office, trailing a few steps behind, waiting for the moment when there would be a gap in the conversation, so she could ask about the children’s schedules.
It soon became clear there was going to be no gap. With their heads bent over Maurice’s laptop, neither of them was giving her as much as a glance. Cassie became certain that Maurice was ignoring her on purpose. After all, he knew she was there.
She thought about interrupting them but felt nervous to do so. Their attention was so focused, and Cassie didn’t want to make Ms. Rossi angry, especially since the conversation she’d overheard yesterday proved that the businesswoman had a short fuse.
She’d been on top of the world after being hired, commended and praised by this influential woman. This morning, it was as if she didn’t exist to Ms. Rossi.
Turning away, Cassie felt discouraged and unsure. She tried to push the negative thoughts away, and firmly reminded herself that her role was to look after the children and not to monopolize Ms. Rossi’s attention when she was so busy. Hopefully Nina and Venetia would know what their schedule was.
When Cassie went to the girls’ rooms, she found them empty. Both beds had been immaculately made, and their rooms were tidy. Guessing that they must have gone to have breakfast, Cassie headed to the kitchen and was relieved to find them there.
“Good morning, Nina and Venetia,” she said.
“Good morning,” they replied politely.
Nina was sitting on a chair while, behind her, Venetia wrapped a hair tie around her ponytail. Cassie guessed that Nina had just done the same for her sister because Venetia’s hair was already neatly tied.
Both girls were dressed in pink and white school smocks. They had made toast and orange juice, which was set out on the counter.
Cassie was struck by how they seemed to behave as a unit. From what she’d seen so far, they had a harmonious relationship; there was no sign of squabbling or even teasing. She guessed being so close in age meant that they were more like twins than older and younger sisters.
“You two are so well organized,” Cassie said admiringly. “You’re really clever at looking after yourselves. Can I get you anything to put on the toast? What do you usually have? Jam, cheese, peanut butter?”
Cassie wasn’t sure what was in the house, but guessed these staples must be available.
“I like plain toast with butter,” Nina said.
Cassie assumed that Venetia would agree with her sister. But the younger girl looked at her with interest, as if considering her suggestions. Then she said, “Jam, please.”
“Jam? No problem.”
Cassie opened cupboards until she found the one with the spreads. They were on a high shelf—too high for the children to reach.
“There’s strawberry jam and fig jam. Which do you want? Or else there’s Nutella.”
“Strawberry, please,” Venetia said politely.
“We are not allowed the Nutella,” Nina explained. “It is only for special occasions.”
Cassie nodded. “That makes sense, since it’s so delicious.”
She passed the jam to Venetia and sat down.
“What are you girls doing this morning? You look all ready for school. Must I take you there? What time does it start and do you know where to go?”
Nina finished her mouthful of toast.
“School starts at eight, and today we finish at two-thirty as we have a singing lesson. But we have a driver, Giuseppe, who takes and fetches us.”
“Oh.”
Cassie couldn’t hide her surprise. This setup was far more organized than she had expected. She felt as if her role was redundant and she worried that Ms. Rossi would realize she could do without her, and might not require her for the full three-month assignment. She needed to make herself useful. Hopefully when the children came back from school they would have homework that she could help them with.
Mulling over her strategy, Cassie got up to make herself some coffee.
When she turned around, she saw that the girls had finished their breakfast.
Nina was stacking the plates and glasses into the dishwasher, and Venetia had pulled one of the kitchen stools over to the cupboard. As Cassie watched, she climbed onto it, and reached as high as she could to put the jam back where it had come from.
“Don’t worry. I’ll do that.”
Venetia looked wobbly on the stool and Cassie hurried over, foreseeing that this could end in disaster.
“I will do it.”
Venetia clung to the jam jar tightly, refusing to let Cassie take it from her.
“It’s no problem, Venetia. I’m taller.”
“I need to do this.” The younger girl sounded intense. More than that, she seemed desperate to do it herself.
On her tippy toes, with Cassie anxiously hovering behind her ready to grab her if the chair fell over, Venetia replaced the jam, pushing it carefully back into the exact spot where it had been before.
“Well done,”