"Are you listening?" Rey asked, maintaining a serious face.
Mia who was already stunned to silence nodded slowly at his question.
"You would have to listen to everything I have to say seriously, I won't repeat myself and I expect you to follow it to the least." He sounded authoritative and Mia grew sad. She would always be a mere servant to him and nothing more.
"You still remain my fiancée and we are a real couple in secret and in public, it's high time you get accustomed to the role to make it extremely effective." Rey stated and stared straight into Mia's constantly blinking eyes.
"But…"
"You'd have to make it as real as possible." He stopped her from saying anything contradictory to his words.
"We need to avoid all sorts of conflict and you have to be sure you belong to me and no one else." This time he glared at her and she gulped down a handful of air before getting uneasy.
Mia's mind wandered. She wondered why it sounded more like a firm possession rather than the supposed acting.
"But…" She drawled and paused, her face squeezed itself into a frown and she licked her lips a lot of times that Rey got agitated.
"Stop doing that!" He blurted out suddenly that it startled her.
"Huh?" She stared at him questionably with wide eyes.
"Stop licking your lips." His eyes darkened and she set her lips in a thin line not knowing what else to do with it.
"Your question?" He asked impatiently.
"What if…" She cleared her throat and looked so discomforted that Rey thought she would actually break down in tears.
"I don't have all the time." He snapped.
"What if we really…really fall in love." She said it and looked towards the floor, not daring to meet his eyes.
Reynaldo sat in a brief stunned silence, this was what he wasn't ready for. This was the truth he could not admit to himself. He loved her and looking at her shy gesture, he could easily guess she did too but how could he allow himself to love a low classed lady?
As if realizing that staying silent for too long would make her suspect, he forced his lips apart and from it came a stream of loud mocking laughter.
Mia's eyes watered but she didn't let the tears drop, she felt hurt, she felt humiliated.
"Do you love me already?" He asked with an air of arrogance that threatened to suffocate Mia.
"Answer me!" He boomed when she still bowed her head and refused to meet his eyes.
Raising her head instantly, Mia shook it with such vigour that Rey felt her head would fall off.
"I don't hear gestures." His voice was back to being calm again, he couldn't tell her, but he felt the pang of pain at her denial.
"No…No Sir."
"Sir?" He narrowed his eyes.
"Babe…" Her voice cracked.
"No Babe, I don't love you."
His jaw tightened to stop himself from doing what he would regret in a few minutes. "Good."
"If by the end of all this, you decide to let your heart fall for me…" His words hung in the air like a deadly venom and she held her breath.
"...you will take responsibility for it." He declared and the hurt in her eyes flashed wildly and stayed long enough for him to see before she could fully hide it.
"It won't, I will make sure if it is Babe." Mia responded, she felt stupid adding his chosen name at the end.
Rey nodded stiffly while holding her eyes.
Mia held his eyes and tried the best she could to be emotionless and when his mouth parted to produce more words, she hoped it wouldn't birth more vile words because she was sure she would not have the heart to resist the pain, the tears and every other thing associated with breaking down.
"After dinner, go back to the servant quarters, pack your things and move into my room." Rey ordered cooly.
If Mia had something in her hand, she was sure it would fall off. Her hands got sweaty and loose, her lips parted and her face scrunched in confusion.
"I don't, I don't understand this … you, sir." She stuttered.
"What part of it don't you understand?" Rey was angry, he didn't know why.
"Get your things into my room, it's for all for the deal."
Mia began to shake her head, her lips felt heavy, in the space of a short period of time, she could imagine sleeping next to him in bed, watching him come off half naked from the bathroom … she was extremely sure she could not handle the effect of it all.
"What?" Rey spat but Mia only shook her head in response to his order and perhaps his question too.
Rey looked at her intently and almost sneered.
"The room opposite mine…" He started and clamped his mouth shut.
"Take the room opposite mine." He breathed like he had run a thousand meter race.
"Move in as soon as possible." It was his final order and Mia knew he would not change this one, then the doorbell rang.
"Go get the food." He ordered and watched her nod robotically before standing up to head towards the door.
Using that opportunity, he stood up, hid his painful erection and headed towards the stairs.