Noah Delacroix storms inside his estate. Maria Perrier turned at the sudden commotion. She looked at her furious nephew in wonder.

Noah aggressively took off his coat and threw it on the couch. "Be careful with the boxes!" he yelled, loosening his tie. Wilbur and the driver straightened in shock and nodded quickly.

"Noah, what's wrong my dear?" she asked.

"Darrell. Who else?" he gritted out.

Maria sighed. That boy will seem to never back off. "Don't stress over him. That's exactly what he wants," she said.

Noah kept pacing back and forth. "Every fucking time. Every fucking time, auntie. I'm running out of patience." He further loosened the tie and took it off. "I'm starving. I didn't get a chance to have breakfast," he said pinching the space between his brows.

"Oh, my dear. There are fresh croissants, and I'll call for some tea to be sent. We even have your favorite-" Aria grabbed Maria's hand and whispered, "We don't."

Maria's eyes widened. "Oh, mon Dieu."

"Huh?" asked Noah.

"Mr. Delacroix, Madam Perrier had instructed me to bring the croissants but the shop ran out of the almond kind," said Aria. She could see Mr. Delacroix scoffing at that.

"Too bad. Auntie, would you mind an early lunch today?" he said.

"Of course not. I'd be delighted to," she said. Noah nodded.

"What's for lunch?" he asked looking at Aria. She gulped. How would I know? I didn't go to the kitchen!

"I'll go inquire the chef about it," she said.

"Another excuse, Miss Diaz?" he asked as he got up and folded his arms on his front. Aria stared at him wide-eyed. "Aunt Maria asked you to bring one item for me and now you don't even know what is being cooked for lunch. I'm beginning to think you actually forgot to buy the croissants and not admitting the negligence to your duties."

Aria was in shock. She grew flustered as she balled her fists to her side. No one had ever questioned her work ethic. How could you? She wanted to ask but she knew better. Mr. Delacroix is enraged at the moment and she could make the situation worse. She remains quiet but this time Maria speaks up.

"Noah! Calm yourself. Firstly, Aria just arrived back from the farmer's market. She came directly to deliver the flower bouquet I ordered for the Donovans right after so she didn't have the chance to go to the kitchen. And secondly, if she says they ran out, then they did! So for now take the tea and relax. I will not tolerate such pointless allegations regarding our staff." With that, the anger Noah had bubbling till now faded and he was filled with shame instead. Fuck! Shame that he treated Miss Diaz this way. Shame that he was scolded at the age of thirty by his aunt over such a trivial matter. He owed the two an apology.

Maria then turned to Aria, "Please let the chef know we will be having lunch early today and tell Gretchen to send over some tea and refreshments."

"Yes, ma'am," she said as she walked away fuming, with her eyes downcast.

Noah sat back down on the couch. He ran his fingers through his and sighed.

"That was uncalled for," said Maria shaking her head.

"I'm sorry, auntie. I realize that now. You were right, he wanted to get on my nerves and he did." he said dejectedly.

"What did he do this time?" asked Maria sitting down next to him.

"I had arranged a meeting with a board member of Tremezzo Royal." he began. Maria's lips automatically parted as Noah continued, "I thought about approaching them friendly given that they might be our competition in future. The emails I have exchanged with them were pretty amicable and finally, I got my hands on a meeting with Raul Pasquale."

"That's wonderful!" Maria gasped.

"All of a sudden, he canceled the meeting and I tried a reschedule but his office denied it. Now I get an email saying, Pasquale has decided to sever our correspondence. He did not disclose the reasons but rumors have surfaced that I'm trying to sabotage Tremezzo Royal and they were spread by the courtesy of Darrell Delacroix."

"How did you know it was him?" she asked.

"Oh he called me," he said. Maria gasped.

Noah shrugged. "He was calling to gloat obviously and to remind me again how unworthy I am of this position."

"Mr Pasquale knows better than to believe a rumor," she said.

"I would need to speak to him personally and not his office. I did send him an invite earlier for our charity event but it's highly unlikely that he accepts," he said as Gretchen rolled in a tray of tea and refreshments.

Maria quickly poured a cup for her nephew and offered him. "Do not worry Noah. we will find a solution soon."

Noah took the cup and nodded but his face still carried the look of uncertainty.

####

"The date, the venue has been booked but we still need to figure out the itinerary regarding activities, fundraising and etc," he said.

"Oh my god. There is so much to do." Maria said pressing her forehead between her index finger and thumb to ease the headache.

"If you are too unwell ma'am I can come by later," said Sawyer with worried eyes.

"Oh no, my dear. You must have a lot to do. In fact, you agreeing to come to our house to discuss the plans is pretty generous." she said appreciating Sawyer's humble nature. Such a sweet boy.

"I appreciate your help ma'am. With Mr Delacroix being on site of the new hotel he entrusted me with this event," said Sawyer Johnston, the newly appointed MD of the USA division of Delacroix Hotels and Resorts.

"I know and I agreed to help because he has a lot on his plate, especially after The whole Tremezzo Royal incident," she said.

Sawyer nodded, reminiscing the scene from the morning in Noah Delacroix's office. "I was with him at that time. He was enraged, to say the least."

Aria entered the room with her hands clasped behind her. "You wanted to see me, madam?"

"Yes. What would you like to drink Sawyer?'' Maria asked.

"Coffee is fine," he said.

"Would you bring over coffee for Sawyer and me? And quickly please, my head is pounding," she said. Aria's forehead puckered at that. Coffee? Madam Maria hates coffee.

"Madam would you like a massage? For your headache?" she asked.

Maria's face lit up at that. "Oh that would be wonderful," she said.

Aria nodded and said, "I'll be right back."

As she said before Aria was back in a jiffy. She served the coffee to Sawyer who thanked her with a smile. She went around behind Maria. She gently tied Maria's hair up and started slowly massaging from her forehead and all the way to her back. She worked on the knots formed with her thumbs and slowly eased out the tension in Maria's muscles.

"Oh, mon Dieu." Maria gasped in relief. "Vos mains sont comme de la magie. Oh, ça fait du bien."(Your hands are like magic. Oh, that feels so good.) said Maria rambling. Both Aria and Sawyer bit back a smile. He coughed into his fist which jolted Maria from her massage-induced ecstasy. Her face flushed red in embarrassment.

"Oh, I'm sorry," she said.

"It's quite alright ma'am. I'm glad you are feeling better," he said.

"Let's discuss all the options now and you, my dear," she said to Aria, "don't stop with your magic fingers."

Aria nodded and continued her massage. Maria now relaxed didn't touch her cup of coffee instead devoted all her attention to arranging the charity event.

"The itinerary looks so empty. The children need to be the center of it. I think we should give them gifts. Aria what do you think?" asked Maria. Aria stopped massaging and looked at her employer in amazement.

"Me?" she asked.

"Well yes, my dear. You have worked with children before. You know what they would like." said Maria. Sawyer who was jotting down on his notebook now looked up at Aria waiting for her to speak.

Aria hesitated. Maria flashed an encouraging smile at her and she gulped. She cleared her throat and said, "I think that the children would love it if the people interacting with them. Of course, they would appreciate the gifts but they spend their time alone most of the time. Interacting with them, laughing with them, doing arts and crafts. These were some things I used to do with them. They crave company more than anything as they are deprived of their families."

Maria and Sawyer looked taken aback. They looked at each other in bewilderment. Aria gulped again. Oh no, I have said too much.

"Brilliant!" Maria gasped.

"It is a wonderful idea," said Sawyer.

"Aria dear, would you like to help us arrange these said activities from tomorrow?" Maria asked.

Aria was astonished. They want my help?

"It's for charity and we can really use your insight. What do you say, Sawyer?"

"The more the merrier," said Sawyer.

"It would be my honor, madam," Aria said timidly.

"Oh, how lovely," Maria said, clapping her hands.

"It's settled then."          

A/N: Hi my beautiful friends. This is chapter 4. Hope you guys are enjoying this story. Thank you so much for 100+ reads!

Please let me know what you think about it. Or what you think so far about the story. Please share it with your fellow reader  friends and support me like you did with The Mafia and his Nerd. I really appreciate and love you guys so much.

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