How do you know Rebecca?

Everything was going well. Melody was learning quickly because her teachers were good and took time in explaining everything to her until she understood.

The girls were fun to be with. There was never a dull moment with them. Melody, who had been awkward whenever Arianna hugged her, was no longer awkward. She got used to it before the end of the week. Morgan popped by anytime he was free to offer lessons to her, and Melody could not help but to always squirm under his gaze. She has caught him staring at her countless times, and she could not understand what the look in his eyes meant but she was so not comfortable with it.

A week passed by almost too quickly for Melody because her anxiety level began to increase. She began to wonder what would happen if she did not pass the competition. She knew that everyone would be disappointed and would try not to hold it against her. Her dream would be over if she failed, so she tried to block every other thing from her mind. Including thoughts of Hunter but it was hard not to think about him.

"Well, what can I say?” Arianna gave a careless shrug of her shoulders as she chewed.

Melody stood before her with clasped hands as she waited for Arianna's verdict. The competition would be in three stages; grilling, main dishes and baking. Arianna was teaching her the grilling aspect, and she just grilled ribs off.

"Hmm”. Arian relaxed back on her seat as she continued to chew with a blank face. She loved doing this, everytime. She loved to make Melody anxious.

"Hey, speak before the young lady pisses her pants”. Samantha snapped at Arianna.

" Well, it's okay, but there is still room for improvement. It's better than the last one. It needs to be perfectly seasoned, not too dry, neither undercooked or overcooked”. Arianna finally told her.

Melody sighed in relief. Hearing that she did better than in the last one was making her heart fill with Joy "Alright, I can try again until I get it right?”.

" Who would stay and watch you? As much as I love cooking, I also love to sleep and have fun”. Arianna rolled her eyes at Melody.

" Alright, you all can go without me. I will just stay and keep practicing. The competition day is not far off again”. Melody said as she returned to the kitchen.

Rebecca has gone out to see her boyfriend, including Zain. Melody was home alone with just Arianna and Samantha.

"I need to go and pick something up for my mother. Have fun cooking without me”. Adrian stood up and waved at Melody and Samantha before leaving.

Melody turned when she heard the scraping sound of a stool to see Samantha dragging a stool to sit close to her.

Melody raised her brow in surprise," you didn't go with her?”.

"Nope, I don't have anywhere to go. My parents are out on holiday”. Samantha shook her head negatively.

" I guess you are stuck with me, then”. Melody was a bit relieved that she wouldn't be alone.

"Yeah, I guess so”. Silence reigned as Melody continued to cook, and Samantha drummed her fingers against the counter top as she watched Melody.

"How did you meet Rebecca?”. Samantha asked after some time, breaking the silence.

Melody was not surprised at the question because she knew that it was something all of them wanted to know. They wanted to know how she was related to Rebecca and Hunter for her to be living in their house and for Hunter to be the one sponsoring her cooking expenses.

She also wanted to know. She just knew that the brother and sister liked her, and were giving her privileges that they did not give to other maids. She was just so lucky to have bumped into Hunter after getting to County Vee.

"I'm working for Mr. Winthrop, and I met Rebecca when she came to visit. We became friends, and after she found out that I wanted to become a chef, she said that I must partake in the compensation and here I am”. Melody briefly explained, leaving out all the details.

"Hmm". Samantha hummed, still drumming with her fingers. “ It's not like Rebecca to help everyone. Yeah, she is a good person, but does not make friends easily. What kind of job do you do for her brother?”.

" Make him coffee, run errands and stuff”. She did not like the questions Samantha was asking. She knew that none of them had asked because Rebecca was always around and won't allow them to ask her such questions.

"Hmm". Samantha hummed again, but thankfully she did not ask any other questions.

After Melody was done. Samantha tried the food and told Melody that she was getting better. Melody went out to call the maids to take the food. Since she started her lessons, the cook in the house has not gone close to the kitchen. The two of them were given holidays. The man went home to rest with his family, while the woman remained in Hunter's mansion in the maid quarters.

Every morning she would prepare breakfast, and lunch in the afternoon and sometimes dinner or the woman would do dinner if Melody was too tired or if she was dragged out to hang out with the girls.

After taking her bath, Melody dropped on her bed with a smile on her face. Everything was working out well, more than she expected, and she won't take it for granted. She would do anything to get that scholarship to study in Rebecca's school, then come back to work for Hunter.

She won't complain, even if she has to work for him for the rest of her life to pay Hunter back. He has been of much help to her, and they were not even related in any way.

She wished she could meet her mother and tell her that her notion about city men being bad was wrong. Not all of them were like that. Some were good while some were bad, just like the men in outback towns.

She was looking forward to Hunter coming back. She found herself checking the calendar and counting the days until he came back. She has caught herself and chided herself so many times.

He did not like her, he was just trying to help, but she could not stop her heart from beating fast anytime she thought about him or his handsome face appeared in her mind. She was the one who said she won't look at any guy after everything her father has done to her, so why was she looking at Hunter? She was unable to understand herself, but she did not want to fight the feeling.