Chapter 52 Heel

Chapter 52 Heel
Once I understood that my position as the carrier of his child was Malcolm's Achilles heel, my life took a dramatic turn for the better.
My new bedroom was a luxury suite with an attached room with a sofa and a television. There was a four-poster bed for me to sleep in and a special intercom to summon a member of staff, day or night. I also had my own private bathroom with a gorgeous clawfoot tub.
I was given a range of clothes to choose from, but I refused to ever allow someone else to dictate what I was going to wear, so I had Alfred drive me into town. I spent several days shopping at all of the high-end luxury boutiques and outfitters until I had assembled a glorious wardrobe that cost tens of thousands of dollars.
No longer did I have to deal with trying to eke out a bite of decent food from the staff, either. Sometimes, I made them prepare sumptuous banquets for me. Other times, I had fun ringing them up at odd hours and demanding that they fix me something complicated. I also enjoyed sending Alfred into town to pick up gourmet delicacies for me from the fanciest restaurants.
Frankly, it was wonderful. And the best part was that, no matter how much I ate, I never seemed to gain any weight. Perhaps it was the quality of the food or maybe it was the fact that I never had to stress about the cost, but either way, I never looked or felt better.
Another great benefit to my new status was that the staff now all treated me with deference and respect. I had them bring fresh-cut flowers into my room every morning so that my suite always smelled of the most delicious perfume. And of course they always curtsied in front of me instead of giving me hostile stares.
As the weeks unfolded, I made some inquiries into my mother's condition. It turned out that Malcolm had been telling the truth. She'd come down with something called "sleeping sickness," which I assumed was a euphemism, but that was the actual medical name. It is caused by a parasite that gets into the bloodstream from an insect bite, and if left untreated, could be fatal.
Of course, my mother got the very best medical care available. I even had Malcolm fly in a tropical disease specialist from Miami to ensure that she was getting top-quality treatment for her illness. Alas, the road to recovery was a long one, especially for someone of her age, so she was largely confined to her room as she slowly worked to regain her strength.
As for Malcolm, once he realized that I wasn't going to do anything to jeopardize the health of his unborn child, he began to return to his business activities, which meant that he was often jetting off to foreign countries. As such, he was rarely home, which meant that I started assuming the mantle of the head of household and manager of the estate.
I didn't want to exercise my powers too broadly, so I limited myself to a few minor renovation projects at first. For instance, I had one of the balconies converted into an observatory, and then I had it filled with gorgeous exotic flowering plants. I absolutely loved drinking my morning coffee in there before the day got too warm.
To please Malcolm, I also directed a team of workers to begin preparing a nursery. I must've looked through hundreds of design catalogs and pictures on the internet before I settled on a lovely shade of blue for the walls and a raft of cheerful pictures and images from several different cultures.
Malcolm was a bit puzzled by the last part, but I told him that since he was a world-renowned businessman, it was only fitting that his child have an international themed nursery, which pleased him immensely.
Occasionally, thoughts about returning to college would pop into my mind, but I brushed them aside. In some ways, my days as a university student seemed like they all happened a lifetime ago. Anyway, if I really needed to read books, I was living in a mansion chock full of them as I had discovered that Malcolm's grandfather had built an enormous library filled floor-to-ceiling with priceless tomes.
As the summer days grew warmer, I found myself in the unique position of feeling more satisfied with my life than I ever had before. I wore wonderfully flattering, stylish clothes every single day, ate the finest foods, drank the best coffee that money could buy, and lived in a mansion where my every whim was catered to by an army of servants.
It was a shame that my mother was too out of it to really appreciate all the changes for the better I'd brought to the estate, but I knew that my feminine touch was just what had been missing. Sometimes it was little things like having new art pieces added to the foyer, and sometimes it was bigger things like the flowers that the staff grew in the observatory that brightened up the whole house.
All in all, it was pretty wonderful. But sometimes, when I lay in my enormous four-poster bed at night, I would feel a bit lonely. I had such a great life going on, but there was no one to really share it with. Sometimes, I would feel a deep ache inside of me because that key part of me was left unfulfilled.
What made it all the more difficult was that I didn't know what to do about it. Occasionally, I'd flash back to the good times I'd had with Malcolm in the early days, or with Jack, but those two had ultimately been a disappointment.
What I needed was a proper man by my side, but I just didn't know how that could ever happen, not with my responsibilites on the estate and my condition as the bearer of Malcolm's future heir.
I suppose I could have ordered Alfred to drive me into town to have a night out, but then what? I no longer wanted to sit around some overcrowded dance floor and try to make conversation with random strangers, shouting to be heard above the music.
I certainly wasn't going to sit in a bar and wait for a guy to buy me a drink. The last thing I ever wanted was to go online and wait for a deluge of requests from horny strangers.
Therefore, it was with more than a little irony that I found myself in quite a dilemma. Outwardly, my life had never been better. I looked and felt great. I had a wardrobe full of fabulous clothes and shoes. Yet I had no way of meeting a guy to give me that full measure of satisfaction that I so desperately craved.
Sure, there were more than a few male members on staff, but it wouldn't be befitting for someone in my position to consider a dalliance with any of them.
Anyway, they weren't really my type, and I had no interest in starting something romantic with a person who had to take orders from me. Perhaps that was something suitable for a late-night fantasy, but it certainly wasn't enough to keep me going during the day.
It was during one of those nights that lay tossing and turning in bed, aching to be fulfilled, that I suddenly remembered Ricardo. Somehow, his existence had completely slipped my mind, probably because I had never seen him since I ascended to my position as mistress of the estate.
Ricardo was the one guy who might be able to help me out of my predicament, so I made a plan to have him brought to me the next day. With that resolved, I let my mind wander back to the first time I’d been alone with him, and I shivered with pleasure as I remembered how handsome he was and how strong and powerful his body was..
I had no idea what he was up to in real life, but my memories were more than enough to give me a little respite from the burning emptiness that I’d been feeling for so long. I smiled to myself as I got back under the sheets, a warm glow of happiness suffusing through my body as I thought about our upcoming meeting.
I imagined that he would be delighted that I had not forgotten about him. And he was sure to notice how good I looked. In fact, he might not even recognize me from the pasty, slightly chubby girl I'd been when I'd first arrived on the estate. And who knows? Maybe he'd been dreaming of me all this time and would welcome me with open arms when we finally reunited.
As sleep slowly stole up on me, I nodded to myself, confident that our next encounter would be just the answer I had been looking for.