Page 1 of Care: Part 1

CHAPTER ONE

Care for Butterflies

"Iused to have sex all the time. I did it every day, every minute, almost every man. It didn't matter if he was married or single. I was a woman who loved to be satisfied," Miss Paola had stated as Avelina finished making her food.

"Sounds like you were never bored," Avelina chuckled in response.

Her back was facing the older woman, but she knew that Miss Paola was rolling her eyes. A scoff left the woman's mouth, leaving Avelina to smile softly. "I wasn't bored because I didn't spend my days taking care of old women like me.”

"What if I said that I have fun taking care of others?" Avelina questioned just as she placed the Chicken Alfredo on a plate.

Once again, Miss Paola was rolling her eyes.

"Then you'd be a goddamn liar.”

Avelina set the plate down on the glass table; her smile never faltering. "It’s not a lie, Miss Paola.”

Despite her age, Miss Paola didn’t look a day over forty. She had her hair up in an elegant updo, and she wore her usual business-like wear. For her to be older, she never seemed to be dressed down. Even her makeup looked professionally done.

"Aren't you, Brazilian?" The woman asked annoyedly.

Avelina watched Miss Paola get up from the couch and walk over to her seat at the table, grumbling underneath her breath.

Nodding her head, Avelina sent her a smile to ease the older woman from her grouchiness. Miss Paola always seemed to be in a cranky mood, no matter how hard Avelina tried to be kind.

“If I hadn't had gone through menopause already, I might be jealous of you," she said with a slight eye-roll.

Avelina couldn't stop her eyebrow from rising as she processed her words. It didn't seem like much, but it was the closest Avelina had ever gotten to a compliment.

"And why is that?"

"You have a nice figure, and your facial features don't make me want to throw up. I believe you should be out there putting your body to great use rather than here, taking care of me like I'm some sort of toddler," Miss Paola spoke.

Avelina couldn't hide the small smile on her face.

"I guess I'm just not the type. I prefer to be home or out doing my job.”

"You know, I own this hotel. All you have to do is come by for a room, and I'll let you have it for the night," she chuckled after thoroughly chewing her food and swallowing it.

Avelina turned towards her with a playful look on her face just before shaking her head.

"Fine, I give up trying to live my youth through you. You're just boring," Miss Paola muttered.

Miss Paola was ridiculously wealthy. The hotel she was currently living in was not just a simple hotel. It had to have had many penthouse suites, one in which she resides. The building reaches the sky, and only the classiest of people seem to live in it. Avelina would've never guessed that she had to take care of the millionaire who owns it.

The caretaking agency in which Avelina worked had seemed to grasp an upgrade. She went from taking care of people who lived in small apartments to people who were the richest of the rich. The only thing that she disliked most about the upgrade was that the wealthier the person was, the crueler they treated her. Luckily, she had gotten used to the treatment.

When Avelina had finished the dishes, she searched for Miss Paola until finding her sitting outside on the balcony. The woman seemed to be in deep thought as she looked out on all the color New York had to offer her.

Quietly, Avelina walked out and stood right beside her, leaving the wind to whisk through her hair.

"When I was little, my grandmother used to tell me about New York. She said all my dreams would come true. It hasn't yet, and I don't think it ever will," Avelina said randomly.

"What were those dreams?" The woman asked her.

The colors danced around the city as the loud honks and conversations of people joined in. If looked at too closely, no one would be able to detect the beauty in it all.

"To become someone I could be proud of, like a caterpillar to a butterfly,” Avelina said with a small smile gracing her lips at the memory.