care /ker/
𝑛. 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑣𝑖𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑖𝑠 𝑛𝑒𝑐𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑎𝑟𝑦 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑡ℎ, 𝑤𝑒𝑙𝑓𝑎𝑟𝑒, 𝑚𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑡𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑜𝑟 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔.

"I USED TO have sex all the time-every day, every minute, almost every man. I didn't care 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 turned towards the elder 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 only because I didn't spend my days taking care of old women like me," she seethed out.

"What if I said that I have fun taking care of others?" Avelina replied in a question just as she placed the Chicken Alfredo on the dish. Once again, Miss Paola was rolling her eyes.

"Then you'd be a goddamned liar," The woman had said aggressively. Avelina set the plate down on the very elegant table, her smile never faltering.

"I don't lie, Miss Paola," She told her. Turning around, Avelina eyed the older woman while she got up from her seat on the couch. Her hair was up in an elegant updo, and she was dressed in her usual business-like wear. For her to be elder, she never seemed to be dressed down. Even her makeup looked professionally done.

"Aren't you Brazilian?" She asked, walking over to her seat at the table. Nodding her head, Avelina sent her a smile despite the fact that Miss Paola seemed to be in a cranky mood no matter how hard she tried to be nice.

"If I hadn't had gone through menopause already, I might actually be jealous of you," she said with a slight eye-roll once again. Avelina couldn't stop her eyebrow from rising as she processed her words. It didn't seem like much, but it was believed to be the closest she had ever gotten to a compliment.

"And why is that?" The caregiver asked, genuinely interested.

"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," she spoke angrily. Avelina couldn't hide the small smile on her face. To hide it, she turned away and began to clean the dishes that she had used to cook the meal.

"I guess I'm just not the type. I prefer to be home, or out doing my job," she explained with a small shrug. The woman's back was straight as she ate her food with such great posture. Everything she did had to be precise, or she would think poorly of herself for days.

"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 fully chewing her food and swallowing it. Avelina turned towards her with a playful look just before shaking her head.

"Fine, I give up trying to live my youth through you. You're just boring," Miss Paola muttered. When Avelina's eyes returned to the dishes at hand, she had gotten up from the table and walked away.

Miss Paola was ridiculously rich. The hotel she currently was being taken care in was not just a simple hotel. It had to have had many penthouse suites, one in which she lives in. 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 'care' agency in which Avelina worked at 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 the fact that the more rich the person was, the more cruel they treated her. Luckily, she had gotten used to the treatment.

When Avelina had finished the dishes, she had 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 of 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 mother 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?" Miss Paola asked her. Turning towards her, a small smile made its way onto her face before she looked back at the huge city. The colors danced around 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. Como uma lagarta para uma borboleta. Like a caterpillar to a butterfly," Avelina translated for her. A memory played out in her head at the thought of what her mother had always told her. Even a small smile seemed to grace her lips.

"You're the first caregiver that I didn't fire in the first two weeks," Miss Paola said randomly. Once again, it didn't seem like much, but that was her way of giving a compliment. Avelina grabbed ahold of the door handle to the double doors before pushing it open.

"Let's get you to bed, and then I will see you tomorrow," She said. The elder woman let out a groan as she followed the girl inside of the penthouse. They walked up the stairs and to the vanilla-scented master bedroom.

Once again, she pushed open the double doors and walked miss Paola to her bed. Peeling away the duvet, Avelina left enough space for her to get under the covers. The woman seemed irritated with the fact someone was tucking her into bed as she laid down on the sheets right before Avelina covered her body up with her blanket.

"Goodnight, Miss Paola," she smiled just before switching off the lamp and walking out of the lady's room. Her body wandered back down the stairs and towards the front door where she locked it right behind her as she left.

Her shoes clanked against the beautiful marble flooring as she made her way back to the elevator. Jones, the elevator operator was standing inside of the elevator waiting for an attendant. The moment he saw her, his lips pulled up into a smile followed by a curt nod.

"Avelina, how has Miss Paola been doing?" He asked just as she walked into the elevator. He already knew exactly where the beautiful Brazilian needed to be-the bottom level to get to herself a taxi.

"She's been better," she answered him, a polite smile on her face. Avelina watched as he nodded his head just as they both irritated gravity by going down.

When they made it to the lobby, the doors pulled apart leaving her to look over the elegant building.

"Goodnight, Avelina," Jones stated. She gave him a small wave before exiting the elevator and strolling past the front desk and out to the busy streets. There was heavy rain that welcomed her with open arms. When a yellow taxi can suddenly came driving down the road, she was quick to wave her hand, letting the cab driver know that she needed a lift.

The man in the car pulled over to almost right directly in front of her. She speed-walked all the way to the cab before hurriedly pulling it open and getting in.

"Where to?" He questioned. She told him her address and shut the door with a sigh escaping her mouth. Sometimes, her job took a lot of energy out of her. Depending on her client, she would go home feeling completely exhausted. At first, she believed that she only ended up being so tired because not only was she working, but she also had to go to school in order to complete her nursing degree. Now that she had finished school, she knew that was no longer an excuse.

Suddenly, her phone rang.

Letting out a huff of annoyance, she grabbed her phone from the inside of her pocket before answering and pressing it against my ear.

"May I speak to Avelina Santos?" A man had asked. Furrowing her brows, she couldn't help but wonder who it was she was talking to and what they needed to speak to her for.

"Speaking," she replied.

"Good evening, Miss Santos. I am Johnathan Miller, the founder of HomeCare. I've recently received your file to see that you have gotten a 'Bachelor of Science in Nursing' degree, is that correct?" He asked. Avelina nodded her head slowly before realizing that he couldn't see her.

"Yes, sir."

"I have a personal friend of mine who is in need of a nurse and caregiver all-in-one. I would love to speak with you in person about this when you are free. Does tomorrow sound okay?" He questioned. Once again, she nodded her head nervously. There always seemed to be anxiety that loomed over her actions when she spoke to people she didn't quite know.

"Yes, of course. I don't have to see my client until tomorrow afternoon," she informed him, thinking about Miss Paola.

"Perfect. I will meet you at 'Java Palace' at about ten in the morning," Johnathan spoke. There was a kindness that slightly eased her to speak to him. His voice sounded like he was smiling.

"Okay, I will see you there. Goodnight," she said just before hanging up the phone. Letting out a small sigh, she allowed her elbow to sit on the space next to the window. Her finger graced her soft lips while she sat there waiting for him to drop her off at home.

It didn't take much longer after that to pull up in front of her small Row House. Her house was connected to a bunch of others all the way down the street. With a smile, she paid the taxi cab driver the cost for the drive along with a tip just before stepping out and walking towards her front door.

Grabbing her keys from her pocket, she inserted it into the keyhole before unlocking it and walking inside. There was a bag of cat food that she had left by the door to feed the stray cats that roamed the streets at night, so she grabbed ahold of that and filled up the bowl she always left outside. Closing her door, she locked it right behind her.

All that was left on her mind was what the founder of the agency would want from her.

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That is the end of the first chapter. I hope you are enjoying the story thus far. My hopes are really high for this book, and I only hope that I exceed my expectations with the help of you all.

thank you for reading, please vote :)