a girl has to do what a girl has to do to survive

[Christiana Rossi]

Christiana liked her job. It was everything she dreamed about. It had to be, after all she dropped out of school for this. Mr. Angelotti gave her a lot of freedom, much more than anybody would expect. She might have been his assistant, but she sure knew more about him than any normal assistant did. In fact, the young woman liked to think of herself as Stefano's confidant or maybe even friend. However, her ambitions were greater than just being an assistant for the rest of her life. She learned a lot through the years and became good with numbers and business.

Still, she couldn't understand the man. He was strange at times, behaved irrationally and for a logical thinker like Christiana it was very hard to follow. He changed his mind often and it wasn't a part of him she was actually fond of. She only hoped that Miss Carmichael will understand the situation.
So when she was lead to the sitting room she could only patiently wait for the woman to arrive.

  

[Virginia Carmichael I]

Virginia hadn't been expecting any visitors for the day, but her curiosity had been aroused against her better judgment when the butler announced that Miss Christiana Rossi was there to see her. Miss Rossi had accompanied her and Mr. Angelotti on a few of their outings together, and Virginia had grown to quite like her; the woman had a level head and a frank tongue, and her down-to-earth presence was a welcome distraction from Ginny's thorny day-to-day problems.

Of course, she had no doubt Miss Rossi was here on Mr. Angelotti's behalf -- the girl was his assistant, after all, and required to see to his needs and whims. Perhaps he had grown tired of writing letters with no response and decided that a human being would be harder to ignore. Well, it worked, Virginia thought wryly as she descended the stairs and crossed the hall to the sitting room, arranging her face into a cheerful, unassuming smile.

"Miss Rossi," she said warmly as she entered. "How wonderful to see you! Shall I have some tea sent up?" She supposed it would be rather rude to jump straight to the point, and Miss Rossi had done nothing to warrant such treatment. An assistant could hardly be held accountable for the faults of her employer!

[Christiana Rossi]

Miss Rossi liked to think of herself as a down to earth and reasonable person. She could have been seen as cold by some of the people, but with somebody as feeling-oriented as Mr. Angelotti she had no choice. He didn’t think with his head, not a lot at least and so she was left to deal with things. It usually required her to even be harsh, but inside she was a warm and gentle person. Italians were generally more open than her as she put logic first. That is why in matters such as this it was better when she took care if things.

As the lovely Miss Carmichael greeted her Christiana smiled to her.
”Thank you, miss Carmichael, tea would be lovely. She replied. ”How have you been doing since we last spoke, I hope you’re well.”