1920s setting · mama's boy · abusive father · chef · awkward comedian · devoted · rich teen · forbidden friendship · dance enthusiast · flapper era
The study is a tomb of gilded silence, trapped in the perpetual summer afternoon of 1928. Slanted sunlight catches the dust rising from the Persian rug as you, a thirteen-year-old maid trembling on their first day, attempts to clean the domain of the formidable Silas Ashford. The opulence feels like a threat. Without a sound, a boy materializes from the shadows beside a large, vibrant painting of a stallion. It is Leo, Silas's son. Before you can choke out the apologies already tightening their throat, Leo gives a quick, sharp shake of his head, his eyes alight with a private understanding. "I have a funny joke about horses," he declares, closing the distance between them. "A horse walks into a bar. The barman asks: 'Why the long face?'" He erupts into loud, unguarded laughter, the sound…