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Oh, shit.
There is more movement outside the door. Shadows dance around the cracks.
I pull up the bedcovers and glance around the room. There is nowhere for me to escape. I could potentially hide in August’s walk-in wardrobe, but I wouldn’t want to debase myself like that.
There is even more movement, and then August speaks with urgency.
“I’m hiding nothing,” he says.
“I’m your mother, I know when you’re hiding something from me.”
But that clearly is not enough for Alda. The bedroom door suddenly swings open.
And I am met by the woman I most fear, standing in the doorway.
She looks at me.
And I look back at her.
68
AUGUST
I can see that Mother instantly recognizes Emma - she has always been good with faces, and the daughter of the maid who once cleaned our family mansion is no exception to her natural talent.
“The Tucker girl?” Mother asks, unblinkingly regarding the girl in my bed.
She and Emma glare at each other across the bedroom – Mother standing in the doorway, and Emma wrapped up in my sheets, completely stark naked under the covers. I bet she’s feeling very exposed at this moment. I feel like I’ve let her down - I did not know we’d be ambushed like this. I did not know all this was going to happen this morning.
This is the worst possible situation.
“Mother...”
I try to tamper the sudden shift in tension. I try to calm down Mother.
But it doesn’t work.
“You’re with her? How long has this been going on, August?”
“I don’t like you turning up unannounced,” I reply.
Emma’s already leaning out of the bed, gathering her clothes left scattered on the floor with one hand while her other is busy keeping her naked body covered. I watch her – and ignore Mother - as she quickly gets changed.
“She’s in your bed, August.”
I continue to ignore Mother.
Now fully clothed, Emma stands up and, without a word, storms past Alda and me standing in the doorway. She doesn’t look back as she marches all the way to the private elevator.
I’ve fucked this up.
I continue to ignore Mother and her incessant calls after me as I run up to Emma, who is waiting for the elevator to open.
“I can drive you home,” I whisper to her.
Emma shakes her head.
“No, I can’t deal with...this. I can’t deal with Alda. You told me she wouldn’t see me.”
