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Eliza made a face. Talk about a thankless undertaking. The girls had learned not to stand in the line of fire when Cody hurled after every meal. Two words: projectile vomit.
"MERDA!" Jacqui stormed into the kitchen from the dining room. A river of green-colored puke ran down the length of her cotton dress. "Why does everything he eats have to be hand
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chopped?" she ranted. "Has this woman never heard of baby food? This makes his stomach enjoado!"
They grunted in sympathy.
Madison walked in and helped herself to a grape. "Bleh," she said, spitting out a chewed-up mess.
"What's wrong now?" Mara sighed.
"They're not cold enough. And that one still has its skin on a little bit."
Mara wanted to throw her hands up in despair. Madison's grapes were never cold enough or peeled properly or else could not be eaten because they were deemed "funny looking." Mara knew the kid was just rebelling against the strict diet her stepmother had put her on, but it was seriously making her own life difficult.
"There's nothing wrong with them," Eliza said, taking one and popping it into her mouth. "Yum. I wish I had somebody to peel my grapes. You're a lucky girl."
Madison looked at Eliza doubtfully but began to eat the grapes without complaint. A miracle.
The door swung open again and this time Anna walked into the kitchen. The three au pairs froze, wondering what was wrong now.
"Has anyone seen the mail?" she asked.
They shook her heads. Laurie had told them that Anna was desperately waiting for an invitation to a dinner party at Calvin Klein's house. Unfortunately, it had yet to arrive.
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"Anna? Could we ask you something?" Mara assayed.
"Yes?"
"The kids keep talking about these other girls--who, um, used to take care of them? Do you know what they're talking about?"
"Some girls named Camille, and Tara, or something," Eliza added.
Anna scowled. "Yes. They used to work here. But we don't talk about them," she said sternly. "Do you understand?"
They nodded. Obviously, the former au pairs were a sore subject. But the girls' curiosity was doubly piqued. What had they done that was so bad? If only someone would tell them. It obviously hadn't been letting one of the kids fry like a potato chip. They'd done that and they were still here. But they had to find out, because as all three of them agreed, they couldn't afford to make the same mistake.
After cleaning up the kitchen and putting the kids to bed, they staggered back to their dingy room.
"God! What a week!" Eliza said, flopping into the only armchair. Between the cooking and the cleaning and the scrambling out of a VIP room whenever she spotted any sign of the twins' blonde heads, Eliza was exhausted.
"Seriously," Mara agreed, thinking about the week spent catering to the whims of four adorable but very spoiled children.
Jacqui had disappeared into the bathroom to change. She was meeting Luca for dinner at The Laundry, a romantic French restaurant.
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Eliza looked at the clock. It was nine. Too early to hit the clubs yet. "You know what? We deserve a little break."
"What have you got in mind?" Mara asked.
Eliza smiled mischievously. "Look what I found." She grinned, holding up an antique key that just happened to unlock the Perrys' liquor cabinet. It was about time they had a little fun.
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