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1
Nell
I really need this job. Otherwise I might as well go back to the diner and beg my old boss to take me back. Maybe I’ll even have to go on a date with her hideous, groping son and a shudder passes through me.
I´ve only ever worked as a waitress, but considering that I recently got fired, I´m now trying my luck as a housemaid. The new job is up on Silver Lake Hill, an area a lot fancier than the trailer park that I live in together with my grams.
Following the curve of the road my eyes round when the scenery changes, going from common to something I’ve only seen in the movies. Large white fences, iron gates, fussy and finicky gardens with weeping willows.
The house on the hill looks more like three houses made into one, that’s how big it is. There’s a giant fountain at the front, the gravel walk so tidy, I’m almost scared to walk on it because I’ll only mess it up.
Taking a deep breath, I make my way across the courtyard, trying to take all of it in and I’m so occupied with admiring the mansion that I don’t really notice the girl who just walked out of the entrance.
My ears vaguely register the sound of sharp heels and I smell some powdery perfume that I could never afford before a snorty laugh causes me to jerk.
My head flips up and I stare into familiar blue eyes. Eyes that used to throw daggers at me and that I hoped I would never have to see again.
“Well, well, well,” the girl says in a haughty voice and puts her hand on her scrawny hip. “If it isn’t Conan O’Brien.”
My cheeks heat as I register her features and my heart drops. Immaculately dressed in a matching, preppy set, tall, tanned, blond. Slim.
Lucretia...Smith.
Oh, this can’t be happening. This can’t be the mansion of my old bully. The girl who tormented me throughout all those years in high school. Made fun of my clothes, spread rumors about me and spurred other girls on until they began attacking me too.
I was friendless because of her. Had a lump in my throat every day in school because of her. And now she’s here. I am so definitely not getting this job...
“L...Lucretia,” I stutter, wanting to die or just sink through the earth and never come up again. “What are you doing here?”
“I live here,” she says with a mean girl smile that makes me feel like I’ve traveled back in time. “What are you doing here?”
Swallowing I say, “I’m here for the job as a maid.” I feel humiliated for needing to tell her that I’m looking for a job at the house whereshelives.
She lets out a cackling laugh, rubbing some imaginary dust off her blue, leather bag. “You? Workinghere? You don’t even have what it takes. My father...” she looks me up and down, making me feel small, “he expects a certain standard.”
A slight tremble moves through my body, making me want to cower before I lift my chin. “Then I guess I’ll just have to let your father decide if I have that standard,” I say in a cool voice and interest suddenly flares in her eyes.
“You’ve obviously never met him,” she says with a titter like she knows a secret that I don’t. “If I were you, I’d run because he’ll flatten you to the ground like you’re nothing but dirt under his shoe.”
Like daughter like father? Of course, I should have known.
“I’ll take my chances,” I say and brushing past her, I reach for the bell on the huge white door when she intercepts. Sniggering like a witch, she opens it, gesturing for me to enter and I do so hesitantly.
Inside the foyer with floors so clean I can use them as a mirror, I try to take all of the excessiveness in. There’s crystal chandeliers and heavy portraits everywhere together with hefty flower arrangements but the windows have no curtains which makes the rooms feel more airy.
“The office is upstairs.” Turning to me, Lucretia jerks her head, waving at me with her acrylic nails. “Come on then, move...”
Suspiciously, I follow her and it looks like she’s trying to control herself from bursting into a mocking laughter. Practically skipping she leads me down a long, narrow hallway that seems a little murky to me despite the pale walls.
I jerk when a guy roughly our age comes running down the hallway, almost bumping into us. He’s dressed in a shiny suit but his hands are shaking and tears are spurting out of his eyes. He’s actually crying....
“Are you okay?” I whisper, looking for a tissue in my purse but I don’t find one.
The guy lifts a trembling hand down the hall. “That man,” he spits, his finger jerking from anxiety, “that man is a monster. Monster!”
With those dramatic words, he takes off like someone set him on fire and I look after him as my throat twists from nerves. I should probably come up with an excuse, run just like the guy while I still have the chance but I can’t afford being cowardly.
Rolling her eyes at the young man’s distress, Lucretia waves at me to keep following her and I do, stopping when she stops outside of a white double door that’s slightly ajar and an angry voice booms from inside, giving me chills and the hair on my nape spikes.
