AllFreeNovel
Share Us
One
Holly
One month ago
The Governor’s office is stately. It’s all polished wood, fine leather and the glint of brass, with rows of hardback books on high shelves, their spines never once cracked open since being put on display. An antique globe stands in one corner of the large room, and whenever I dust its surface on my rounds, I hear bottles clink inside.
I hate cleaning in here. This whole room feels… wrong. Like there’s bad energy or malevolent spirits or something. I’m not a superstitious girl, but if I were, I’d refuse point blank to clean the Governor’s office.
My plain black lace-up shoes sink into the rug. I clear my throat as I approach the desk. “You wanted to see me, sir?”
The Governor glances up from the newspaper spread over the desk, his eyes running down my body from head to toe.
I press my palms against my gray maid’s dress, wishing it were baggier. Or floor length. Hell, made of burlap—anything to keep those cold eyes off my body.
“Ah.” My employer glances at a post-it note curling off the desk near his elbow. “Holly, is it? Yes, take a seat.”
The visitor’s chair is at least two inches lower than the Governor’s own. I sink down onto it, mouth dry, and observe the man across from me.
Salt and pepper hair, artfully arranged to hide the way it’s thinning on top, and a tailored three piece suit; expensive cuff links and a sour way of sucking in his cheeks. My employer looks like someone stuffed a bird of prey into fine tailoring. After his meteoric rise, he should be preening, but he’s not.
The Governor has taken the political world by storm over the summer, has risen from relative obscurity to sudden power, and yet it’s still not enough.
You can tell from the downward slash of his mouth, and the pinch of his graying eyebrows: this is not a man who knows how to be satisfied. ‘Enough’ is an foreign word to men like Governor Edwards.
I knit my clammy fingers together in my lap. “How can I be of assistance, sir?”
You know, this man may give me the heebie-jeebies, but I barely see him in my day-to-day work. And Ilikethis job. When I applied for the maid position, I figured it’d be a stop gap on my way to something better; that it would be boring, horrible work. And okay, it does get dull for the last hour or so of my shift, but mostly it’s meditative. A good workout, too. My arms have never been this toned.
Whatever I’ve done, I really hope I can fix it. Ruthie’s relying on me to help make rent.
The Governor’s chair creaks as he leans back, tugging open a desk drawer. He addresses its contents, his tone bored. “Your sister Ruth also works for the Edwards family, does she not?”
I nod, lips pressed together. Why is he asking about Ruth? Is he breaking the ice? We don’t need tochat, he’s my employer.
Whatever he wants me to do, he can just come out with it. No need to feign interest.
“Yes, she works as an aide to—”
“My son.” Governor Edwards sucks on his teeth, pulling a paper file out of the drawer. He slaps it onto the desk surface and pushes it toward me, crinkling the newspaper beneath. “Take a look, Hannah.”
“It’s Holly.” My fingers shake as I flip the file open.
The Governor grunts, and as a single syllable, it speaks volumes. It says, clear as day:I don’t care about your name, girl.
That’s fine. I’d rather he didn’t notice me at all.
Inside the file are several sheets of paper, some scrawled with handwriting, some typed. There are restaurant receipts, a hotel room key, and…
I pinch the photograph between finger and thumb, my chest suddenly tight. Is it me, or is this room stuffy as hell? I can’t—can’tbreathe.
“My son’s, I believe. Ruth is too far along to change her mind now,” the Governor says idly, flicking a speck of lint off his sleeve. “Hides it well, doesn’t she?”
The image is black and white, grainy but easy to read. My sister’s baby is sucking its thumb in the womb.
“Oh my god.” I clatter back in my chair, my body damp with sweat under my uniform. This is—wonderful. Of course. We’ll love this baby more than anyone in the whole world. But rents have been climbing higher, and we’ve already cut back every possible expense, and…
I blink up at the Governor. “Why areyoushowing me this?”
