Total pages in book: 62
Estimated words: 61900 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 310(@200wpm)___ 248(@250wpm)___ 206(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 61900 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 310(@200wpm)___ 248(@250wpm)___ 206(@300wpm)
“I don’t know if you know this,” I say, crossing my legs and glancing at Hugh in the rearview mirror when he stares at me, “but I’m actually a grown woman, and so, I can do what I want. I haven’t been told to be on my best behavior since I was four, when it was still a valid speech to be given to me.”
Delilah turns and glares at me. “It’s that mouth that’ll get you into trouble, Maggie.”
“If you want me to be kind, then maybe you ought to give it a shot yourself.”
She scrunches her nose up and faces the front. “Are you sure there is no other nanny that would have worked?”
“Still in the car,” I call out.
Hugh looks a whole lot like he’s trying not to laugh. “She’s stayin’,” he tells Delilah.
Take that, bitch.
Delilah shakes her head and exhales, but she doesn’t say anything more.
She’s trying to win Prince Charming, after all.
We arrive at the country club, and as we roll in, I can’t help but stare in awe at the sheer size of it. It has always been surrounded by massive gates, so you could never really see inside unless you were a member. Not that I ever had any desire to see what lies behind the closed gates of this place. Still, it’s a sight to see, and I know my eyes are wide as the car slowly comes to a stop.
It’s huge, stretching out for what seems like forever. A massive building, peach in color with a red roof. Arches and arches of roofs can be seen as far as the eye stretches, windows overlooking rolling green paddocks. Tennis courts, swimming pools, you name it, it’s here. A man wearing a white uniform walks over, opening Hugh’s door, one hand tucked politely behind his back. “Welcome, sir. I’ll park the car for you.”
Hugh stares at him.
Delilah laughs and slaps him on the arm. “Never mind him, Nigel. It’s his first time.”
“Delilah, how wonderful to see you, I hope you’re well,” Nigel says, smiling at her.
“I am, thank you, Nigel.”
We get out of the car and watch as Nigel gets in and drives it away. Delilah talks to everybody, walking with her arm hooked through Hugh’s as we approach the grand front entrance of the club. Nobody bats an eye as she walks through with us, but the looks I get tell me just how shocked they are to see a nanny who isn’t equal to her in money trailing behind the perfectly flawless Delilah.
I straighten my dress a whole lot more than I should, suddenly feeling very uncomfortable. My discomfort only heightens as we walk outside into a large green field filled with people dressed in the most expensive clothes, the kind of clothes you see in movies but don’t believe actually exist. Jewelry drips from the ladies’ fingers and necks, and the men are all dressed in suits, none of them holding beers but posh glasses of whiskey on the rocks.
Oh, god.
Hugh pauses and glances at me, his face tight.
This isn’t him.
It’s so far from him that it might as well be a different planet.
Delilah wraps her arm around him as she waves to someone coming toward us. An older couple, and I’m guessing they’re her parents by the look they’re giving the man she is clawing like a god damned wet cat. If she paws at him any harder, she’ll leave marks. He’s as stiff as a board and, oh, this isn’t going to end well. It’s written in the stars.
Star cries and I’m thankful, my god am I thankful.
I push her stroller toward the sign that indicates the bathrooms. I need to get the hell out of there, the looks already following me are scathing. Horrified. The women whispering into their husbands’ ears as their eyes trail over my body makes me want to curl into a ball and scream. But I hold my head high and walk into the bathroom, rushing into a special feeding room. The bathroom is bigger than my current living situation and the furniture in here outdoes anything I’ve ever had the pleasure of sitting on.
I plant my bottom on the edge of the gold-trimmed seat in the feeding room and take Star out of her stroller, reaching for her bag to get a bottle. I get it to her as quickly as I can and then bounce her softly as she gobbles it down, dribbling milk onto my expensive dress that I’d never be seen dead in outside of this place. But Delilah insisted.
Voices enter the main bathroom area and the door creaks closed. Women, a few of them by the sounds. They’re all talking as the faucets start running and toilet doors begin closing. I hold my breath, praying they don’t come in here.