Maid for My Nemesis novel · Chapter 9 of 24

Chapter 9: Apology

"Give me the letters," I said.

"No."

"They're addressed to your house, and I live in your house four days a week."

"You don't live here. You clean here."

He said it flat and cold, in the voice from the assembly, and it landed.

I stood in the front hall with my yellow apron tied over my jeans.

It was my own apron, bright as a lemon.

I had brought it from home because my mother said a person should always work in her own colors.

"I'm not your enemy," I said.

"You're not my friend, either."

"I know that."

"Then stop acting like it." His voice cracked on the last word, and he turned his face away. "Go home, Hattie."

"Julian."

"Go home. I don't need a maid today."

I looked at his hands.

They were shaking, around a pile of envelopes he was holding.

I could have pushed.

I knew exactly what to say, because I have a mouth and I know how to use it.

But I also knew that if I said it, I would be doing to him what the headmaster had done to me.

So I untied my apron and folded it and set it on the bottom stair.

"Fine," I said. "I'll go home."

"Good."

"But I'm not coming Wednesday."

I walked out and down the drive, and I did not look back, even though I wanted to.

On Wednesday I stayed home and did my brother's math homework with him at the kitchen table.

"You're being weird," my brother said.

"I'm being normal."

"You keep looking at the door."

Keep reading free with an account. Start Maid for My Nemesis from Chapter 1, then sign up free to read the rest of this chapter.