Million Dollar Maid ✔

Chapter 8

Apparently, Mr. Chastain had told both George and Lauren what had happened the night before as they both came to visit her throughout the day, much to Ava's embarrassment.

She did appreciate the little snacks Lauren would bring every now and then and Ava could only imagine that's how a concerned grandmother would act with her grandchildren. The nuns at the orphanage weren't the caring kind and she'd always had a sneaking suspicion they secretly hated the kids.

At least she could use hurting her hand and getting an extra day off as an excuse as to why she'd finished the whole stack of books when meeting with Everly at the library again. She was definitely looking forward to it.

But Ava wasn't used to doing nothing. The orphanage would always make them do chores to keep them busy, idle hands are the devil's tools, they'd say. So by 10 a.m. she was already bored of sitting around and decided to treat herself to another day in town.

She grabbed the frayed pair of old gloves she'd had for the winter and put them on. It was just about cold enough that she could get away with it without it being too weird. After double-checking her outfit she determined that it was presentable enough to go out.

Before she left she took some more Tylenol to stop the burning aches on her hands and set off. While passing Lauren she quickly explained her plan to her. Lauren seemed to like the idea of her getting fresh air and encouraged her to go out, so she did.

The walk was quiet and long and gave her time to reflect on the incident earlier that day. She simply couldn't believe how nice Mr. Chastain had been about the whole situation when he didn't have any reason to be. She was way below him, and the fact he even bothered dumbfounded her.

Suddenly, she realized something. She never even thanked him for his kindness. Oh, she could smack herself over the head right now, how could she forget? She felt like a terrible human being.

Maybe she could buy him a gift to make up for it? But what could she give him that he didn't already have? The guy was a millionaire, possibly a billionaire. He could literally buy anything and everything he could possibly want.

The question plagued her all the way to town and when she reached it she still didn't have a clue. She'd make him something herself to make it meaningful but she didn't have any skills that allowed her to create something.

Did he have any hobbies? Anything in specific that he liked? She couldn't think of anything because she didn't know him that well. She knew he liked sportscars, but that was a little bit above her budget.

From the corner of her eye, she spotted a small sign in the window of the jeweler's shop.

'Temporary discount on

all personalized pendants

$15 - $ 25'

Would it be weird to give him a pendant? What if he didn't have a necklace to go with?

She thought back on earlier in the morning when he'd unbuckled her seatbelt and realized he did wear a necklace, then. Besides, rich people love jewelry. They probably had loads of them.

The sign helped her make up her mind and she went inside. After opening the door a wave of warm air brushed against her cheeks, making her aware that she'd been freezing before.

"Good afternoon," the elderly man behind the counter greeted her. "How may I help you?" His brushy mustached moved in strange ways as he spoke but Ava thought it was a charming characteristic of the man.

 "Hello," she greeted back, "I'd like to have one of those personalized pendants from the sign out front," she said while she gestured briefly in the general direction of the sign.