Million Dollar Maid ✔

Chapter 15

It had been a while since he'd left now and the house still didn't feel the same. She'd forgotten how dreary it was to clean a house that was never dirty, especially when no one actually lived there.

According to George, who'd taken Mr. Chastain to the airport three weeks ago, he had an emergency at the main office. Another company had been wanting to merge but it hadn't gone through, or whatever that meant.

Ava didn't have much knowledge of businesses or how they operated but she'd pretended to know what he was talking about.

The weather was turning nicer as they approached spring and it wasn't that bad walking all the way to town anymore. It would rain less now so her feet weren't soaked every time she reached the library, which she counted as a huge win.

With the disappearance of Mr. Chastain Jane had left as well. Deep down Ava already suspected she only hung out at the library to get closer to Mr. Chastain, but there wasn't really anything Ava could do for her. They weren't friends or anything, after all.

The sting of her mistakes still hurt a little but it had died down to a dull ache in her heart. She could barely feel it when she didn't think about it. In a way, it was better that he was around anymore as she was sure it would be painful to look at him now.

The bag of books threatened to fall off her shoulder so she shifted it back on. The library had just received a new batch of books and she and Everly had gone completely nuts trying to decide which ones to read first. She was happy with the ones she got and was excited to return the next week.

The familiar gate of the Chastain estate came into view and relief fell over her. She'd seriously misjudged the weight of the books and couldn't wait to put them down.

The gate opened painfully slow but when the opening was just wide enough she slipped through and made her way to the main entrance where she slipped off her muddy shoes before entering. Every time she made her way through the door she couldn't help but admire the splendor of it all.

It didn't matter she'd gone through the foyer a hundred times already, it looked as beautiful and imposing as ever. It was enough to distract her from seeing George approach, making her jump when he spoke.

"How has your day been going, Ava?"

"It's been great, the library got a new shipment of books so I'm all set for the rest of the day," she replied excitedly while holding up the bag.

"Oh, right. I'm terribly sorry Ava, for what I'm about to ask of you."

Her stomach dropped. This was it, he was going to let her go.

But what had she done? Was it her stupidity from the day Mr. Chastain left that had finally done her in?

It didn't really matter, she doubted there was anything that could be done at this point. She held her head up in anticipation of the news to come, the least she could do was take it with dignity.

He shifted his weight at her non-reaction before continuing. "Mr. Chastain called and said you wouldn't answer your phone," he said. "So he asked me to ask you if you could come to New York for a bit, to help him keep the apartment clean."

Wait, she wasn't getting fired? Her brain had trouble processing the information she'd been given while relief washed over her in waves, ebbing away the tension in her body.

"New York? I thought he had other staff there?"

"No, it's not a large place so he likes to keep it to himself but it seems that he's been too busy lately so he's asked you to come. My bones are too old to fly and Lauren gets sick on airplanes, you see."