Million Dollar Maid ✔

Chapter 19

She quietly grabbed a glass and filled it with water before returning to put it in front of the blonde woman who was busy typing away at the screen. After that, she didn't know what else to do and didn't dare ask the woman anything else.

So, she chose to stay in the kitchen in case she'd be called again. This way she couldn't be accused of taking too long again.

This also gave her a little opportunity to look at the woman some more. It was hard to really see her when those blue eyes seemed to criticize her every move.

Ms. Moore only seemed a little older than her and was maybe closer to Sébastien's age. Like the last time, not a blonde hair was out of place and her light blue dress complimented her eyes beautifully. It made her wonder if this was maybe his girlfriend.

He had never mentioned having one before, but men tended to do that sometimes. Pretty people usually dated other pretty people, so it wouldn't surprise her if they were together.

Her heart burned at the thought, but she didn't quite understand why herself. Maybe she just didn't want Ms. Moore hanging around the house.

She shifted her weight from one leg to the other. Standing still was more difficult than one might expect but she didn't want to be called lazy for sitting down.

Her salvation came as she heard the front door click and a few seconds later Sébastien came walking in.

He eyed her curiously for a second before his attention was pulled away to the other woman in the room.

"Mr. Chastain," Ms. Moore greeted with a smile while standing up from her position on the couch. A stupid, perfect smile with stupid, perfectly white teeth. But she hadn't called him Sébastien, so maybe they weren't together after all.

"Alice?" he asked confusedly while making no move to get anywhere near her. Instead, he walked towards the kitchen to put down the takeout bags. "Did you need something?"

"Oh, no," she laughed while also making her way towards the kitchen. Without thinking, Ava stepped back a step before realizing how ridiculous it was to do. "It's just, I knew you'd get off work soon so I thought I would stay in case you needed me for anything else."

A hopeful glint shimmered in her eyes which didn't go unnoticed by Ava.

"Oh," he replied while looking around for something. "I'm fine, thanks." He found his phone behind one of the bags and unlocked it to check for messages before sliding it down the pocket of his slacks. It was obvious the woman was scrambling for something to say to draw his attention but she came up empty.

He finally looked up and made eye contact with Ava, who was still standing in the corner of the kitchen warily eyeing everything around her.

"Why are you standing in the kitchen?"

"I thought I'd stay here in case Ms. Moore needed anything."

"Which she didn't have to do," the woman laughed while taking a step closer to him. "She didn't even know how to make a latte, so what would she help me with? But I suppose you don't have to be smart to be a maid."

"Alice."

"Yes?"

"Get out."

"What?

"Have Lucinda take over your duties tomorrow, you won't have to come in anymore."

"You're firing me? Séb- Sir, I mean. I don't understand."

"I suppose you don't have to be smart to be a personal assistant, then," he glared at her.

Panic became evident in her eyes as she looked around for something to say. It was obvious this wasn't how she'd imagined her evening to go and her eyes landed on Ava in a plea for help. But even she didn't know how she could be of any help in this situation.

All five stages of grief flashed over her face before settling on acceptance. After one last forlorn look at Sébastien, she turned away and walked out the door, leaving Ava with him in a deafening silence.

It seemed like an eternity before he turned to her, and even then he didn't say anything for a while.

"You can't let people call you stupid, Ave," he said eventually while looking at her with that intense gaze of his, which she couldn't match.

"I don't know a lot of things, I think that classifies me as pretty dumb," she whispered with her eyes glued to the floor.

"Shit, Ava. I don't know a lot of things either but that doesn't make either of us stupid. You can't let people like her get to you like that," he said while walking towards her. She didn't really want to look at him right now.

"Hey," he said while gently curling his fingers around her chin before lifting up her head to make her look at him. "You're not dumb, okay?"

Their proximity made it almost impossible for her to breathe. The spot where his fingers held up her chin burned and the warmth spread through her whole body before settling in her stomach. The feeling completely paralyzed her but not out of fear. This was something else entirely.

Deep down, she knew what she was feeling. But she also knew she shouldn't be feeling those kinds of things at all since it would do nothing but cause problems.

Him being so close to her face also allowed her to really look at him for a moment and see things she'd never noticed before. Like the golden flecks in his dark brown eyes or the small scar that was almost covered by his right eyebrow.

She also noticed he looked unusually tired, and the healthy glow his skin normally held was strangely absent. Maybe his workdays had been too long lately but she hoped he'd soon return to normal again. He always looked so indestructible with the confident air he held around him but only now she noticed that he didn't look like his usual self.

She couldn't do much more than nod, which was enough for him as he let go of her chin. He rose up to his full height and it became obvious how much he actually towered over her. The warmth from his fingers left almost instantly which made her miss the feeling.

"Come on," he encouraged as he walked back to the kitchen island to unpack the takeout dinner. "Let's eat."

------------------------

Chapters 1 to 21 are on my Patreon! 22 and 23 will be on there soon :)

The next Wattpad update will be next Wednesday so stay tuned!

Hope you enjoyed the chapter and see you next time.

Thanks for reading.

xx May