Silent Fracture

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Thirteen

                                 

Carla Persephone-White had been in her long, pregnancy personalized and custom gown in order to break it in for the party they would be hosting the next night. It was long and pastel pink with little sequined stars all around. While on any other individual it would have looked like overkill, especially for something as minor as an anniversary party, on Carla, anything looked as if it belonged there.

In addition, most women could glow like the fire of a thousand torches when pregnant but none like Carla. Her hair was planned to be down and curled for the party, she liked to grow it out when her prenatal vitamins provided her the long grace of such locks, but on this night it was up in a loose bun falling gracefully over her perfect peach skin and green eyes. She didn’t need to wear much makeup to look like an angel, only a little mascara and lip gloss most days and her fresh manicure was only an emphasis on her already long, tidy nails.

To any onlooker Carla was the embodiment of a goddess; a living angel. Men of old times would have written plays about her beauty, songs dedicated to her voice and worlds traveled, battles won and hearts broken in her name. Nothing could have compared to her grace and elegance. She was much like a crystal champagne glass or chandelier; delicate, untouchable and perfect.

She pointed out the area in which the band’s instruments could be placed and where they would be performing to a crew working overtime to make sure things were as perfect as Carla was. While most had been asleep by this time of night, Carla’s pregnancy had brought on insomnia and she would not be sleeping for quite some time. This meant no one else would be either.

From the kitchen sliding door, a very nervous native Chinese nanny was emerging with very deep bags under her eyes and baby vomit all down the front of her blouse. She had been taking care of the two White children for the entire day with little to no contact from their actual mother despite having been in the same house. Considering she was there on a student visa, Ming Lin did not need the job for residency but with the rising cost of living she could not afford a job that would pay minimum wage. She also knew that putting the White’s on a resume would have gotten her any job in any hospital in the city.

However, the benefits of that reference were starting to look minuscule in comparison to the nonexistent days off, 4-5 hours of sleep maximum a night and constant character bashing from not only the children but the mother of the house.

“Dear god, Lin. If you are here to complain about something else while I am concentrating on the party I will kill you.” She didn’t turn to face the girl but the sounds she made as walked were a dead giveaway. Her sandals would drag slightly with each step, “Are the kids in bed.”

“Not yet ma’am, but I was wondering if I could possibly…”

“What?” Carla shouted grabbing her head and turning to Lin now. She was the only person on the grounds who was shorter than Carla and smaller in size. It was intimidating despite her goddess-like attraction, “What else could you possibly want from me? You are the most demanding nanny we have ever had! First it’s a day off, then it is a night. Here, you want my keys? Why not move in and start running the place?”

Tears formed in the girl’s eyes as she was shouted at. Carla looked around and had seen many of the movers and decorators were now staring. She grabbed onto Lin’s hand tightly and began to drag her across the lawn from the pool into the pool house. It was a building being renovated and covered in plastic smelling of paint and sawdust. She shut the door once inside and turned on the light. She then turned back to Lin to slap her.