Like felons, Frank and my hands were in the air. Armed police officers pointing guns at us would have been a thousand times better than the huge vein on Nathan’s forehead and his dangerously narrowed eyes. Even though he was my fiancé, I was still scared of his anger. It happens when you get engaged to a person you have just met, and they are your moody employer, infamous for their anger issues and lack of respect for poor people.
To make the situation worse, Mr. Sinclair looked angrier than Nathan. His jaw was vibrating, and his hands were closed into fists that made me seriously fear for our lives.
“Amelia, Frank, what are you doing here?” Nathan yelled at us, and all the hair on my body stood up. Though his volume wasn’t very high, my heart pounded like he had roared at me.
“Uh, uh. We came herrrr...” Frank stammered idiotically. He was just as useless as his inability to speak in serious situations. If he had kept his big mouth shut, we wouldn’t be in that situation anyway. I told him how I felt about that by giving him the side eye.
“We had just come here to look for Mr. Sinclair. We were about to leave when you two came in. Frightened, we hid behind the couch. We thought about making our presence known but were too scared to do so as you two were in the middle of an argument,” I defended us in the only way possible.
“How did you come inside when the door was locked? Or did you come in and lock the door to prevent us from seeing what you were doing here?” Nathan said. He had asked some solid questions. I couldn’t defend myself against an irrefutable argument.
“We weren’t eavesdropping, I promise,” I said, lowering my head.
We were so doomed. There was no way out of it. They would fire Frank and force me to return the engagement ring.
“Why are you lying, Amelia?” Frank nudged my arm. “We should tell them the truth.”
“What truth? One of you better start speaking. I am not in the mood for unnecessary suspense,” Nathan gave us a clear warning.
Frank moved forward, signaling me to stay quiet. “We were indeed passing through Mr. Sinclair’s office. That’s when I saw a rat squeeze its fury yet seemingly very flexible body through the small space at the bottom of his door. We had to take action. Luckily, the door was unlocked, so we went inside and locked it in panic mode. We had completely forgotten that rats can’t open doors.” Frank fake laughed, looking around for someone to join him, but no one shared his amusement. I was only shocked at his confidence to sell such a bullshit yet possible story. “Such infestations have been spotted at the mansion before. We must accept such filthy creatures can roam in such expensive places. We must call pest control.”
Nathan raised an eyebrow. He didn’t appear completely unconvinced by Frank’s story. “I thought you were afraid of small bugs. How come you decided to go after a giant rodent?”
“Sir, you don’t know me well enough. You must be mistaking me with someone else. Rodents and bugs don’t scare me,” Frank lied through his teeth. I didn’t know him, but I could tell he was the kind of person who shuddered at the sight of an ant.
“Where is the rat then?” Nathan looked around. “Did you do something about it?”
“Uh, uh.” Words got stuck in Frank’s throat again. That buffoon didn’t even remember that you can’t catch a rat with your bare hands. As per his story, he wasn’t prepared to trap one.
“Speak, Frank. Where is the rat now?” Nathan narrowed his eyes at him. I recognized the look he was giving him. He was doubtful and wanted to force the truth out of my poor friend.
Frank was trapped. His left eye was visibly twitching, and his lips were dry. I feared for him. He appeared to be at the point where people usually slipped into madness or a coma from too much pressure.
“Enough!” Mr. Sinclair intervened. “All of you, get out of my office. Including you, Nathan.” I had never enjoyed getting screamed at ever before in my life. Mr. Sinclair was such a lifesaver. Nathan’s focus would have shifted to his father’s harsh words.
Frank and I were out of that place in the blink of an eye. We celebrated our lucky escape in the corridor with a high-five.
As I had to save myself, I couldn’t wait for Nathan to exit his father’s office. I, however, looked behind to check before leaving. There was so no sign of him. He must be having a word with his father that he wouldn’t want others to hear.
“Yay!” Frank joyfully jumped, skipped, and twirled like a skilled ballerina when we were at a safe distance from Mr. Sinclair’s office. “I am so happy we survived. Now, the father and son shall have a ferocious argument, and they will forget about us peasants.”
I tapped on Frank’s shoulder and coughed loudly. “Who are you calling peasants? I have recently upgraded from the most hated servant to the fiancé of the sole heir of this property.”
“Brag much, huh?” Frank rolled his eyes several times at me. “I didn’t see the fiancé getting any special treatment than a regular house servant. You should have fought with your man for not believing you.”
Frank wasn’t wrong. Nathan didn’t see me as his lover, and I struggled to find my place in that family and house. I was in no mood to sulk or argue, so I changed the subject. “Frank, Mr. Sinclair seemed too relaxed to have just learned about his wife’s hot affair. If we don’t have the letter and he doesn’t have it. Then who does?”
His eyes went round, and all his pleasure vanished. I had asked a question that would probably haunt us for many nights.