Rebecca’s mouth hung open. What just happened? She asked herself. One minute, they talked like civilized people, and the next, he was angry at something that she did not know about. ‘Talk about double-faced maniac,’ she mumbled as she finished her breakfast. She placed the untouched eggs in a container to give to George later when he came to clean up the garden.
Ten minutes later, she heard the front door opening and closing, indicating Jeremy’s departure. Collecting the dirty dishes, she quickly rinsed them before placing them into the dishwasher. As she started making her way upstairs, the doorbell rang.
“Now, who could that be?” she asked with a frown as she walked to the front door. Opening it, she stood back as she watched the woman push her way in. “Alice!” she called as she followed the woman behind. “H-what are you doing here?”
Alice went to the stairs before turning her head to Rebecca, her hair flying behind her shoulder, “I have come to collect my stuff. Is that a problem?”
“I-no, but Jeremy did not tell me to expect you.” Rebecca frowned trying to remember if her boss had left any instructions in regards to Alice.
“So it’s Jeremy now?” Alice smirked as she turned on her heels and continued upstairs. “It didn’t take you that long to sink your dirty claws into him; you gold-digging b!tch!”
“Alice, wait!” Rebecca exclaimed as she followed Alice up the stairs, already fearing what she would likely find in Jeremy’s bedroom. She quickly ran past her and stopped by the door. “I can’t let you go in there!”
Alice narrowed her eyes and folded her arms,”‘Who is in there?”
“No one,” Rebecca replied with a shake of her head. “But you just can’t go in there. Jeremy did not tell me that anyone was coming, and he had made it clear that no one should enter his room when he isn’t around.” Rebecca looked up slightly, waiting for lightning to strike her for the lie she had just said.
Alice laughed, “You are wasting my time, maid! Now move!” She pushed Rebecca out of the way and opened the door, not caring that Rebecca hit her head on the doorjamb. “What the hell!”
Rebecca groaned from both the pain from the knock on her head and the piercing shout from Alice as she walked into the unmade room of Jeremy’s.
Alice came out, her face red with anger. “Who was in here?”
Rebecca kept quiet.
“You had better tell me, girly, or I am going to rearrange your face!” Alice said as she moved closer to Rebecca. Before she stopped, her eyes narrowed. “Or it’s you? Because you were so adamant that I should not come up here, meaning that you knew exactly what was up in this room! Is that why you call him by his first name, because you are sleeping with him?”
“N-no,” Rebecca shook her head vigorously, wincing when the pain shot through her. She really had to look at that bump. She thought to herself as she felt the bump forming on her temple.
“Don’t lie to me!” Alice reached for her, taking her arm and pulling her into the room. “I know what a room looks like after a night with Jeremy, so don’t even think about denying it. Are you the reason he dumped me?”
Rebecca could feel her anger rising. Who did this woman think she was? “Look, I don’t know what you wanted to take in here, but I need you to leave so I can do my work.”
“So you are not denying anything?” Alice’s fury could be seen in her eyes, in how her hands bunched into fists at her side. “He left me for his housekeeper! I knew that was too good to be true!”
“I do not have to deny or confirm anything that happens inside this house,” Rebecca said as she took Alice’s arm and pulled her out of the room.
“Don’t you touch me!” Alice screeched as she pulled her arm free. “Get your filthy hands away from me!”
“Then I suggest you show yourself out before I throw you out!” Rebecca said between gritted teeth.
“You have no right!” Alice shouted at her. “You are just a paid whore!”
Rebecca took a deep breath and tried to calm herself down, “Think what you want. As long as Jeremy is not in the house, I am responsible for who comes here. He left you, get over it, move on!”
Alice laughed, “So you think that he is yours after a night with him, and you have the right to talk to me like that? Well, you have kidded yourself! He is mine, and you will be sorry for messing things up for me! I guarantee that!” Alice did not wait for Rebecca to reply but stomped down the stairs and out of the house before Rebecca could stop her, banging the door loudly behind her.
Rebecca groaned and sat on the top stair, her head in her hands. “What the heck was that about? Ouch!” she gently ran her finger on the bump on her temple. Sighing, she stood up and walked back into Jeremy’s room. She stood by the door before shaking her head and heading to his attached bathroom. Checking herself in the mirror, she grimaced as she glanced at the bruise already turning an ugly red. Going straight to the medicine cabinet, she opened it and started looking for painkillers.
“What are you doing?” a cold voice asked inside the bathroom.