My Human Tranquilizer

Chapter 4 An Expensive Dress for a Maid

Arthur made me attend the charity gala in a midnight-blue gown that cost more than my college tuition. The silk fit perfectly.

Among the old families and practiced smiles, everyone still seemed to know I was hired help.

I was standing near a marble column when Victoria found me with a glass of red wine in her hand.

“It takes more than an expensive dress to hide cheap origins,” she said, loud enough for the people nearby. “You still look like you belong in the kitchen.”

She stepped closer to inspect the fabric and "tripped." Red wine went straight down the front of the blue silk.

Gasps rippled through the small crowd that had gathered.

“Oh, my goodness, I am so clumsy!” Victoria turned to a waiter. “This woman has ruined a perfectly good carpet. Please escort her out through the service entrance.”

The people around her waited to see whether the waiter would obey.

Victoria stepped back with an apology already forming. I picked up the nearest champagne bucket and emptied the ice water over her head.

The crowd shrieked. Ice slid down Victoria's couture gown and her hair stuck to her face. When her best friend rushed me, I caught a fistful of the woman's hair and pulled.

“This dress is a company asset on loan for a work event.” My hand shook, but I kept my grip. “Victoria, you’re paying for the damage.”

That’s when Arthur arrived.

The crowd moved aside. Arthur came through it looking ready to remove someone himself. I expected the lecture and found I did not care.

He passed his dripping fiancée and stopped in front of me. His attention moved from the wine stain to my face and then to my fingers, still tangled in the other woman's hair.

He checked my hand before he looked at anyone else.

“Did they hurt you?”

I was so shocked I let go of the hair. “No, but my dress is ruined.”

Arthur signaled to David. “Bring the other three. Let her choose.” Then he told me, “There are backups in the car.”

“Arthur! Are you insane?” Victoria screamed. “I’m the one who saved you in that fire ten years ago! I’m your fiancée! How can you humiliate me for a hired nurse?”

*Ten years ago. The fire.*

The acquisition Mr. Davies had mentioned. The way one reference to his father had wrecked the boardroom. Victoria's claim gave both reactions the same starting point: the fire.

Arthur stopped moving. His hand closed around my wrist so hard that my fingers went numb.

He pulled me out of the ballroom without a word. I stumbled once and had to run to keep up. Behind us, Victoria was still crying his name.