EMILY
Seth had been one second away from kissing me when the stupid phone had started ringing.
It was his mother, Ruth. She was making sure her son was taking good care of me. The timing of the phone-call had been awful but I couldn't be mad at her. If there was anyone who cared about me more than anyone, it was her.
The car basked in radio silence, and the ride was starting to get awkward by the second. I connected my phone with the speakers and played some songs from my phone.
Seth wasn't saying anything as he stared ahead, lightly drumming his fingers on the wheel. I sneaked a look at him, secretly admiring the way his powerful hands maneuvered my car around.
He caught my eye movement and looked at me, grinning, "You checking me out, Emily-Mae?"
"What if I am? Is that a crime? Will you arrest me, Officer Monroe?"
He chuckled, "You are guilty as charged. I'd have to do a full-body search and then cuff you, ma'am."
His words sent a zing of pleasure down my spine as I deciphered the hidden meaning behind those words. We both looked at each other and laughed. I felt relieved that the tension between us was defused.
An hour later, we pulled into the parking space of a private mansion on the outskirts of town. The Hamilton's were my father's business associates, and I remembered visiting their house for dinner invitations in the past. They were always boring because I mostly despised their daughter, Nova who liked to tease me for picking up an extra helping of the lasagne. With the help of Cale, I would always sneak out, and my brother and I would rather go for a long drive which would end with him treating me to a strawberry sundae.
That was also the time when my mother was around, when Dad spent more time at home than overseas, the time when Cale wasn't a complete screw-up.
My mother was the thread that had kept the family together, once she died, the thread snapped and the three of us had turned into different directions, behaving like strangers sometimes.
She'd been like a sunbeam, always bright, always shinning, comforting, keeping us together.
"Emily?"
I snapped out of my thoughts to look at Seth who stood outside with the door open for me. "Let's go." He said, smiling brightly.
I looped my arm through his, walking towards the entrance. This felt like a date, me with him like this. A month before this, I could only dream of walking alongside Seth, and never thought it would really happen. I liked the feel of his broad muscles under my palms.
The tall man at the entrance looked at us. He was clicking on a tablet. "Good evening, may I have your names, please?"
"We should be on the guest list. Emily-Mae Vasquez and Seth Monroe."
He nodded and scrolled through the list. "Emily-Mae," he said, "and it mentions here that the plus one is a kitchen staff." He exchanged looks between Seth and me, his eyes then rested on my hand on his arm.
I was stunned for a moment. I'd come to this party assuming that Seth would be my date, and I'd imagined we'd laugh, eat and have fun.
I started to tell him something when Seth stopped me. He picked my fingers from where they lay on his arm and unfurled them in a polite gesture of asking me to let go.
"Kitchen staff this way, please." He pulled out a water-proof red wrist band and put it on Seth.
And with just that, a barrier was created between us. A barrier that I never thought existed until now.
"Seth," I called out to him.
He stopped and turned to look at me. I approached him, clenching my purse nervously. I didn't want him to hate me for this or think that I had anything to do with it.
"I didn't know they put you on the list as kitchen staff...maybe dad told them to..." I started pulling out my phone out of my purse, "there's been a mistake. I'll call him—"
"Ma'am," Seth said softly, giving me a sad smile, this time he wasn't teasing me, he was putting on a show because the man was still staring at us. "There's no need to call anybody. I was appointed to be your housekeeper, and I will do what is expected of me. My place is in the kitchen with the rest of the house staff accompanying the other families."
He wouldn't meet my gaze so I knew he was upset. He bowed once, mostly for sarcasm, and walked towards the servant's entrance.
*~*
SETH
It was stupid of me to think Emily and I could ever happen. The almost kiss had given me hope, and I'd then shamelessly flirted with her while gauging for her reaction. She'd liked it, I had no doubt about that and I'd planned to take it to first base, flirt some more, and see if she was interested in anything that entailed more than friendship.
And then my bubble had burst by that asshole at the door. Diego Vasquez had put me in my place, indicating how she was so out of my league.
Emily and I were like an Ocean and a small pond. Even if I deluded myself with the knowledge that she and I were friends, or schoolmates, the colossal difference between our social statuses did not change. I was still her housekeeper's son.
Not that I was ashamed of my mom's occupation. If anything, I was proud of how hard working she was.
It's just that I wished Emily was someone within my reach. Someone from a normal family.
I stared at the soapy water in the sink, scrubbing the used cooking utensils. The person in charge of the kitchen kept loading the sink with more dishes.
I had to remove the jacket as not to spoil it, if there was a dirty smudge on it, Cale would probably wring my neck. The jacket was replaced by an apron.
I didn't miss how the girls around me, kitchen staff mostly, tried to talk to me or giggled when I said something.
My phone buzzed inside my pants pocket. Making sure no one was watching me, I pulled it out.
Emily: I'm sorry! 😭 I had no idea my dad would put your name as kitchen staff.
I smiled. She was considerate, worrying about her housekeeper.
Me: Don't worry about it. This is my job❤️
Emily: ❤️❤️❤️
Me: ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Emily: ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Me: ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Me: try to beat that 😎
She then sent me a gif of a bunny throwing a giant heart at the screen.
My entire body shook with laughter, and I quickly glanced around to see if anyone had caught me. I sent her another gif and then she replied with one. We were literally having a gif battle and I was smiling at the screen like a fool. I couldn't remember the last time talking to a girl was this fun. It never made my heart beat so fast, or make my entire body feel lighter.
With each passing day, I was falling harder for this girl and I didn't know what I could do about it.
*~*
EMILY
The party was boring. Too many adults talking over each other, kids running rampant trying to destroy everything they laid their hands on.
It was past ten, and I stood at the corner hoping this dinner could end soon so I could go home.
I walked towards the desserts table and pulled out a plate. I took a raspberry lemonade bar, a brownie muffin, some macaroons, French beignets and strawberry shortcake. I planned to share some with Seth, and then I picked up a fork and started making my way outside, when a voice called out to me.
"Emily-Mae!"
I stopped and turned around.
It was Nova with a few other girls that I didn't recognize. Her best friends, most likely. I remembered being one of her friends too, but that was when we were eight. Things had been rocky since. She wasn't a nice person.
I plastered a fake enthusiastic smile, "Hey Nova!"
"Love that dress on you, I could never pull it off with those heels." She smiled, and the compliment appeared genuine which was surprising because Nova had only been cruel to me in the past.
"Thanks," I said, blushing a little.
Maybe people changed. Maybe they woke up one morning and decided they would be a better person.
"Did you notice how all those guys are staring at you?" She asked, her eyes bright and teasing.
"I haven't paid attention." I lied.
"Howard especially was talking about you. If you don't have a boyfriend, I can give him your number."
I shook my head, "I'm actually dating someone." Mentally, at least.
"Really? That's wonderful!"
Then we talked about classes and the colleges we planned to apply for. The conversation was comfortable, and I didn't have to look for excuses to be bitchy.
"Emily, I hope that we can be friends again." She said, wrapping me in a hug.
"Yeah, that would be nice."
After I'd spoken to Nova, I ate some of my desserts. When I tried to take a few to Seth, they didn't allow me into the kitchen. Apparently, house staff wasn't allowed to eat until the guests were done.
That kind of made me mad so I ditched the rest of the plate of desserts and made my way to the bathroom.
I was done peeing, and cleaning up and was just about to walk out when I heard some girls talking.
"You had to see her plate." That was Nova's voice.
"What was wrong with it?" Some other girl asked.
"She was eating like a pig." Nova laughed, "and she actually believed me when I said she looked pretty in that dress." She snorted, unable to hold in the laughter.
“You’re so mean, Nova.” Her friend laughed with her.
“I know right? She even told me she has a boyfriend.”
“Do you think she’s lying?”
I didn’t hear the rest as there was white noise. The anxiety that I’d tried to suppress for such a long time started bubbling up, heat rising to my cheeks. This wasn’t the first time that someone had said mean things about me regarding my weight, it happened almost every day at school, and just because I heard it every day didn’t mean things were easier.
I had extreme anxiety and insecurities about my body, and having people like Nova say it out loud made everything so much more difficult. Nova who had a perfect sleek body, who looked like a living Barbie doll. I guess it was wrong for me to assume that she’d changed, if anything, she’d become meaner.
Finally, when they left, I walked out of the bathroom and texted Seth that we were leaving.
He met me outside of the house, he actually looked happy regardless of being forced to work in the party. When he saw my expressions, he lost his smile and he knew something was wrong.
“Emily?” There was tenderness in his voice. I didn’t dare look up at him because I knew I’d cry.
“Let’s go home,” I said.