Total pages in book: 91
Estimated words: 90448 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 452(@200wpm)___ 362(@250wpm)___ 301(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 90448 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 452(@200wpm)___ 362(@250wpm)___ 301(@300wpm)
“Just Chase and Dawn?” I peered in.
“Yeah. If we want to entertain guests, Dawn prefers we do it in our apartment or somewhere else.”
The living room was as big as the apartment I shared with Vivian and decorated in cream and silver. I was about to enter the area and drink in the elegance until I spotted the oil painting over the fireplace.
It was of Chase and Dawn embracing and gazing into each other’s eyes. They looked younger, as if the portrait had been painted several years ago.
My stomach burned with envy.
I hugged myself and rushed away.
“You want to see the dining room?” Lucy smiled.
“No,” I muttered. “It doesn’t seem like I’ll be down here much anyway.”
“Yeah. When Chase and Dawn’s friends come over they usually hold their dinner parties here.” Lucy gestured for me to climb the stairs. “There are also guest rooms for their friends on the first level. If people stay, Wendy and I usually just go on a trip or something.”
So they hide you. Of course. What did I think would happen?
“So if his parents come over or anything?” I asked.
“Well, Chase’s mother was killed when he was seven, but when his dad or other family visits Wendy and I stay away.” Lucy glanced over her shoulder. “That’s the same with Dawn’s family.”
“So what happens when our family comes to visit?”
Lucy gave me a weird smile. “They wouldn’t come here. Dawn prefers for us to entertain them somewhere else. Chase goes with us wherever the meeting spot is.”
“So basically we’re glorified mistresses?”
Lucy paused at the top of the stairs. “You have to understand how hard this is for Dawn. Chase and she have been together since they were fourteen. I’ve been close with Chase forever and the few times he wanted to break up he just couldn’t do it. He loves her so much.”
I drowned in jealousy. Pain sliced through my heart like a sharp knife in the hands of a serial killer.
Of course he loves her.
My blood rushed. My hands shook. I focused on breathing as I hoped I wouldn’t get an anxiety attack.
“Are you okay?” Lucy asked.
“Yes.”
He loves her. I knew that. Calm down.
Yet, the pain in my chest remained.
“All of our apartments are on this floor.” Lucy wrapped her arm around my waist. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
I nodded.
A long hallway with silver walls and carpet stood before me. Two white doors were on the right with a black number in the center. On the left were another pair of white doors with black numbers.
“Mayor Oshane was so afraid someone would sneak in and kill him that he had these apartments built. Each day between Monday and Friday he slept in a different apartment,” Lucy said.
“What did he do on the weekends?”
“He left the country.” She pointed to the first door. “Dawn’s apartment is number one. Wendy is door two. I’m three and you’re four.”
I raised my eyebrows. “Where’s Chase’s apartment?”
“On the third floor. His door has a number five on it.”
I groaned and rubbed my eyes. I didn’t like how things were set up and could imagine Chase sitting up in his apartment like some king elevated over his females as we hung out in our apartment like good girls, waiting for him to attend to us.
Oh my god! What am I doing?
“You look like you’re going to vomit.” Lucy released me. Concern etched her face. She pressed a red button on the wall.
“Yes,” a woman’s voice sounded from a speaker next to the buzzer.
“I need Mabel to give Jasmine her key. I also need some Pepto and something for an upset stomach.”
“Yes, ma’am,” the woman replied.
“I’m okay,” I said.
“No. You’re not.”
I combed my fingers through my hair.
Am I just a number four?
“Why the numbers? Did Chase decide this?”
“No. Dawn thought it would be fun to have everyone numbered in the order they came into the relationship.”
“It sounds like she wants everyone to know their rank.”
Lucy averted her eyes. “Well that too, but not in a mean way. Dawn isn’t catty.”
A black woman scurried up the stairs with a key.
“This is Mabel.” Lucy pointed to the black woman. “She’s your assigned maid.”
Mabel smiled and handed me a solid black key. On the top of the key, white gems formed a four. I gazed back at Mabel. Her gray hair was tied into a bun on top of her head. She had eyes like my grandma, dark brown with a liquid effect.
“Are all the maids black?” I blurted out.
Lucy’s mouth dropped open. “Y-yes.”
Mabel’s smile remained. She took my hand and gently squeezed it. “So how do you feel now?”
“Worse.” Rage coursed through my veins. My heart beat so fast I thought I would collapse.
Why am I so mad? Why do I care if the maid is black or . . .
Tears spilled from my eyes. Mabel hurried and opened my door. I wiped the tears away, tried to get a hold of myself, and stepped into the living room. My body froze once I spotted the furniture.