Chapter 5 - What She Told the Staff
We stood in the light from the dressing suite and nobody moved. My father's hand was still on my shoulder. The vanity inside was lit and open, and the silver card on it caught the same light as the one in Lorraine's clutch. Lorraine was in the doorway, her black dress sharp against the frame, her arms tight across her chest.
Julian didn't look at her at first. He looked at Ellis, who had come up the hall behind us and stopped by the dark door with the vertical light strip.
"Ellis," my father said. His voice was quiet. "What were you told about tonight?"
Ellis kept his hands clasped in front of him. His earpiece glinted. He glanced at Lorraine, then at me, then back at my father. I felt his hesitation like a held breath.
He said, "Mrs. Julian said Emma was to have dinner in the kitchen. And not to be introduced."
Lorraine let out a small sound, not quite a laugh. "That's not—"
"She said to tell the staff Emma was staff family," Ellis went on. He said it quickly, like he wanted the words out before he changed his mind. "To keep the dining room clear for donors."
My father’s fingers tightened just a little on my shoulder. I didn't look up at him. I stared at the pattern on the hallway rug.
I remembered earlier, before the chandeliers were turned up bright. I had come down in my pink dress, the one with the bow in the back that I'd smoothed down three times. I was hungry and I'd followed the smell of bread toward the kitchen. Marisol was at the counter plating rolls.
I'd asked if I could sit at the table.
She hadn't been unkind. She'd knelt down so we were level and said, "Not tonight, honey. Mrs. Lorraine said kitchen dinner for you. You'll eat with us after." She'd tucked a loose piece of my hair behind my ear and her hand had been warm. I had nodded and gone back up the stairs by myself, holding the skirt of my dress so I wouldn't trip. I sat on the edge of my bed and listened to the grown-ups' glasses clinking downstairs.
Now I understood that hadn't been Marisol's idea.
Julian must have seen it on my face, because he crouched down again. His suit made a soft sound against the floor.
"Did someone tell you to eat in the kitchen, Emma?" he asked.
I nodded. My throat felt tight. "Marisol did. She said you and Lorraine said so."
"It wasn't me," he said. He said it to me, not to the others. "You were always supposed to be at that table. That chair is yours."
Lorraine stepped forward then. Her bracelet caught the light. "Julian, don't do this in front of her. And in front of staff. We had donors downstairs. You know how this looks. A child at a foundation dinner—"
"It's not about looks," he said, still crouched, still at my level. He didn't raise his voice. "You told them she wasn't my daughter tonight."
"I told them we needed a clean room," Lorraine said. "That's all. I wanted one evening without—" She stopped and pressed her lips together. She looked at me and her expression softened, but it didn't reach her eyes. "Sweetheart, you know I didn't mean it that way."
I didn't answer. I looked at the clutch in her hand. The silver card was still there, halfway out.
Julian stood slowly. He looked at Lorraine for a long second. I saw the way his jaw moved, the way his watch caught the hall light as he let go of me.
"There's a pattern here," he said. It wasn't loud, but Ellis heard it and took half a step back. "The school photos. The gala programs. Every time there's someone to impress."
Lorraine flushed. "That's unfair."
Julian turned to Ellis. "Take Emma to her room. Stay outside her door until I come."
Ellis nodded once. "Yes, sir."
Lorraine's eyes widened. "Julian, don't be dramatic. We can talk here—"
"Not in front of her," he said.
He rested his hand on the top of my head for just a second. It was warm and steady. "Go with Ellis, okay? I'll come find you soon. You did exactly right telling me what you saw."
I wanted to stay. I wanted to know what the card was. But his hand guided me gently toward Ellis, and Ellis put his hand out, not touching me, just showing me the way.
May you like
We started down the hall toward my bedroom. Behind us I heard Lorraine say my father's name once, low and tense, and I heard the soft click as he stepped into the dressing suite and pulled the door partway closed behind them. Ellis didn't look back. He walked beside me, his shoes quiet on the carpet, his gray suit dark in the hallway light.
I didn't hear anything else after that.
