“But you do remember them. You remember what your father did to your mother.”
I flinch. “I do. I’m tired of talking about this.”
“I understand. Let’s keep up with the movie.” But before Sofiya can turn the TV back on, Dimitri leaves his office and comes into the living room.
His eyes widen a little when he sees me but he doesn’t comment. “Have you two seen Ann?”
“Today?” Sofiya asks. “Now that you mention it… no. I haven’t seen her today yet. Why?”
He frowns. “She hasn’t shown up for work and she’s never late.”
“Maybe something happened.”
“Maybe.” He nods like he just made a decision in his mind. “All right then. It’s nice to see you out of your room today, Katya.”
I don’t reply. My throat feels too choked up to say anything at all.
Dimitri heads back into his office so Sofiya and I can finish our movie… but something doesn’t feel right in my gut. I’m just not sure what it is yet.
A couple days pass and I don’t leave my room again. Watching the movie with Sofiya had been draining. Fun though, I can admit. But tiring. I need at least a week inside my room by myself to recharge.
But then Dimitri comes knocking on my door. “Katya?”
“Come in.”
Once he opens the door, I see that there’s another woman behind him. Not Ann. Someone else. Someone more timid. Her eyes are shifting around like crazy.
“Who’s this?” I ask.
“This is Alice, our new housekeeper.”
“What happened to Ann?”
“I did some looking into it and she left. Quit. Moved to L.A. because she was tired of the snow and cold here. I found a note she left behind.”
I frown. “That doesn’t sound like Ann.” I’ve known Ann for years now. Whenever Dimitri couldn’t bring me my food, Ann would. She never commented on me being in this room. She just did her job without question.
“I agree. But it seems true. She left. So, this is Alice. Our new housekeeper. Alice, this is Katya. Katya likes to spend time in her room. You’ll bring her food when I cannot. You’ll also do her laundry and change her bedsheets every day. But for your information, Alice, Katya is not a prisoner in her room. She chooses to stay in here.”
“It’s true,” I say to Alice, who looks completely freaked out. I can’t fully blame her. This situation is a strange one.
“Good,” Dimitri says. “You’ve met. Do you plan on staying in your room tonight? Alice is going to make us a nice dinner for her first day here. You should join us.”
“Ok,” I whisper. It would be good for me even though the thought of Ann leaving and being replaced with Alice makes a panic creep up my throat. This doesn’t feel right. Change is the worst thing in this world.
Dimitri shuts my door but the last thing I see is Alice looking right at me. I can’t figure out her expression: parts fear and parts determination.
I force myself to leave my room for dinner. Sofiya and Dimitri are happy to see me and I pretend to be happy in return when we all know I’m not.
Alice serves us a wonderful meal of steak and broccolini. I eat without a word but every time Alice enters the room, I find myself looking at her. Who is this new housekeeper? Will she be pushy like Sofiya is? Or will she give me my space like Ann did.
“I can’t believe Ann just up and left,” Sofiya comments. “She was a pragmatic woman. Wouldn’t she have quit in person?”
“You would think,” Dimitri murmurs. “But I had my men look into it and it seems like she truly left. She was tired of New York. Can’t say a fully blame her. This city is a lot to take in sometimes.”
Which is just another reason why I don’t want to leave my room. I can’t handle chaos and overwhelming things and New York sounds like one of the most overwhelming cities in all of the world.
I finish dinner and head back to my room without a word. I notice Alice watching me as I walk past her in the kitchen.
