Chapter 86 - Cat vs Mouse (1/2)

As it turned out, the game of cat and mouse between a certain young writer and a certain head maid proved to be very interesting. Everyone in the penthouse knew of their game and had even taken sides. Tina and Sue were neutral parties, sandwiched between Claire their direct superior and Scarlet, their superior's charge. Tina didn't waste the opportunity and took as many pictures as she could.

Debbie sided with Claire and Wilmer took Scarlet's side for fun. The other two children didn't know what the game was about but Jasper decided not to join claiming that it was too troublesome. Alex only gave her sister an apologetic smile and told her that she had an art project due soon before holing herself up in her room.

Scarlet's aim was to target Claire and ambush her with surprise tests to confirm her hypothesis. Right now, Scarlet was convinced that if Claire wasn't part of the army, special forces or police then the maid must be trained in some form of combat. Perhaps Claire was really a master in defensive arts and became a maid after retiring from the glamorous lifestyle of a bodyguard. That would explain her knowledge about firearms and those great reflexes.

Now, the young writer needed some conclusive evidence that her head maid wasn't simply a lady who took care of their clothes, food and remind them of their curfew. Her keen observation didn't fail her and Scarlet didn't know how she missed out so many obvious signs from before.

”How did you get this scar?” Scarlet asked in a way too innocent voice for Claire to believe that the girl wasn't up to something.

She looked at the scar Scarlet was pointing to and sighed. With such a huge scar on her left shoulder, Claire couldn't say that it was from a fall. It had been an incident when Claire was putting up the laundry and the sleeve of her dress slipped from her shoulder, revealing the scar. It had only been a fraction of a second but Scarlet caught it. The dollish girl smirked with unbridled excitement of finally getting a real answer.

Claire sighed. It wasn't appropriate to tell Scarlet about the knife she took to the shoulder during a mission to protect one of her previous employers. The man was too slow to react and Claire could only throw herself in the attacker's way to stop the weapon from stabbing her ex-employer in the ribcage. The dumb politician was fat, slow and a coward. Claire didn't want to remember how magnificently she threw down her resignation letter. It was how she ended up looking for the Wilde's when none of the agencies wanted to employ her with her troublesome history. A bodyguard who refused to 'lay down their lives for employers who couldn't listen to orders in an emergency' wasn't one that was highly sought after in the market. Thankfully, Wilmer only needed a bodyguard to 'dispose of threats' while she played babysitter. That's how Claire ended up working for the Wilde's for three years now.

”A cat scratched me,” the maid deadpanned and for a moment, Scarlet didn't know how to respond at the blatant lie.

”Cats don't make marks like that,” she told Claire after a while. Behind her, Tina and Sue listened in on them, also curious about the German maid's background. The previous maid wasn't even half as efficient as Claire and sometimes, they wondered if Claire was really a graduate from the hospitality industry as they were told. For one, the girl was only twenty-six. She would have only graduated two years back or so but according to Jenna, Claire has been working with them since three years ago.

”I know,” Claire told Scarlet who pouted.

The head maid gathered the dirty dishes and placed them in the dishwasher. Scarlet sulked. Claire was deliberately avoiding her questions. That lie was too obvious! Even Scarlet knew how to tell more believable lies.

”You're not telling me the truth...”

Claire put down her cleaning cloth and sighed. ”What do you want me to say?”

Scarlet walked over and hugged Claire. The head maid quickly put away the dishrag, not wanting it to make contact with Scarlet. ”I saw it back then, you know?”

Claire pretended not to know what the girl was implying. In fact, it would be best to continue this conversation away from the presence of two very nosy helpers.

”I know,” is all Claire told Scarlet and their eyes met.

”Are you really not going to tell me?” Scarlet asked. Claire might have been carrying a gun but Scarlet wasn't afraid of her, merely curious but mostly grateful.

Claire smiled without answering the young writer's questions and Scarlet sighed. Relenting, the girl released the maid from her hug and told her that she needed some help with the final touches of her first manuscript.

”I'll go up to your room once I'm done here,” Claire told Scarlet gently and the young writer left with a heavy mood.