Story: New Employee. Last Chapter and Epilogue.

It's been over three years since I published the first chapter of BigBird's excellent tale and just over a year since the previous chapter came out. Finally, the last chapter and epilogue are here! And it's been well worth the wait. I am reposting the entire novella (roughly 40,000 words) for your reading enjoyment. For the newest addition, please scroll to chapter 42. 

by BigBird74

1.

My bedroom sits at the front of the penthouse atop one of the tallest buildings in New York. Oh yes, I am fabulously rich, though unlike my snap-happy sister I do not parade it about town. My sister is what my father calls ‘the face of the family’. She is happy to cut ribbons, date reality stars and post an endless stream of fatuous photographs onto the web. Yes, she is very much the publicity hog of the family, while I prefer to play second fiddle leading a much more private life. 

Sure I make it into the gossip columns every now and again, but there is no way I would ever be recognised walking down your average high street. I do not have to worry about the steady accumulation of column inches that my sister gets every time she changes the way she wears her hair. Still all is not what it seems. She recently won an award for ‘Woman of the Year’ for organising a cycling marathon that yours truly had spent an entire weekend working on, while ‘Madame Publicity’ as I called her sat by the pool.

Do I sound slightly bitter? Well, maybe I am a little. But I love my sister despite her efforts to hog every spotlight she sees. It has always been like that. I was the smart one. The dependable one. As the older sibling, my father knew that one day his vast fortune would be mine to dispense with, so naturally he tried to make sure I had the skills needed to protect his legacy. While I spent my time with him discussing numbers and buildings, my sister got to ask him which dress was prettiest. In some ways I was the son my father never had. My mother, a doe-eyed beauty queen, had left him shortly after I was born and he had never remarried. So that was it. No son, and only me to fill that hole. 

Story: Veronica and Aunt Miranda. Chapter 8.

by Jackie J

Upon arriving at the Kingsley Mansion Ronnie was given over to Jekaterina’s housekeeper Mrs Ryder. Ronnie was not disappointed with either her uniform or her accommodation and, given a tour of the luxurious mansion, during which Mrs Ryder informed her new maid of the high standards she demanded, she was put to work. Ironically the two other maids employed at Kingsley teased the new maid over her northern accent but seeing what a good worker she was Ronnie was soon accepted into the household. A gruelling rota to fulfil each day Ronnie was kept busy scrubbing, cleaning and polishing along with attending specific needs of Kingsley’s mistress as and when required.

When William returned from attending to business in Belgium Jekaterina sat with her husband in the parlour and smiled watching Kingsley’s new maid serve tea. Like Jekaterina had suspected, William paid the attentive maid little attention, engrossed in relating details of his journey and trip to his wife.

Stepping back Ronnie momentarily could not help but stare at her Master and Mistress sat in their finery smiling into each other’s eyes and holding hands on the sofa, a picture of domestic bliss.

William glanced at the maid catching her stare.

“What are you looking at girl? Know your place.”

Story: Veronica and Aunt Miranda. Chapter 7.

by Jackie J

Before leaving, Jekaterina turned in the doorway of Ronnie’s quarters and smiled back into the bewildered eyes of the dishevelled maid, who laid on her bunk, toying with the new adornment, and chuckled.

"When I have had time to endear myself to Lady Singleton, which trust me I certainly will, I will help her to forget the daughter who chose to become a maid," she said. "Enjoy your new life, girl. I know I will enjoy mine. Goodbye."

Still somewhat disorientated and weak from the calming potion that Betsy had administered to her, Ronnie watched the door close behind the elegant Miss in the swirl and rustle of her beautiful dress and the scent of perfume. The girl who was to take her life. Having tried to raise herself from her bunk again, only to dizzily flop back down onto her bunk, Ronnie laid on her back with her thoughts staring up at the bare ceiling of her confinement, Jane’s words fresh in her mind.

Jane looked lovely in that beautiful dress, had a perfect poise and spoke so eloquently. She will make a good companion for Lady Singleton, yes Lady Singleton, like my aunt Miranda is now my Mistress and myself  a mere maid, I should no longer consider myself her daughter. Jane is her daughter now.

Spot the difference lady-to-maid game

A now for something (not entirely completely) different. A little spot the differences lady-to-maid game (scroll down for the solutions) and a few captions from the same anonymous contributor. 

Story: Veronica and Aunt Miranda. Chapter 6.

by Jackie J

Ronnie was surprised that her mother had not gone berserk seeing her precious prissy daughter uniformed, aproned and working as a maid. Even during the time her mother had been staying at Lowercroft - over a week now - she had said nothing! Like her aunt, who rarely if ever spoke to her now, why would she though? She was just a junior maid in this household, wasn’t she? Her mother had treated her no differently than her Mistress, with total indifference; in truth no different to her own maids back at Latchwood. That didn’t bother Ronnie. In fact it only served to reinforce her acceptance that she was just a maid, an indentured servant whose feeling of hopeless entrapment into a life of servitude to her betters was still as desirously poignant as when she signed her contract.  

Mrs Robison had told Ronnie that the house guest, Lady Singleton, wished to speak with her the following morning and with the evening meal having been served and her chores for the day completed Ronnie sat on her bunk. Would her mother let her stay at Lowercroft? Would she take her back to Latchwood to her life of privilege? Force her to marry one of those awful men? Were her days of being a maid over? Would she be trading her dour uniform for frills and bows?

With fires laid and lit, breakfast served and water heating for the laundry later that morning Ronnie was quite nervous about meeting Lady Singleton, her mother. She took a deep breath before opening the large doors into the parlour and stepped inside.

Story: Veronica and Aunt Miranda. Chapter 5.

by Jackie J

For a mother who had her daughter's future already planned and mapped out for her - to marry well into a wealthy family, perhaps aristocracy - and who had insisted on her good education and the self-pampering of her natural beauty, for her pretty princess to have apparently chosen a path so diametrically opposed to these dreams and ambitions of a safe and contented life of privilege, filled Elizabeth with a mixture of despair and anger.  

Why had she agreed for Veronica to travel north for an extended stay with her aunt? But she could not have known, how could she? Why hadn’t her sister told her of the madness that had possessed her daughter, the utter ridiculousness of it all? How could Veronica have been so deceitful? How long had Veronica held these perverse desires? The whole thing was absurd, a complete nightmare! How will she explain this to her husband? What if her friends find out? She would be ridiculed and humiliated. The daughter of Lord and Lady Singleton, an indentured maid? How could Veronica do this to her? How could her sister condone and encourage such madness?