The Woman He Married

02. (Ex) Girlfriend

Mae woke up in the early morning to go to the bathroom. On her way back to the bedroom, she noticed that the dinner she made was still on the table. She checked the porch to find that Zane wasn't home yet. He went out to see some friends last night, so Mae also slept pretty early since she didn't have to attend to him.

She cleared the dining table while wondering if Zane is staying over somewhere else for the night. While she was washing her hands, she heard his car pulling into the driveway. The second he walked into the house, the smell of liquor spread in the air. He could barely walk straight.

Concerned, Mae went and checked the door which he left ajar, expecting someone else to walk in because he shouldn't be driving in that state. Mae shut the door and locked it before checking on Zane who went to the kitchen for some water.

"Did you drive yourself home?" She asked to the obviously drunk man.

Zane didn't reply and he walked out on her, heading to the guest's bedroom.

"Mr. Williams--"

"Yes," he grunted, annoyed by her question. He glared at Mae and added, "Yes, I drove myself home and that's none of your fucking business."

Mae gritted her teeth, holding back from scolding him because he might remember it in the morning.

"You are just a maid, Kate. Don't talk about my wife or anything else about my family. Mind your own business," Zane told her, pointing his finger at the woman. He then slammed the door shut on her face.

Mae took a deep breath and walked away. His words didn't hurt, but they did well at humbling her as she made her way back to the maid's room behind the kitchen. She never signed up to become his house helper so Mae forgot sometimes that she wasn't supposed to meddle in his business. Zane definitely meant what he said. Mae probably acted like a know-it-all when she tried to defend Mae Westbrook as Kate the house helper.

She couldn't fall back asleep after the encounter with Zane. She was torn between angry because he drove home being that drunk, and bitter because he shut her out when she was only concerned about his safety. After calming down, Mae got off her bed and got ready to start her day as the sun rises.

While she was preparing ingredients for breakfast, Mae heard rustling from the front door. She was going to check it out when the door unlocked and a woman she didn't recognize walked in. Mae wondered if it was supposed to happen, but she looked harmless, at least.

"Hi, I'm Ruth. You must be... Kate?" She introduced herself, bringing a bag of food into the house.

Mae was a little stunned as she found out that Zane talked about her to other people. Zane talked about her to Ruth, so Ruth must be someone he trust... or he probably talked shit about her to everyone at the party.

"I'm sorry. You look so shocked right now," Ruth gasped. She smiled, "I'm Zane's girlfriend, if that's what you're wondering.

"Oh," Mae cocked her brows. So Zane trusted this woman, therefore he talked about Kate the house helper to her.

"I know. He's married," Ruth chuckled nervously. "But I heard she's not around...?"

"Yes, she's..." Mae trailed off as she remembered Zane telling her to mind her own business just a couple of hours ago.

"It's complicated, huh?" Ruth asked. Mae just watched as Ruth seemed to know where everything is while plating the food she bought. She even found Zane's favorite mug very easily.

"Zane and I have been together for six years," Ruth said as she smiled softly. "We got into a little fight last year and stopped talking like a few months ago, then all of a sudden I found out that he got married to this other woman."