Madame

Chapter 8

Elizabeth's POV

I lock my car and walk inside through the garage door. I take the stairs to the first floor, dragging myself up before pushing the door open. I walk through the large kitchen where maids are already cooking some dinner while others are just chatting. I notice a familiar blonde standing in the corner, chatting with a few other girls who seem to be around her age. She glances sideways at me and smiles as she looks at me through her lashes. I raise my eyebrows at her, and she motions to the other room, taking her bottom lip in between her teeth.

I chuckle lightly and shake my head no, and her face immediately drops into a pout. She rolls her eyes and continues talking with her friends, who have now caught on that I am behind them.

"Madame." They spin around and greet me with wide smiles and a bow of their heads. "Girls, shouldn't you be helping with the cooking?" I ask them, crossing my arms over my chest. They stand in shock, none of them able to come up with an excuse on why they aren't helping, "Apologies, Madame." I smile at the girl's response and move aside so they can slip past me and into the main kitchen. I look forward again and see Florence hasn't moved from her spot, "Do your legs or ears not work, Ms. James?" I ask, biting back a smirk that so desperately wants to come out.

She twirls her blonde hair between her fingers, "I thought I might help you with something else, Madame, perhaps in your office? Or maybe your bedroom needs cleaning?" Her innocent look makes my eyes roll, "As much as I'd like that-", My attention gets caught when I hear screaming and laughing, I look past Florence and see Ari, Dev, and Lili throwing snow at each other, Ari screaming as Dev grabs her hoodie throwing snow into it. I hadn't even noticed a smile forming on my lips until I heard Florence say something, "What?" I ask, focusing back on her. "I said please." She looks up at me through her lashes once again, and I shake my head. "Just help the other girls, I'll see you later." I give a small smile to her before walking past her and to the sliding glass doors that lead to the backyard.

I turn around after I close the door properly, and I fall back into it as a snowball hits me dead in the face. I tense up as some of it falls down my blouse as I wipe the snow off of my face. I run my hand through my hair and look up and around for who threw it at me. I see Ari looking dead at me, a terrified yet proud look on her face.

Lili giggles, "Ari, do it again!" She claps her hands together, and Dev encourages her. Ari bends down while maintaining eye contact with me and picks up a large handful of snow, packing it between her hands to form a ball shape. "I swear to God, Ari, I will kill you," I warn her, slowly approaching her with my hands up in defense. As much as I want to run back inside, her eye contact makes me have zero control of my body.

"You've threatened me with death so many times that it's hard to believe you, Elizabeth." Her eyes challenge me, and I stop walking toward her. We are in a standoff, and I curse myself for leaving my sweater inside. "Ari." I warn her again, putting my hands around myself to keep warm, "I'm not taking pity on you if that's what you're trying to get." She chuckles, continuing to mold the snow in her hands, her eyes not leaving mine and mine not leaving hers.

Dev shifts in the snow, "She's like a snow assassin, she sneaks up on you outta nowhere, then BAAM, you've got snow down your shirt!" I shake my head and look back at Ari...who isn't there anymore. Fuck. Before I can properly respond, my blouse gets tugged back a bit, and a frigid object moves down to my lower back, getting trapped by my tucked-in blouse.

I jump away from Ari, who has a mischievous smirk on her face, and scream as I frantically pull my shirt from my pants, releasing the bundle of cold ass snow from my skin. "You bitch!" I scream, glaring at her as I reach down for some snow, "Get your ass over here!" I dart towards her and catch her by her hoodie just as she turns to flee. My heel catches on a root from a nearby tree, and I fall forward, keeping my grasp on her hoodie.