The party ends and the Platzs stumble in the door past midnight. Even for them this is late.
I hear the sound of their clattering around in the kitchen overhead. I try to stay sleepy - I have an early morning with the kids - but it's a lost cause. I've been here two months now and I know the routine. Heather will drink some water to dull the effects of the wine. Stephen will rummage around in the fridge for leftovers. They'll giggle a little at first but then one of them will say something sharp or flippant and then a cupboard door will slam shut. Someone's feet will stomp off and up the stairs while the other will stay in the kitchen. I imagine one of them sitting at the kitchen island sulking and roll my eyes in the dark.
The last two times they did this I was able to get back to sleep quickly, but this time something is different. I think that the body knows when danger is coming. I learned about fight or flight in school, but no one ever told me about freeze and fawn. Tonight I learn that lesson in the dark.
When I hear the footsteps coming down the stairs I don't feel surprised. There is an inevitability to it all.
I hear a soft knocking at my door.
Hannah? You awake?
I don't answer. I roll over, away from the door, pretending to be asleep when Heather enters my room and makes her way to the side of my bed. She sits beside me and I feel her straight back lean into me. I slow my breathing to emphasize my illusory sleep and her tense form softens slightly.
Hannah, I'm just going to stay here a moment. Just to catch my breath. I'm drunk, she giggles softly. No one should be drunk alone right? she says.
Heather places her hand on my cheek. I keep my eyes closed, imagining that she's given this same midnight speech in whispers to Juliana. To Georgie. Tonight I am her child. Her silent counselor.
I feel her hand move away from my face and I think she's getting ready to leave. But instead she shifts her weight and now she's laying next to me. Heather strokes my arm, her head on my pillow, so close I can smell the party on her. I feel cold, willing myself to stay utterly still. After a moment she sits up again and then, as if she was never there, Heather is gone.
Taking shallow breaths I pull the blanket around me tightly and open my eyes in the dark. I don't even know if what just happened was real. Was it a dream?
Or a nightmare?
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The Au Pair
Mystery / ThrillerWhen an au pair tasked with caring for the kids of two privileged couples becomes enmeshed in their secrets, she learns that having too much in common can get you killed. Two couples share the same names, the same street, the same membership at the...