Black Tie Event

Chapter Five

I pulled up to the gate at the Shaw estate, feeling like I was in a movie that depicted luxury in trite cliches. Some security personnel asked for my name before I even got into the driveway.

"Hayden St. Claire," I said without missing a beat. "I start work today for Mr. Shaw."

Apparently that was good enough to get me in; so they'd heard about me.

It was promptly seven, but naturally Allison had arrived before me. It seemed like she got everywhere before I did. The crime scene, the hospital, the precinct, and now the Shaw manor. She'd sent a message to my phone telling me she'd arrived, for reasons I didn't really comprehend; the best one I could come up with was, to show off.

I'd had to fight my inherent tendency to show up wearing skinny jeans, boots, and a leather jacket, abandoning my usual attire for a slutty-but-not-too-slutty black dress with a red lip. I felt good, but I didn't feel like me; that was, however, something I would have to get used to.

I stood at the front door waiting to gain entrance. It was opened by a girl who couldn't have been much more than twenty, and, much to my relief, was dressed a lot like me.

"Can I help you?"

"Hi," I said, then immediately thought that I should take my voice a few octaves higher. "My name is Hayden St. Claire, I start work for Mr. Shaw today."

"Oh!" she suddenly squealed, realizing now who I was. "I'm so happy to meet you. God, you're like, so beautiful." she gushed, taking my bag from me. Already, I started making mental notes. I wondered if her obsequious tendencies were due to some operant conditioning by an authority. It was as if the automatic need to serve had been burned into her mind.

"Thank you," I said, a little bit taken aback. "You are?"

"Lucy," she said, walking me up a flight of stairs, struggling with my luggage. We both had petite frames, but of the two of us, she was far smaller, and my suitcase, I was sure, weighed more than she did. "I'm so excited that you're here. I've been working for Mr. Shaw for two years now, and I have to say, it's been a little bit lonely."

"Aren't there more staff members?"

"Sure," she said, now walking me down a hallway. "But the last two were funny. They kind of kept to themselves. Then there's Cora, but she doesn't like me."

"I'm sure that's not true," I said.

"Oh, it's true. But that's okay. We have someone else starting today, too. Her name's Alexandra and she's the sweetest thing."

I didn't know whether I was going to laugh, scream, or fall over and die, but I had to contain myself. The sweetest thing? Allison?

"That's good to hear," I said ambivalently, as if I didn't know her, because, for all intents and purposes, I didn't.

"So you and Alexandra will be sharing a room," she told me.

Great, I thought. This guy is a multi-millionaire, and yet he's making me shack up with Allison Beckett. Was he really that short on rooms?

"Great," I totally lied. She pushed open a door for me and, sighing a sigh of relief, put my stuff down. "Thank you."

"Go ahead and get your stuff together," Lucy invited. "I'll come by in a few minutes to talk to both of you. Mr. Shaw will be getting home later tonight, so he told me to teach you guys a few things."

"Great," I said again. "Thanks, Lucy."

She smiled and left.

I looked Allison up and down with her hair all done and her clothes all nice, and she gave me a similar appraisal. In rare form, she smiled.