Chim - Maid For You

Chapter 22

Chapter 22 ~ Consequences

We both sat in the back of the car. Kimberley had not said a thing the entire drive. I held her hand in mine and occasionally glanced at her. She was staring out into the night, an emotionless expression on her face.

“What way do I go, Cheryl?”

I looked at my surroundings, recognising them.

“Take the next turn left, straight ahead and then right.”
“Very well.”

I watched the road as Mr. Brass followed my instructions.
“You can stop here.” I looked at the house and then at Kimberley. “Will you be all right here for a while? I need to talk to her first. She turned her head towards me, a lost look now on her face.

“Kimberley? Will you be all right here for a while? Mr. Brass is in the vehicle as well.” She nodded in reply. I leaned in and gave her a kiss on her forehead. “I will be right back.”

I opened the car door and stepped out. I carefully walked up to the house and knocked on the door. I waited for it to open. When it finally did I looked into my mothers eyes.

“Cheryl?”
“Hello mam..”

She stepped forwards and pulled me into a hug.
“What are you doing here so late?” She said as she pulled out of the hug and looked at me.
“I am in trouble, mam.”
A shocked look came to her face. “Why? What happened?”

“I fell in love…”
“You fell in love?”
“I fell in love with my mistress.. Her father showed us both the door earlier tonight.”
“Your mistress?” She asked confused. I nodded and looked down. She fell quiet as she was gathering her thoughts.

“We need a place to stay, mam..”
She looked over my shoulder to the car. After a little while she turned her face back towards me. “I don’t have room for two more people, Cheryl. It is already hard enough as it is.” She dropped quiet as she gathered her thoughts.

“I understand.” I said as tears came to my eyes.
“..Send her back home, sweetheart. This isn’t the place for a girl like her.”
“I can’t do that. She has left everything for me. Her father was clear to us. Once she left the house she was not to return. I can’t let her down. I can’t…” Tears started falling from my eyes. I felt a pair of arms wrap themselves around me. I stepped into the hug and cried in my mothers arms. She started stroking my back in a soothing matter. We stayed like that until I had calmed down a bit. I felt a hand on my face. It forced me to look at my mother.

“Calm down sweetheart. We will figure something out.” I smiled through my tears and pulled her back in the hug.
“I love you, mam.”
“I love you too.”

Once again the hug broke and my mother took my hand. She made way to the car and stopped in front of the car door. She looked at Kimberley, who was looking back at her with big wondering eyes. My mother turned to me. “We will figure something out dear.” And with that she reached to open the door.

“Good evening, Miss. My name is Andrea Tweedy. I am Cheryl’s mother. Welcome to your new home..” She held her hand out to my love. Kimberley looked at my mother and then me. I smiled a, what I hoped, reassuring smile at her and gave her a little nod.

--~--

Kimberley was standing in the middle of the living room as I was helping Mr. Brass with unloading the suitcases. As we had finished he turned to me.

“That was the last Cheryl.”  I tried to smile at him.
“Thank you.”
He looked over my shoulder into the living room. He turned to me and addressed me. “Take good care of her Cheryl. We all care a great lot about her.” He reached into his jacket. “Mrs. Morgan told me to give you this.” He pulled out an white envelope. “It should be enough for a few weeks. We all chipped in.” I opened the envelope. There was money in it.
“I can’t take this Mr. Brass. You all worked hard for this.” He cut me off. “She always ‘took care’ of us Cheryl. Let us do the same for her.” He closed his jacket and put on his hat. He placed a hand on my shoulder and gave it a squeeze before turning around.

“Are you not going to say goodbye to her?” I asked.
“It is already hard enough for her Cheryl.” With that he shot me a last smile before walking out of the door. I closed it behind him and turned around. Walking into the living room I saw that she hadn’t moved from where I had left her. She had her arms crossed over her chest, looking extremely fragile. I walked up to her and took her hand in my own.

“Let’s sit down, love.” She slowly turned her sad face towards me. My heart broke into a million pieces at the sight of a lost looking Kimberley. I took her in my arms and held her tightly. We stood like that for a while until my sister walked into the room. The commotion had woken her up. My mother had explained the situation to her the best she could with the limited information she had.

“I brought something to drink.”
Kimberley and I broke apart and looked at her. I took Kimberley’s hand and guided her to the table. I sat her down on a chair and Amy put the drink in front of her. Amy turned to me.

“I made you two a bed in my room. If you are tired you can go there.”
“Thank you.” I turned to Kimberley. “Are you tired? Do you want to go to bed?” She shook her head no. My mother came into the room and turned to Amy.
“Come on, Amy. Let’s leave them alone. You are staying in my room tonight.” They both walked out of the room, leaving Kimberley and me alone.

-~-

“Do you want to talk about it?” I eventually said after a long time of silence.
She shook her head again. I stood up from my chair and walked up to her. I took her hand in my own and pulled her off the chair.

“It’s late. Let’s go to bed.” I led her into the room and to the bed. We both laid in it, fully clothed. I took the blanket Amy had left out for us and wrapped it around our bodies. I pulled hers close to mine and started caressing her back. It was only a matter of minutes before I felt the first wetness of her tears on my neck. I pulled her closer to me as she broke apart in my arms.