Speaking of the devil

Chapter 4

Elijah Garcia was the type of guy who had a permanent beer breath, not enough to make you think he's an alcoholic but enough to make you want to subtly send him a link to a 'how to get rid of the smell alcohol after a drink' article. I knew this because I was currently standing statue-still as he looked at me from top to bottom to see if I was qualified for the job. As if, if my hands were too big and my boobs too small I wouldn't be able to change diapers.

''Did you even check a reference Charlotte, Dammit I swear you are incompetent when it comes to hiring the help, aren't  you the one who hired that chef who couldn't even remove his hand from his pants long enough to cook up a decent non-burnt meal?" Garcia said apparently annoyed. 

"This has nothing to do with you, the twins are my babies Eli, not yours, "Mrs. Garcia said angrily.

''It has everything to do with me if she is going to be interacting with my kids and eating out of my pocket so did you or did you not check for a reference ?''He asked again.

"I did and she's been here a week already, there's no way I'm firing her. " 

Liam entered the kitchen, where I was currently being re-interviewed and raised an eyebrow in question.

''Alvaro my boy, tell me is she any good?"Elijah asked his son who was clearly his favorite. I held my breath, I had literally told him to fuck off last night and now my whole plan depended on his answer, I began to mentally pack my bags as I realized how my silly outburst last night was gonna cost me.

''Never seen anyone so good at what she does, Dad honestly you don't even have to ask" Liam says as he drinks milk straight from the bottle. I try not to cringe at that considering he just saved my ass.

''Well, then you can go Miss?" Elijah said

"Clara" I replied breathlessly

"Ok Clara you can go, "Elijah said as he turned to look at his ex-wife who had a  smug smile on her face.

"You must feel so smug right now querida" He mocked her and laughed adoringly. Mrs. Garcia blushed and rolled her eyes. So far nothing that screamed 'RACIST MURDERER' had happened. Mr. Garcia seemed like an ordinary man and somehow that fuelled my anger and my need to wipe that smile off his face. His life was normal and mine wasn't yet I was not the one who killed three people.

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"You owe me, new nanny" Liam said as he picked Amelia up and spun her around. I was feeding Emily while reading Gone girl, a personal favorite. It was sort of encouragement for me, to know that even women could be that diabolical and get away with it. Scientific studies show that females are more likely to get away with murder and that women usually kill the people they know driven by emotion whereas males kill based on lust or temper tantrums or simple enjoyment(that creeps me out, who enjoys murder). The woman is viewed as a nurturing and loving being hence they are among the last to be suspected when mayhem strikes especially if the act is perfectly and flawlessly planned.

"I'm so sorry about last night, I was Ummm really emotional because of Ummm" I struggled to find an excuse that would explain my unnecessary outburst "PMS" I blurted, you could never go wrong with that excuse.

"Ewww really,"  Ben said as he entered the kitchen. That was the desired reaction so that the topic would change so thank you, Benjamin.

"Don't be a douche Benji, PMS is the reason why somewhere out there there's a tree tirelessly working to produce oxygen for you, you owe it an apology..the tree not Ummm nevermind" Liam said as he ruffled his brother's hair.

''Well, I produce carbon dioxide for it so that makes us even" Ben fired back. I laughed at that as I cleaned up the counter.

"And why are you laughing new nanny?'' Ben asks, smirking."Do you like my jokes? if you do you can come to my room and I'll tell you more Ohh and the dress code is nude " He says.

I visibly shudder as I fire back"Don't hold your breath kiddo"

" How do you sleep at night, knowing you have to wake up and make a fool of yourself all over again " Liam laughs as he helps with the dishes. I really like Liam, as a human being of course but it wasn't for the obvious betrayal it would be, I totally would ask him out.

"With our family motto, of course, When life gives you lemons," Benjamin says and pauses obviously this was about to turn into some inside joke or something.

"Take that shit like a champ and turn it into orange juice then leave the world wonder how we do it'' Liam finishes and starts laughing. The dimples and the sound of his laugh were ....just that, His laughter was so free and pure, so childish despite his adult years. It was that contagious laugh where you quickly join in despite the oddness of it all. Which is what I did except I laughed for the first time in years, not because of their corny family motto but because of the memories it had triggered. After years of trying to remember what my mother's laugh sounded like, or how my Dad used to pat his knee when he laughed..was it the left or the right one? , For years all I could remember was the sound of their screams, their cries, their tears, the sound of their death. It was a surprising moment for me but the good memories came back all at once, The way mom would always say'I now understand why some animals eat their young' whenever I argued with Sophie or how my Dad always used to complain about everything and how it was so much better back in the day. I laughed like my life depended on it and in a way it did. It was a laughter that I could feel in my lungs, so hard that it took my breath away. The lack of oxygen didn't matter. All the anguish of the past few years melted like snowballs in a microwave for the time being. This laughter created a small vacation, a blessed relief from all the distress that shoved its way into my brain whenever I was faced with a memory. For a single moment, the revenge plot, Sophie's drug abuse, my parents' death faded into the background and it was twelve- year- old me again laughing at any and everything. I caught myself before the laughter turned into a sob. The last time I cried was at my parent's funeral and I was not changing that.

"Clara?" Benji said as he held my shoulder while Liam stared unabashedly at me.

I looked heavenwards as I willed the tears away. I am okay, I am okay

"I'm good it's just umm the PMS sorry," I said as I continued to clean.

"If you say so but if you ever need to talk, you know the dress code," He said and winked then left the room.

I did not want to look at Liam because I don't know how or why but I knew it would be different, something told me if I looked into his eyes I would see a different version of the pain that had made itself at home in mine. 

So maybe not everything was as it seemed, maybe even rich people whose Father was a murderer had their own pain too.