Maid for Him.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

When Cole burst through the door he was greeted by three pairs of eyes, all-round and expectant. Tess, GG and Beverly all awaiting his arrival.

"Did she buy it?" GG asked.

"Hook, line and sinker." Cole laughed. "They were both lapping it up."

"What jerks." Beverly mumbled. "I'm sorry Tess. I'm sorry my parents are stuck up asshats."

"Hey, it's not your fault and honestly I know I should be upset, but I'm just so relieved I'm not crazy, I don't even care." She gave Beverly a quick hug.

"Come on sis, let's get you changed." Cole removed his jacket and handed it to his sister. Who was already dressed in black slacks and a crisp white shirt. She shrugged the jacket on and although it swam on her, she continued to do up the buttons.

GG grabbed for Beverly's hair. "Come here." She pulled Beverly hair back into a loose, low, ponytail and tucked it into the back of the jacket.

"There you go Beverly; you look just like me." Cole said.

"Well here goes, you ready GG?" Beverly moved toward the door.

"As I'll ever be." GG picked up her empty suitcase and followed her to the door.

Tess began to giggle. Cole looked over at her and then he laughed, followed by GG and Beverly. "I know it's a serious situation but look at us. We've come together and devised a plan and it's a pretty funny plan." Tess got out between laughs.

"Look at that jacket on Beverly, you can't even see her hands. How's she going to drive?" Cole asked.

GG's eyes grew large and she sucked in a deep breath. "My God! How are you going to drive? I could be risking my life, and all to keep this one from being committed. I don't know if she's worth it." She winked at Tess.

"Get out of here." Tess shoved GG out the door. "But remember, don't stand too close to each other. From a distance, we need Beverly to look much bigger. Like Cole."

"Yeah, yeah, we know. We got this don't we Bev?" GG said.

"We sure do. See you both later tonight, don't forget to leave the bedroom window open for us."

They two women walked outside, followed by Tess. She said her goodbye's and had to hold back from laughing when she saw how Beverly tried to walk like Cole. She stood on the step and waved until the car was out of site. The entire time Cole peeked out from behind a curtain in the kitchen window.

When Tess came back inside, Cole grabbed her immediately and hugged her. "You okay?"

"I'm fine. It's kind of exciting isn't it?"

"It sure is."

"Do you think they were watching our performance?"

"Oh, I'd put money on it. Mother will certainly want to strike again soon. She thinks I won't be here and I told her if you have another episode I'm taking Freddy."

"When do you think she'll make her move?" Tess asked.

"I think she'll wait until tonight, use the dark to her advantage. But just in case, we need to keep the curtains drawn and our voices to a whisper. I don't want to risk her finding out I'm still here." He pulled Tess into his arms, leaned right into her ear and whispered. "Any suggestions on how to kill the time?"

"Denzel marathon?"

"You sure know the way to a man's heart." He took her by the hand and led her to the sitting room, where she immediately rushed to the window and drew the heavy cream curtains, while Cole waited in the door way. When it was safe he turned on Netflix and scrolled through the movie catalogue.

"How about this." He pointed to the television with the remote. The familiar tunes of Grease played through the house. He snuck a peek at Tess, the smile on her face was worth the two hours of his life he was about to waste.

"I always suspected you were a closet Grease fan." She teased him.

"In case mother is listening at the window, I wanted it to seem authentic. Now Shh." He put his finger to his lips.

They nestled in and watched Grease, followed by Dirty Dancing and Teen wolf and of course, Maid in Manhattan. The hours passed, the only noise came from the whirl of the fan overhead, occasional stirrings from Freddy and of the kettle every hour.

It was nice to just sit with Tess. Hardly speaking any words between them. Just being next to her his skin tingled as though she were touching him, even when she wasn't. When she got really into a film he would watch her, watching the screen and wonder how he got so lucky. She was so beautiful, on the outside, sure, but inside too. Just a purely wonderful soul. If his mother thought he would let her poison him against Tess, she had another think coming. His family's fall from grace was going to be epic. As the afternoon wore on and it became night, Cole heard a noise coming from the bedroom. He dived down behind the couch, "It could be GG and Beverly."

Tess sat frozen on the sofa and watched as a shadow darkened the hallway and came closer, until GG poked her head around the corner. "Boo." She whispered and her hand flew to cover her mouth to stop herself from laughing. Beverly was next to appear in the doorway.

Cole climbed out from behind the sofa. "Hey ladies. Good timing, we were just thinking about going off to bed. Why don't you all go and hang out in Tess's room and I'll make a bed from theses cushions between the wall and the sofa and wait for her to make her move."

"That sounds fun right girls? We could all take hot chocolate and marshmallows into the room, what do you say?" Tess asked, but she was already on her way to the kitchen.

"Just keep it down okay ladies?"

Beverly shooed him with her hand as they left the room.