Chapter 5 L’affaire Au Pair

Moana

I woke up at 4:30 the next morning — a bit earlier than I needed to, probably, but I wasn’t taking any chances with this job. I spent the next hour practically scrubbing myself raw in the shower, fixing my hair, ironing my clothes, and taking extra care to make sure that there wasn’t a single stray hair or speck of dust on me, because today was the first day of the job that would change my life, and I had to be perfect.

I then spent the final half hour of my preparations pacing and staring out the window, willing myself with all of the strength I had to not bite my nails, as I waited for the car that Selina had mentioned. Lo and behold, as soon as the clock struck 5:59, I saw a black car slowly pulling up out front, and I practically flew out of my apartment and down the stairs so that I was opening the car door by 6:00 sharp.

“Hmph,” Selina said, looking at her watch as I clambered into the back. “Six o’clock on the dot. A little out of breath, but at least you’re here.”

“Sorry,” I said, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear and buckling my seatbelt. “It’s a bad neighborhood, so I didn’t want to wait outside.”

Selina didn’t answer. The driver pulled the car away from the curb and started heading down the street.

“We’ll be stopping to sign your contract with the lawyer first,” Selina said, her voice flat as she looked out the window with a modicum of disgust on her wrinkled face. “Then, you’ll get a tour of the penthouse apartment where you’ll be spending most of your time. I suspect you won’t be needing to return to your old home to collect your things?”

I thought back to my apartment and its contents.

“Well, I have some clothes and things there–”

“Your employer will supply you with anything you need: clothes, toiletries, books, and anything else you might need or want. Unless you have sentimental belongings you need to go back for, I wouldn’t recommend wasting your time and energy on such a move.”

around my neck. That locket was the only sentimental thing I owned, and it was always around my neck. Everything else in that apartment could burn, for

“Very well,” Selina said.

Selina was seated directly across from me in the back of the expensive town car, she didn’t turn away from the window to look at me even once. I didn’t let it get to me, though; growing up human in a world dominated by werewolves prepared me for this sort of treatment. There were many werewolves who saw humans as equals, but there were even more

Brown, Esq.” Selina got out of the car without a word and started for the door — I did the same, standing behind her as she rapped

a sickly combination of mahogany and burnt coffee, and it was eerily quiet. Neither Selina nor the woman said a word; the woman only shut the door behind us

He was asleep.

across from him, and

“Wake up, William!”

Oh!” the old man exclaimed with a start as he was unceremoniously awoken. I stifled a laugh as I stood in the doorway, but my smile quickly faded when Selina abruptly turned around and gestured

on his glasses with shaking old hands as he opened a drawer and pulled out

and filled my ears, driving me practically insane, as the elderly lawyer licked his fingers and flipped through the documents. Finally, after a painstakingly long time and a curt “ahem” from Selina, he produced the

have to sign this basic contract and

up the pen, scanning over the contract. My eyebrows raised as I noticed a couple of interesting clauses thrown in: one mentioned that I was not allowed to become romantically involved with my employer at any point, and another stated that I was prohibited from becoming

I asked, pointing to them. William leaned over and glanced at them, then

“All very standard.”

“But I–”

growled under her breath.

no,” I said, quickly scrawling my signature down on the dotted line and sliding the contract

and stood, smoothing down her

to William, who seemed already exhausted from our brief

be working and living a few minutes later. It was vastly different from the Tudor-style mountain mansion I had visited the day before, but equally as massive and beautiful. Selina and I walked through the marble lobby and took the elevator up a few dozen storeys before coming out into a gorgeous entryway with

much more put-together and far less feral than

my hand, leading me away from Selina and around the massive apartment on a tour — which took over

twin maids, Lily and Amy, Ella

set of double doors with her tiny hands. I stifled a gasp as I saw how spacious and beautiful it was, with even a small

is… mine?” I asked,

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