E & Alexander


    E


    As I stared at the broken pieces of my mother’s music box scattered across the floor, something in me snapped.


    I didn’t even know my mother. She had died when I was a baby.


    And that music box was the only possession of hers that I had-the only link to my mother I would ever get.


    And now it was broken.


    “What the hell is wrong with you?” I shouted at Sarah, leaping to my feet. “I told you not to touch it!”


    Sarah’s eyes widened. “I’m so sorry, Luna. It was an ident-”


    “An ident? You deliberately ignored me when told you to leave it alone!” I was shaking with rage, my hands clenched into fists at my sides. “That was my mother’s music box. The only thing I had left of her, and you destroyed it!


    “Luna, it’s just a silly old-”


    “Get out!” I screamed, not even wanting to hear the rest. “Get out of my room right now!”


    Sarah didn’t move, which was a dangerous decision on her part. I wanted to rip into her, wanted to throw her against the wall with what little strength I had left. Disrespecting me was one thing, but she’d destroyed the one precious thing I had left, the one connection to my mother who’d died when I was just an infant.


    “Luna E,” Gabriel’s sharp voice cut through my shouting as he appeared in the doorway.” What’s going on here?”


    “Your precious maid just destroyed my mother’s music box,” I said, whirling to re at him. “ After I specifically told her not to touch it.”


    Gabriel’s eyes flicked to the broken pieces on the floor, then back to me. “idents happen. There’s no need to scream at the staff. It’s just a toy.”


    “It’s not just a toy. And it wasn’t an ident. She did it on purpose.”


    “That’s a serious usation,” Gabriel said coolly “Do you have proof?”


    Before I could answer, heavy footsteps in the hallway announced Alexander’s arrival. He stepped into the room, taking in the scene-me standing there shaking with fury, Sarah now cowering by the vanity, Gabriel with his arms folded, and the broken music box on the floor.


    “What’s all the shouting about?” Alexander asked.


    My anger found a new target. I spun toward him, pointing at Sarah. “Your maid destroyed my mother’s music box. The one thing I had left of her.”


    Alexander’s eyes moved to the broken pieces, then back to me. “I see.”


    “I want her fired,” I said tly. “She’s been nothing but disrespectful since she started working here, and now she’s destroyed something irreceable.”


    “Luna,” Sarah spoke up, her voice trembling now like a scared kitten when I knew fully well she was full of shit. “I swear it was an ident. I was just trying to clean, like you asked me to. You’ve been so… difficulttely. Always yelling at me, always finding fault with everything I do.”


    My mouth fell open. “That’s not-”


    “It’s true,” Gabriel interrupted. “I’ve heard Luna E raising her voice at Sarah multiple times over the past few days. The poor girl has been doing her best under very trying circumstances.”


    I stared at Gabriel in disbelief. “She spilled hot soup on me deliberately. She’s been rude and insubordinate from the moment she walked into this house.”


    “I’ve been nothing but respectful,” Sarah said, big, fat crocodile tears now streaming down her face. “I know Luna E doesn’t like me, but I’ve tried so hard to please her. I never meant for this to happen.”


    I just looked at Alexander, waiting for him to say something. Waiting for him to take my side, to see through Sarah’s obvious act. But he just stood there, his expression unreadable, not saying a word.


    “Well?” I demanded. “Aren’t you going to do anything?”


    Alexander’s green eyes met mine. “I’ll look into it.”


    That was it. That was all he was going to say. He wasn’t going to fire her, wasn’t going to defend me, wasn’t going to do a damn thing.


    In the span of an instant, the fury inside of me crystallized into something cold and hard. I was done. Done with this house, done with these people, done with pretending that any of this mattered.