Chapter 3 - Nora came through the service door
Vanessa reached toward the glass.
I picked it up first.
Her fingers stopped.
“Graham.”
“What?”
“You haven’t eaten.”
“No.”
“You should.”
I watched her.
“Why?”
Her smile tightened.
“Because you’ve barely eaten all day.”
Then Nora burst through the service entrance.
Nora Ellis had worked for me for six years.
Official title:
Director of Household Operations.
In reality:
The person who knew which caterer would fail, which guest needed wheelchair access, which florist overcharged, and which member of my extended family had been banned from ordering tequila.
She saw the glass.
Then looked at me.
“Please, sir… don’t drink it.”
Vanessa turned.
“Nora.”
Nora stopped several feet away.
She looked terrified.
Vanessa said:
“What exactly are you implying?”
Nora answered:
“I’m not implying anything.”
Then:
May you like
“I saw what you put beside his place setting.”
Every nearby conversation seemed to die at once.
