Highs and Lows 

Baron and Angelique were domestically arranged around the small breakfast table in the parlour when Jane ran past on her way to the back entrance to the kitchen. She saw Baron look up from his paper as she ran past, his eyes tracking her through the glass until her progress put him behind her and out of her sight.

In the kitchen, Heathridge was not surprised by her arrival, and had a cup of black coffee ready for her.

“Thank you,” she panted, taking it with her as she left the kitchen, crossing the hall to the stairs that led up to her wing and room.

Instinct had her looking over her shoulder as she reached the top of the stairs, and she saw that Baron stood in the doorway of the breakfast room, looking up at her, his hand on the door handle. She paused, her hand on the banister, their eyes locked, and then Angelique’s voice came from behind him, and he stepped back, closing the door behind him.

Jane continued to her new room, finding that her possessions had been transferred as promised during her jog. She drank her coffee before showering and dressing for the day. The clothing she selected was chosen with another purpose in mind, the tailored shirt tucking into the tidy skirt. She pulled her hair back into a ponytail and pushed her feet into a pair of flat-heeled loafers, before scrutinizing herself in the mirror.

She looked, she thought, like the hundreds, or maybe thousands, of anonymous people that had, over the course of her life, set food and drinks on a table before her, handed clothing over the curtain of a change room, or rung up charges at the till. She looked, she decided, like someone capable of doing such things. Which was a lie. She was woefully under-qualified. But she had the opportunity to amend that.

She slunk through the entry hall like a criminal, and eased open the front door, startling Heathridge on the other side. For a moment they stared at each other, and then his eyes dropped, taking in her clothing and then returning to her face, his brows drawing together in confusion.

“Madam.”

“I am just going shopping,” she told him hastily.

accepted it easily and opened the door. “Did you need

left one up

returned to the garage,” he informed her

and hurried

the rear of the café. Humans, she thought with relief as she made her way through

faced man greeted her with a

that her voice sounded so much braver than she

scanned

“Do you have experience?”

“But I work

no benefits, and a half a day

“Okay,” she agreed eagerly.

her waist and told her: “Food comes from there,” he pointed to the kitchen window, behind

she saw a plate on

day when she got things wrong. The café shut at 3pm, and she removed

hired her, Patrick, smiled and passed her a wad of notes.

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