More Than Just a Servant Girl

Chapter 4- I'll Help You

*Back to the present*

"You know Y/N...? You're more than just a servant girl"

You look at her in shock, not sure if you'd heard her correctly. You try to piece together the words to say, although you're not sure if they're the right ones.

"Madonna, your husband just died. You're very vulnerable."

She shook her head slightly, a look of guilt crossing her face.

"I didn't truly love him..." she confesses. "After my first husband died, I knew that I had to think about my daughters. I married Ella's father for their sake, not my own."

You scoot away from her a little and look at her accusingly.

"Is that why you treat Ella the way you do?  She was just something that came with him?"

She sighs softly. "In a way, I guess you could say that. I never meant to be this way though. Please believe me."

You gaze up into her eyes, and the tears glistening in them proves that she's being genuine for once.

"I put up so many walls when my first husband died to protect myself from getting hurt again. I know I should act better, I- I just don't know how..."

You feel sorry for the woman you've grown to love, no matter how she's acted. You reach over and tuck a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

"I'll help you. If you'll let me." you promise.

She nods slightly.

"Maybe you're what I've been missing in my life." she says with her voice shaking.

You wrap your arms around her in a tight embrace as she lets herself relax and take in the scent of your vanilla perfume enveloping her.  You hold her until her breathing resumes a normal pattern, then you pull away slowly.

"Why don't we go to bed? You've had a long day."

She only nods and stands up, turning her back to you. You unzip her dress and help her out of it before going to her dresser and grabbing her leopard print silk robe. 

You put the robe on her and tie it at her waist. She gets into her bed tiredly and you proceed to tuck her in as you would a child.

"Goodnight." you say, turning away to head to your room, but her hand reaches out and grabs yours before you can even make your second step.

"Please stay." she whispers faintly.

You turn to face her again, and you can't bring yourself to say no to the pleading face staring back at you in the dim lamplight.  Slowly, you get in on the other side of her bed, bringing the covers up around you.

She whimpers softly and nuzzles close to you. You take her hair out of her tight bun and allow it to fall over her shoulders as she rests her head on your chest.

"It'll be alright." you console her gently, running your fingers through her hair soothingly until she finally falls asleep.  You watch over her for a while, happy with how peaceful she looks now, but also worrying if any of this is a good idea.

You push all your negative thoughts away for the night, letting her peaceful face be the last thing you see before sleep finally overtakes you too.