The Housemaid [in edit]

The Housemaid - Chapter Sixteen

NOTE: This chapter is dedicated to @ChasingMcGuinessTW because she gave this story its 100th vote! Thanks for reading girl! :) Enjoy this next one now.

Sixteen: AFTERMATH

Christine told Nathan about her troubled teenaged past. It surprised him that she once used to party as hard as he and his band mates normally do, especially at such a young age. “I even wake up in various places at times not knowing where I am.”

“Wow,” Nathan blinked, “You were like a character out of that show called Skins.”

“The one originally from your country? Yeah…I was recommended to watch it, so when I did I almost cried after every episode because I couldn’t believe I was like one of them. That was a dark side I never wanted to go back to ever again.”

“Yeah, it’s a pretty intense show to say the least…”

“Right? But that didn’t stop there…” Christine continued. “When I met Ryan, it was love at first sight. He was kind of a model-like frat boy from UCLA, and I, well…I wasn’t really doing much. He thought I was a professional dancer at some private club down in Hollywood.”

Nathan’s eyes widened. “…Really, were you—”

“I…like I said, I’m not entirely proud of these last few years…I lied to him. And since Zoe was a server for that club, she pulled some strings and let me in for a few months. I did it to impress Ryan, because he was such a nice guy. Zoe took me in and helped me get to him. She knew I was jobless, so she helped me with the money and stuff. I never had to pay her back or anything. She kept my secret to herself.

“Three months later, Ryan and I were exclusive. We were inseparable. I got to know him and his friends, and Zoe and her friends, and we became this huge group whenever we go out. It was much larger than yours. But still, my habits as a young teen, as I was now 19, still stayed; I shoplifted for new clothes instead of wearing Zoe’s hand me downs, I got arrested for apparent drug use—but I never done any, and whenever Ryan asked, I made some lame excuses, and he’d believe me. I had him wrapped around my finger.”

Christine’s tea was now emptied out from her mug, but Nathan was still sipping on his. He kept his eyes on her, listening intently to her story. It surprised her that she hasn’t broken down in front of him yet. She continued.

“Zoe and Ryan threw me a huge party in Vegas for my 21st birthday last year…I still don’t remember what happened that night, but all I remember was that it was crazy. But that was when Ryan started acting strange…”

She gulped. Nathan noticed the change in the tone of her voice; her voice grew soft. He lowered his mug. “You don’t have to continue, Chris…”

“I want to tell you. You don’t know how long I’ve been keeping this from people, Nathan.” She frowned. “You’re the only one I trust right now…at least, in this house.”

He replied softly in agreement and set the mug on the floor. “Okay.”

“So Ryan started acting strange…like I started to see his true colors. It became clear to me what kind of person he was, but I stayed with him. He did things…Nath, that I can’t…” She shuddered at the thought of those times Ryan touched her in the way she never thought he would. “Let’s just say I have scars that will forever stay in me.

“Before I left him, and Zoe, both of them started acting strange around me, Zoe especially. There were times when we go out, I find myself with some random guy attempting to do what Matt had done to me—and at first, I thought it was because of the way I look or something, but there was more to it. This didn’t stop after I left Ryan…as you obviously can tell. I realized that Zoe told Ryan all of my secrets, and he started turning his back on me. I realized he wasn’t the guy for me, either.”