Harly

Chapter Four (Edited 08/2021)

I slept so solid after that incident last night that I snoozed through my alarm and almost missed work. When I finally cracked open my eyes to see the light pouring through the window and the bridge of the loud rock song that my phone's alarm was set to, I knew I had made a mistake.

It wasn't the first time the song had played apparently, because I had overslept by thirty minutes. I slept too late to both shower and still catch the bus.

I sprinted around the room, grabbing my clothes and tugging them on quickly. My knee caught the waistline, causing me to lose my balance and stumble. My leg slipped into the hole, but I was already airborne. I threw my arms out to try and catch myself, but I only grasped air before I fell face down onto the hard wooden floor. My nose immediately started bleeding and my eyes watered from the pain. It wasn't broken, that much I could tell, but Jesus Christ did it hurt. I shuffled to the bathroom to grab some tissue, my pants still halfway up my thighs, and prayed no one was around to see me in my half dressed state.

But of course, there was.

"Aunt Em, why don't you have pants on? And why are you bleeding?!" And of course it'd be Lilly.

"I fell." I grumbled back, discovering some of the blood dripped on my work uniform and I muttered a curse under my breath.

"Shh, aunt Em, mommy will yell at you if you say bad words. Lacey said one yesterday and she got a spanking."

"Did I hear Emma needed a spanking?" El's voice rang from the hallway, and Lilly threw her hands over her mouth as if to keep herself from saying any 'bad words' herself. "What are you doing, Lil? Bothering Emma this early in the— Oh my god, what happened?" She asked once she reared the corner, catching me in all my half naked, bloody glory.

"I fell." I repeated, gesturing to the door. "Shut that before another of your other tiny henchmen find me."

El snickered but shooed Lilly away and helped me gather more tissue for me to press against my face.

"I'm gonna be late," I groaned, glancing at the watch I miraculously managed to put on despite my inability to function this morning. The bus arrives in fifteen minutes.

El glanced at her own watch and shrugged. "I can take you." She replied chipper, setting the toilet lid down, then sitting herself on top of it. "I don't go in for another few hours, and Mrs. Dee is on her way. She'll be here in ten minutes or so. Will that give you enough time?"

"Oh," I mumbled, looking down at her, past the tissues. "Yeah, that'd help a lot. I'd even have time to shower. I overslept, too." She seemed pleased with this response, standing back up to get ready.

"Just meet me downstairs whenever you're ready." She gave my bare thigh a swat as she walked out, reminding me I was still half dressed.

I just shut the door and stripped back down, throwing the tissue away and letting my nose free bleed in the shower until it finally stopped. It was still tender, but manageable.

A shower really put my mind in the place it needed to be to survive a shift. I switched out my bloody uniform shirt for a new one, and Mrs. Dee promised she knew some fancy home remedy to get blood out of clothes, so she said she'd fix it for me.

It was weird having a housekeeper. She was very nurturing, like a mother or grandmother. Something neither Ella or I really had growing up. And when I mentioned it in the car, she laughed.

"Yeah, I felt the same way. I hired her to babysit the kids and clean up the house, but she took me under her wing too." She smiled fondly as she drove, her eyes never wavering from the rode "If you're ever late for work, you can always take my other car." She suddenly said, surprising me.