Chapter 8 Just A Servant

• "Get your peasant food off of the table." Cora sneered at me.
• Cora was the daughter of one of Lionel's elders. She was tall and thin with long red hair that went almost to her waist. Her eyes were an icy cold blue.
• She walked around the house as if she owned it. And she did not seem to like me. Which was fair enough, because I didn’t care for her either.
• “Excuse me?” I asked, blinking at her.
• “Your peasant food. Get rid of it.” Cora insisted.
• “Whenever I’m around I prepare meals for Vera. And now I’ll do so for Patti too.” She continued, looking down on me.
• “I’m a licensed nutritionist, I know what these girls need to thrive.”
• “Alright.” I swallowed. I took Patti and Vera’s plates back to the kitchen before returning with my own plate.
• “And what exactly are you doing now?” Cora asked with a scoff.
• “I’m eating with the girls. It’s very important to share mealtimes-“ I started trying to explain.
• “As a nanny and an employee of the house, you cannot eat at this table. You should only be eating in the servant’s quarters.” Cora snapped at me.
• I felt frustration wash over me, but I took a deep breath and kept my composure. I didn’t want to give her the satisfaction of me snapping back.
• “She’s my mom and I want her to eat with me!” Patti exclaimed. “Besides, your food looks yucky and I don’t want it.”
• "You are going to eat this meal and like it, young lady." Cora said, towering over Patti with a sneer. "And this woman is not your mother, nor will she ever be."
• "Ma'am, I don't know if-" I tried gently to intervene. I didn't want to get involved, but I didn't like how Cora was speaking to Patti.
• Even if she wasn't my daughter anymore. I still loved her more than anything.
• "You don't get to speak!" Cora snapped whirling around on me. I froze, my eyes wide.
• "I just-"
• "You do not get to tell me what to do. You are a servant." She hissed at me, teeth bared.
• The doors to the room opened and closed with a thud. Lionel stepped in, dressed nicely as always. He looked between all of us, taking in the situation.
• Cora's expression immediately softened as she straightened up. "Hello Lionel." She greeted with a warm smile.
• All the cruelty from a moment before was gone, as if she could turn it on and off at an instant.
• "What exactly is going on here?" Lionel asked, voice a low rumble in his chest. His eyes swept over the room again, as if he could figure out what was wrong if he looked close enough.
• "The new nanny is forgetful of her place as a servant." Cora piped up, shooting a glare my way. "She is completely inappropriate and is teaching the girls poor manners."
• Lionel raised an eyebrow, looking to me with a silent question.
• I cleared my throat, lowering my eyes. "The girls didn't want to eat the meal that Ms Cora prepared." I said hesitantly.
• "She is spoiling them with unhealthy food." Cora responded with a sneer. "It's very rude to tell the girls that it's okay not to eat something someone prepared specially for them."
• I crouched by Patti's chair, getting at her eye level.
• "Patti, can you tell me why you don't want to eat the food Ms Cora made for you?" I asked softly.
• She looked at me with her wide eyes. She searched my face before finally answering.
• She pointed to a piece of spinach on the plate. "This veggie makes my tongue tingle and feel funny. I don't like it."
• Vera nodded beside her. "Me too." She said quietly.
• I looked between the girls in surprise. That was a sign of an allergic reaction. Thankfully a minor one, but any discomfort wasn't ideal in my opinion.
• I cleared my throat, moving to stand up. "You may want to get the girls tested for allergies." I said, looking at Lionel.
• "A tingling sensation in the mouth or tongue is a sign of a minor allergic reaction." I continued, glancing at Cora.
• Part of me couldn't help but revel in the shocked look on Cora's face. Seeing her be so rude to the girls and their preferences, only to be shown that she was wrong in so many ways.
• My heart also ached for Vera, who had supposedly been eating Cora's meals for years now. And yet Cora hadn't checked or noticed any allergic reactions. The young girl had been living in discomfort without Cora even caring.
• "I- no. There's no way that Vera's allergic to spinach, she's been eating it for years." Cora argued. I felt a wave of frustration wash over me.
• "Cora, please don't intervene on anything having to do with the girls." Lionel said with a sigh.
• "What?" Cora squeaked.
• "Don't interfere with the girls or Nan." He repeated.
• I saw tears bloom in Cora's icy eyes.
• Normally I felt bad when I saw people cry, but I felt a bit vindictive. I didn't feel bad for her at all.
• "Fine!" Cora said, turning and rushing out of the room.
• Lionel rolled his eyes, an immature gesture that didn't quite suit him, but was intriguing to me nonetheless.
• He walked over to the head of the table with a grace that made him look like he was floating, rather than walking.
• "You can sit and eat with us." Lionel said with a nod. "I read once that it's important for children's caretakers to have meals with them."
• "Alright. Thank you." I said, not saying that I knew that and that I had been trying to tell Cora that.
• Vera and Patti sat on either side of Lionel. I sat next to Patti with a small smile at the girl. She grinned back up at me.
• I put my plate in front of me with the leftovers from the meals I had made for the girls. A maid came out of the kitchen almost immediately after I sat down, bringing plates with a big and varied breakfast. She placed one in front of Lionel, one in front of Patti and one in front of Vera.
• Vera and Patti exchanged a glance, speaking to each other without opening their mouths.
• "Daddy!" Vera exclaimed, tugging on Lionel's sleeve. "Look at what I can do!" She began to do a complicated hand motion that ultimately was not very impressive.
• I watched her for a moment before I saw movement out of the corner of my eye. Patti grabbed my plate, swapping it with Lionel's quickly.
• "Patti, what are you-" I started in a hushed tone of voice.
• She shushed me with an exaggerated wink.
• "No, sweetie-" I reached out to try and swap them back, but Lionel was no longer being distracted by Vera. My heart went into my throat as he looked down at the plate with a furrowed brow.
• Vera and Patti exchanged a smug look as the girls began eating.
• Lionel picked up a fork, starting to eat the meal that I had prepared. He paused as he chewed. A low, contented rumble came from his chest.
• He swallowed. I watched the way his Adam's apple bobbed nervously. Finally he spoke, "This is really good."
• I felt my face go pink at the small praise. It shouldn't have matter. I should've still hated him for taking Patti from me.
• But it felt nice to be appreciated. Even if he didn't know it was me he was complimenting.
• I looked down at the gorgeous meal in front of me and took a bite. It was incredible. I let out a breath, trying to remember my manners as I ate, but I had never had a meal this good.
• After we finished breakfast, Lionel went down to his conference room, while the girls and I went up to Vera's room. The girls sat together on her floor, playing with dolls.
• Once they grew bored with doing the dolls' hair they turned to each other. I taught them how to do a simple braid, and after our lesson, they both had braids that looked pretty good in my opinion.
• So of course, after they finished with each other they wanted to do my hair. I smiled, handing Patti a brush and Vera some hair ties, and together the girls got to work on my hair.
• It wasn't as good as it would've been if I had done it myself, but for two five year olds, it was pretty fantastic. "You did a great job girls." I complimented as I looked at myself in Vera's mirror.
• "Let's go show daddy!" Patti exclaimed, jumping up.
• "Yeah!" Vera grinned. They both looked at me expectantly.
• I knew I couldn't say no.
• "Alright, alright. I'll go look for him." I sighed, moving to stand up.
• The mansion was so large and had so many rooms, I still didn't fully know my way around the building. Finally I opened a door where I had heard voices.
• I froze. I had walked into a conference room. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt-"
• Lionel looked at me. There wasn't anger on his face, just a furrowed brow as he looked at me with confusion. "What happened to your hair?"