After resting in the car for a few minutes, Angel decides to wake up eventually, and we get out of the car so she can get some fresh air.
"You've slept a lot, kiddo. What made you so tired? Did you play a lot?" I inquire once we are outside.
"No, Auntie Ania! I did not even play today. I just got into a fight, and then the teacher caned me." She sadly explains.
Huh? The little disciplined kiddo I take care of is not capable of starting fights. This isn't like her.
Crouching in front of her with one knee, I take her small hands into mine.
"Why did you have to get into a fight, princess?" I implore.
"It's those kids again. They taunted me again about not having a mother. So I got furious and slapped one of them. Then we started fighting. The teacher came, and they said, I am the one who started the fight." She sadly explains.
"Didn't the teacher ask you why you started the fight?" Stupid question, but I had to ask.
"She did, but I kept quiet. I didn't want to say anything in front of the whole class. What if everyone starts taunting me too?" Angel says.
Ooh, poor kid! This is deeply amiable!
"Let's see, we need to tell Daddy about this, princess. He is the only one who can sort it out." I soothe.
"Daddy will get mad at me. He tells me that kids who cause trouble are bad. He always tells me to be a good kid, not to fight."
"But Daddy will surely understand if you explain it to him." She shakes her head. "You still don't want to tell Daddy?" She shakes her head again. "Ooh, sweetie! Do you want me to talk to your teacher?"
Now that just slipped out! If I were to think about it, this would never cross my mind. It isn't any of my responsibility, but...
"Yes." She wasted no second in replying.
"Okay. Cheer up now, alright? I'll talk to the teacher on Monday, but here is the deal: after I talk to your teacher, I will have to tell your dad too about this whole thing, okay? We can't hide things from your daddy, princess." I explain.
"Yes, untie Ania. Deal!" Her face shines brightly.
"Come here, you smart kid!" I hug her tight to assure her that things will be okay.
I hope Andy won't skin me alive for this. If there is one thing I know about him, it is that he doesn't joke when it comes to his daughter and that he is so insecure about her.
Pulling away from each other, I encounter two dreadful eyes from a lady glaring at me. If looks could kill, I would be dead by now.
"Who the hell are you?" The lady implores, scrutinizing me from head to toe with an expression that speaks nothing but mockery. As much as I don't like being rude, I can't help it this time.
"And you want to know who I am because you are...?" I hold Angel with one hand.
"Such audacity from a cheap, worthless bitch! There is no need to respond anyway. You can't be anything more than Andy's maid." The witch spits, as if she knows Andy too well.
Andy? Did she refer to him as Andy? So they know each other? What is she? I mean, who is she? His ex? His girlfriend? The ex-wife?
Whoever the fuck she is, she has no damn right to talk to me like this.
"First, you do not have any right to talk to me like this. Secondly, I am his maid. Yes, so what, huh? Do you have a problem with that?" I scoff.
"Ooh, please! What problem would I have with trash like you? Gosh! Be cautious with his kid, will you? You might contaminate her with some God knows what diseases and..."
"What's going on here?"
Whoa!
Andy roars from her back, cutting her off, and I see how terrified she seems all of a sudden. Her face turns completely pale. Andy, on the other hand, looks like an enraged devil.
"Janie!" Andy calls, clenching onto his shopping bags that are about to fall. They are a lot, and they are hefty. Just what did he buy? "What the hell are you doing here?"
"Andy..."
"Even outside the office, I am still your boss, Janie! Address me properly!" Andy orders with a voice that can unnerve even the devil himself.
"I'm sorry, sir." She speaks, head hunched down like a servant in front of a master. Between me and her, she's more fit for the position of maid right now, and I cannot hide the smirk on my face. "I just saw your car here and decided to say hi, Sir Adrian."
Oh, she was saying hi! Bitch!
"Was anything I heard earlier in any way close to hellos? What right do you have to disrespect someone like that?" Andy barks as softly as he can afford to.
"I'm sorry, sir. I just saw how she was clutching your daughter... and the way she's dressed..."
"Get lost in my sight! And, Janie? Leave your resignation letter with my PA on Monday morning. I have condoned more than enough of your crap already. You have exhausted your chances. You are fired!"
Wait, what? fired? As in, FIRED? Just like that?
I pull Angel closer to me, quivering like I am the one who is being relieved of my duties and holding on to the little girl as if she were my only savior.
The bitch opens her mouth to maybe beg for pardon, but a single glare from the beast, Andy, seals her lips, blocking whatever she was about to utter somewhere in her throat. As she walks away, she doesn't have even the bravery to look back at me or Andy. Well, do I need to feel pity for her? I am not!