Through the Eyes of a Servant | Chapter 2 |by: Rachel / Chapter posted May 21, 2010
AU | Max/Fang | PG / 3,680 words
Max, Fang - 17 | Iggy - 19 | Nudge - 16 | Gazzy - 14 | Angel - 13 / The original age ranges have been changed.
When Max accepts a job as a maid in Fang's household, will it be love at first sight? Or will anything and everything come between them?
The idea for this story is mine and no one else's. Everything else belongs to James Patterson -although I will be next in line for the throne when he retires xD-. I made no money for writing this story, I simply write for reviews.
The next day hadn't proven itself to have been any better, in her humble opinion. Jeb had been making excuses for their new circumstances, saying that it wasn't that bad and they would get used to it. It would all end up being better for everyone. So far, nothing like that had happened, and she was running out of time before her sanity gave out.
"You can't grumble everyday," Jeb pointed out irritably as once again, his daughter trudged upstairs, darkening everyone's good day. His son was just starting to heal from being shot, even though it was nothing serious, and his other son was having a tough time putting up with Max's constant outbursts and mood swings.
"Watch me," she hissed as she reached to get her jacket and yanked the front door open.
"You have to eat," he said as he got off the couch and walked to the kitchen.
Max rolled her eyes. "Why should I eat here? You can't even afford breakfast cereal."
"It'll throw you off for the rest of the day," he said with his eyes closed, trying to be patient. It was only a matter of time before she drove him insane with her snide comments and biting tone of voice.
"I'll grab something at work, she said, almost halfway out the door now.
"Max, wait," he said, walking over to yank her arm away from the door.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" her eyes narrowed as she ripped her arm away.
"We're going to talk," he snarled, finally unraveling after months of abuse. "Sit."
She raised an eyebrow. "Dad, you really wanna have it out right before school?"
"Look, it would really help me out if you weren't so judgmental. It's not like we don't have money for food, alright? You're totally exaggerating that. The fact is, I'm a single father trying to raise three teenage kids, and it's hard. I don't have the time to go to the supermarket or anything, because I'm trying to find a job."
"Why, you still feel the need to get up off your ass after forcing your daughter, your seventeen year old daughter with a life, to get a job for you, a grown man? Does that mean I outdo you, Dad? That I'm making more money than a doctor? And yes, I know, there "aren't enough people in your profession" and all, I hear it all the time."
"Do you want your brother to go to college?" he shouted. "Because it's fine if you don't. If you're more interested in your fun now than his future later, there won't be any consequences. Think, Max! This is real life! You don't have time to play the bratty teenager part! Our lives are a little bit more complicated than that!"
"You remind me everyday," she hissed. "Did you ever think that it's been traumatic for me too? Ever since…God. Don't even remind me. Just remember that it was hard for me, too."
"You remind me everyday," he said coldly. "This isn't about you individually!"
"Oh, save it! I don't have time for you and your controlling, preachy crap. You have absolutely no room to criticize! Now if you don't mind, I'm off to work, again, because of you."
She heard Iggy and Gazzy shuffling about in their rooms, and knew it was time to leave, before they caught her and joined in the argument.
Without further ado, she grabbed her purse off the doorknob and flung herself out into the early-morning air. But instead of rushing down the driveway like she usually did, she hid behind the closed door and listened.
It didn't feel like she didn't care about her father anymore. And she wanted more than anything for it to be alright, so she could stop being angry at him like she always was lately. Some part of her knew that it wasn't his fault that the job had fallen through. Even if that wasn't the big tragedy, it was close enough.
Now was the part when Iggy would come into the room and just know what was wrong. She heard his quiet footsteps as he approached his father. Max knew the scene too well.
"You don't have to be hard on her," Iggy said. Reading his father's outraged expression, he rushed on, "I know she's being a little brat, but she's taken it a lot harder than any of us. And I know that she still loves you."
Iggy was the protective older brother that even Max knew would always side with her. If she committed a murder, Iggy would stand in the courtroom listing things the victim could have done to piss Max off. Iggy thought Max didn't notice it. But she was as grateful as hell that someone was on her side.
Gazzy, on the other hand, was a different story. He was the younger brother that had always had his fights with Max, the sister who had tortured him all through his childhood. He loved his father through it all, and was on the opposite side of the war. Max shrugged it off most of the time. Gazzy had no idea how much she missed him.
She didn't stay long enough to hear the rest of the argument that was sure to follow. Gazzy would get involved and yell at Iggy, claiming that Max was a spoiled kid who just had to face up to reality, just like he always did. But she had a job to go to, at any rate.
She didn't know why she bothered to dress up. She was only wearing the outfit she had on for a few minutes before she put on that cosplay-ish maid uniform. Yet, in the back of her mind, the only place that she even dared to blush, thoughts of the dark one, Fang, were swimming around. He was…interesting. And interested in her, even though she didn't quite know it.
Crap, crap, crap! She'll kill me if I don't get in on time! I already got scolded once for it…
Max raced to the edge of the estate and breathed a sigh of relief. The warden herself was preoccupied with a couple other people who had done something wrong. Maybe there was time to sneak around and get in on time without being seen.
As she tiptoed closer to the house, being careful to keep to the back of the 'warden', in case she had eyes in the back of her head like the rumors all suggested, she realized that the two figures that were obviously being scolded were in fact very familiar-looking…
Her eyes widened so much that it felt they were going to pop out of their sockets. The pair of guilty-looking teens that were being scolded was…Brigid and Fang? They were already drawing a crowd. She skipped ahead to get behind them. She didn't want to be late, but she sure wasn't going to miss anything.
Brigid had tears in her eyes and was biting her lip, her hands folded as she struggled to keep it together. Fang couldn't have looked more relaxed. One eyebrow was raised, as if daring anyone to mess with him. His mother wasn't afraid in the least.
"I can't believe this has happened again. Brigid, I warned you months ago to stay away from him. I have absolutely nothing against Fang dating, but I have made it clear that I hired you professionally as a maid in my house, not to serve as entertainment to my son. I am incredibly disappointed in you both."
A tear slipped from Brigid's eye, which she quickly wiped away. Max rolled her eyes. Honestly, what is it with girls and their boyfriends? It's like he's her last lifeline. It's pathetic.
"You have worked here for more than half a year, Brigid. It turns out that half of that time, you were lying and going behind my back. You are never to come here again, and you'll have one day to return your uniform. You two not allowed to see each other from this point on. Fang, I suggest you find a new pet," she smirked.
Fang couldn't help but grin, which was an odd effect, because it seemed unnatural for him. Just the way he was showing his teeth was enough to make Max shiver. In a good or bad way, she would never know.
Max wasn't the only one who had seen it. One sideways glance of Brigid's was all it took to send her running off the property, the tears exploding and the sobs not ending until she was as far away as she could get from Fang.
How could he be so cruel? I mean, it is Brigid, but how could he be so heartless? He could have at least acted depressed.
The crowd of people quickly dispersed quickly as soon as it was over. The boss was in an irritable mood, and no one was in the mood to get fired that day. Max made her way inside first and changed into her uniform before anyone noticed anything strange.
Busying herself with dusting a vase, she didn't hear the quiet footsteps as he crept up behind her.
"Hey," said Fang, and Max almost jumped out of her skin, cringing. She hadn't expected this, although she should have. "I noticed you watching that back there. Enjoy the show?"
She felt a blush creep up her cheeks, and covered it up with weak anger. "You're horrible. How could you break her heart like that? She was your girlfriend! Is that all she was to you, some toy you could play around with until you moved on to the next girl in your rich boy life?"
He recoiled, then stood over her, towering over a head taller as usual. He seemed a hundred feet tall. "Since when did you become the expert on my personal life? In case you forgot, I'm the one who knows all about you now. You're incredibly easy to read. So what makes you think you know anything? For your information, I was never her boyfriend, it was a fantasy of hers. I'm tired of letting people down easy. Any more interrogations?"
"The point is, she was an honest girl with good intentions, who obviously liked you a lot. So why did you have to be such a jerk?" she said, mustering up the last of her courage and standing up on her tiptoes. Still, the top of her head was only up to his nose.
"I could get you fired for this," he whispered in her ear. "How would you like that? I bet your brother would be awfully disappointed at not being able to go to college…" he trailed off smugly.
"How do you know about me?" she whirled on him. "How do you know everything about my personal life?"
"It's my job to know," he declared. "I know everything about all of our servants here. You see Jess over there?" he pointed to a middle-aged maid a few feet away. "She's cheating on her husband with his brother. And over there, our butler, Tim? He has cancer. He only has a few months to live."
"What do you want from me?" she gave an exasperated sigh.
"Apologize," he said simply.
"What?" she asked in disbelief.
"Apologize," he repeated. "Or else you lose your job," he said mischievously.
"I…you…" she stuttered.
"I'm waiting."
She gave a nervous glance around the area. Most of the maids had scattered and Tim was nowhere to be found. She took a deep breath. "Fang…I'm…sorry…that I assumed you were a cruel and heartless bastard."
"Thank you," he beamed. Again, the eeriness of it all made her shudder. "Catch ya later," he said with a wink, walking away, leaving her alone.
"Finally," Max breathed a sigh as she went back to her work. Not that a feather duster was exactly hard work, but she figured she deserved at least some break after being terrorized by the dark boy.
She jumped for the second time that day when she heard another voice. "Thank God, I thought he would never leave." A young girl peeled herself from the wall, coming out of the shadows where she blended. Her black hair and caramel skin were camouflaged in the shadows, making it impossible for even Fang to see her the first time.
"Sorry," she grinned, noticing Max's reaction. She shook her head until words came to her mouth.
"W-Who are you? Do you people have to keep sneaking up on me?"
She smiled again. "With all due respect, I wasn't trying to sneak up on you. And I'm Fang's…sister, I guess. Adopted of course," she rolled her eyes, gesturing to her skin color. "My name's Nudge."
"So, did you see what just happened?" Max asked uncomfortably. This girl seems kind of creepy. Even if she isn't Fang's sister, they sure are from the same family.
"Oh, yeah. Well, actually, it's sort of my fault that it happened."
"You told him where I was hiding?" Max asked, murderous rage in her brown eyes.
"No, no!" She held her hands up in defense. "I was the one who told my mom about Fang and Brigid."
"What?" Max almost shouted, leaping for Nudge's shirt collar. "What have you done? Why would you do something like that? I don't like her much either, but she has feelings just like everyone else!"
"It was against the rules," Nudge said simply. "You're not supposed to date anyone here that you work for or who works for you. No boss/servant relationships. Yet, I seem to like you a lot. I've been watching you."
"What are you saying?" Max had backed into a corner. Someone come around the corner, please…
"I'm saying you might be good for Fang. Get him to be more mature and less of a hothead. He thinks you're interesting, or else he wouldn't talk to you."
"I have a boyfriend," Max lied easily.
"No, you don't!" Nudge chirped. "You forget that we know everything about you. You dumped your boyfriend the day you left to move here. Try to tell Fang anything different and I'll tell him, too, because he didn't bother to find out. Yet."
"I'm not going to be set up with some conceited, spoiled prince who doesn't have any clue about life outside his stupid mansion!" she seethed. "I'll choose who I go out with, or don't go out with, or even choose to fall in love with!" Nudge saw that she couldn't keep the blush off her face.
"You think you're a really good liar, don't you, Max?" Nudge asked playfully. "Well, you really suck at it. Relax. I'm a girl, too. I won't tell that idiot anything, okay?"
Max watched her curiously as she disappeared.
"But you like her, right?" Angel questioned as she sat next to Fang on his bed, where he was spread-eagled and bouncing a ball off the ceiling.
"Maybe." He rolled his eyes, not wanting to admit anything just yet. God knew Angel had had her fair share of crushes, and even a few boyfriends, that he'd lorded over her head for weeks on end, and the last thing he needed was for her to torture him over this one girl.
It probably wouldn't turn into anything much. After all, he didn't know how he would pull it off. If he really cared about her, it would be difficult to hide it from his mother.
"The day I confide in you about a crush is the day I die," he resolved.
"So it is a crush!" she sang victoriously.
He gaped at her, causing the ball to spring back from the ceiling and hit him squarely in the face. "Shit," he mumbled. Rubber hurt sometimes, he thought as he grabbed a tissue for his now bleeding nose. "I didn't say that!"
"Yes you did!" she shouted. "Fang, this is great! I mean, it's too bad you always fall in love with your maids, the last time you liked someone was Lissa about a year ago. Then, she got fired, too, though," she added as an afterthought.
"I can't do anything about it," he said stubbornly. "Every one of them got fired, and I always got caught. But it's different with her. She needs the money we're paying her more than anything else in the world, Angel, or her family will never go back to normal. I can't take that away from her. I can't."
"So, don't get caught," Angel said. Fang rolled his eyes. "No, seriously," she went on. "Lissa and Brigid were stupid, Fang. They just were. I know you didn't even love Brigid, but they weren't nearly as smart as Max is. You wouldn't get caught."
"You're forgetting something," he answered wryly.
"Oh, yeah, your IQ," Angel winced.
"I was talking about the fact that the woman has eyes in the back of her head," he growled over Angel's laughter.
"I'm off!" Max announced to the kitchen staff as she shoved her maid's uniform in her single cubbyhole. They grinned at her, the new girl who was still so eager to leave. She swiped a tart off one of the trays and walked out the front cautiously, making sure Fang was nowhere to be seen.
She strained her eyes and saw a beat-up pickup at the end of the driveway, and Iggy in the driver's seat. Gazzy was with him, of course. Iggy could drive if Gazzy gave him directions, Max remembered. He jumped out of the truck and grinned when he saw her. "Hey, Ig," she said when she got to him. She dropped half a tart into his hand and he beamed down at her. "Have fun?" he taunted.
"Max!" shouted one of the servants. "We're working another half hour today! Get in here before you're fired!"
"Shit," cursed Max before stuffing her half of the tart down her throat and running back to join the others. "Oh, Ig, you can wait inside if you want!" she hollered. A reluctant Iggy followed her inside and tried to make himself at home. He knew Gazzy was still in the truck with his Nintendo DS.
Max was gone. She knew better than to leave him where he couldn't see anything. This was a new place, after all. He could see better in their apartment back home, and it had only been a few weeks. The maids seemed oblivious to his blindness, and there was no one to help him.
Slowly, he felt what might have been a couch. He hoped it was as he sat down on it. He was proud of himself for even making it this far. He had come inside, and he had sat on a couch. Well, jolly good for him.
"Are you really…blind?" came a small voice. He nodded his head swiftly. Whoever it was sounded like they had a mildly pretty voice, a delicate and privileged voice. He had learned how to tell a lot about a person from the way their voice sounded.
"Well, I've never met a blind person before," the voice chattered. "Is it very hard? It must be lonely, not being able to see anything in the world. Do you do it all alone? Is there no one to help you, like a maid or anything? Do you have a maid?"
"Yeah, like I could afford a maid," he rolled his eyes. "Maybe this'll clear it all up. Max Bachelder is my sister. Do you know her?"
"Yeah, she works for us!" the voice piped up. "She's really nice! Wait, you guys are poor, aren't you? Oh, God, I'm sorry! Do you get offended when people call you poor? Even if you are it must feel bad…oh, am I making you feel worse? I-"
"Hey, it's okay," he answered with a smile. "I'm kind of used to it."
Who was the girl with this voice? He wished he could see her, even once. But he was used to that. He'd had a girlfriend where he had been, too.
What am I doing? I have a girlfriend! Ella said she'd wait until I went to college, then she'd follow me! She's waited to go to college because of me! What am I doing with this girl now?
"Um, hey….this might be embarrassing," he began, "but, um, can I feel your face? I…I get to know what people look like that way."
There was a slight pause, and then the chattering started up again. "Uh, sure! Eh, feel my face…."
"Iggy," he answered, and moved his hands to her face. She had smooth skin and a small nose, with a high forehead and full, pouty lips complete with big eyes. "Wow…you have a really pretty face."
God, Iggy, what are you saying? Ella has a pretty face, not this random girl that you just met! Get it together before you end up doing something really stupid!
"I'm Nudge," she giggled. "And you're kind of cute, Iggy." She blushed scarlet. What are you doing, Nudge? He'd never be interested in a girl like you! Just because you're rich doesn't mean anything. He's…different, and amazing and incredible.
"Anyhow," she continued, "if you're going to pick Max up again sometime, I'll…I'll be here…" she finished awkwardly. She was glad he was blind, so he couldn't see how stupid she looked.
"Sounds…good," he continued uneasily, still thinking of Ella.
"Hey, Ig, time to go," Max said. Had it been a half hour already? He didn't know, but he was in no hurry to go. "Oh, hey, Nudge," Max smiled. "I see you've met my brother. Come on, Ig," she said, grabbing his hand and leading him away. Nudge watched him go.
"She's nice, right?" asked Max inquisitively. Iggy sighed. If only she knew how nice.
The ride home was spent in silence. Gazzy didn't ask questions and Iggy didn't tell them anything, but the entire ride home he was wondering just who exactly that amazing girl was, and when he would see her again, if ever.
In the last chapter I made a few mistakes with the point of view. I'm so used to writing stories where I'm writing in first person, this is really new for me. I'm trying to get used to the third person, so just work with me until I get the hang of it, okay?
I don't update any single story very often because I have a lot to update. So if you want to, read my stories all at once to make it less of a wait for updates. I update as much as I can, but I have a lot of stuff going on right now.
When Jeb says that there are a lot of people in his profession so he can't find an easy job, this is something going on in my life right now. My mom quit her job to take care of my family, but now she needs to go back to work for lack of money. She's trying to find a job, but it's been hard to find one in the state, or even out. Only, I hope I havn't been acting like Max at all, she's a little brat right now xD
Thanks so much for reading. As always, review~!
~Rachel