The Housemaid [in edit]

The Housemaid - Chapter Twenty-Five

NOTE: Chapter 25! Been almost a month, eh?  I wish I can dedicate this next chapter to every single person who reads this. You guys are awesome. Thanks for reading. I really appreciate your patience, comments, reads, votes, etc. 

This chapter was inspired by Starbucks...since being in school I have been hanging out at Starbucks lately. Not sure if that's a good or bad thing...but in the last three days I have ordered a Gingerbread Frappucino...I may be addicted to it now.

This chapter was also inspired by Lawson's Back To Life. You'll see why.

Anyway, here's the next chapter. I hope you enjoy this one..... :)

25—Turnaround

Christine was right—the next week went by in a breeze, with the band in and out of the house doing more recordings for the album. It gave Christine the right amount of time for space from them.

But even after a day, somehow she was missing them, especially Jay. There were days during that week where she says hello to him, but can never manage a conversation that could go on for longer than three minutes. The one time they spoke for five minutes was when Jay mentioned that he finally finished Shadow of the Wind, the book she recommended him in the beginning.

At that moment, at least things were starting to go back to normal between them.

As for her and Tom, it felt as though nothing happened; they were gradually growing close as friends again despite the limited time she and the band has had in the last week.

It was the following Wednesday morning when The Wanted Mansion house staff was finally able to see the band for more than five minutes. Since somehow the coffee maker and kettle both broke, Erin and Christine went on a coffee run for the staff to none other than Starbucks, which was a few blocks away from their home. This particular location made Christine feel uneasy.

“Alright, I got two English Breakfast Teas, one mocha frap with a shot of soy milk, three vanilla iced coffees, one with low-fat milk, and the others with soy—all grande for Erin!” The barista called. “And also one tall caramel macchiato, one venti regular coffee…”

Christine was just within reach for her tea until Nathan’s hand took both cups of tea. “Ah, great, thanks.” He grinned. “Mind me making your tea for ya, Chris?”

Tom, Max and Nathan offered to tag along with the girls to help carry the drinks, which meant Erin and Christine also ordered drinks for the band.

“Not at all…” Christine watched him move over to the table with the self-served milk, stirrers, and sugar. She quickly surveyed the coffee shop, anxious.

“What’s the problem, lovely?” Max began to play with Christine’s left ear. She still found it strange he had a habit of doing that, but she was already getting used to it. He tilted his head curiously.

“Really, Erin and I could have carried the drinks ourselves...”  She said.

Erin scoffed and showed her how many drink trays they were going to carry. Christine saw at least four. She took back what she said.

“Are you mental?” Nathan came back and handed Christine her cup of tea.

“We would need more than four hands with these!” Erin exclaimed. “Now, come on—Max, Nath, Tom. Get one each."

The boys obeyed her orders and began to take one tray each, with their ordered drinks on the other hand. There were a total of five drink trays, and while the boys had one, Erin took the last two and headed out to the door. Max then followed, which left Christine with Tom and Nathan. Christine began to follow Max, but was soon held back by Tom and Nathan.