Chapter 86 - Cat vs Mouse

As it turned out, the game of cat and mouse between a certain young writer and a certain head maid proved to be very interesting. Everyone in the penthouse knew of their game and had even taken sides. Tina and Sue were neutral parties, sandwiched between Claire their direct superior and Scarlet, their superior's charge. Tina didn't waste the opportunity and took as many pictures as she could.

Debbie sided with Claire and Wilmer took Scarlet's side for fun. The other two children didn't know what the game was about but Jasper decided not to join claiming that it was too troublesome. Alex only gave her sister an apologetic smile and told her that she had an art project due soon before holing herself up in her room.

Scarlet's aim was to target Claire and ambush her with surprise tests to confirm her hypothesis. Right now, Scarlet was convinced that if Claire wasn't part of the army, special forces or police then the maid must be trained in some form of combat. Perhaps Claire was really a master in defensive arts and became a maid after retiring from the glamorous lifestyle of a bodyguard. That would explain her knowledge about firearms and those great reflexes.

Now, the young writer needed some conclusive evidence that her head maid wasn't simply a lady who took care of their clothes, food and remind them of their curfew. Her keen observation didn't fail her and Scarlet didn't know how she missed out so many obvious signs from before.

"How did you get this scar?" Scarlet asked in a way too innocent voice for Claire to believe that the girl wasn't up to something.

She looked at the scar Scarlet was pointing to and sighed. With such a huge scar on her left shoulder, Claire couldn't say that it was from a fall. It had been an incident when Claire was putting up the laundry and the sleeve of her dress slipped from her shoulder, revealing the scar. It had only been a fraction of a second but Scarlet caught it. The dollish girl smirked with unbridled excitement of finally getting a real answer.

Claire sighed. It wasn't appropriate to tell Scarlet about the knife she took to the shoulder during a mission to protect one of her previous employers. The man was too slow to react and Claire could only throw herself in the attacker's way to stop the weapon from stabbing her ex-employer in the ribcage. The dumb politician was fat, slow and a coward. Claire didn't want to remember how magnificently she threw down her resignation letter. It was how she ended up looking for the Wilde's when none of the agencies wanted to employ her with her troublesome history. A bodyguard who refused to 'lay down their lives for employers who couldn't listen to orders in an emergency' wasn't one that was highly sought after in the market. Thankfully, Wilmer only needed a bodyguard to 'dispose of threats' while she played babysitter. That's how Claire ended up working for the Wilde's for three years now.

"A cat scratched me," the maid deadpanned and for a moment, Scarlet didn't know how to respond at the blatant lie.

"Cats don't make marks like that," she told Claire after a while. Behind her, Tina and Sue listened in on them, also curious about the German maid's background. The previous maid wasn't even half as efficient as Claire and sometimes, they wondered if Claire was really a graduate from the hospitality industry as they were told. For one, the girl was only twenty-six. She would have only graduated two years back or so but according to Jenna, Claire has been working with them since three years ago.

"I know," Claire told Scarlet who pouted.

The head maid gathered the dirty dishes and placed them in the dishwasher. Scarlet sulked. Claire was deliberately avoiding her questions. That lie was too obvious! Even Scarlet knew how to tell more believable lies.

"You're not telling me the truth..."

Claire put down her cleaning cloth and sighed. "What do you want me to say?"

Scarlet walked over and hugged Claire. The head maid quickly put away the dishrag, not wanting it to make contact with Scarlet. "I saw it back then, you know?"

Claire pretended not to know what the girl was implying. In fact, it would be best to continue this conversation away from the presence of two very nosy helpers.

"I know," is all Claire told Scarlet and their eyes met.

"Are you really not going to tell me?" Scarlet asked. Claire might have been carrying a gun but Scarlet wasn't afraid of her, merely curious but mostly grateful.

Claire smiled without answering the young writer's questions and Scarlet sighed. Relenting, the girl released the maid from her hug and told her that she needed some help with the final touches of her first manuscript.

"I'll go up to your room once I'm done here," Claire told Scarlet gently and the young writer left with a heavy mood.

Although Scarlet wasn't very happy at being kept in the dark just like the case benjamin, Wilmer and Danny were working on, she understood that they did this for a reason. Their temporary suspension from the internship was no coincidence either. Whatever they found back there must be very damning against Cody and his mistress. 

As Scarlet hobbled up the stairs, she wondered what Jasper and Alex were doing. It had been a while since she talked to them too. While they attended classes and ate lunch together, the young writer felt as if the business of everyone's life was making them drift further apart. She was happy that Jasper and the delinquents were making smooth progress in studying even after the test. Scarlet no longer joined them for lessons because she was working on her story. Alex was also often seen practising sketches in her free time. Scarlet knew that her sister's hard work was paying off because she could see huge improvements in Alex's drawings in just a week.

The young writer turned on her laptop and pulled up the latest file. It was a little tricky learning how to type a story instead of just writing it on paper like an essay. The plots could be written on paper but the manuscript had to be written online before Debbie could help her with the publication.

Initially, Scarlet struggled with the formatting that Debbie briefly taught her. In the end, it was Jasper who sat down with the petite student about the software basics before Scarlet made any decent progress.

Scarlet was having a blast keeping up with her weekly Observational Journal and the communication diary - Judah. Debbie gave very useful advice about some of the difficulties Scarlet was facing as a new writer. However, the tutor also gave really interesting life perspectives that made Scarlet think. Sometimes Scarlet felt that some stories had deeper meanings behind it and according to Debbie, she might be correct.

"Stories can be written for many reasons. To fulfil the writer's unfulfilled fantasy, for self-satisfaction, for money and fame or simply to bring a message across to someone. You have to find your reason for writing, not even I can advise you about it."

As Scarlet waited for her file to load, she thought about Debbie's words carefully. There was a reason why she was writing. Initially, it was to be heard. With the Liu's treating her like a puppet, Scarlet had to find some way to remind herself that she was still human. The only way she could express it and be acknowledged as a human was through writing online while remaining unknown in fear that her parents would find out.

Now, things were different. Scarlet had a home, a family and friends. She didn't have to pretend to be perfect and be who she wasn't. If anything, Scarlet thought that she was starting to act very spoiled but nobody has said anything about it or reprimanded her for it yet. Sometimes, the dollish girl would be embarrassed by how childish she acted. However, the acceptance and warmth that the Wilde's provided made her shrug the insecurities off.

Right now, Scarlet just wanted to write about all the amazing things that were happening in her life and to spread it with many more unfortunate children who might be going through the same things that she went through and weren't as lucky as her to get a better family.

Scarlet was editing a chapter when she heard two knocks on her door. She smiled.

"Come in, Claire!"

The head maid entered with a small bow. "Am I disturbing?"

Scarlet shook her head and patted grinned. "Just in time! There's a fight scene I need help with. This is to portray the strong feelings of strangers finding camaraderie with each other. how does a fight with brother-in-arms feel like? Is this too clichéd?"

Claire grabbed a chair and pulled it over before sitting down beside Scarlet to go through the scene.

Wilmer passed by and saw that the hunter and the prey were working together. He smiled and continued onward to his bedroom. Sue and Tina were going to lose the bet. The results should have been obvious from the start that there would be no winner by the end of the chase. Scarlet and Claire cared for each other a lot and winning would only hurt someone.

In his room, the CEO shrugged his coat off and felt his phone vibrate. With a frown on his face, he checked the message.

"It is done. - Dan."

Wilmer smiled coldly. Unlike that adorable game of cat and mouse, Wilmer's game of cat and mouse with Collins wouldn't be as friendly.

Time to start the show.