Page 66 of The Housemaid
I’ve got to get that window open.
I push against the bottom of the window, but the window doesn’t budge. Not even a millimeter. For a moment, I think maybe it swings out, but it doesn’t. What the hell is wrong with the stupid window? I take a deep breath, trying to calm myself down. I look closer at the window and…
It’s painted shut.
When Andy comes back up here, I am going to give it to him. I consider myself pretty even-tempered, but I donotlike being locked in this room. We’ve got to do something about this lock on the door, to make sure it doesn’t lock automatically again. I mean, what if both of us had been in here? We would’ve really been stuck.
I go back to pounding on the door. “Andy!” I scream at the top of my lungs. “Andy!”
After fifteen minutes, my voice is hoarse from screaming. Why hasn’t he come back? Even if he can’t hear me, he must’ve realized I’m still in the attic. What could I possibly be doing up here by myself? I don’t even know what papers he wants.
I mean, was he walking down the stairs, tripped, then fell the rest of the way down the stairs, and is now lying unconscious in a pool of blood at the bottom? Because that’s the only thing that makes sense to me.
Thirty minutes later, I’m about to go out of my mind. My throat aches and my fists are red from pounding on the door. I want to burst into tears. Where is Andy? What is going on here?
Just when I feel like I’m about to lose my mind, I hear a voice from the other side of the door. “Nina?”
“Andy!” I cry. “Thank God! I got locked in here! Didn’t you hear me screaming?”
There’s a long silence on the other side of the door. “Yes. I did.”
I don’t even know what to say to that. If he heard me, why didn’t he let me out? But I can’t deal with that right now. I just want to get out of this room. “Can you please open the door?”
Another long silence. “No. Not yet.”
What?
“I don’t understand,” I sputter. “Why can’t you let me out? Did you lose the key?”
“No.”
“So let me out!”
“I saidnot yet.”
I flinch at the sharpness of the last two words. I don’t understand. What’s going on here? Why won’t he let me out of the attic?
I stare at the door between us. I try the doorknob one more time, hoping maybe it’s some kind of joke. It’s still locked. “Andy, you need to let me out of here.”
“Don’t tell me what to do in my own house.” His voice has an odd intonation that I barely recognize as him. “You have to learn your lesson before you can be let out.”
A cold, sick feeling runs down my spine. While Andy and I were engaged, he seemed so perfect. He was sweet, romantic, handsome, wealthy, and good to Cecelia. I had been searching for his one fatal flaw.
I have found it.
“Andy,” I say. “Please let me out of here. I don’t know what you’re upset about, but we can work it out. Just unlock the door and we’ll talk.”
“I don’t think so.” His voice is calm and even—the exact opposite of how I’m feeling right now. “The only way to learn is to see the consequences of your actions.”
I suck in a breath. “Andy, you let me out of this fucking roomright now.”
I kick the door hard, although my bare feet don’t make too much of an impact. Mostly, it just hurts my toes. I wait to hear the door unlocking, but there’s nothing.
“I swear to God, Andy,” I growl. “Let me out of this room. Let. Me. Out.”
“You’re upset,” he acknowledges. “I’ll come back when you’ve calmed down.”
And then his footsteps grow more distant—he’s walking away.
