The door to Patricia’s bedroom swung open as Nanny Juliet rushed in with the speed of lightning. Her eyes widened in shock as she caught Patricia standing with a knife close to her head
“Mrs Patricia…” She yelled in fear, racing towards where Patricia stood. The nanny who happened to be in her early fifties, just a few years younger than Patricia, knelt down at Patricia’s feet and held her legs tightly. “… What are you about to do?”
Patricia stared down at her, still holding the knife in her hands. Her eyes seemed distant and sad. It was obvious she was trying hard not to just kill herself with the knife. She didn’t want to see Morris’s face ever again, but at the same time, she wanted to stay alive to get her revenge. She wanted to frustrate Morris as much as she could before dying.
Patricia lifted the knife and with her other hand, she grabbed some strands of her hair and sliced it off, smiling delightfully as she watched the ‘chopped’ strands fall to the ground. She always loved her being short, around shoulder length, but for years, she had kept it long, all the way down to her waist, just because Morris said he loved long hair. For years, it had been so uncomfortable for her but she had done it because she ‘loved’ him.
Well, with her eyes now open, she could see it was never ‘love’, she had been a naive and stupid woman…..
But that would end today! She would no longer be the type of ‘puppet’ wife he wanted. Doing whatever he wanted at the expense of her sanity, at the expense of George’s sanity. Not anymore!
Nanny Juliet watched in shock as Patricia grabbed another section of her long waist length hair and chopped it off with the knife. “Mrs Patricia, what is happening to you? What are you doing to yourself? You are scaring me. I have never seen you like this before, just tell me if you need anything, I’ll attend to you…”
Patricia howled. Her very long, crazy laughter echoed across the bedroom. As she laughed, droplets of tears trickled down the sides of round cheeks. She glanced at her nanny and smiled sadly, her eyes distant and unwelcoming. “I didn’t call you. Who told you to come here? Leave me alone”
Nanny Juliet whimpered in fear, still clutching on to Patricia’s leg, refusing to let go. She had never seen her ‘madame’ like this before. Looking so tattered, distant and angry. She had a very sinister look in her eyes, a look that said she wanted to harm someone. What was going on?
Swallowing hard, the Nanny answered “I was downstairs cleaning the dining hall when I heard the sound of glass smashing against the wall. I discovered the sound came from your room and rushed in to see if you were hurt. I didn’t expect to see you like this m-”
Patricia looked away from her and closed her eyes, trying to hold back the fresh wave of tears. “You knew what he was up to all along, right?”
Nanny Juliet glanced up, a confused expression on her face. “I don’t understand. Who are you talking ab-?”
“Morris!” Patricia retorted, her anger rising just at the mention of his name. “You knew he was using me all along, didn’t you?!”
Nanny Juliet gasped as she realized what Mrs Patricia was talking about. Of course, she knew who Morris had always been, right from the start. But Patricia had refused, on so many occasions, to hear what she had to say about him. She had chosen to love him blindly, trying her best to make him love her back.
She remained silent, not knowing how to answer.
Patricia sighed. “You have been with me right from the beginning even before Judith became my maid. I know you better than anyone here. Why did you watch me ‘sink’ so deeply without doing anything? Without helping me?”
Nanny Juliet looked at her, wondering how to calm her down. “I have been with you before you married Mr Morris Scott. You have been very kind to me so far. I see you as my own elder sister and would never allow any harm to come your way, as long as I could prevent it ….”
“So why?”
“You refused to listen to me in the past. You chose to follow him blindly, I remember agreeing with your parents that you shouldn’t marry him, but you insisted.” Nanny Juliet replied, sobbing quietly as she watched Patricia cry out in pain. “You were ready to throw out any maid that spoke badly about it. I wanted to stay by your side, so I had to keep quiet over the years. There was nothing I could say to change your mind.”
“I am really the stupid fool in this whole game. He played his cards right.” Patricia laughed, grabbing the back of her hair and chopping it off with the knife. She mistakenly sliced her finger and didn’t even flinch in pain. Instead, she watched as the blood trickled all the way down her finger and dropped to the floor. She felt nothing.
“Mrs Patricia, can’t you see that you’re bleeding?” Nanny Juliet jumped to her feet and ran over to a drawer. Pulling it open, she pulled out a small first-aid box and walked back to Patricia. She snatched the knife from her hand and flung it aside. She put her hands on Patricia’s shoulders and forced her to sit.
Nanny Juliet cleaned her wounds as she spoke softly. “I will call your hair stylist to give you a proper haircut, just the way you want it. I know you are hurting so much right now, but harming yourself is not the answer, it won’t affect Mr Morris Scott or Judith in any way. In the end, you will lose yourself too. Killing yourself is going to give him the opportunity to get what he wants finally. Mrs Patricia, you will be fine. You will get through this. You have to”
Patricia sat quietly and watched as her nanny treated her injuries and packed her hair in a ‘bun’ style. She picked a face wipe and cleaned up the makeup stains on her face until she looked presentable.
After a moment, Patricia reached into the ‘pocket’ of her dress and pulled out a voice recorder. “Take this. You are the one that is tidying Morris’s library this week. He spends most of his time there with Judith….”
“You want to know what they talk about?” Nanny Juliet asked, willing and ready to help her with anything she needed to get her revenge.
“Yes. Find a way to hide it in a place where no-one can see it. Make sure it is switched on. Also, let it be close enough so I can hear them clearly” Patricia whispered, feeling slightly better. “There is a chance I might get some information from their conversation that would help me deal with them later. Help me, will you?”
“Yes, I will.”
As nanny Juliet cleaned up the broken pieces of glass, Patricia stared outside a window and watched some birds flying around. Right there, she promised herself that she would stay alive, even if not for anyone, for her son.
She would stay alive for George and make sure he got this company in his name at the end of the day. She couldn’t allow Morris and Judith to win! This company was hers in the first place.
She would set things straight!