Almost Gone

The footsteps stopped outside her door, but Pierre did not knock. Instead, to Cassie’s disbelief, he simply opened it. He snapped on the light and stood in the doorway. His face was flushed, he was barefoot, and he was wearing a burgundy dressing gown.

Cassie’s first immediate and overriding thought was that this was a complete invasion of privacy. No way was it appropriate for an employer to enter an employee’s bedroom alone and after hours without knocking. His presence in her private space was making her feel defensive and vulnerable, triggering old memories that had morphed into nightmares. People in her room. Hiding under the bed. “Hey, little girlie…”

Pierre stared at her and then took a look around the room, his gaze resting on her bath towel hung on the hook near the door, and the pile of clothes she’d left folded on the armchair near the fireplace.

Cassie sat up, straightening her pajama top and instinctively crossing her arms over her chest. She wanted to shout at him to get out, to scream that he had no right to enter her room without permission.

But this was not a good time to discuss boundaries—not when she’d been peeking through his bedroom door at his private activities.

“Did you hear anything, Cassie? There was a noise just now.”

The loud clattering he’d heard was undeniable evidence that someone had been up and about. It was her job to respond to noises and disturbances at night, so there was no way she could claim she hadn’t heard it. She had to offer Pierre a coherent explanation for what had happened.