Chapter 4 - Celeste Thought Employment Meant Ownership
I confronted Celeste that evening.
No staff in the room.
No June.
No Helen.
Just us.
She stood beside the library windows with a glass of water in her hand.
“I assume the dramatics are continuing.”
I placed Helen’s notebook on the table.
“What is this?”
She barely glanced at it.
“Her revenge.”
“Did you tell June her mother would be fired if she caused trouble?”
Celeste sighed.
“I may have told her to behave.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
“You are treating a child’s interpretation as sworn testimony.”
“Did you tell her?”
She looked at me.
“Yes.”
No hesitation.
“Why?”
“Because Helen brings her daughter into a workplace.”
“Our house is Helen’s workplace. It is June’s mother’s workplace. That does not make June an employee.”
“She eats our food.”
“We invited her to.”
“She uses our rooms.”
“With permission.”
“She distracts her mother.”
“Sometimes.”
Celeste’s jaw tightened.
“You have no idea how difficult it is managing this house.”
That sentence almost made me laugh.
“Managing the house?”
“Yes.”
“We have a household manager.”
“You know what I mean.”
I did.
She meant controlling hierarchy.
People upstairs.
People downstairs.
Owners.
Employees.
Children of owners.
Children of employees.
Everyone assigned a place.
“You actually believe paying Helen gives you authority over her daughter.”
“I believe people who depend on us should show some gratitude.”
There it was.
Not misunderstanding.
Worldview.
I stared at my wife.
“Helen works for us. She does not depend on our charity.”
“She would struggle without this job.”
“That doesn’t make her ours.”
Celeste’s expression hardened.
“I did not say she was ours.”
“You didn’t have to.”
I thought of June sitting beside broken glass.
Know your place.
That phrase had not appeared spontaneously.
It was the entire structure inside Celeste’s head.
I finally asked:
“Do you even feel bad that you shoved her?”
Celeste crossed her arms.
“I regret that she hit the mirror.”
Not that she shoved a child.
That the mirror broke.
That answer ended the conversation.
May you like
Maybe the marriage too.
I just had not admitted it yet.
