Chambermaid: a Novel by Saira Rao

Author:Saira Rao
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Grove Atlantic
Published: 2007-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eleven

Betsy was standing in the elevator when I stepped in. We’d not seen each other since the sitting.

“Hey, Sheila,” she said, pursing her lips smugly, “how are you?”

“Fine, fine. I, um, I’m looking forward to reading your Nelson opinion,” I said awkwardly, steering clear of Adams’s nomination, since it still hadn’t been publicly announced and Kevin had sworn me to secrecy. I hadn’t even spilled the beans to Matthew.

“Likewise—we all look very forward to reading what I’m sure will be a killer dissent—oops, no pun intended.” Ding! Thirteenth floor.

“No pun taken. Bye, Betsy.” I stepped off the elevator, trying to remember why I’d taken such a liking to Betsy the first time we met.

“Good morning, Janet. Roy.” I strolled into the secretaries’ den. Roy was watering the brittle, brown plants with what must have been his breath—something about the nicotine gum he’d taken to lately made me want to wither and die also.

Janet looked up: “Yes?”

“Um, I just said good morning, that’s all.”

“What’s good about it?”

“Nothing, actually. It’s just something I say to people when I see them in the morning.”

“Just so you know.” Janet fiddled with the cross around her neck. “Bob had a heart attack over the weekend. She’ll be in late.”

“What? She’s coming in?!” My question amused Janet, who suddenly looked like a clown about to kill a kid.

“She always comes to work. Have you not learned anything? She even worked half a day after her brother’s funeral. You think a little heart attack would keep her away!”

Roy followed me to my cubicle, tripping on a trash can along the way. “You really should check out the Markland Web site, it’s awesome. Man oh man. It’s so cool.” He paused to blow a Nicorette bubble—pop! “And I went to the most kickin’ feast on Saturday. Debauchery everywhere, man.”

“Good morning, Roy. How are you?”

He cackled nervously and ran his hands through his mullet, leaving little feathers in their wake.

“Um. Um.” And then he was gone. Matthew motioned me to his cubicle.

“Janet just told me that Bob had a heart attack so she’d be in late. Don’t you think it’s strange she’s coming in at all?”

Matthew smiled at what should have been considered bad news: “She’d come in if she were dead.”

“Speaking of strange, who do you think is stranger—Roy or the judge?” I whispered, pointing to the secretaries’ den.

“That’s tough. But I’d have to go with Roy. It’s shocking that he has a wife, don’t you think?” Matthew asked.

Actually, Roy’s wife was shocking. Last week, I had answered the office phone after everyone had left for the day and it was her. When I offered to take a message, she barked: “That pussy better not have forgotten the cat food.” Then she hung up. I didn’t jot it down.

“Yes, Roy is an interesting bird. But don’t you think it’s annoying that he never asks us questions about us? He always just wants to talk about himself and that medieval stuff.”

“He’s got nothing, Sheila. If it makes him feel better talking about himself, I’m not going to rob him of that.

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