I wanted to call him back, but I stepped away and reminded myself of the fact that seemed to be slipping my mind more often than it should have.

He was my employer!

I spent the rest of the night waiting for him to call me back. April called and I found it almost impossible to tell her how I felt. We had always shared everything, but I couldn’t share this with her yet. Not yet. I just needed a bit of time to savor it for myself. I knew I was in love with him, but I didn’t allow myself to think of the consequences.

At least not yet.

If I told April she would tell me in no uncertain terms the consequences, which of course, I knew, but was pretending not to for a little while longer. A man like that I was sure would leave you clawing holes into sheets, but he would also leave your heart smashed and splattered on the cold floor.

Before I fell asleep I began to understand that I had truly offended him earlier. I couldn’t understand why he would not even try to spend a little time with Zackary. It was not like I was asking him to take his mask off. The boy was indeed a child, but old enough to appreciate that his father wore a mask.

A little coaxing on his part would have been more than enough to get rid of his fear towards his father. In fact, even the fear was hard to comprehend as his father looked anything but monstrous. Despite the mask, he was a man that would walk into a room and command the attention of all.

This was the first cold evening since my arrival here so I pulled the covers up to my chin and tried to will myself to sleep despite the tug of arousal in the pit of my belly. I was just about to fall asleep when I heard the screams.

I jerked my body upright. The cries were coming from the baby monitor. Zackary! In an instant I had shot out of bed, run across my room, and threw open the connecting door.

He was sitting up in the bed howling like an animal in pain. I ran up to him and pulled him into my arms but he wouldn't stop wailing.

"What's the matter?" I asked, trying to figure out what was wrong but he wouldn't stop ... Not even to speak.

I threw on his bedside lamp and quickly inspected his body. There were no injuries. What was going on?

“Mummy!” he kept calling out. “Mummy! Don’t die, Mummy,” he wailed. His pitiful cries tore at my heart.

“Zackary,” I called but he wouldn't respond. “Your mother has gone to London. She’ll be back tomorrow,” I lied. I knew she wasn’t back tomorrow.

I held him and rocked him, but he was becoming more and more distressed. I never thought I would say it, but I wished more than ever that his mother was around or even his dad. The door to the room opened then and I looked up in despair, expectant, only to see that it was Mrs. Blackmore.

"What's going on?" she asked as she adjusted her robe. "I could hear him crying all the way.”

"I think it was a nightmare ... "

“Please don’t die, Mummy,” he screamed again.

Mrs. Blackmore frowned. “You can’t calm him down?"

I shook my head.

She reached out to wipe the tears away from his face. "Oh dear. This could go on a while.”

"Does he usually have nightmares like this?"

"Sometimes, usually when his mother is away."

I looked down at him, the croak in his voice too painful to listen to. "Come on, darling. Everything is fine. Mummy is fine. Do you want to call her on the telephone?”

“Mummy!” he wailed.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Mrs. Blackmore muttered, shaking her head vehemently.

I rocked him gently. “He keeps calling for his mother though …”

“No, no, she doesn’t want to be disturbed unless it is a real emergency. That means blood or fire.”

"What if we get his father?" I suggested.

She nodded. “Maybe that will help. I’ll wait here. You go and get him.”

“Me?”

“Go on. Hurry up. The sooner we sort this out the sooner everyone can get to bed.” She moved forward briskly and took the boy from me.

I got up. "All right."

I ran from the room and headed over to his wing. At first I had been driven by desperation to help Zackary, but as I approached, the doubt set in. I had already upset him earlier. Wasn't I pushing it?

I thought hard. Would this make him come with me? Mrs. King had instructed me during my interview to call on his father should there be any emergency, but Mrs. Blackmore had already dismissed this as unworthy to be classed as an emergency. Beyond the fact that I thought of this as an opportunity for Zackary to hold the boy there was nothing.

But that didn’t stop me.

I lifted my hand and knocked on his door. Even if it got me fired it would still be worth it.

There was no response.

I knocked again and still there was no response. So I boldly opened the door and walked into the suite of rooms. The lounge was dark, the only lighting from the courtyard below, and the moonlight filtering in from above.