When I get downstairs in the morning, Nina is systematically destroying the kitchen.
She has pulled every pot and pan from the cabinet below the counter. Sheโs ripped half the dishes from above the sink and several of them are lying broken on the kitchen floor. And now she is going through the refrigerator, haphazardly tossing food onto the floor. I watch in amazement as she takes an entire container of milk out of the refrigerator and hurls it onto the floor. Milk immediately started gushing out, forming a white river around the pots and pans and broken dishes.
โNina?โ I say tentatively.
Nina freezes, her hands curled around a bagel. She whips her head around to look at me. โWhere is it?โ
โWhereโฆ where isย what?โ
โMy notes!โ She lets out an anguished cry. โI left all my notes for the PTA meeting tonight on the kitchen counter! And now theyโre gone! What did you do with them?โ
First of all, why would she think her notes were in theย refrigerator? Second, I am certain I didnโt throw out her notes. I mean, Iโm ninety-nine percent certain. Is there some tiny chance that there was a little crumpled-up piece of paper on the counter that I assumed was garbage and threw away? Yes. I canโt rule out the possibility. But I was
pretty careful about not throwing away anything that wasnโt garbage. To be fair, almost everything was garbage.
โI didnโt do anything with them,โ I say.
Nina plants her fists on her hips. โSo youโre saying my notes justย walked away?โ
โNo, Iโm not saying that.โ I take a careful step toward her and my sneaker crunches on a broken plate. I make a note to myself to never come into the kitchen barefoot. โBut maybe you left them somewhere else?โ
โI did not!โ she snaps at me. โI left themย right here.โ She slams her palm on the kitchen counter loud enough that I jump. โRight on this counter. And nowโgone! Vanished!โ
All the commotion has gotten the attention of Andrew Winchester. He wanders into the kitchen, wearing a dark suit that makes him look even more handsome than he looked yesterday, if that was possible. He is clearly in the process of tying his tie, but his fingers freeze mid-knot when he sees the mess on the floor.
โNina?โ
Nina turns to look at her husband, her eyes brimming with tears. โMillie threw out my notes for the meeting tonight!โ
I open my mouth to protest, but itโs pointless. Nina is certain I threw out her notes, and itโs entirely possible I did. I mean, if they were so important, why would she just leave them lying on the kitchen counter? The way the kitchen looked yesterday, it could have been condemned.
โThatโs terrible.โ Andrew opens his arms and she flies into them. โBut donโt you have some of your notes saved on the computer?โ
Nina sni๏ฌes into his expensive suit. Sheโs probably getting snot all over it, but Andrew doesnโt seem to mind. โSome of them. But Iโll have to redo a lot of it.โ
And then she turns to look at me accusingly.
Iโm done trying to assert my innocence. If she is sure that I threw out her notes, the best thing to do is just apologize. โIโm so sorry, Nina,โ I say. โIf thereโs anything I can doโฆโ
Ninaโs eyes lower onto the disaster on the kitchen floor. โYou can clean up this disgusting mess you left in my kitchen while I fix this problem.โ
With those words, she stomps out of the kitchen. Her footsteps disappear up the stairs as I contemplate how Iโm going to clean up all these broken dishes, now intermingled with spilled milk and about twenty grapes rolling around the floor. I stepped on one of them, and itโs all over the bottom of my sneaker.
Andrew lingers behind in the kitchen, shaking his head. Now that Nina has left, I feel like I should say something. โListen,โ I say, โI wasnโt the one whoโโ
โI know,โ he says before I can get out my protest of innocence. โNina isโฆ high strung. But she has a good heart.โ
โYeahโฆโ
He pulls off his dark jacket and starts rolling up the sleeves of his crisp white dress shirt. โLet me help you get this cleaned up.โ
โYou donโt have to do that.โ
โItโll be faster if we work together.โ
He goes into the closet by the kitchen and pulls out the mopโIโm shocked he knew exactly where it was. Actually, he knows his way around the closet of cleaning supplies very well. And now I get it. Nina has done things like this before. Heโs gotten used to cleaning up her messes.
But still, I work here now. This isnโt his job.
โIโll clean it up.โ I put my hand on the mop heโs holding and tug it away from him. โYouโre all dressed up, and this is what Iโm here for.โ
For a moment, he holds onto the mop. Then he allows me to take it from him. โOkay, thanks, Millie. I appreciate
your hard work.โ
At least somebody does.
As I get to work cleaning the kitchen, I think back to the photograph on the mantle of Andrew and Nina when they were first together, before they were married, before they had Cecelia. They look so young and happy together. Itโs obvious Andrew is still crazy about Nina, but something has changed. I can sense it. Nina isnโt the person she used to be.
But it doesnโt matter. Itโs none of my business.
