The Au Pairs (The Au Pairs 1)

"All right--fine. None," Eliza said challengingly.

"Wow." Jacqui and Mara raised their eyebrows. Now things were getting interesting.

"I almost did once. With my boyfriend Charlie." Eliza's face softened. "It was our six-month anniversary, and he'd just given me these earrings," she said, touching her ear. "I had bought this really cute little outfit from La Perla."

"What happened?"

"He'd rented a room at the Carlyle, but when we got up there, he fell asleep from all the wine at dinner," Eliza said. "Then we broke up the next week, so we never got a chance."

101

"What happened?" Mara asked.

"Things got--uh, complicated," Eliza said. "I had to go away.,,

"Were you in love with him?" Mara asked.

"Yeah--I think so," Eliza said. She had certainly loved being Charlie Borshok's girlfriend, if not Charlie himself. There were so many perks that went with the title. The gifts (always hand- delivered by special messenger). The vacations (weekends in Locust Valley, skiing in Telluride, surprise jaunts to St. Bart's). The flat-out envy of everyone in the sophomore class.

"Do you guys keep in touch?" Mara asked.

"Not really. But he's in the Hamptons this summer," Eliza said. "I'm sure I'll bump into him one of these days."

"Maybe you guys will get back together," Mara suggested. She couldn't help it; she was a romantic at heart.

"We'll see," Eliza said. "I heard he's already dating someone else." She looked at her cell phone for the time. "I've got to get ready!"

"Where are you going?"

"There's some benefit for baby-teeth testing at Trupin Castle. It's this huge mansion this guy built in Southampton; he broke, like, all the zoning laws to do it. I heard he paid six million in fees. Anyway, it's never been open to the public and the new owner just got it renovated."

"How do you keep getting into all these things? Don't they card?" Mara asked.

102

Eliza took a puff from her cigarette and placed it on a makeshift ashtray (an upside-down Bumble and Bumble styling wax top). "I've got a fake ID. And it's a private event. As long as you're on the list, it doesn't matter. It's two hundred bucks a head, but Kit gave me three tickets. You guys wanna come?" The tonics and secret-sharing were making Eliza feel surprisingly benevolent. Maybe these other girls aren't so bad after all, she thought.

"No, I'm meeting Luca," Jacqui said.

"I told Jim I'd call."

"Suit yourselves," Eliza said, pulling on a pair of skinny jeans and an off-the-shoulder top. She gave her blond mane a shake and took one last look at her reflection in the mirror. "Later," she said, disappearing in a cloud of smoke and perfume.

It was eleven o'clock. By Hamptons standards, it was early. The evening had just begun.

103

mara's got something special about her: it's called Being nice

Promptly at midnight the alarm clock in the au pairs' room emitted an angry screech. Mara banged the snooze button down in confusion. She blinked. She had been asleep for less than an hour. What was the deal?

Then she remembered.

Zoe.

She hauled herself out of bed and put on her robe and fuzzy slippers. She trudged all the way back to the main house and disabled the burglar alarm after only a few attempts. The house was eerily quiet. Mara walked up the stairs to the second landing and to the room in the corner. She opened the door and walked quietly toward the small form huddled on the bed.

"Zoe, get up," she said.