Estée Lauder Has a Cold

Chapter 28 of Snowbirds, a serialized novella-in-flash by Margo Rife

Thank you for reading Snowbirds, a serialized novella-in-flash by Margo Rife. Go here to start at the beginning. You’ll find the linked table of contents here.

---

Following my sixteenth birthday, my aunt sends me on my first assignment for Baldwin Shutters. Aunt Dorie drops me off at the end of the long driveway.

“Make me proud,” she yells and quickly rolls up the window to keep the heat out.

I climb the curved marble stairs to the white mansion prominently nestled on the curve of Ocean Boulevard. It resembles the White House with its gleaming pillars. Orange blossom wafts in the air. I stand on the porch ringing the bell. No answer. Should I ring again? No. That’s something Mother would do. I’m getting overheated, but my aunt is depending on me. With the brass lionhead I ever so softly knock.

The double door opens, and a Black woman in a maid’s uniform looks down at me. “Whooo are you?”

I drop my Louie Vuitton purse and it gets tangled on the shrub.

“Explain yourself,” demands the maid.

“Sorry. I’m Lyla. I’m here to see Estee Lauder.”