The Housemaid

Nina arrives in the afternoon and asks Millie why no one picked up the house phone when she dialed it at 11 o’ clock the previous night. Millie fibs that she was asleep and Andrew might have been out. Nina decides to ask Andrew, and Millie sends him a warning via text message.

Millie and Andrew meticulously avoid each other the next few days. One evening Millie bumps into Andrew while carrying a glass of water and drops the glass, breaking it. Andrew helps Millie clean up and begins to say something, but Nina walks in. As Nina and Andrew leave the room, he whispers to Millie that they should talk later.

At dinner, while appearing to compliment Millie’s food, Nina reveals that she knows about Millie’s past by asking what sort of food they served her in prison; Andrew looks horrified. Once back in her room, Millie notices that her copy of the playbill from Showdown is on the nightstand and not in her wallet, where she placed it after the show. She realizes that Nina knows they went to the show together and possibly even that they spent the night at the hotel.

Millie can’t stop thinking about Andrew, whom she’s now in love with; however, after Nina’s revelation about Millie’s past, he hasn’t sought her out to talk to her. Meanwhile, Nina makes life hell for Millie. One of Nina’s tactics is to make Nina get specific types and brands of groceries from the store; if a requested item is out of stock, Millie must text pictures of alternatives until Nina replies and approves a replacement. Until then, Millie has to wait in the respective grocery store aisle. After one such trip, Millie is accosted by store security in the parking lot because they received a phone call alerting them that a customer of her description might attempt to shoplift. Although Millie is found innocent and let go, she realizes that Nina probably has other terrible surprises in store for her.

One night, unable to sleep, Millie heads down to the kitchen to get some water and realizes that Andrew is sitting out on the back porch. She apologizes to him for not having told him about her past because she just wanted to put it behind her, and Andrew understands. In addition, she confesses that the night at the show was one of the best she’s ever had; Andrew concurs that he, too, hasn’t felt so happy in a long time.

Andrew kisses Millie but pulls away saying that he can’t do this. Millie leaves him on the porch and heads upstairs but runs into Nina at the top of the stairs. Nina asks Millie if she has seen Andrew, and Millie says that he’s out on the back porch but lies that she didn’t talk to him.

Millie spends her Sunday off outside the house. When she gets home, Nina is sitting in the dark with the bag of clothes she gave Millie, demanding to know what they were doing in Millie’s room. When Millie reminds Nina that she gave them to her, Nina accuses Millie of lying and stealing, threatening to call the police. Andrew arrives and tries to calm Nina down. He remembers Nina intending to donate the bag of clothes and defends Millie, questioning why Nina is treating Millie this way.

Andrew asks Millie to leave while he speaks to Nina privately. Millie leaves the room but eavesdrops on the conversation. Andrew tells Nina that she has changed and is no longer the person he fell in love with. He thinks they should separate and admits that he has feelings for Millie. Nina threatens to take Andrew to court, but he reminds her of their prenup and the fact that Nina never allowed him to adopt Cecelia. He orders Nina to pack a bag and leave immediately. Millie rushes down and apologizes to Andrew, who refuses to let her blame herself. He asks Millie to stay, and together they watch Nina leave the house with her bags. On the way out, she whispers to Millie that she’ll never forget this.

Millie wakes up next to Andrew in the guest bedroom the next day. He tells her that he wants to give them a real shot and doesn’t want her to be a maid anymore. After Andrew leaves the room, Millie gets a couple of calls from a blocked number; she assumes it’s Nina and doesn’t pick up.

When Millie comes down to breakfast, she finds Andrew watching Enzo in the garden, upset that the gardener is here so early. Andrew fires Enzo, and he receives the news nonchalantly; however, out of Andrew’s earshot, Enzo warns Millie to leave the house immediately, as she’s in terrible danger. Stunned that Enzo is suddenly speaking fluent English, she assures him that she’s fine because Nina is gone. Enzo begins to explain that Nina isn’t the problem, but he’s interrupted by Andrew calling to her.

Millie goes grocery shopping and once again receives and ignores a call from a blocked number. She runs into another PTA mother, Patricia, who asks about Nina because she never showed up for a scheduled brunch. Upon seeing the phone in Millie’s hand, Patricia reveals that Nina had a tracking app installed on Millie’s phone to always keep tabs on her. Stunned, Millie makes her way out of the store to get home as soon as possible and sees a car that looks like Nina’s exiting the parking lot. She gets a call from a blocked number again and picks it up this time, but it’s just a spam caller.

Andrew is stuck at work and won’t make it home in time for dinner, leaving Millie alone in the house that evening. She gets a call from a blocked number again and picks it up, expecting spam, but a distorted voice says, “Stay away from Andrew Winchester!” (186) before the line goes dead.

Tired of Nina’s games, Millie decides to change the locks the next day and move into the main house. She heads up to the attic to pack, and Andrew arrives as she’s doing so. He welcomes her request to move downstairs and mentions some of his books he saw on the coffee table, asking if she has been reading all day. Exhausted from the day’s events, Millie doesn’t want to talk, and Andrew promises to help her forget all about the day.

Millie falls asleep after having sex with Andrew in her room in the attic. She wakes up at three o’ clock, needing to use the bathroom, and realizes that she’s alone. When she goes to open the door, she finds herself locked inside.