I hadn’t expected Ryan to react this way. He was kind of moody, only because I had told him that I would be working as a maid. Thank goodness I didn’t tell him I would be working for James Robert. He would be extremely pissed off.
“Ryan, I really—”
“No, no.” He shook his head. He turned to me, his eyes locked to mine. “You really can’t do that job. How can a whole Ryan Arthur’s girlfriend be some kind of maid? That’s crazy. I might not be as rich as I used to, but I am comfortable enough to take care of you and your family.”
“Ryan…” I shifted close to him, and took his hand as I pouted. “I understand your point. You’re a big man. Your girl isn’t supposed to be someone’s maid. But, the pay is really good. I went for the interview yesterday, and I met all the qualifications. Besides, you seriously don’t expect me to always be dependent on you, right?”
He lowered his eyebrows at me, those blue eyes holding a tiny bit of wrath. “Am I complaining? Huh? I’m fine if you remain dependent on me. Even if it’s for a year. You shouldn’t be working as a maid. It’s so wrong.”
“But I don’t have a problem with it,” I retorted. I gave him that what-the-heck-is-wrong-with-you look, frowning a little. “When you disagree with things like this, it makes me feel like you’re dominant. You remind me of Mr. Arthur.”
His jaw clenched, and he just looked away. “This doesn’t make any sense. Growing up, I always had a maid with me. I know how stressful that job is. How can I let you do it?”
“Come on!” I hit his arm playfully, pouting as well. I knew he was upset, but maybe I could cheer him up. “I’d really expected you to be glad for me. Can’t believe it makes you upset. Stop this attitude now.”
He leaned into the sofa, sighed really hard. “I still don’t wanna accept this. It’s infuriating. Ryan’s girlfriend is a maid? Gross.”
Dropping a kiss on his cheek, I smiled. “It’ll be fine, okay? It’s only for a while.”
“I hope so.” He stood up from the sofa, and grabbed a couple of files from the center table. “Hope you won’t be working for a man?”
I blinked like a confused person, and laughed weirdly. “No. Not at all. I’ll be working for an old woman. Don’t worry, she has no health issues, so I won’t be working too hard.”
“Okay.” He turned around to look at me. He looked kind of stressed out. “Well, I’ll be in my study room. When you’re ready to leave, tell me, okay?”
“Sure.” I nodded.
Immediately, he walked towards the stairs, and left my proximity. As soon as he left, I threw my back into the couch, and gasped. For goodness’ sake, I had just lied to him. But, why? Why wasn’t I confident enough to tell him that I would be working for his friend? What had I done?
Anyway, it was only for a while. Hopefully, he wouldn’t ever find out about it. And, I hoped this wouldn’t cause a problem in our relationship.
Frustrated, I tapped my feet against the floor, grumbling at myself.
***
It was my first day working as the idiot’s maid. Good for me, I hadn’t seen him all day. Vicki had been with me, we had been working together, so I felt quite comfortable. I had thought this job would be easy, but it truly wasn’t.
First, we had to wear some kind of blue colored gown, which looked quite gross. The black slip on shoes were fine, but carrying a broom around the house wasn’t. Aside from the disgusting outfit, cleaning the big mansion was a whole lot of work to do.
“Damn, I’m tired,” Vicki lamented. We settled to sit on the furnished chairs in one of the old, dusty rooms, panting slowly. “Didn’t think it would be as stressful as it is.”
I rubbed the back of my hands against my forehead, and leaned into my seat. “I need Tylenol. I feel extremely drenched. One hour, and we’re done for the day.”
“Yeah, yeah.” She nodded.
I scanned my eyes through the room, groans involuntarily escaping my mouth. “Gosh, how’re we gonna clean this dirty place? It’s crazy.”
“We’ve got no choice, okay?” She smiled at me. “Come on. Let’s do it now.”
“Hm.” I nodded in despair.
Standing up, just about to start dusting the dirty surfaces, someone barged into the room. We both flinched, and snapped our necks in the direction of the loud sound of the door. To my surprise, one of our coworkers, an indian-looking lady, Ria, was standing by the threshold of the door. She looked tense, excited and confused.
“Is there a problem?” I asked, feeling quite worried.
She shook her head. “No, no. Mr. Robert has returned. In two minutes, everyone should go to the living room. You’ll need to welcome him. Hurry up!”
“Okay, we’ll be there,” Vicki said.
My heart leaped to my throat. Suddenly, my head was blank, and I really couldn’t tell what was going on. This was quite unexpected. Earlier, I had promised myself that I would ensure that I didn’t get to see James. Now, this had to happen? We had to welcome the filthy man?
Good Lord, what would I do now?
“It’ll be fine,” Vicki cut me off my thoughts.
I winced, and just turned to her. “Didn’t think of this. What am I gonna do now?”
Though she was obviously worried, she smiled, probably to make me feel better. “Let’s just go. If he sees you, so be it. He can’t do anything to you. I know it. I’m sure of it.”
“Okay.” I let out a low, shaky breath. “God be with me.”
She giggled.
We hurried out of the room. Getting to the hallway, I was surprised when I saw a whole lot of maids running towards the living room. Wait, they were about to encounter James, not God. What the heck was with them? So disgusting.
Soon, we got to the living room. I wasn’t sure of what to do, but since everyone was lining up, I just did that too. They all bow their heads, their hands behind their backs. For some reason, I felt terrible that I was actually going to do this. James really wasn’t worth this great amount of respect. He was bratty, gross, filthy and very dumb. I guessed this was why Ryan didn’t want me to work as a maid. He had a point. Bowing to a worthless man wasn’t nice.
Hearing the sound of footsteps, my heart began throbbing against my chest. It was him. He was walking gently, walking with so much pride. I wasn’t staring at him, but I could sense it all. His sassy spirit was on track, the ego, and his so-called handsomeness as well.
When he was only a few feets away from me, I gulped. I was only getting very nervous. But, good for me, he snapped his fingers. According to the maids’ boss, anytime he snapped his fingers, it meant that he was asking everyone to leave.
I breathe out in relief. Not wanting him to see me, I turned around immediately, attempting to walk in between everyone. But, the moment I wanted to do it, something pulled me from behind. It wasn’t a great force. It was a gentle pull.
I gulped, shut my eyes, bit my lower lips, and prayed for a while. I hoped this wasn’t what I was thinking.
Hesitant, yet dauntless, I squirmed my neck around. The moment my eyes caught his, I felt queasy. He was holding my wrist, a small smirk on his lips. He snapped his fingers, and immediately, his men, including Vicki, left this place. It was only me and him that was left.
His smirk widened. Though the place was completely air conditioned, sweat seeped on my forehead. It was as if I was staring at a devil.
I would admit, I was scared.
“You need something?” I asked with so much confidence.
He chortled. “In the end, she came to me. Welcome, my beloved.”
And then, silence followed. Everywhere was hot, tension hovering around us. Instantly, I got a conviction that this step I had taken wasn’t a good one. What had I done?
I knew I shouldn’t have come here!
—