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“Might as well jump in at the deep end,” I laughed, Victoria smiled and I corrected myself, “No pun intended.”
Turned out, cleaning the grout around the pool was worse than I ever could have imagined. While the pool itself was wonderful to swim in and relax by, especially with the open glass ceiling so you could float in the water and enjoy the warmth on your face, the area around the pool was my new personal hell. Victoria had provided me with a knee pad, a toothbrush, and a bottle of cream cleaner. I was working around the area with an agonizingly slow pace, my back feeling the strain after an hour, then two hours, of being bent over. At 9.30, Victoria and I took a short break, which mostly consisted of us stretching and releasing the tension from our backs. As much as it hurt though, it was pleasant to be working again. I felt useful, felt like I was really earning my keep. I was still unsure about the money I was being paid, but knew from the look on Julian’s face that arguing was an exercise in futility.
Victoria wasn’t bad company while cleaning, either. It turned out, she was a young mother. She’d had her son at sixteen, and had been kicked out of the house. She didn’t actually live in the Brooks’ house, despite seeming to be there all the time. She went home at about 5 pm, and arrived at 6:30 am to get some breakfast. Her son spent the days with his father, who was a second-year student at NYU (I couldn’t remember what she said he was studying), or he went to daycare. She said that Julian had offered more than once for her to bring him to work instead of paying for daycare, but she had been worried about falling behind on her chores.
“So, you’ve been here a while, then?” I asked with my nose almost pressed into a stubborn speck of dirt.
“Yep—I was working here before Jakey was born. Couldn’t thank Mr. Brooks enough when he said he’d hold my position and give me paid maternity leave. He values us, you know? Don’t get me wrong though, if you aren’t doing your work he’ll notice, and he doesn’t stand for slackers. Mostly though, he trusts me to know what needs to be done and get on with it. Suppose he must trust you if he’s taking you on.”
I thought about that. I was in a position of trust. Of course, I would never abuse that, but just knowing that I was there had a warm, glowing feeling inhabiting my heart.
“Of course, you’re a little different, aren’t you?” Victoria continued, “You’re living with Mr. Brooks and his daughter—you’re her friend. So, it’s kind of like you’re one of my employers, but also we work together now.” She shook her head like she couldn’t think about it too long. “Hurts a bit to think about.”
I laughed and agreed.
By the time we finished the grout, it was lunchtime. Andrew had left sandwiches wrapped up in the fridge, and we sat to eat them at the counter. It was surreal to me that I’d never seen the maids do their everyday things like eating lunch and chatting, but I’d always seen them cleaning. I asked my new friend about it and she explained that that’s how a good maid always appears. We had the whole hour to talk, and I learned more about her life and her five-year-old son, Jake. I told her I was an only child and had no family, and I thought I saw something like pity in her eyes, but I was grateful that she smothered it. She seemed to get that not all families were happy.
After cleaning the grout, we damp dusted the whole house, and I winked at Hannah when I saw her typing up an essay on her laptop. She winked back and I carried on. We pruned potted plants and watered those that needed it. We wiped streaks from a couple of glass cases and replaced the crystal whiskey tumblers in Julian’s office with fresh ones. Victoria showed me how to set up the napkins and tableware for dinner, and we finished by cleaning the kitchen. There wasn’t much to do there, because, to quote Victoria, “Andrew’s kitchen is the great love of his life—leaving it dirty would be like abuse.” We ended up finishing at about 4.30, and Victoria showed me the shredder. It was just a normal office shredder, but it was in the cellar, stuffed in a room stocked with spare cleaning supplies and plain bed linens. Next to it was a pile of shredding.
“I’m not sure we’ll ever get to the bottom of it,” Victoria said, “But when we’ve got a few spare minutes, this is what we do.”
So, for the last thirty minutes of our shift, we shredded. When the box was full, the shreds were put in a garbage bag that apparently the head housekeeper, a woman named Harriet, would send for recycling. I hadn’t realized that Harriet was in charge of all the household employees, as well as any services that might be needed. She lived there and was apparently strict but kind.
When the clock flicked over to 5 pm, we stood, washed our hands, and I said goodbye to Victoria. She headed home, and I went back up to my room. I collapsed on the bed, not sure if I’d ever felt more tired. My muscles ached from bending over the grout and reaching up to dust. I had no clue how Victoria did that five days a week. I was happy it was a Saturday though, and that all employees were excused for Sundays. I didn’t know how I’d manage it next week, when I worked Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. I just lay there, contemplating the fact that I’d either get strong really quickly or fail miserably at this position.
After fifteen minutes, I began wondering where everyone was. Hannah hadn’t come to see me, but a simple text confirmed that she was finishing up an essay and would be right over. Her father, on the other hand, had apparently decided to work late. It made me anxious, not knowing where he was. It was silly, I told myself, because I’d never known where he was before I moved in, but now I had the desire to know that all the household members were safe and sound. Not to mention, I was hoping to get the chance to talk to him about last night’s… what was it? What do you call the man you’ve just realized you are in love with coming into your room to cuddle you because you had a nightmare? A mess, apparently.
I must have dozed off while laying on the bed, because the next thing I knew, Hannah was jumping on me, and I bolted up at the shock, effectively headbutting her. I sat back and rubbed my head, and Hannah did the same. She was wearing her swimsuit and told me to get into mine so we could swim before dinner. I did and was about to walk out of my room, following her, before deciding to wrap my towel around me. The night before, I had gone downstairs in my bikini, and while it wasn’t a strange sight for Andrew, who regularly saw Hannah and I like that, Julian couldn’t take his eyes off of me. I couldn’t deny that his gaze had been pleasing and made me want to slowly remove the rest of my clothes and parade around for him, but it had been distracting, and I didn’t want to be distracted when I was spending time with my friend.
The pool water felt like magic on my aching joints. I floated around, letting Hannah just talk to me about the essay she’d written. Hannah had a different persona when it was just the two of us. With her father, she was always on the defensive, and with other people, she was just guarded, a cool figure in designer clothes that no one really understood. With me though, she could be a bit of a goof, and she splashed me to get my attention when she realized I wasn’t paying attention to her. I splashed her back, and then we were engaged in an all-out splashing war. It went on for what felt like forever and ended in me climbing on her shoulders and declaring myself the winner. Hannah was laughing too hard to deny my right to the crown, and I did a victory lap of backstroke. When I stood up, Julian had wandered into the pool room and was watching us both with a faintly amused expression. Hannah turned to see him, and her walls, as usual, went up. I noticed that she was distinctly softer than she had ever been before around him, and I wondered what was changing.
“You girls might want to get changed,” Julian said, “I just got the five-minute call for dinner.”
He turned and strode out, but I could tell just from the way that he held himself that he was still smiling.
We got changed out of our swimwear, and into cozy clothing. We both headed down to the dining room, where the delicious smell of crabcakes greeted us.
Dinner, as usual, was divine. Julian spoke lightly about his work, and Hannah and I debated the importance of beginning psychiatric care for institutionalized patients before conducting ambulatory tests. Once we were all stuffed, Hannah announced that she had to go to the library to double-check some references, and would probably be back around midnight. Fear flashed into my heart because, for the first time ever, Julian and I would be alone in the house. Andrew had gone home, all the maids that didn’t live there had gone home, Hannah would be in the library. I couldn’t of course, tell my friend that I wanted her to stay, and I was too tired to even consider following her to the library—especially when I didn’t have any work to do. Instead, I smiled wanly and wondered if my heart would survive.
The moment she left, I knew I was in trouble. Julian and I were still sat at the table, and his eyes were smoldering when he looked at me.
“I’m going to watch a movie,” I squeaked, standing abruptly.
I took the elevator down to the cellar and collapsed on the plush sofa in the viewing room. I flicked the screen on, and scrolled through dozens and dozens of movies, not seeing any of them.
“That’s a good one,” Julian said, and I jumped.
“What are you doing down here?” I asked.
“I can’t watch a movie in my own home?”
“Uh-yeah, okay…” I stuttered.
Julian sat beside me, and the tension between us was tangible. I picked something random, and the opening credits forThe Breakfast Clubbegan showing on the screen.
I watched the movie, trying to stay invested in the plot, but it was boring compared to the man next to me. He looked relaxed, and I envied him because I was sat straight up, hands on my lap like I was trying to impress someone in an etiquette class. I tried to relax when all the students in the film were locked in the library, but I accidentally laid my hand a little too close to Julian’s, and the electricity in the room magnified tenfold. I held my breath, not wanting to move my hand in case it would make the situation worse. I don’t know how long I sat there, with my hand so close to his, my heart pounding, my whole body aware of his every breath.
He broke first, despite his relaxed demeanor. With a growl, Julian grabbed my hand and pulled me into his lap. His kisses were hot and heavy, and he tasted like after-dinner mints. His cologne invaded my senses, and everything wasJulian. I sighed into him, and let our bodies fall flush against each other. He was as warm as I remembered from the night before, and his hands burned into my skin where he touched me. There was no time for pleasantries with this kiss. Julian’s hands were roaming, fluttering at the edge of my shirt, before dipping to stroke the skin at the small of my back. I pressed myself harder into him, feeling the growing bulge in his pants, and gave a small moan to encourage him.
