Maid for Pay

Chapter 1

It was a Saturday night at the Sunny Hill Cul-de-sac and the housewives had all gathered to watch their favorite reality dating game show, "Love Gauntlet". The appointment viewing party was held, as always, in the home of the eldest member Mrs. Carol Johnson. Her house was situated at the keystone lot of the cul-de-sac and is equipped with the most state of the art home theater system, perfect for viewing and hosting the weekly watch parties for the other housewives.

The husbands of this group of "Love Gauntlet" die-hards could not bare to watch such a, in their minds, boring and trashy show and decided that those Saturday nights were better spent at the local sports bar watching the "Big Game". The wives did not complain about this arrangement because they would just get in the way of their good time. With a new season debut about to start, they did not want any pointless distractions from an event they have been anticipating for months.

Mrs. Johnson always made sure to keep only the best red wine on hand for these watch parties and emerged from her personal stash to pour each of her fellow die-hards a glass before the new episode began.

"A little extra for me." Said Ms. Evelyn Mahoney-O'Hara. A happily divorced former housewife and the best girlfriend of Mrs. Johnson. She was a client of Mrs. Johnson in her divorce case where she managed to take everything from her ex-husband, including his name.

"Just say when!"

"When." The level of wine was just barely under the rim of the glass. She took a satisfying sip from the top of the glass without having to tip it into her mouth.

"And how much for you dear?"

"Oh, just a half glass." Squeaked the youngest and newest member of the Cul-de-Sac Housewives Association, a shy and reserved first time home buyer, Mrs. Anna Davis. She had moved in a little over a year ago after a long engagement to her college sweetheart and bonded with her fellow housewives over their shared interest in "Love Gauntlet".

"Is this enough?" Carol inquired.

"Yeah, stop right there."

She had stopped just a little under half a glass.

After pouring herself a glass and putting what little remained of the bottle in the refrigerator for Evelyn's inevitable refill, Carol took her spot on the leather recliner on the left side of the home theater.

"It's almost time ladies! What do you think is gonna happen this season? I bet this guy is a real weirdo! After the dude who liked to watch the contestants iron his shirts for the final challenge, they've seen massive rating spikes whenever they have someone strange be the main guy. They've all been cute and handsome but damn if they weren't out there!"

"Hell yeah! I love when they put psychos on the show!' Evelyn opined. 'Like the guy last season who kept all the toenail clippings from the contestants! What the hell were they thinking!? You'd never catch me dead chasing after some wacko for a chance at love no matter how much money or how good he looked!"

"Strong talk from the woman who likes to pick up men half her age at the college bars." Carol retorted.

"Shut up!" She takes another large sip of wine.

"Um, I think they'll actually have someone who's really sweet and wholesome this time. You're right that the last few main guys have been...unique but I think they're going to go back to the original premise of the show. I mean how can they keep finding these people?" Anna deferred.