Moonlit Refusal

Chapter 1

I woke up to my blaring alarm and immediately jumped up from bed. Normally I would try to lay there for a few minutes hoping to get a bit more sleep but I was excited that I was finally going to be able to help my mother.

It's just me and her since my father is out of the picture. To be honest, I never knew him and currently don't even know if he's dead or alive. Every time I try to ask, my mother seems uncomfortable so I stopped asking. She's very hardworking and tries her best to pay off for my University. I'd like to say I'm ambitious but in reality, I just want to be able to repay her back for all that she's done. I'm currently in my second year in University majoring in Community Health but I struggle a bit since I suffer from depression, however, I don't tell my mom that of course.

I heard a gentle knock at the door. "Don't worry, I'm up mom," I stated as I scrambled to get ready. I decided to wear a loose fit jeans and just a green t shirt since I'm gonna get dirty. I tied up my long curly black hair in a messy bun.

"Okay sweetie but remember you don't have to come to help me. It's the first day of your break and I want you to rest," she stated.

"Mom, I told you I want to help you even if your boss is rude," I said back and heard a sigh. After I got ready, I went to open the door and my mother was standing there with cleaning supplies ready for us to leave. Every time I look at her, I get mad at myself for not being able to give her a luxurious life where she wouldn't have to be cleaning for a living. I always tell myself that I'm almost done and after I get my degree, I'll get a decent paying job so that we can be comfortable.

We walk to the door and head to our small white car. We live in a little cottage on the outskirts of town and what's weird is that my mother is the maid for some rich people but they live in the middle of a forest. Because of this, we don't have to drive too far.

I ended up dozing off and after the 20 minute drive, we arrive and I woke up and looked in awe. It's such a big mansion yet it's in the middle of nowhere. They designed it beautifully with how the bricks were laid, but no one would be able to see it since no one technically comes by here. There was even have a pretty little fountain surrounded by beautiful pink flowers. I can't help but think that the owners must be doing some shady business so they want to live in hiding but have it peaceful at the same time if that makes sense. I grab the cleaning supplies from the trunk which wasn't much because my mother said most of the things are provided. She just preferred using her own gloves and sponges.

We walk up the brick path and my mother reminds me that the woman in charge may come off as rude, however, she stresses out because she likes everything to be perfect. The door is opened by the old butler who brightly smiles and greets us. We walk in and I hear a loud pair of heels heading in our direction. I straightened myself and smiled at the beautiful middle aged woman coming towards us.

"It's about time you guys arrived. There's so much to be done for the gathering tonight. I need you to make sure there's not a speck of dust that can disrupt our guests. They are very important people..." and she kept on talking but I started to air her out. The mansion was so tall and they had a spiral staircase. It was so spacious and I started to wonder how many bedrooms there were. I also wonder how we're going to clean those windows since they're so tall. Wait a minute, how does she expect my mother to be the only one cleaning up around here? What if I didn't come?

I start to ask myself questions until I felt a nudge. It snapped me out of my thoughts and I realized the woman left and we had to start. My mother said I can explore a bit while she starts on the downstairs. She said that I can be in charge of the rooms and I just have to make sure they're tidy. Sounds easy enough. I decided to head up the stairs and didn't know if I should go left or right. Why is it so huge?

I decided to go left and found it crazy that they trust us to go into every room without stealing. Of course I wouldn't steal but they have so many tiny expensive ornaments, anyone can grab them and put them in their pockets. Ugh, I hate my intrusive thoughts. What am I doing again? Oh yeah exploring. I decided to walk straight down the hall and I'll go to every room one by one with the little duster mom gave me to clean if needed. I hope I don't get lost.

I stopped in my tracks when I smelt this amazing scent. I don't even know how to describe it. Was it cinnamon? Maybe cedar? It was coming from one of the rooms so I decided I will head there first. I opened the large wooden door which was way too tall for no reason and came into someone's bedroom. There wasn't a lot of decorations and the bedsheets were black. In fact, I'd say the whole room is bland except the smell of the room and the size of the bed. Is this the main room for the owners? Why else would there be a king size bed? Anyway, I should probably make sure it's tidy, although it looks good enough to me. There's a huge closet with a large brown dresser. I walked over to explore a bit.

There was not a single thing on the dresser. Not even a hairbrush or cologne. That's so weird yet the room smells so good. I don't know why but I decided to open the top drawer and my eyes widened. This dresser is full of condoms! I immediately realize I shouldn't have been curious and started to get grossed out because I was breathing in such gross air. Wait, am I smelling what sex smells like? Is that the scent that I like? I scrunched up my face in disgust. I'm such a virgin. Maybe it was just the scent of the condoms I smelled because I heard from my friend Jasmine that they come in different flavors. Maybe that's what she meant. I picked up one of the condoms and decided to smell it. Hmm no scent. I heard someone clear their throat and I got so startled, I dropped the condom and turned around.

There was this tall muscular guy around my age leaning against the door. He was smirking while I looked like a deer caught in headlights and couldn't help but think that he must be thinking of how creepy I am smelling condoms.

"Uh-Hello, I was just tidying up the room," I smiled awkwardly.

He raised an eyebrow and looked at me incredulously. "Of course you were." I started to blush and apologize immensely.

"Don't worry, I don't judge kinks," he winked. I've never felt this embarrassed even though I somehow manage to always embarrass myself. Maybe that's why I'm so depressed.

"I'm so sorry, I got distracted," I stated because I didn't know how to explain myself.

He laughed and said it's fine. Phew, I was worried I would get fired on the first day of the job even though I'm only here to assist.

"Are you one of the cleaners? You look around my age," he looked confused.

"Yes, I'm here to help my mom." He nodded in return.

"If you want to snoop, I assure you this is the worst room to do so because my brother hates people here except his girlfriend of course."

"Oh, I'll go to snoop somewhere else then," I joked but realized that was a bad joke especially to someone who lives here.

He chuckled and said "You can snoop in my bedroom if you like. There are many things that might interest you," with a wink.

Is he flirting with me? No, that's impossible. No guy has ever flirted with me before. It's not that I'm ugly but I'm not pretty either. I'm just average looking with brown eyes and tanned skin. I get nervous and said  "Actually, I'll go downstairs to help my mom," and I just bolted out of there. I'm running in this stranger's house. I'm so rude ugh.

I ran up to my mom which startled her. "Why are you running? Is everything okay?"

"Oh, I decided I wanted to help you instead because I don't know much about cleaning," I smiled sheepishly.

"Okay but don't run again before you slip and fall."

"Will do. Sorry," I stated while looking around and realized she cleaned such a large area already. Is that why they only hired her? Wow, she's such a pro.