October 21st, 2021
Ace
After the exercise, Femi shared the house into sections for each housemate to clean and tidy up while he supervised and reported back to Mr. Han. When he allocated the job of cleaning the kitchen to Ace, a small part of him wanted to dispute it but he thought better of it and grudgingly carried a mop to the still burnt out area. Apparently, Mr. Han and the organizers thought it would be nice if the housemates cleaned up a mess that could have been managed better.
As he cleaned, he observed the slim guy alternate between watching those upstairs and downstairs, making sure the house was clean before the second game at noon. When Ace was done, he motioned to Femi who walked over.
"Good. You're done." Femi entered the kitchen, looking at the floors as he nodded. "Great work, man. You can go rest now." He clapped him on the shoulder and walked away.
Ace gritted his teeth and went downstairs where other housemates were working; in the rooms, the toilets, the lounge, and even the walls. The AHOH made sure everyone was doing something, asides him and that was annoying. He should have been the one allocating work to the housemates, while he rested and watched them work. Ace felt confused and angry; this was his chance to lead others and somehow he knew he was meant for that, maybe he had followers or employees who he couldn't remember.
Ace felt someone staring at him, and when he turned, he met Eryk's eyes. The sturdy guy waved to him and started towards him with a limp. He looked at the guy's hands which carried a broom and parker, and he subtly shook his head. The guy moving towards him didn't look like he did the cleaning for anyone, but to be fair no one really looked the type.
Eryk stopped a few inches from where he stood, okay guy with a good sense of personal boundaries. Ace appreciated that.
"Hey man. Are you done with cleaning?" Eryk asked.
"Yeah. You?"
Eryk raised the broom in response. "Man, this feels wrong. Couldn't believe I agreed to give up the position like that, you know?"
Ace nodded, he knew. "Yeah, I get you. But really nothing we can do till after the second game. Who knows, maybe one of us will get lucky this time." He tried at being optimistic, even though it still bothered him.
Eryk nodded and started to turn away. "Maybe. But it makes me wonder, did Jasper tell the truth?"
Ace wouldn't admit it to anyone, but he shuddered at the last question and like Eryk, he thought back to Jasper and the manner he left the house- confused, angry, scared- and now he couldn't help doubting Femi's claims. Now, watching his housemates and remembering how he and Eryk easily agreed to drop the AHOH post, it seemed possible that Femi really threatened Jasper.
He stood outside his room and looked around at the other housemates dutifully cleaning, no one grumbled, complained or even talked to anyone else. They were all too focused on their tasks, and it was a bit upsetting to him. Once, he had watched a film- he couldn't remember the name, or if it was even a film- where the villian convinced people to do whatever he wanted and he got away with it till he met someone who fought against it and defeated him. Ace knew it was a long stretch, but just maybe it was possible in real life.
He stared at Femi who was now downstairs, talking to Priya animatedly. The guy was African, who knew if he had experience with evil magic and voodoo practices.*
Femi
As Femi stood in the lounge, he felt proud. The house looked clean and smelt nice, just like cranberries which reminded him of his grandmother's house back in Nigeria. He looked towards the kitchen, which now stood devoid of any stain or debris from the fire. It hadn't been easy to convince Mr. Han to let the masked men in to repaint the place, and his effort had to be repaid. He gave the culprit, as he liked to call her, the opportunity to clean the lounge downstairs. The girl appreciated it, and why wouldn't she? It was the venue for her nightly rendezvous with his roommate, Marcello.
Femi couldn't believe his luck. Barely a week ago, he was at school being bullied and pushed around by the lecturers and now, he was in charge of his housemates and giving orders. It almost felt like the classic grass to grace tale except his might be short-lived, since his reign would end that evening. Except he won the next game with enough points to move him from fourth place to first, bypassing both Eryk and Ace.
Last night's sudden win confirmed to Femi that his stay in the house had somehow made him less ordinary, so this morning he decided to test it out and he wasn't disappointed. Everyone did as he said, no matter how strenous the task and even Mr. Han wasn't spared. Just like last night, the housemates were ready and eager to please, already nodding their heads before he assigned them jobs. It truly felt nice, being respected and Femi could still feel the thrill at being the one in charge of humans his own age.
Femi looked towards the garden, where a few of the housemates had gone to cool off and rest, including Priya. He frowned at her, she was the only person who found the sudden house chores odd.
"But why should we clean this morning?" Priya asked him. "The house still looks perfectly fine, asides the kitchen." She bent down and swiped a finger across the glass table, before raising a still clean finger up to Femi's face.
"It... it needs to be neater before the second game, besides the soot from the kitchen might have touched other places." Femi faltered. This was the second time he had given Priya this reason, and judging from her looks she still wasn't buying it. He and Priya stared at each other, after a few minutes she relented.
"Okay I will clean, but I choose to work. You won't allocate a place to me like you did with the others." She frowned and walked away, picking up a nearby mop as she moved downstairs.
Now, as she whispered something to Florian and they laughed, Femi tried to figure her out. The Indian didn't seem to have any problem saying how she felt, and this felt wrong to him. More so, the switching personalities she possessed; trying hard to cover herself on the first day but now, wearing shorts which were just as long as her hair and barely reached her thighs along with a tight fitting top which showed off plenty skin whenever she bent over, which was frequently. She was the only one immune to his abilities, and right now the most important thing was finding out why.
Priya
"So what did you do before you came here?"
"Why do you want to know that?"
"I'm just trying to make polite conversation."
"Hmm."
Priya inwardly groaned, but she refused to be discouraged. She stared at Eryk's forehead and thought of another question she could ask which wouldn't earn her a 'Hmm'. In the past ten minutes, she had gotten one answer and three varying shades of silence and disapproval and if the fifth question went unanswered, she would give up. Five was her lucky number, so she would try again.
"So, what do you like to do?" She asked tentatively. "Besides leading, of course."
Her question actually earned her a smile, which meant she guessed right. He seemed to like being in charge, which was evident in the way he carried himself.
"Hmm. I also enjoy cycling, and reading, also cooking." Priya looked at his eyes which had a slight crinkle and she was relieved, he had made a space for conversation even though it started with his favourite word.
"Cooking? I've never seen you in the kitchen."
Eryk shrugged. "I enjoy cooking when I'm hungry, and I don't seem to feel that way a lot here."
"Me too. That's only because we have two resident chefs." Since the morning of the first game, Chiara and Florian were in charge of the kitchen constantly rotating who could cook for the house. All the other housemates had to do was clean their plates and cutleries and sit at the table awaiting their meals, and Priya was especially happy to eat food she didn't have to cook. She got to eat American meals, without undergoing the hassle of getting ingredients and a cookbook or YouTube. It was a win-win situation for her, and Eryk seemed to think the same as he nodded his head.
"Yeah, it's nice having them around. I won't deny the fact that it's relaxing not having to enter the kitchen, yet still being fed." Eryk explained, busying his hands with flipping the pages of a book which sat on the bed beside him.
"Unlike when you have to work for money and still feed your body, right?" Priya probed further, feeling bolder.
"Exactly. I had to learn how to cook meals, including warming up milk when Grace was born and it wasn't..." He immediately clammed up, and resumed his stoic expression. Priya welcomed the silence. She had no words to express how she felt, it seemed like the guy had a daughter. Having a child meant there was a woman in the picture; a girlfriend, wife or, Priya dared to hope, a baby mama. For god's sake, she was attracted to a man who had a child, and possibly a family.
She kept quiet, and stared at the rug beneath her feet not daring to ask. Instead, she focused on the events of that morning. Femi thought his order made all of them to work hard, but Priya knew better. If not for the way Eryk had urged them to continue till everywhere was sparkling clean, most of them would have given up including herself and Lola. Ever since Priya entered the house, she felt inexplicably drawn to the guy who sat opposite her, a book open on his laps and whatever caused that attraction, she knew it wasn't healthy. As the days went by, it was becoming more difficult to stay away from him.
Suddenly, Eryk moved forward nearly bumping her head with his. Priya quickly moved away, a bit overcome by the invasion of space.
"Now, let me ask you a question. What's India like?"
Priya laughed, this was going to be quite a long discussion.
*****
THE HOUSEMATES DEAL WITH THE NEW AHOH. WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS? LET ME KNOW IN THE COMMENT SECTION.
*I'M AN AFRICAN, SO I'M NOT TRYING TO BE RACIST OR JUDGEMENTAL IN ANY WAY. IT JUST CONTRIBUTES TO THE STORY.