"That's so freaking cool," Deidre glanced at me before backing away from the parking spot. "You know, how you and my boss had met before?"
"Yeah, it was two years ago," I nodded. "It was at a wedding that I crashed. Vincent Sterling's wedding, to be exact. Took my dad's wedding invitation after we..." I trailed off. She doesn't need to know what happened that day between my father and I. It was better to just forget about it. Deidre clearly saw the hesitation in my eyes.
"It's okay," she reached for my hand and squeezed it. "I get it. There are some things we just can't share with the world."
"Sorry. It's just hard for me to talk about him," I swiped the moist building up underneath my eyes. "It's been two years. I should have moved on by now."
"Don't be too hard on yourself, Raina," she reminded me. "Everyone grieves differently. Maybe one day you'll be able to accept it that he's not here anymore. I know how it feels to lose a loved one. It's not easy. They may not be here with us, but they'll be forever in our hearts."
"You're right." I nodded, staring outside the window. My hand went directly to my right wrist. I've completely forgotten that I had lost the charm bracelet my father gave me the day I ran away from the party. I had that silver charm bracelet since I was a little girl. It was filled with customized charms made by my father's friend. My favorite charm was the star with the words You are the star in my eyes.
"Is this why you needed to stay at your old house?" Deidre asked.
"Pardon?" I turned to look back at her. I could feel a tear bubbling up on my right eye.
"You need to find something at your old house, right? That's why you needed the job?"
"Yeah," I nodded, trying to swallow the huge lump lodged in my throat. It doesn't help that Deidre's car was playing the saddest song that could make you ugly cry in seconds. "I guess you could say that I needed some kind of closure from my dad."
"Don't worry," Deidre gave my hand a few pats. "I'm sure your father's really proud of you right now."
Proud? If he was proud of me, then he shouldn't have given everything to her. He did this to simply get back at me. He knew how I felt about Mabel. My head started to hurt again. Forget her. The most important thing right now is I have complete access to the mansion. I don't need her anymore. The only problem right now is Rain Sterling, and his cameras. I'm sure he'll be checking his cameras on his phone every now and then like what most people do on their phones. I have to be careful when I start doing my search.
*
We arrived at the mansion at six thirty in the morning. That would give me enough time to put away my stuff and get ready for my shift. For some reason, I was happy that I got this job. It's like the universe was helping me out. As soon as we entered the foyer, I heard noise coming from the stairs. Sure enough, Cosmo was running toward us with its tongue out and its furry tail wagging with excitement.
"Aww you missed me already?" I said, giving him lots of scritches. "Well, I missed you, too, little buddy."
"That doggo had been crying all night," Dale pointed out as he stepped out from the kitchen with a white mug in his hand. "I thought he was just missing Deidre, but I guess not," he started laughing. "You're no longer Cosmo's favorite, Deeds."
Deidre ignored him. "Raina, do you want to have a quick breakfast before you start? There's a waffle maker here."
"That's okay," I waved my hand. "I'm not hungry. I just want to take my stuff to my room and get ready." I grabbed my bags and started walking toward the stairs. Eating is the last thing on my mind right now. I don't want my boss to see me slacking off on my first day of work.
As I lifted my bag on to the first few steps, a hand reached out for my heaviest bag. "I'll help you with that." The man said. I looked up and my eyes bugged out realizing who it was. Speak of the devil.
"You don't have to do that," I reached for my bag, but I failed. He was already on the landing in like three seconds. I was halfway through the stairs when he came back down and got the rest of my stuff. "Seriously, you didn't have to do this."
"Never refuse help," he said the words slowly, it's almost as if he wanted me to retain that advice for future use. "Always remember that."
I nodded. "I will. Thank you."
I followed Rain toward the hallway where the rooms were located. It still felt so weird being here. I shouldn't be acting like this in my own house. But then again, it wasn't mine to begin with. Mabel's laughing face appeared in my head. Yes, laugh, Mabel. Laugh all you want. I'll get the last laugh once I find out the whole truth.
"This will be your room," we stopped at the last door that was next to the master bedroom. I stared at him in disbelief. Out of all the bedrooms in this mansion, he picked this room instead. My room. "Is there something wrong, Ms. Raina?"
I realized my mouth was opened. "Oh, there's nothing wrong. I just noticed how it's close to the master bedroom. Are you sure it's okay for me to take this room?"
"I don't know how else to convince you, Ms. Raina. It's either you take this room, or you drive here every day. Your choice."
This mansion has loads of other rooms. Why am I only given an option of staying in this room that is closer to his room? I have a feeling he's going to keep a closer watch on me. There isn't any other house help who sleeps here, but he approved me to stay here. It's a little suspicious if you ask me.
"Sorry, I'm just... not comfortable taking a really nice room when I'm just the house help, you know?"
"I insist. Please don't be embarrassed," he opened the bedroom door. "Plus, it's not like you're staying here for more than a month, right?"
Yes, of course I'm not staying for more than a month. If I could ever find what I'm looking for, then I could easily get out of your hair.
"If I'm lucky enough to land a full-time job, I'll leave right away." The back of my eyes stung. To be honest, I wasn't quite sure what the future would bring. Leaving this house empty handed would mean failure to me.
"Alright then. We'll start discussing about your position in this house."
"Okay, as long as I'm not forced to wear a sexy French maid dress, then I'm cool as a cucumber." I joked.
"You are going to wear a sexy French maid dress while you clean the house." He said with a serious face.
My eyes widened. "Wait, what?" I crossed my arms against my chest. "No. Absolutely not. Over my dead body."
He gave a light chuckle. "Lighten up. I was just messing with you."
"Oh, God," I placed a palm on my chest. "You almost gave me a heart attack." I laughed, playfully slapping his arm in return.
His smile faded after I did that. He looked a bit uncomfortable. Regret seeped in. Oh, no. I shouldn't have done that. Then he cleared his throat. "Let's continue our discussion toward the rules of the house. First one on the list, no slapping." He looked up from the paper. "No touching, no skin-to-skin contact..."
Damn. Skin-to-skin contact? What does he take me for? I did not come here to engage in skin-to-skin contact with anyone.
"No boys or boyfriends allowed inside the mansion."
"That's easy," I forced out an awkward smile. "I don't have a boyfriend."
He smiled back, but it was more like a smirk. "Good."
I slowly exhaled. "So, what else is a no-no here?"
"You can't say no to me when I ask you to do something. No is not an option."
I thought about it at first since that rule was a gray area for me. I mean, he's not wrong. I'm here working for him, so it's only fair that I'll do everything for the guy. With the exception of any sexual favors, of course. It didn't seem like he was a bad guy, or else I would've felt it earlier, or when I met him the first time two years ago.
"Your starting pay is twenty-five dollars an hour," he continued. "You can work up to thirty-nine hours per week. You have two days off. Let me know if you want split days, we could work something out. Extra activities given to you means more pay. As for medical and dental coverage, unfortunately, it's only given as a benefit for full timers."
"Sounds good," I nodded. "Anything else?"
"Oh, before I forget," he pointed at another room which was the opposite side of my bedroom door. "Never open this room. Don't even try to unlock it."
"How come?" I asked, hoping he'd give me a hint. The intense secrecy was going to kill me. But hey, private life is a happy life, right?
"You don't need to know," he handed me the folder where the contract is. "Sign the contract and I'll be out of your hair."
My heart thumped louder than usual; I could hear the vibrations through my ears. I hesitated when it was time for me to sign the paper. It was almost like signing my life away with the devil. Or like Belle being stuck in the castle with the cursed Beast. Fuck it. I grabbed the pen and signed the contract right away.
I've got nothing to lose.