Rebecca gulped and shook her head, all the time running a scene when she tells her mother that she will be living in the same house with a young-hot-blooded man. Swallowing a groan, she gave Jeremy a tight smile, 'no, it'll not be a problem, though I ask that I move in tomorrow as I was not aware of my need to stay here. I'll have to explain this to my mother.' When Jeremy continued staring at her, Rebecca bit on her lower lip, 'is that ok?'
'I was waiting for you to tell me that you'll also need to explain this to your boyfriend as well,' Jeremy raised an eyebrow at her. 'I take it there is no boyfriend to explain this situation to?' he smiled when he noticed the faint blush covering her cheeks, 'well, that answers it. Fine, you can move in tomorrow.' He said as he turned on his heels and headed back to the direction they had come from.
'Thank you,' Rebecca said, trying her best not to show her relief or embarrassment. Trying to explain to her mother why she was not able to head back home that evening through the phone was not going to end well. It could have ended in a number of ways, each one more frightening than the other. She quickly followed him, slightly jogging to keep with his long strides.
Jeremy stopped suddenly and turned to her, his hands went automatically to her arms to steady as she bumped into him. 'Are you always so-,' he frowned as he searched for the word he wanted to describe her with, his hands still on her arms. 'Proper?'
Rebecca frowned, flustered at having run into his back. But that was not her fault, he stopped without any warning. 'P-proper?'
'Formal? Stiff?' Jeremy shrugged as he let go of her arms and placed his hands on his hips, regarding her with his blue eyes.
Rebecca frowned, 'I am not stiff!' she exclaimed vehemently. Jeremy just raised his eyebrow at her, prompting her to add, 'I am a bit nervous, that's all.'
'Right,' Jeremy nodded his head slowly, saying the word as though he did not believe her. Before he could say anything else, his mobile phone started ringing. Removing it from the back of the low riding denim jeans he was wearing, he answered with a touch on the screen, 'hi, Marko. I'll be there in fifteen.' Cutting the connection he replaced the phone back into his back pocket.
Rebecca stepped away from him, her hands going behind her back as she waited for Jeremy to finish with his call. Her eyes kept bouncing around, hitting anything but his torso, or the bunched up muscles as he held the phone to his ear.
'Listen,' Jeremy glanced at his watch. 'I have got to bounce. You do your thing.' He turned around, continuing with his walk. By the stairs going to the top storey, he stopped, 'When you are done, close up and I'll see you tomorrow. I'll leave the alarm codes by the table over there.' He pointed to a small table by the door with his chin, before he started going up the stairs. By the third step he stopped, 'before I forget, George, the gardener will be here around eleven, so don't go panicking when you see him.'
Rebecca bit her tongue to keep from replying him; instead she nodded her head once.
Jeremy broke into a chuckle, 'stiff!' he ran the remaining stairs, not waiting for her to say anything.
Rebecca just stared after him for a few seconds, before shaking her head and walking towards the kitchen. She had figured she could start there, as she had spied a pile of dirty dishes during Jeremy's fast forward tour.
Depositing her handbag on one of the breakfast stools by the kitchen island, she quickly set to work, collecting all the dirty dishes, rinsing them before she fed them into the dishwasher. She found the surface cleaner, making sure she had all the kitchen surfaces cleaned before she cleaned the floors.
Remembering all the tips her mother had given her together with experience she had gained looking after the house while Emma was at work, Rebecca worked with an easy speed, leaving only cleanliness behind her. Jeremy had called a goodbye and a reminder of the alarm codes as he made his way out of the house, so she felt comfortable enough to move around the house.
Making a quick work on the lounge areas, Rebecca took a quick rest before she made her way up the stairs. The first room, which turned out to be Jeremy's home office was clean, she just needed to dust a bit. As she walked around the office she appreciated the sophisticated decoration in the room. The room was very masculine, grey painted walls supported by dark wood furniture.
Rebecca moved to his desk, running her hand on the leather covered chair. Bending over, she studied a framed picture of Jeremy with what Rebecca figured were his parents, a couple which looked to be in their late fifties. Humming gently she continued with her dusting before she went out and closed the door behind her.
The final room was Jeremy's bedroom. Rebecca walked slowly towards it, picturing what it might look like. The whole house was impressive, though a bit macho for her taste. She had already run plans to change that by buying vases and bringing in fresh flowers the next day.
Reaching for the door knob, she turned it and walked in. 'You have got to be kidding me!' she breathed as she took in the upside down room. There were pillows on the floor and the sheets were hanging from the bed. 'What the heck happened here?' she murmured to herself as she walked further into the room. She carefully picked her way through the room, her eyes widening when she spied a bra and some panties on one of the side lamps.
A blush made its way to her face as she thought about the woman she had met earlier. If these were her underwear it means she had been walking around without any! A groan escaped her as she took in the messy room. Sighing, she walked to the adjoining bathroom, searching for clean linen before she went through the process of striping the bed of the dirty ones.
'I hope this will not be a daily occurrence,' she said to herself as she struggled to remove the sheets on the huge bed. It took her exactly thirty minutes to change the linen on the bed and straighten up the room. Wiping her brow, she collected the dirty sheets, panties and all, and walked with them downstairs, to the laundry room she had seen earlier. Feeding the machine, she made a quick work of setting it up before walking back to the kitchen.
Checking her watch, Rebecca reckoned that she had about two more hours before she was able to head home. Opening the cabinets, she quickly collected all the ingredients she needed to make some ginger biscuits.
'I am home!' Rebecca called as she walked into the front door of her mother's house. She had waited until the sheets were dried before she folded them. Her ginger biscuits were done and placed on the kitchen table waiting for Jeremy. She was not even sure if Jeremy liked ginger biscuits! She had just done that to pass time.
'In the sitting room,' her mother called.
Rebecca deposited her car keys as well as her hand bag by the cabinet by the door before heading to where her mother was.
Emma was seated on her favourite armchair, her legs resting on a stool before her, 'hey darling. How was your first day at work?'
Rebecca placed a kiss on her mother's cheek before she fell on the sofa, 'it was alright.' She went on to tell her mother about the house, skipping the half naked woman as well as panties on the lamp.
'And what about the man himself?' Emma enquired. 'From the little you told me he seems to be making a lot of money. Is he old? What about a wife?'
Rebecca bit her lip, 'it's Jeremy Martenson, mom.'
'Jeremy Martenson?' Emma repeated, trying to place the name. 'Jer-wait, you work for that boy who is always in the news?'
'Tabloids, mom,' Rebecca rubbed her eyes, thinking of the way she was going to break the news that she will be living in the same house. 'Some of the things written on those things aren't even true.' Though she now knew he really was a ladies' man.
Emma waved away her statement, 'nonetheless, he is always in the news. Tabloids are much worse.'
Rebecca had to agree with her mother, 'true that.'
'Has he tried anything funny?'
Rebecca sighed, 'no, mom. We only spent about fifteen minutes together before he left and he never showed any interest in me.'
Her mother snorted, 'that is what these rich people do. They make you feel so comfortable, and then without a warning they start making moves on you.'
'Mom! That is the most stereotypical thing to say,' Rebecca laughed. 'These soap operas that you are watching are making you judgemental.'
Emma turned to her daughter and smiled, 'maybe But promise me one thing.'
Rebecca nodded as she reached for her vibrating phone. 'What's that?'
'That you'll come straight home after your work is done and that you will not accept anything he offers you. I'd rather go back to work, pain and all than seeing you be taken advantage of.'
Rebecca bit on her lip as she watched Lily's name flash on her mobile screen, 'about coming back home from work..I'll be moving in with him.' She did not wait for her mother to reply, as she accepted Lily's call. 'What's up?' She turned her gaze to her mother, who was now sitting mouth opened and staring at her with a confused look.
'So, how was the first day?' Lily asked, excitement in her voice. Lily was a bubbly, lively girl, who knew all the people making headlines in the celebrity circles, always up to speed with the latest gossip, making their friendship seem weird to others as Rebecca was the direct opposite of her. But for them, their friendship worked like clockwork. Lily kept Rebecca up to speed on the gossip, while Rebecca kept Lily grounded to the real world.
Rebecca saw this as an opportunity to get out of the house before her mother suffered from a panic attack, 'let's meet as Peter's for some milkshake and I'll tell you all about it.'
'I'm there in ten,' Lily said as she terminated the call.
Rebecca sighed and turned her whole body towards her mother, 'mom, don't freak out. I'll have my own apartment!' She did not state that the apartment was inside the main house.
'I shouldn't freak out?' Emma repeated. 'Becky, of course I am freaking out, it's what any mother would do! You are moving in with a well known player in the city and you expect me to just let you go? Why are you moving in anyway?'
'He wants me on call at all times. He said that he might need for me to do some cooking and stuff. Hopefully the money will be good due to the extra chores that I will be performing and it's just temporary, mom, until something better comes up. I'll be careful, stay away from his way at all times. Besides, he has a girlfriend and he thinks I am stiff and a child.'
Emma shook her head as she closed her eyes and sighed. She could have stopped Rebecca from going to work, God knows they do not desperately need the money, but Rebecca would not be happy. Her daughter was as stubborn as she was, and she would not take lightly the refusal to work. Besides, how many young girls can boast working for the rich and famous, work not sell their souls and bodies?
Turning to her daughter, Emma reached for her hand, 'promise me that you will be careful, that if he tries anything crazy you tell me about it. I might not be able to do much, but I swing a mean baseball bat.'
Rebecca stood up and kissed her mother's cheek. 'I will. Where is Nathan?'
'At Max's house,' her mother replied. 'Max got a new game so they are breaking it in today.'
'Ok. Heading to Peter's to meet up with Lily. Be back soon to make dinner.'
'Well, spill!' Lily greeted her as she scooted into the seat opposite Rebecca. 'How did it go? Did you meet him? Is he as cute in real life as on the mags?'
'One question at a time, Lily!' Rebecca laughed. 'It went fine, and yes I met him. As for him being cuter in person,' Rebecca shrugged, 'I don't know. I have only seen him about once or twice on those mags you cannot live without.'
Lily threw her a napkin, 'you are such a bore, Becky! Only you would not be interested in a hot celeb!'
Rebecca laughed, 'what can I say, I am a sane person who will not be pulled into the world you crazy people live in. He is a dude, and that's all I know. Has a nice chest though.' Rebecca cracked up even harder when she saw Lily's eyes rounding like saucers.
'You saw his chest?' Lily fanned herself with her hand. 'Why is it you of all people get to work for someone like Jeremy Martenson and you are not even batting an eye when you said you saw his chest?' She moved forward, placing her arms on the table, 'Was it hard?'
'I saw it, not touch it,' Rebecca rolled her eyes. She was about to say something else when her phone started to vibrate. Frowning at the unknown number, she quickly answered. 'Hello?'
'Rebecca, hi.'
Rebecca's eyes widened, 'Mr. Martenso-I mean, Jeremy. Hi, what can I do for you?' She pushed Lily's hand away as her friend tried to reach for her phone.
'Loudspeaker!' Lily demanded.
'No!' Rebecca hissed, narrowing her eyes on her friend before breaking into a smile at the devastated look on Lily's face.
'I have an early meeting tomorrow, so I expect you to come over early so you can sign some papers for me.'
'Of course, si-Jeremy. What time is early?'
'How does six sound to you? You have your keys, so if you come and I am not down yet, just let yourself in.'
'Six is fine.'
'Do you need help moving your things? I can send my driver to help you.'
'No, it's just my clothes and a few stuff,' Rebecca declined. 'I am sure Old Betty can handle it.'
'Old Betty?'
'My car,' Rebecca groaned as she felt colour rising on her cheeks. Now why would she go around letting her potential employer know that she has named her car? 'I-uhm-named my car Old Betty.'
Jeremy gave a slow laugh, 'I am sure you did. Alright then, see you tomorrow.'
'Yes, see you tomorrow.'
'Oh, and thanks for the cookies.'
The phone was dead before she could reply to the gratitude.
'You are such a spoilsport!' Lily pouted, hands crossing on her chest. 'I just needed to hear his voice, well his telephone voice, that is.' When Rebecca did not say anything, Lily sighed and rolled her eyes. 'You do know that I am waiting for you to tell me what the convo was all about, right?'
Raising an eyebrow to Lily, she saved her friend from curiosity by saying, 'he just wanted to thank me for the cookies that I had made for him.'