The next morning, despite the dream she had last night, Helena felt rather chipper for once. She got a good morning text from Chris to start her day and deep down as much as she hated to admit it, she was secretly excited to start her shift to see Mr. Reider.
She arrived at the mansion 20 minutes earlier than usual, but didn't see Mrs. Daville on her way out to her limo this time. Once she knocked on the giant wooden door, it was Madame Lidiya who greeted her with a warm smile.
"Ah, good mornin Helena."
"Good morning to you too." She replied back. As she walked into the mansion, she found Mrs. Daville in the center of the room sitting by the fireplace. She was sipping from a steaming porcelain tea cup and staring into the crackling fire.
"Good morning Mrs. Daville." Helena greeted her.
Mrs. Daville glanced over her shoulder at Helena before sucking on her teeth and turning her attention back to the fire.
"Don't, how you say, mind her, myshka." Madame Lidiya whispered as she led them back down to their stations. "She's not much of a morning person."
"Or a day or afternoon person." Helena mumbled under her breath once they were out of earshot.
As they continued training around the mansion, Helena's eyes would unconsciously be on the lookout for Liam. Surprisingly, he hasn't been in any of the rooms they've went into
"Um, so...did Mr. Reider step out for the day or something?" She asked.
Madame Lidiya gave her a worried look. "Yes, he has meeting in another state. He won't be back for couple of days. Why you ask?"
"N-No reason." She replied. Damn, there goes my eye candy for the day. I wish I could at least thank him for the new apron.
"I hope you're not falling for him myshka. My daughter is enough to worry about. I don't want to see you go down same path of sad broken heart women."
"Of course not! I was just curious." Helena reassured her.
"Alright, let's finish up. It almost lunch time."
That's fine. Helena thought. I shouldn't be bothered with it anyway. Chris's game is tonight and we have a date afterwards.
When her shift was over, she was a bit tired but it didn't stop her from showering and wearing one of her best outfits to Chris's game. It was a little boring for her taste, but her heart would skip a beat whenever he waved at her when he ran out to the field.
They met up after the game when It tied 5-5 and then went out to dinner. Before they left, he kissed her on the cheek! That night she felt like she was over the moon and stars and went to bed feeling amazing.
She snuggled into her pillow happily, ready to fall asleep, but something made her go stiff as a board in her bed. "No way." She said slowly.
Something was crawling on her face!
She screamed, jumping out of bed in panic and turned the light on by the door.
Cockroaches! Crawling all over the bed!
Practically in tears, Helena swat away a few of them to grab her cellphone and uniform. She ran outside to find a lot of the other tenants in their pjs, lined up, and complaining at the front office.
"I'm sorry people! We are going to have to quarantine the place and tent it up!"
"What?! Where am I supposed to live?!" Helena cried. She called her father even though it was 12:30am because she didn't know what else to do.
"Hgn hello?" A groggy voice came from the other end.
"Hi dad? I'm sorry to wake you but, the motel is infested and they're going to put a tent up tomorrow. Is there any way I can come live with you until it's back down?"
"Huh what? What's happenin? Slow down hun."
After she explained the situation to him he let out a sigh. "I'm sorry pumpkin, I don't think we can do that. Your grandmother moved back in with her caretaker. There's not enough room to fit you here now."
Helena frowned. "Oh, it's okay Dad, don't worry about it. Tell grandma I said hi though."
"Will do. I would send you another check but, it's already enough with your grandmother moving back in. I'm so sorry, stay safe out there pumpkin."
"I will don't worry." She replied and then added, "I love you."
"Love you too.
After she hung up, Helena whined and then went back inside the motel to try to recover her belongings. "I just have to wait until my first check, that's all. Then I'll be fine."
The next few days she spent sleeping inside the car parked a few streets away from the mansion to stay on time, sneaking into gyms to shower when no one was looking, and then occasionally using the Daville's bathrooms to brush her teeth and fix up her hair before anyone had a chance to say anything.
She only ate snack foods like granola bars or fruit from gas stations for breakfast and mostly cup of noodles or chips for dinner. She alternated her pants and shirts when she needed to go in public to try to wash her clothes once a week to save on laundry. "Less than a week to go. I can make it." She told herself.
Sleeping in the car eventually took a toll on her. It was making her back stiff and uncomfortable. Little by little without realizing, she was late to work by a minute at first from the lack of sleep. Down the line she got banned from 3 different gyms and before she knew it four days had passed since her last shower. Eventually she used up the rest of her money for food too.
"Oh no what am I going to do now?"
She thought about using the mansion's fancy washers and dryers to at least wash her uniform, but there was no way she could get away a second time wearing regular clothes during work hours. She did her best to press it out as cleanly as possible each day, but from the amount of work and cleaning she was doing, she was starting to sweat through it and even smell a bit.
"Okay, one hour and we're done." Madame Lidiya told her one day. "I need to run to mansion and dry clean Daville's sheets. You go mop cafeteria."
As she dragged her feet along the way, Helena realized her body and mind couldn't take it anymore. With a pail of water and a mop in hand, she set them against a wall and sat down at the first table inside the cafeteria. "I'll just rest my head down for a second...that's all."
A few maids walked by whispering to each other, plugging their noses but Helena didn't care. Her eyelids slowly drifted close.
Some time went by and the cafeteria slowly started to fill up. Someone's laughter woke her up but they instantly went silent when she pulled her head up. Helena looked around groggily while rubbing her eyes. Before she knew it, she glanced ahead to see a lady in a red blazer headed in their direction.
Crap! I can't let Mrs. Daville see me like this! She instantly climbed to her feet, desperately looking for her cleaning supplies to make it look like she's been working the whole time.
"You, Heilana. Come here." Mrs. Daville beckoned.
"Yes Mrs. Daville!" Helena rushed over, defeated. It was only a matter of time. She saw over Mrs. Daville's that Alice was laughing to herself before running off in the other direction.
"Of course, why am I not surprised." She said sarcastically under her breath.
"What are you doing? Where is your trainer? Where is Madame Lidiya?" Mrs. Daville demanded.
"I-well, I was just cleaning here and-"
"No, never mind I don't want to hear it. Let's go and find her so we can figure out a proper way to discipline you."
"Wa...wait! I-"
Mrs. Daville already turned on her heels before strutting back to the mansion.
Helena sighed and walked behind her.
"Madame Lidiya, where are you?! Report at once." Mrs. Daville called on her bluetooth. "Meet me in the study, there's something we need to discuss immediately."
Once they got there, they found Madame Lidiya folding sheets onto one of the large chairs and also...Mr. Reider?!
He was back from his trip?!
"What's wrong hun?" He asked his wife when they both came in.
"That precious girl that you wanted me to hire is what's wrong. Did you know she's been late to work four times, just this week."
"What?" He gasped in shock.
Madame Lidiya knew but kept silent.
Mrs. Daville quickly snapped her attention to the head maid.
"Do you know that I also just caught her sleeping inside the cafeteria too? Some of the maids also informed me that there's an odor coming from her as well."
That time Madame Lidiya's eyes went wide and she looked over at Helena.
"Was that was she assigned to do today? Wasting my precious hours sleeping on the job?"
"N-no miss, we, I've assigned her to mopping floors in cafeteria today."
Helena was so embarrassed. She wanted to sink into the floor as they talked about her in front of Mr. Reider. She avoided eye contact with him entirely since they entered the room. There was no way in hell she was keeping her job now.
"Now girl," Helena winced and kept her eyes to the ground when Mrs. Daville addressed her, "Give us a good reason why we shouldn't let you go since you clearly don't want to work."
Helena couldn't speak. She didn't know what to say until she looked at Madame Lidiya nervously.
"Go on child, tell us what's been goin on."
While holding back tears, she mustered out, "I'm homeless."
"What was that? Speak up!" Mrs. Daville demanded.
"I'm...homeless." Helena announced out loud. She closed her eyes. She couldn't look at any of them because she knew if she saw one of their faces of pity, especially from Mr. Reider, it was going to cause her to crumble.
"My motel got infested and my family lives out of state. I was trying to hold out until next paycheck until I can afford another motel but ran out of money."
"Oh dear." She heard Madame Lidiya say.
"Huh." Mrs. Daville gruffed.
"That's terrible. Excuse me Mrs. Daville, how bout we let her stay in maids boarding rooms for now?" Madame Lidiya asked.
"Won't do. The entire thing is filled already and she couldn't possibly afford the cost of living there either."
Everyone went silent in the room.
"It's fine really, I just need to hold out until this coming Thursday for the paycheck right?" Helena asked hopefully.
No one spoke up to agree with her.
"Actually myshka..." Madame Libya started.
"Honey, you barely did anything as measly as a tour!" Mrs. Daville interrupted with a scoff. "You'll only be paid for that 8 hour day of training. Your real pay has been counting for this week for next week! Biweekly deary. So you won't get your pay by the end of the month and that's if you actually show up on time and do your job."
"Even then, that won't be barely enough to pay for anything...right?" Mr. Reider added.
Helena sighed. "It's fine, m-my father might be able to send more money to help me out and-"
"Listen Heilena, it's either you figure out something to do today or you're fired. I can't have you continuing to lounge about my estate and keep paying you for it. I won't stand for it."
"How about I take her in?" Madame Lidiya offered. "Just until she's, how you say, back on feet? Or until bedding opens up in boarding rooms."
Mrs. Daville was about to retort but Madame Lidiya filled in with, "I understand it will take long time for opening, but it will take while for Helena to be back fully on feet again."
Mrs. Daville thought for a moment and then looked over to her husband who smiled and shrugged. "It would be pretty cruel of you to do that." He told her playfully.
"Fine! FINE! But you're working overtime today. NO PAY overtime. Two hours after work and then when you're finished, take a shower. I want you clocked in for work on the DOT from now on. I'm done giving charity work for the day. Madame Lidiya, get her to work NOW!"
"Right, I will! Let's go Helena." Madame Lidiya said and rounded Helena and took her outside the mansion."Thank goodness for that, no?" She asked, giving her a smile.
"Madame Lidiya, are you sure about this? I don't want to intrude and I have nothing to pay you back with." Helena told her sadly.
"Do not worry, Helena. My heart too big to watch someone struggle. Now, we'll get you moved in once you finish overtime and I'll prepare hot meal."
"Thank you so much Madame Lidiya. I'll never forget your kindness."
She smiled. "Of course. Now, we get back to work and then you a shower."
************
It was 9 o'clock when Helena finished and afterwards she brought what small belongings she had into Madame Lidiya's studio house. Almost dying from embarrassment earlier and being overworked sucked, but she was grateful to finally have a warm place to stay for now. Sleeping on the floor next to the bunk beds wasn't ideal but still was so much better than sleeping in her freezing car.
Madame Lidiya told her that Alice was out visiting her father for the weekend but will be back tomorrow morning. As Madame Lidiya was preparing dinner, although it smelled nice, it was making the room a little too hot for comfort. Helena went to her gym bag and switched into a tank top and shorts before grabbing a towel and a travel size shampoo and soap.
"Madame Lidiya, where do I go to shower?" Helena asked.
"It's, how you say, complicated," She called out from the stove. "It's outside around building but it's busy this time."
"Packed?"
"Yeah, go and check self but trust me, you will be waiting a while."
Helena walked outside following Madame Lidiya 's directions and saw how the showers were set up. It was like a dorm room, where it was a huge bathroom with several personal showers inside. The line went all the way around the building and after trying to wait, people started plugging their noses and moving away from her as far as possible. She sighed before walking back outside so her stench wouldn't bother anyone.
While waiting on a bench near the garden, she spotted Liam taking a stroll on the furthest path from her. He must have sensed that she was staring at him because he turned his head and he saw her, but she blushed and put her head down.
"Hey Helena! Everything alright?" He asked from afar.
She nodded and folded her hands against her towel tightly. "Please don't come over here, please don't come over here please." Her body tensed up when she saw his shoes turn towards her direction and start walking in her direction.
"Hey, what's going on?" He asked.
She didn't say anything. "Please God Almighty, don't let him smell me and turn away." She prayed.
"Waiting for the showers I presume? Yeah, I heard from Alice that it can be pretty messy and a bit of a hassle from what I recall. I'm sure we'll figure out a better solution to this soon."
"Y-Yeah." She mumbled.
"Please, just leave already, you've been around me long enough." She screamed in her head.
"I'm....sorry about your situation right now. I'm glad my wife reconsidered on letting you stay with us. I hope Madame Lidiya treats you well."
"Thank you." Helena said, stunned. "He's...happy I'm staying?"
"Of course. I'm sure after all you've been through, you would be dying for a shower by now." He responded unconsciously. "Oh...that's why you're here after all, right?"
"Yep." No duh, she giggled to herself.
"Hm.." He gazed at the line behind her and rubbed his chin. "Why don't you come over and use my shower? Just for tonight. It will just be a one time thing only."
"WHAT?!" Helena gasped.
"As long as it's this one time and we don't get caught, I'm sure it'd be fine. We'll just have to sneak you in with me."
I can't believe this!
"A-Are you sure?"
"Yes. Now shush. Follow me." He winked and guided her by her hand behind the house. The area was barely lit and he unlocked a secret back door that led straight into the mansion.
"This...feels so wrong." She thought, squeezing her towel tightly against her chest as they crept through the main room before tip-toeing upstairs. But I am feeling really gross. And he hasn't said a word about it either or even plugged his nose. I won't look a handsome gift horse in the mouth."
"My wife is in her office right now. I'd normally say take your time but try to be quick and I'll help you back out." He told her as he opened the door.
Helena's eyes scanned the entire bathroom. She's cleaned it a few times before sure, but to shower inside it? Naked with him this close?
"Give me one knock when you're done." He smiled and closed the door.
She blushed, nodding her head and faced the shower. Luckily she remembered how to turn the multiple knobs on and when she stepped into the pouring hot water, it took everything in her not to moan out of pure joy. How badly she wanted to take her time but ignored the temptation and grabbed her soap and began washing her body.
After quickly washing the shampoo out of her hair, she climbed out and dried off with her towel. As she wrapped it around her torso, she froze when she heard a knock on the door.
"Hunny, are you in there?"
Helena held her breath and stayed perfectly still.
"Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit! It's Mrs. Daville! What should I do?!"
She turned to find another door conjoined to the right and she realized that it was connected to his office. When it opened suddenly, she started to shriek but the person closed the space between them and covered her mouth.
"Don't be alarmed, stay covered." He whispered in her ear, his arm around her waist holding her so she wouldn't move or flail around.
"Yeah, I'm in here hun!" Mr. Reider called back. "I'm just about done."
"Alright, I'm heading to bed. Don't stay up too late." Mrs. Daville told him. They waited and listened to her footsteps slowly disappear back down the hallway before a door eventually opened and closed.
They both let out a sigh of relief but Helena's face flared up instantly. There was literally nothing but her towel stopping him from being pushed up against her naked body. He pulled away gently and looked into her eyes. There...was something definitely different in his when she gazed back.
"Hurry and get dressed. When you're finished, head out through that front door and sneak downstairs. I'll head into the room and keep her distracted enough to allow you time to reach the maid's boarding rooms."
"Okay." She whispered.
He smiled at her. "Give one small knock on my door when you're heading out." With that, he left out through the office door quietly.
With crazy speed, she threw on her pajama shorts and shirt before giving the tiniest of knocks and then carefully zipping back down the stairs and outside of the mansion.
"Damn that was close." She thought and on her way back to Madame Lidiya's, she daydreamed about how he held onto her, his body pressed up so close against her practically nude body.
"Yeah...so very close." She murmured.
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