Ada Johnson's P. O. V
The pattern of rain pounding against the roof is what rouses me from my sleep. My bleary eyes flutter open as my eyes immediately capture the sight outside of the window. Grey cloudy skies with streaks of thunder erupting between them as rain cascades down from them. The entire sight makes me want to smile as I snuggle up deeper into the bed, the plush pillow practically melting underneath the pressure of my head. Unable to help myself, I sigh in content as I let my eyes close once more, listening to the calming sound of rain all around me, lulling me back into a peaceful sleep.
The moment seems to be ripped from me in the blink of an eye as this time my alarm blares at an irritatingly loud volume while my body faces torment from being whacked repeatedly by a pillow. My eyes peel open as my head shelters itself behind my arms, seeking protection as the pillow starts beating against my face. "What?" I groan out in a raspy voice as the hitting stops and I hear a soft thud of the pillow being dropped on the floor.
"Wake up or we'll be late." Eva's enthusiastic voice disrupts the peaceful quiet. Lowering my arms from my head, my eyes catch sight of a wide awake Eva who's already dressed and ready for the day ahead of her. A low whine escapes my lips as my body wants nothing better to do than to fall asleep for the third time this day but a responsible part of my brain nags at me continuously to get up and not loiter about since I can't afford to let this opportunity to slip past me.
"Okay," I finally mutter, clearing my throat as my voice comes out husky due to the sleep I was just rudely awoken from. Sitting up, my hands rub at my eyes before I blink multiple times from the exhaustion that's hit me like a freight train. Stretching my arms up above me, I ignore Eva's look of bemusement as she waits somewhat patiently for me to start getting ready.
"Go," I shoo her away with my eyes still half closed, "I'll be down in a minute for breakfast." That seems to be enough for Eva as she stands up and gives me a nod before hurrying downstairs, probably getting a start on breakfast.
As I trudge into the bathroom, my mind wanders back to last night and the man that I could potentially be meeting today. Thankfully Eva and I always stay at her parents house after an event like that since it usually ends very late and her parents don't like the thought of either of us going home that late at night. I as always end up crashing in my old room since when I used to live here back during high school, Mr. And Mrs. Rodriguez practically raising me as their own till I moved out after high school. I really need to pay them back for their hospitality one way or another.
After taking a shower and getting dressed in record time, I head back into my old bedroom and smile at the unchanged room. The lilac walls and soft crème furnishings used to be my safe haven back then and I still feel a sense of attachment to it as I make sure the old wooden dresser which I got my clothes out from is closed properly. After I make the bed and make sure everything is back in it's rightful place, I make my way downstairs and into the kitchen, smiling brightly at the family of three who argue amongst themselves in Spanish.
"Good morning." I chime happily as Mr. Rodriguez gives me an equally bright smile while his wife Flora frets about as soon as she sees me, making me sit at the kitchen island while she serves me a full plate of breakfast consisting of nearly everything. Not one to let an opportunity of eating food to go to waste, I dig in and soon get immersed in the family bickering, only picking up a few words here and there as they smoothly glide from one language into the other all while I nod along, pretending I understand everything.
Not too long later, Eva and I are sitting in the car after numerous threats from Flora who I could only simmer down after promises of visiting more frequently. With that done and sorted, the both of us were speeding down the highway and over to where Greg's grandmother's house is. Nerves hit me all at once as they always do whenever I have a first day at a new job. Even after countless words by Eva who still tells me that Marjorie is a sweetheart once you get to know her, I am weary since Eva also told me she can be lethal with her words if she doesn't like you.
How bad could Marjorie be? However I've had firsthand experience with little old woman who seem so incredibly sweet. That is until they open their mouths and say nothing but mean things.
"Trust me, if you're ever faced with a mean old woman who can't seem to shut up, just pull her dentures out." Eva says with a wave of her hand as she pulls into another lane while my eyebrows raise at her words, a laugh escaping me, "I don't know about you, but I am going nowhere near a woman's mouth. She'll bite my hand off." I grumble, not doubting my words either.
Eva continues to give me tips about how to silence mean old women but I make a mental note of never trying them out on Marjorie, or anyone person in fact since most of the tips she gave me were straight up mean and violent. Nothing that surprises me since the woman herself could compete with the devil with how mean she is sometimes.
The journey isn't long as we pull up to a quaint looking cottage in a very posh part of time. The sort of place where you could leave your front door open and no one would bother to come in. The gated community sprawling with children and people who rush from their driveways and into their homes, wanting to evade the thunderous rain as it pummels down in sheet after sheet. Eva pulls into the driveway of the house that seems to be bursting with vibrant flowers of all sorts in the front garden, not a weed in sight.
I suppose Marjorie seems to have a green thumb, something which I am definitely lacking so if she asks me to garden for her, I'm sure me plucking more flowers than weeds will be all the information she needs that gardening is not my forte.
The both of us scamper up the cobblestone path that leads to the front of the house and under the doorway which has a ledge over the top of it, stopping the rain from getting to us. I reach up and press the doorbell, waiting anxiously as the sound of footsteps echoing throughout the house reach us. A few seconds go by and before I know it, the door is being flung open and a woman appears at the door, pulling Eva into a hug immediately while squeezing the life out of her. I stand awkwardly to the side, deciding to step in and shut the door behind me so as to keep the rain out.
The woman croons to Eva in a soft voice as she hugs the old woman back equally as endearing till she takes a step back and I get a view of the woman in front of me. The woman seemed to be even tinier than Eva as she peers at me with her big doe like blue eyes. Marjorie's blonde hair curled and sits right above her shoulder while wearing a floral blouse and black pants with loafers on her feet.
I stare back at her, not knowing what she's going to be like but the staring contest doesn't last long as Marjorie's lips part into a smile, laugh lines making her whole face brighten up even more as she dawdles forwards and pulls me into a hug as tight as the one Eva received. I hug back with a breath of relief, glad she wasn't the mean type, true to Eva's words.
"You must be Ada." Marjorie voices with the same soft voice as she grabs my hand and pulls me down the hall, even though it's more like a shuffle since the woman limps slightly from one foot to the other as she pulls me towards the kitchen. I get a glimpse of the interior of the house full of antique looking furniture, plush carpets and rugs with throws adorning the brown leather sofas. The entire cottage has a very warm and homey vibe making you want to grab a hot cup of tea and curl up with a book while listening to the gentle patter of rain.
That seems like heaven to me, a luxury that I very rarely manage to obtain.
As we enter the kitchen, this seems to hint towards a more interior as it's filled to the brim with stainless steel equipment with a long black granite counter breaking up the kitchen from the dining room. We stop here as Marjorie asks us if we'd like tea or some coffee. I opt for the former while Eva opts for the latter and we make ourselves comfortable at the small bar stools placed on one side of the counter.
"I will try to stay out of your hair darling since I know you wouldn't want an old woman hovering around after you," Marjorie says with a weary chuckle before continuing, "Honestly if the work gets hard for you or you can't finish up in one day, it doesn't matter if it continues into the next. I'm just grateful for the help." She says nicely as she pats my hand before placing our drinks in front of us.
"What does the work entail exactly? Grocery runs? Cleaning?" I tick off as Marjorie nods at me, "Yup along with the laundry. On my good days I'll do that myself but sometimes I can barely get out of bed." She chuckles while I frown, wondering what happened to her since she wasn't old enough to be bed ridden. I'd say she'd be in her late sixties to early seventies.
Sensing the question in my gaze, Marjorie speaks up, "I recently had a hip replacement but it was a bodged job and had to get that sorted so now I'm recovering from not only the replacement but the fixing for the replacement." She says while waving her arm in the air as if it wasn't a big deal.
Taking a sip of my tea, we lapse in silence for a few minutes, "Would you like me to start today or do you have another day in mind?" I ask politely, not minding whenever I started since it didn't seem to be too hectic. Maybe if I was juggling all three jobs at once I would have been pushed to the edge but luckily, that isn't a worry anymore.
"The sooner the better actually, but if you have something to do today then by all means; you can start tomorrow." Marjorie answers back with a charming smile while I smile back. "I can start today. What would you like me to do?" I say as I finish my tea and standing up, motivation running through me so that she knows I'm not here to daly about and actually be serious about my job.
Marjorie's smile grows as she steps over to the fridge that has a to do list for what seems like every single day, plastered to it. Motioning me forward, she instructs me how every chore is written down here and that I should just follow the time table but it doesn't matter if I can't finish before the day is up and just continue in to the next day. Nodding my head at her words, I notice how the first chore is a grocery run.
"Do you have a list of the things you need?" I ask hopefully, not wanting to rely on memory alone since I know I'll probably forget more than half of the things I need. Marjorie raises her pointer finger at me as she rushes as fast she can towards a drawer and pulls out a sheet of paper with what I need to buy.
I glance at Eva, hinting at her that I need a ride to the grocery shop since she clearly doesn't have much to do as she taps away at her phone, glancing up only after she feels my stare on her.
"Hmm?" She questions but before I can ask her to drive me to the grocery shop, a knock resounds throughout the house before the door opens and someone makes their way through the house. My eyebrow raises as I look from Eva to Marjorie.
Eva doesn't seem too pleased as a scowl adorns her face while Marjorie's smile seems to grow bigger and bigger as she hobbles out of the kitchen to meet the footsteps that are coming towards us.
Within a span of less than twenty four hours, I find those stunning blue eyes searching mine once again. My words die in my mouth as I open my mouth to utter a greeting but close it once more. Internally hating myself for acting so idiotically around him. All I manage to give Greg is a timid smile which he returns with his own grin, still keeping his eyes on me till Eva mutters a greeting, causing his attention to flick to her.
I take this as an opportunity to drink the man in. Noting how he's still in formal clothing though this different from last night as his white button up shirt clings to his body, having been caught up in the rain as my eyes lecherously lap up the sight of abs peeking through the flimsy material. His hair lays mussed up and stuck to his forehead as he raises a hand to sweep the hair back, leaning casually against the counter as he makes himself comfortable.
"I'm glad I caught you all. I was hoping to see you today before I got caught up at the office," He speaks up, eyes meeting mince once more before I hurriedly look down at the grocery list, pretending I'm immersed in the oh so difficult task.
"Why did you have to 'catch' us?" Eva asks with narrowed eyes as Greg scoffs and ruffles her hair, backing away almost immediately since everyone who knows Eva knows that you simply do not touch her hair no matter what the situation.
Greg raises his own blond brow at her before walking to his grandmother and throwing an arm around her shoulder, "Because I visit my grandmother every day like the doting and amazing grandson that I am. Isn't that right?" Marjorie rolls her eyes at him but simultaneously pats the mans hand lovingly. The sight heart warming as he grins down at her before sitting at the counter after helping his grandmother up.
"So what were you guys up to?" Greg asks as he fiddles with my tea cup that I left lying there.
"Um, I was just about to go grocery shopping for Marjorie." I speak up since Eva didn't bother to do so herself, busy texting on her phone once again.
Greg's eyes meet mine as his body turns completely towards me, sliding around on the bar stool, "Oh. You've started working already?"
"Yes, she's so lovely. I told her she could start whenever but Ada wanted to start right away." Marjorie chimes in, my face turning partially red at her sudden praise as Greg nods to himself, giving me one of his wicked smiles in the process.
"Well then lovely Ada, do you need a ride to the shop? I've got time on my hands." He says as he lifts up a set of car keys in his right hand, shaking them in front of me as I blush just a tad more at his words. Eva grunts at his words before smacking his arm away, "I can take her and I was going to. So you go to the office or whatever it is that you do." Eva says as she practically tells him to get lost, standing up and grabbing her handbag.
Greg doesn't seem to get the hint as he pats her head and forces her to sit back down before turning towards me, just about dodging Eva's hand that goes to hit him. "She doesn't even know where the grocery shop is so ignore her Ada. Cmon. We can bond on the way there."
"I-uh." My words fail me as they always do in his presence. My eyes dart from a disgruntled Eva to Greg who doesn't seem like he'll take no for an answer. Glancing back at Eva, she sighs before motioning for me to go ahead. Heeding her words, "Sure. Let's go." I mumble to Greg who seems content with my mumbling as he gestures for me to go first.
Nerves course through me as I gulp at the thought of being in such close quarters as the man. Not because Greg might do something but just because my thundering heart could be heard of from a mile away as my palms sweat.
Great Ada. Just great. You're crushing over a man who you met just last night.
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AN: Hello everyone! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Let me know what you think and how the pace is moving so far. It might seem rushed but don't worry, it'll pace out or so I hope lol.
Question: Do you prefer the sunshine or rain?
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