Valerie's call astonished Chris. He had never intended to genuinely offer her a housekeeper job. The offer had been only figurate, to make her feel small, but she had taken it literally. He had never anticipated that Valerie would actually accept being his housekeeper. He knew then that she was in a deeper predicament than he may have thought, and he felt bad about how he had treated her. For a moment, he wasn't sure of what to do as she spoke over the phone. He wondered if he could offer her a better position, but he finally decided to take her as a housekeeper.
Chris was not accustomed to sharing his residence since the demise of his parents four years prior. Just after their death, Chase, his twin brother had left too and he had been used to the silence. He knew that everyone imagined his mansion filled with cooks, and designers… but in fact he just lived alone in the mansion. The mansion janitor would come, but only occasionally.
Chris observed Valerie speculatively as she loaded her time worn belongings in his open truck, ready to take off to his house. He almost thought he was dreaming, completely swimming in disbelief of what he was doing. Chris felt that Valerie was too naive for a twenty five year old woman. The ride to his house was long and boring. There was dead silence in the car, until Valerie broke the silence.
"This is going to be the worst decision l have ever made!",
Chris deliberately ignored her comment focusing on his driving.
"Well if you must know, l am already planning my escape route. I have another job interview in a week".
"How about you focus on your new job as a housekeeper?", he responded coldly.
"Someone has got their grumpy pants today!", she snapped.
In disbelief of what she had just said, Chris took a glance at her. " What makes you think you can get away with talking to me like that, you are not intimidated by me at all, are you?", he asked, intrigued by curiosity.
"I'm more intimidated by your haircut! Who did that to you?", Valerie said, laughing her lungs out.
Chris just could not do it anymore. He kept quiet. Finally, they arrived at the mansion. Valerie was
Valerie was astonished at how huge Chris' mansion was, she assumed there would be loads of work to do but with the money he had offered that was thrice her salary at her former work where she'd been fired ,it was worth it. Chris carried her laugage from the car.
"This way,please",he said politely.
"Drop the act. I know you're not that nice!", she said.
"Don't start now", he said as he opened the door for her and she got in. She looked around.
"I can't believe how ignorant l can get sometimes, Mr Malvins. I was going to miss this?", she said as she went up the stairs.
"If you can wait l will show you around….",Chris said but Valerie was already on the second stair.
"Oh my God? There is a third stair too?", she screamed. Chris wasn't sure he would be able to deal with her. She was loads of work, but they needed each other's help and he had to be tolerant.
The first two days on the job had been rocky, with a series of incidents testing Valerie's patience. Chris had sent her back to re-clean the windows, deeming them not sparkling enough. He had also deducted money from her salary for a broken wine glass. Furthermore, he had insisted she wear a uniform at all times.
"I hate being forced into this uniform", she complained.
"Poor Valerie does not like a uniform…how ever will she survive?" he said sarcastically, walking up the stairs. His decision was final, no uniform or no deal. While Valerie had tolerated these demands out of respect for her boss, she now felt his behaviour was crossing into abuse, and she wasn't willing to stand for it, even if it was her only way to survive. She just had to find a way to get back to him.
A week later, it was eight in the morning as Chris sat for his breakfast, before leaving for work. He took a bite of what he thought was the most terrible sandwich he had ever tasted and coffee was the worst. But she had done all that deliberately and he knew it.
"Valerie?", he called angrily.
"Yeah,what?", she answered lazily as she pulled her legs to the lounge where Chris was sitted, a frown on his face.
"I'm not sure what's more disturbing to me, the flavour of this garbage coffee or the texture of this stale poisoned sandwich", he complained.
"What?", she acted confused, but she knew what she had done. She walked closer to Chris and held the cup which had the coffee.
"Yes, Valerie taste it, go on, I don't want you thinking l am exaggerating, taste the coffee", he said. Valerie sipped a mouthful of coffee and in a split second of drama, the coffee reappeared all over Chris shirt.
Chris growled with disgust. "Valerie, just how much more childish can you be?", he roared with anger. " Great, just what l needed. A caffeine bath! And l'm terribly late for work".
"I am sorry, Mr Malvins but this tastes really terrible. I am sorry, let me go take a clean shirt for you!",she said with a wide grin. She came back from his bedroom in a few moments. Chris watched her pretext. "So you think l am not aware that you did that on purpose?", he asked.
Valerie ignored him and said, "I took another shirt for you sir, its on the bed", she said.
He looked at her suspiciously but did not say another word. He stood up immediately and went upstairs to clean himself up. He came down again in a few minutes wearing the shirt Valerie had taken out for him. She smiled.
"Shall l make another meal for you,sir?",she asked tenderly and Chris wondered why, all he knew was she up to no good. Her wide smile was what worried him.
"No, please don't", he answered as he grabbed his car keys to go. "Bye!", she sang as he drove off. Valerie cleaned up and sat on the couch watching a movie, waiting for the moment Chris would come back home, angry as ever.
When Chris had left home the same morning he was upset because of what had happened, especially when his shirt got spoilt over the coffee Valerie had spat on him. That was one of his favourite shirts and he hoped she would take off the stain or he would have to buy an identical new one, but he would prefer deducting the money from her salary, that would 'serve her right' and teach her to be more careful, he thought. He arrived at work in a bad mood. He was having a meeting in thirty minutes with his manager, his personal assistant and two of his workers.
He had prepared his presentation carefully, in the meeting everyone nodded their heads in satisfaction. It was until he was a few minutes from finishing his presentation, that he felt too hot and decided to take off his coat, that he noticed the atmosphere in the room changed. Everyone was throwing talking glances at each other, looking like they wanted to burst into laughter. They laughed silently every time he turned his back on them as they looked at the large dark stain that was on the back of his white shirt.
"Excuse me, Sir?, Tess called out, trying to stifle a giggle. " I think you should know that…",
"What Tess? No talking in the meeting", he said.
"Your shirt has….",she tried speaking.
"My shirt is now the main agenda of the meeting?", he interrupted rudely. " Yes it's a vintage shirt, not to brag but only five of its kind in the whole world", he boasted. "Now can we all concentrate on the meeting and not my shirt, please?".
The meeting came to an end and they got out of his office. He sat down and took a breathe. He had made a great presentation and he deserved a treat at his favourite restaurant in town. The one that served ribs that would literally make you forget your name. So he thought he would use the restroom first and go out. It was on the toilet mirror that he saw the shock of his life. A big brown stain plastered on the back of his shirt.
"How dare she?", he groaned and gathered the last bit of strength he had. He wore his coat and stormed out of the office, furious. In about thirty minutes, he was at his home, still boiling with fury. Just how childish could she get.
Chris slammed the door, his anger palpable. "Valerie!" he bellowed.
Valerie descended the stairs, her tone cheerful. "Yes?"
Chris' face twisted in rage. "Ha! You think it's funny, don't you? That little prank of yours?"
Valerie's expression turned puzzled. "Someone's in a bad mood. What's going on?"
Chris' .anger boiled over. "You deliberately gave me a stained shirt! Dammit!".
Valerie giggled. "What? I have no idea what you're talking about."
Chris' eyes narrowed. "Don't play dumb. You know exactly what I'm talking about."
Valerie's tone turned sharp. "Because l have telepathy or something?
Chris's grip on her shoulder tightened, his face inches from hers. Valerie could feel his heartbeat racing with fury.
"Chris, let go of me," she protested. "What are you—"
Chris cut her off, his voice low and menacing. "Shut up, Valerie. Now I'll talk, and you'll listen. You'll pack your belongings and get out of my house…"
"Chris?", a voice interrupted. That was Richey's voice calling from the hallway. He let go of Valerie, a few moments later Richey showed up in the room.
"Hey, what are you doing here?", Chris asked. He had not been expecting any one.
"You just stormed out from work, are you okay, man?", then he saw Valerie, "You never told me you have company these days", he asked curiously.
"This is Valerie my helper, Valerie…this is Richey my best friend", he acquainted them to each other, feeling irritated.
"Pleasure to meet you, Valerie. You have a beautiful name and you're beautiful by the way", Richey complemented and saw Chris throwing a yelling glance at him.
"Thank you very much, now if you will excuse me gentlemen, l will go make some food for the both of you", Valerie said in a chilled and well mannered way, then she went to the kitchen.
"What?", Richey asked as he saw Chris glancing weirdly at him.
"Don't even think about in. She is bad news!", he replied. "She is bad news do not let her looks deceive you. She is a bad cook too. This morning she…" he continued.
"Is there something you aren't telling me,Chris?",Richey interrupted. Chris raised his hands innocently, "None, nothing at all!".