Krisa
The next morning I woke up unusually early and had a long shower. Afterwards, I worked out the curls in my hair right before I tied it up. My hair actually shimmered under the light. Note to self: always steal a few squirts of Marie’s expensive shampoo!
Then I attempted make up, but I was ultra-careful to make it look as natural as possible. I hardly wore make up, and if Paul saw me this morning with some on, he’d be even more suspicious. I used a nice cover up that hid my unwanted freckles, and then added some pinkish blush to my cheeks. I desperately needed the colour.
I felt good. It’d been so long since I cared about my appearance. I shouldn’t have let myself go like that. I needed to reclaim some parts of me back. Not the bad parts, though. Just the ones that made me feel good on in the inside.
I successfully dodged Paul during breakfast and hurried out the door after giving Marie a kiss on the cheek. She glowed at that and I hoped she was as happy as I felt!
The twenty minute ride to Kale’s house was a sunshiny one. The warmth in the November air would only get worse as the day wore on, I knew, so I basked in its glory this morning. About five minutes away from the house I heard a buzz from my cell phone and flipped it open to read the text.
Hey Krisa, I’m occupied at the moment, but I have left the door open for you. Take a seat and wait for me when you get here. I’ll tell you what I need done after I’m finished.
Well, it was a no brainer who that was from. I quickly saved his number to my phone, giddy that I actually had it in my contacts list. My smile slowly disappeared as I recited the text in my head. He was occupied? And I had to wait until he was finished. The words “occupied” and “finished” made me think of that hot brunette he was occupied with the first time I saw him. Oh, man, was she his girlfriend? Oh, I’m such an idiot. Of course she was. A man that looked like him couldn’t be single.
Sinking in my seat a little, I sighed. That was expected. Silly of me to take that crush an extra mile without my brain’s permission. Well, it was a good kick up at the ass. I added her to my imaginary hit list, and not because she was Kale’s, but because she called me a bitch. Keep telling yourself that, dumbass.
The gates were opened, and I spotted a Mercedes next to the Lamborghini of his out front. I got out and walked to the house, feeling the dread build bit by bit. I entered as quietly as possible and found a chair had been placed beside the stairwell. It hadn’t been there the last time, so I figured Kale put it there for me.
I took a seat on the chair and didn’t have a chance for another thought. Noises littered the top floor. Really loud noises. And not the noises I was expecting to hear, either. They were angry screams that made my pulse quicken.
“You seriously have another fucking thing coming if you think you can sit there and tell me how you’re going to manage my personal life! I swear to fucking God, you won’t forget this!” Kale was screaming his ass off, the rage so full in his voice it gave me chills. I couldn’t imagine being on the other side of that shit-storm.
“You’re so dramatic, Kale,” retorted a calmer voice that I immediately recognized. Sheryl. “I’m here because the family sent me. I’m trying to help you–”
“Stealing my fucking businesses is not helping me!”
“We’re not stealing, Kale. We want to manage them for you just for now.”
“Yeah, you’re so full of shit. That’s exactly what you said to Kyle, and look what happened to his club–”
“Oh, you’re still stuck on that? That was a completely different issue, separate from this situation. You’re going through some trouble, and we want to help you manage them–”
“So that you can send me away!” he roared, and the level of rage in his voice was only rising. “Don’t think that I don’t know about you plotting behind my back, about sending me off to some fucking therapist! What the fuck is a man behind a fucking degree gonna do?”
Oh my.
I let out a long exhale and wondered if I should leave. My mind told me to – no, it actually begged me to – but I sat there instead, like a wide eyed doll, unmoving. I wanted to hear this, and I didn’t know why. It wasn’t like me to eavesdrop, but he did tell me to come in and the level of noise they were producing was not something I could just avoid. Unless I put my hands over my ears, which would have been the honourable thing to do. I decided against honourable, though, and actually leaned toward the staircase to listen in better.
“Kale, be reasonable,” Sheryl said, and I idly admired her patience. “When you’re like this, you get overly paranoid–”
“You’re not going to fucking convince me of shit, so quit trying!”
“Have you been drinking?”
There was a moment’s pause, and then, “Are you serious right now? Is this why you’re here, really? To check in on me? If I was fucking drinking, would I still be standing right now? Use some brain cells, Sheryl.”
“Just calm down. We all care about you, we’re all trying to help you break your toxic habits that you’ve put yourself in–”
“Oh, yeah? What habits?”
“Do you really want me to go there right now, Kale?”
“Yeah, I want you to go there!”
“Really, now? Fine. Brian told me about those escorts you’re contacting. Wasn’t long ago with the last one, huh?”
“Oh, fuck me, here we go again. What I do, who I fuck, and where I find them, is none of anybody’s business! It’s called a personal life. You don’t see me attacking your last three failed marriages, do you?”
Ouch.
Another moment of silence.
“You know what, Kale, I’m done. I’ve tried. I’ve damn well tried and it’s impossible to get through to you. You want to be spiteful and senseless? Fine! I want no part of your impending crash. You’re a disaster!”
“Yeah, yeah, just go, Sheryl. Just go.”
I quickly turned my head away from the staircase when I heard the sound of heels clicking. I heard some sniffles and a light cry and then she appeared, viciously wiping away her tears. She startled when she saw me a foot away from her seated and still as a mannequin. I’m sure my face was the only lively thing about me, and it was screaming, holy shit!
“What are you doing here?” she asked me, and then she quickly shook her head. “No, I don’t want to know. Run very far away, young lady. And do it soon.”
Whoa.
Did she forget that she was the one that hired me? In fact, did she even remember me at all? I watched her, dressed in a top notch business outfit with her straightened red hair and diamond stud earrings, hurry to the front door. She left with a loud slam.
Before I had the chance to even digest this entirely bizarre situation, there he was, at the bottom of the stairs, looking down at me with the most bewildered look on his face. I may as well have been Santa Claus armed with a machete.
He stood in front of me, hands in the pockets of his jeans, and cleared his throat. One might think he was… embarrassed? It was awkward to say the least.
“I’m not sure how much you heard of that,” he started, and waited for me to respond. But I weakly smiled at him instead and hoped I didn’t have to answer.
Clearing his throat, he raked a hand through his hair and then down his face like he was exhausted by something. “My sister… She’s invasive. In fact, my whole family is. They’re like leeches, you know? Instead of blood, they suck the life out of you. They… bring out the worst in you. That was sibling rivalry, you know?”
I shrugged.
“You don’t have any siblings?”
“No.”
“Well, you know, siblings fight and bicker and say shit that’s…” He paused and a flicker of confusion crossed his face. Perhaps he was wondering why the heck he was telling me this. “Anyways…”
Anyways….what? I raised my eyebrows and waited. Waited for what felt like an eternity for something to be said. But he was just looking at me. Blue eyes fiercely staring into mine and it was like he was searching for something.
You know, if someone had watched this unfold, I’m sure they’d have been freaked the hell out by the strangeness of it all. They’d probably be wondering why the hell I was still seated there after everything I heard. Why didn’t I run far, far away?
Answer was simple: I don’t know.
“Anyways,” he started again quietly, “you’re here to clean, right?”
“Right,” I nodded. “As long as it’s not glass, I’ll do whatever you want.”
“Is that an invitation?”
“What?”
The corners of his lips flickered in amusement, but he shook his head. “Nothing. Come on, I’ll uh… figure out what I want done.”
Figure out? What, did he not know?
He took me to his bedroom and then waved his hand to the clothes on the floor.
“Laundry,” he declared. “You can do that, right?”
“Sure. I don’t think it’ll take four hours, though,” I laughed lightly even though there was nothing remotely funny to laugh about.
“Why not?”
“Uh… because laundry is not really a big chore. Should only take me a little over an hour.”
I watched him think about this. Really, what could he possibly be thinking through? As he did, I let my eyes travel down his body. Goodness, he was big and it was all muscle. Another tight shirt today, this time it was a plain white tee and it hugged him so well I could make out the lines of his stomach and… Ah, I needed to stop acting like a freaking tween.
“Do you cook?” he asked.
“Like what?”
“It’s not a part of your job description, I’m sure, but I’m a little peckish. I’ve got some bacon and eggs in the fridge. Are you hungry?”
What the hell? “Uh…I guess.”
“You guess or you know?”
Always with the straight forward answers! “I know.”
“Then leave this shit for later and let’s cook some breakfast.”