The Road To Price

by Justine Elvira

  Chapter Seven

  Present

  I somehow manage to make it through the rest of the week and weekend without seeing Sebastian. I want to avoid the awkward conversation that will happen after you walk in on your boss having sex. I do, however, run into Rachel that Wednesday morning.

  Rachel was waiting for me in the living room. The second she sees me she walks over and hands me a cup of coffee. It’s her form of a peace offering. The conversation lasts only a few minutes, but she is laughing near the end of it.

  It's now Monday morning and my first official day as Sebastian’s housekeeper. I have on one of the uniforms that were left for me in my closet. The uniform is a black short sleeve polo that is form fitting and black khaki shorts that stop only a few inches past my butt. White socks and white tennis shoes complete the outfit.

  I guess it could be worse.

  I have to meet Nancy in the kitchen of the estate in fifteen minutes. She is going to go over my daily routine and then I'll be left to do my work for the day. No one will train me. The other housekeeper works the night shift so I am on my own. A large part of me is happy about this because I won’t be forced to make small talk.

  I walk into the kitchen of the employee quarters to make myself something to eat and have a cup of coffee. Most of the other women are still asleep, but Michelle is sitting at the counter, reading the newspaper.

  “Hey, you’re up early. You excited about your first day of work?”

  “I guess so. I’ll probably be more enthusiastic once I have a few weeks under my belt.”

  Michelle is easy to talk to. She seems to be a genuinely nice person. I know that if I have to make one friend here it will be Michelle. I can be myself without her passing judgment.

  “You’ll be fine. The work is relatively easy and Mr. Price doesn’t get upset very often. As long as you’re working hard you’ll be fine,” she says with a friendly smile on her face.

  “Well, I will work extra hard because I don’t want there to be any reason for Sebast… Mr. Price to come talk to me.” I almost forget that everyone else is told to call him Mr. Price.

  “Uh, yeah, I heard about what happened Tuesday night,” she says.

  I raise my eyebrows at her in shock.

  “Us girls talk. Rachel is really embarrassed that you had to see that on your first day. Especially since I wanted to slowly break you in on how things work around here. I think Mr. Price is embarrassed, too. Do you know he hasn’t touched any of us since that night?”

  I think maybe this is a rhetorical question, but Michelle seems to wait for me to speak.

  “Oh. Is that not normal? I mean, how often does he sleep with all of you?” It's been less than a week since I walked in on Sebastian and Rachel.

  “Honey, there's no sleeping going on when I am with him,” she giggles. “The girls and I don’t have a schedule or anything, but at least one of us is with him every day. He hasn’t gone a day without sex since I started here. Well… that is until last Tuesday. He hasn’t so much as looked at any of us since.”

  “Well, maybe he is getting it from somewhere else and you just don’t know about it,” I reply. If he is used to sex every day I can’t see him going six days without it.

  “I don’t think so. Rachel said after you ran out he couldn’t even finish. He put his pants back on and politely asked her to leave. I think you must have really gotten into his head. I just hope he gets back to normal soon. The man is an animal in bed,” she says as she wiggles her eyebrows at me. “Best sex of my life. The other girls think so, too. I mean, he does this thing with his tongue-"

  “Enough!” I shout. I can’t handle hearing about how he is with other women in bed. “I’m sorry, I didn’t need to shout. I just have no desire to hear about how well my boss performs in the sack.”

  Michelle smiles weakly at me.

  “I understand. I’m so comfortable telling the other girls everything, I guess I forgot that you aren’t used to it yet.”

  “It's totally okay. Listen, I have to go meet Nancy down in the main kitchen. We can talk later, okay?” I want her to know that we are okay. I don’t mean to come across as a total nutcase.

  “Sure. Have a great first day!”

  “Thanks, Michelle,” I say as I start to leave to meet Nancy.

  I walk into the estate and make it to the kitchen before Nancy, so I decide to look around. I never considered myself poor until now. This has to be the largest kitchen I have ever seen. There are four ovens, a custom made built-in refrigerator, eight electric stovetop burners, and granite countertops. The cabinets are top of the line in a deep cherry color. It is immaculate.

  I’m not one to fawn over material things, but I have to make a one-time exception.

  Nancy walks in on me drooling over the kitchen and apologizes for keeping me waiting. She can’t show me around like she wanted to due to a family emergency. She has to go take care of it so she leaves me with a stack of notes to look over and is on her way.

  The notes are easy to follow and explain where I will find all the cleaning products I'll need. According to this, Mondays are laundry and dust day. I’m expected to do Sebastian and Mrs. Price’s laundry along with every member of the live-in staff. In my spare time waiting for the loads to finish, I am to dust every room of the house. It may not seem like much to the average person, but this is not the size of an average house.

  I’m finishing reading my notes when I see movement from the corner of my eye. I look up to see Sebastian walking into the kitchen from the other end of the room. He's wearing nothing but basketball shorts. His face and body are glistening with sweat. His head is down while he listens to music through his MP3 player so he hasn’t seen me yet.

  I’m enjoying the view.

  Five days are entirely too long to go without seeing this man. He is in incredible shape. Drops of sweat are sliding down the muscles of his six-pack and I want to run my tongue over every one. With a body like that his stamina must be out of this world.

  I watch the muscles in his arms as he opens the refrigerator door. He bends over and searches the shelves for a second. I could sit here all day watching his body, although I'd rather watch his body as he is pumping himself inside me.

  Argh! I need to stop thinking about him sexually. He is my boss.

  Sebastian grabs a carton of orange juice and opens a cabinet that is next to the fridge. He grabs a glass and pours himself a drink. After returning the carton to the fridge he turns my way and we lock eyes.

  He just caught me ogling his body. Way to give mixed signals, Mia. He takes the headphones out of his ears and places them on the counter.

  “How long have you been here?” He asks me.

  Should I lie? No, I can’t. Knowing him he has cameras in every room and he watches the footage.

  “Since before you walked in. Did you just finish your workout or do you always wake up sweaty?” Oh God, why did I say that?

  Talking about him sweaty reminds me of Tuesday night. The look on Sebastian’s face tells me it reminds him, too.

  “I wake up at five every morning. I run for thirty minutes, then I do weights, after weights I swim laps, and I finish by running for another thirty minutes. Doing that routine every morning helps me stay in shape and I can eat whatever I want.”

  “Wow,” I reply.

  “Where is Nancy? I thought she was giving you a tour this morning before you get started cleaning.”

  “There's some kind of emergency, she had to leave. She left me thorough notes that I’m reading through. I’m actually just about to get started on my work.”

  Sebastian nods his head as he lifts the orange juice to his lips. He takes a quick sip and then places his glass of orange juice on the counter.

  “Well, my first meeting isn’t until nine so I have a little time before I need to shower and get ready. I can give you a brief tour if you want?”

  He’s offering to show me around his home. I’m not going to turn down the
opportunity to be near him. As much as I hate to admit it, I want to see him. Five days have been way too long.

  “That would be great,” I say to him.

  Before we go on the tour I have to get the elephant out of the room. Otherwise it will hang over my head the whole time I am with him.

  “Sebastian, I want to apologize… about the other night.” He's finishing off his orange juice when his entire body tenses. I don’t think he expected me to address what happened.

  “It was late and I shouldn’t have barged into your office like that. I was upset and wanted to confront you right away and I wasn’t thinking. I’m sorry, and I hope you know that it will never happen again. I’ve already apologized to Rachel, but I needed to apologize to you, too, so we could move past this.”

  He walks over to the sink and places down his glass. He then turns to me and leans back against the sink. I can tell he is digesting what I have said and possibly thinking over what he will say to me. It is silent for a few moments before he speaks.

  “You don’t need to apologize, Mia. Things happen. I have felt so awful about what you walked in on. You should never have seen that… there shouldn’t have even been anything for you to see.” He pauses for a brief second and runs his right hand through his hair. He looks back up to me and continues.

  “I was upset. I was upset with what you had said to me after we made out and groped each other against the wall. Then you left and I was still hard and worked up, I just needed a release. I wanted to release inside you, but you made it very clear that we will never happen.”

  He says all this without any embarrassment. I appreciate his honesty.

  “I should have taken care of it by myself. I went to my office to shut down everything for the night. Rachel came in to see me and noticed the predicament going on in my pants. She offered to help it go away and I didn’t say no. I didn’t want her… but I didn’t say no. Then you walked in.”

  He is spilling his guts. At least that is what it feels like because up until now he hasn’t opened up about anything.

  “When I saw you… the look on your face… I felt so low. I couldn’t believe you were seeing me like that. I was mortified, I still am. I can’t imagine what you were thinking. I mean, you walked in on me, a few hours after I tried to fuck you in my dining room, fucking another woman. I know what you must think of me and I can’t argue with you. That was the lowest moment of my life and you will never have to experience anything like that again. I promise.”

  He lowers his head as if he is truly ashamed of his actions. I have to say something to ease his mind. I feel like I need to let him know it is okay. I need to protect him.

  “You don’t have to promise me anything. I did tell you that nothing could happen between us, and I did get you all worked up. I was worked up, too. You don’t owe me anything, but I appreciate you explaining to me. It means a lot that you feel like you can talk to me.”

  He gives me a weak smile, “You said you came to see me because you were upset. Why were you upset?"

  Oh, shit. I completely forgot that I'm supposed to be super pissed at him for invading my privacy. The truth is I’m not that angry anymore. You can rationalize a lot in six days, so my anger has almost completely gone away.

  Almost.

  I take a deep breath and stand up from my chair. “When I got back to my room that night my employee contract was sitting on the bed. I decided to read through the parts I hadn’t gotten to in your office.” I pause to see if his face shows any recognition of what might have upset me. His face shows nothing.

  “Everything was looking great until I got to the end and saw that you had a private investigator look into me.” His face still shows nothing so I continue, “He pulled up information you had no right to know. Information that is private, things I never wanted you to know.”

  Finally, I get some kind of reaction out of him. It isn’t much, but his body straightens and his shoulders rise slightly. He is still looking directly at me with a blank expression, but it's something.

  “I’m sorry you feel that way, but this is how I conduct my business. I have to do thorough checks on anyone who is around me for long amounts of time. It's for my safety. I can’t risk any kind of errors in the standard background check the temp agency runs. Hiring the private investigator, that’s my version of a background check.”

  He obviously doesn’t get where my anger is coming from so I continue to explain.

  “You don’t understand. I came to Miami because no one knows me here. This is my way of starting over, starting fresh. I want to…. no, I need to forget. It may not make sense to you, but it's what I need. Knowing that you know about my past, it kills me because I never had any intention of telling you. That is my secret to tell, not something you should be able to just dig up on me.

  “Miles…” I hold back the sob I can feel coming up through my throat. “My son is off limits. He is not your business and you don’t know anything about him and me. Just because you have a piece of paper that gives you a brief overview of my history doesn’t mean you know jack.

  “That’s why I came to confront you that night. I was pissed you invaded my privacy and I had to show you how wrong that was. The only reason I didn’t quit right then and there was because you would have thought it was because I saw you and Rachel. I couldn’t let that happen. You needed to know my leaving had nothing to do with you and Rachel; it had everything to do with you. Just you and the fact that you think you’re entitled to know everything.

  “I’ve decided to stay as long as you don’t bring up anything you’re not supposed to know about. I need this job, but the minute you bring up my history, I‘m out. My past is buried and it needs to stay that way. Do we have an understanding?”

  I feel like a five-day weight has been lifted off my shoulders. Sebastian is still lightly running his hand through his hair when I say this. I know I threw a bunch of shit at him, but it has to be said. In order for me to work for him I had to get everything out in the open.

  It feels like an eternity before he speaks.

  “So, what you’re saying is that you didn’t care that you walked in on me fucking Rachel on my desk?” Sebastian has the hugest grin on his face. He knows what he is doing and he knows I know it, too.

  “I just spilled my heart out to you and that’s all you got out of the conversation?” Did he not listen to a word I said?

  “I understand, the rest of what you said I understand. I was out of line and I am sorry. You won’t have to worry about me bringing up any of that shit to you. I know it's not my business.”

  Okay. That makes me feel a whole lot better and I feel like maybe things can be good between us. Maybe Sebastian and I can actually become friends.

  “Come over here and I’ll kiss you to make it all better.” He starts walking my way, “Even better, I’ll come to you.”

  Apparently, I spoke too soon on the friend thing. Sebastian is back to his flirty, sexual self and I need to cool him down… fast.

  When he is about six inches from my face, I put my hand on his chest to stop him from coming any further.

  “Friends, Sebastian. All we can ever be is friends, and I want to be your friend. You have to understand that I will never be the girl who will have casual sex with my friends. Although I don’t have any experience in how to have a relationship, I do know one thing, I am all about monogamy.”

  He lifts an eyebrow and slightly opens his mouth as if to say something, but then closes it quickly. His eyes are gentle and he takes in my face before speaking.

  “Okay, we can be friends.” His right arm lifts to tuck a piece of my hair, which has fallen in my face, behind my ear. His touch gives me that all too familiar feeling throughout my body. Am I ever going to not be affected by this beautiful man?

  I hope so and I need it to happen soon.

  “Why don’t I give you that tour now so we can both get to our work for the day?” His hand is still on the side of my head as he sp
eaks. It feels really nice to be touched in such a delicate way.

  “That sounds great,” I say, while letting out a deep breath. Sebastian then lowers his hand and instructs me to follow him.

  The tour only lasts about twenty minutes. He gives very little detail as we enter each room. He just wants me to get the lay of the land. Everything goes smoothly until we get to the last room, his wife’s room.

  He explains that Darcy’s room is off limits. She doesn’t want anyone on the staff snooping through her things. He explains that Darcy is hardly ever here, but she is a very private person. If she finds out I was in her room, she will have me fired.

  Once we are finished he brings me back to the supply room so I can start my first day at work. The room is white with built-in cabinets and shelves that house hundreds of different cleaning products. I turn towards him, waiting for him to leave so I can start cleaning.

  Sebastian is leaning against the door frame. He's looking at me thoughtfully and I feel my heart flutter. “I was thinking, maybe we should start working on this friends thing. I like the idea of having someone to hang out with who lives on the property.”

  I love that he’s considering what I had offered him earlier in the kitchen. I want to be Sebastian’s friend. I know we can never be anything more so I want to take what I can get from him.

  “That sounds like a great idea,” I say enthusiastically.

  “Well, I have several meetings around town today so I won’t be back to the estate until late. What if I come by after I get home and we can watch a movie or something?”

  A movie sounds a little too intimate for me. After everything that's happened I know we should move slowly and approach being friends with caution, but I can’t say no. There is a need in me to please Sebastian, but I want to clarify something before I say yes to him.

  “As friends?”

  He gives me that signature smile of his as he confirms, “Yes, Mia, as friends.”

  This makes me giddy inside. I don’t have to give up Sebastian. Yes, it will be hard to be around him, but I’m going to do my best to work past my attraction to him. I have been good at avoiding intimate relationships my entire life; I shouldn’t have a problem avoiding Sebastian.

  “Okay, sounds great! I’ll have popcorn, snacks, and a couple movies ready for when you come by.” This is going to go well. I can feel it in my bones. Sebastian and I are going to be great friends.

  Somehow his smile spreads even larger and I see something in his eyes that I never saw before. Is it hope? I’m not sure but whatever it is, it scares the crap out of me.

  “I’m off to go shower and get my day going. I have motivation now to finish my day as soon as possible. Call me or text if you have any issues while you work today.” I nod and with that Sebastian turns and walks out of sight.

  I scurry around the supply room, looking for the dusting products and laundry detergent I will need for the day. I now have motivation to finish my day quickly as well. I don’t waste any time getting to work and I try with all my might not to think about my plans with Sebastian this evening.