“Come on,” she said, the heat of desire spreading over her skin.“The baby is still awake.”
“Not for much longer,” he said, lifting Mia from where she sprawled on the bedroom floor, the freshly socked foot stuck in her mouth, damp with drool.
“I should get dressed,” Alex said, turning to head to the bedroom for clothes.
“Don’t bother,” he said, taking her hand.“I’m just going to undress you as soon as this baby is fed and in bed. Plus, you look beautiful just the way you are.” He leaned over, kissing her sweetly and then nuzzling his face in the curve of her neck.
“Let’s go get some dinner together,” she said, walking down the hall with him, hand in hand.
…
“So, what do you think?”she asked, setting her dinner dishes next to the sink before turning filling it with water and dish soap.
“A maid?” Rick said, reaching into a drawer and pulling out one of the many mismatched dishtowels that inhabited the space.“You really think we need a maid?”
“No,” she said, wiping the remains of Mia’s dinner off of her plate andscrubbing it clean before setting it into the other sink.“Need isn’t the word,” she continued, as he rinsed the plate, drying it thoroughly before slipping it back into the stack with the rest of the plates.
This had become their routine. Each night after dinner, they would put Mia to bed together, singing her songs and reading her stories until the little ones eyes would droop. When she was asleep, they would head to the kitchen to wash the dinner dishes together. It wasn’t exciting, and it wasn’t overly romantic, but it was time that they had to spend together, just the two of them, without anything else drawing their attention away from the other.
“You want to go back to work,” she said.
“But I don’t have to,” he said, interrupting her.“I could stay home awhile longer.”
“Babe,” she said,“I know that you want to get back to it. You love that job almost as much as you love Mia and I. I know that you’ve enjoyed staying home with us, and we both appreciate having you with us just as much, but I think that we both know that it is time.”
“And you want a maid,” he said.
“I want a maid,” she said, confirming.“I just think that if I try and do everything, that I’m not going to have the energy to enjoy any of it. I think that if I had someone to come in, if only for a few hours a day, to do the cooking and the cleaning, that I could devote all of my energies to Mia, and to you.” She leaned over, kissing him sweetly.
He reached for her, putting his hands on her waist and turning her to him, the suds from her wet hands dripping down his back as she put her arms around his neck. He deepened the kiss, pulling her body tight against him, and she sucked in a ragged breath. Her body was screaming for attention, their opportunities to make love were few and far between now that they had a child to look after.
“If you want a maid,” he said,“then you shall have a maid. Now,” he continued, reaching for the closure of her robe and undoing the knot, letting it fall open toreveal her body, warm and soft and full before him,“on to what I want.” He fell to his knees before her and put his arms around her hips, pulling her to his mouth.
Chapter 11
She needed to stop fidgeting. Trying to look professional, Gina had dug into her mother’s closet, pulling out a blouse and skirt, something that she wouldn’t be caught dead in normally. But this was a special occasion, she had a job interview this afternoon, and she needed to land this gig. Jake’s plan revolved around Gina being in the house with them, getting them to trust her.
She followed that bitch for weeks, sitting in coffee shops, wandering through grocery stores, doctors’ offices, and playgroups. Entire days were spent at the park, where Gina had to hide in the bushes to not be noticed, while little Miss Sunshine sat on a comfortable bench drinking a latté, watching her brat dig in the dirt. It was a stroke of good luck when she happened to overhear her talking to someone on the phone about interviewing for a maid.
A maid. Who the fuck actually hires a maid, when they do nothing but follow around a toddler every day? Did she think that she was too good to wash dishes, to put in a load of laundry in between her afternoon playdates and her glass of wine with dinner? It made Gina sick. People with so much can be so fucking lazy.
But, she thought, this woman’s laziness has given me the opportunity that I needed to get close to the family. She knew a woman that worked for a maid service;they had spent time at juvenile hall together in her early teens when Gina had decided to try and set her house on fire. A quick phone call had gotten her signed up for the service, and she drove by the bitch’s house late one night and dropped a card into the mail box, scrawling her name on the back of the card.
Early the next morning, she received a phone call from Miguel, the scheduling guy down at the maid service, telling her that the bait had worked, and that she had an in-person interview with the bitch today at one o’clock. She was to meet her at the coffee shop near the park on third, of course, and now here she was, dressed in her mother’s horribly itchy skirt, desperately trying not to chew at her fingernails as she waited for her prey to arrive.
“Hi,” said a voice behind her, making her jump in her seat.“I’m so sorry we’re late.” Turning, she found Alex standing behind her chair, the brat on her hip suckling on a ring of plastic keys. Bet she didn’t know that most children’s toys are breeding grounds for germs, and that unless disinfected every ten minutes, the kid was probably noshing down on streptococcus-flavored Buick.
“No problem,” said Gina, standing and offering her hand for the bitch to shake.“You must be Alex,” she said, plastering a smile on her face, making eye contact, and doing all of the things that were expected of a personable, normal woman trying to score employment.
“Yes,” she said, setting the child down in the kid seat that was quickly placed near the table by a young man in a coffee smock.
Germs. Every kid that came in here drooled on that belt that your Mommy is busy strapping you into, you little brat. Yeah, of course, put that in your fucking mouth, everybody else does it.
“Well,Gina,” she said, leaning back in her chair, wrapping her hands around a lattéthat seemed to appear before her. She must be a regular customer; the flunkies behind the counter already knew what she liked to drink. Gina picked up her own cup, the coffee inside now cold; she had been waiting for Alex and the brat to show up for almost an hour before they actually arrived.
“Yes?”said Gina, smiling broadly, putting on her participation face. She was ready to feed this woman all of the bullshit that she could muster. She needed to land this job; it all hinged on this.
“Why don’t you tell me a little about yourself?”said Alex, sipping at her cup.
Gina spent the next hour spoon feeding this woman all of the lies that she and Jake had come up with. He knew her and had done lots of research into her life, so he knew all of the exact things to say to her. She had not grown up in the suburbs, spent time in trouble with the law, and had definitely not spent any time in the loony bin. Instead, she had grown up the oldest of six children, whose mother had died giving birth to the last one, leaving Gina to take care of the house and her many siblings. A lifetime of struggling had taught her the value of hard work, as well as that of a tidy house. She had developed a love of cooking at a young age, spending her free time learning new techniques, as well as ways to make her diet healthier, using purely organic and farm raised foods when she could afford it. She wanted to work for Alex to raise money to help send her younger brother to college, as he had developed a penchant for photography, and Gina saw great potential in him to make art that would speak to the world.
“Gina,” said Alex, smiling broadly, nodding her head as she swallowed each deceitful bite.“I think that you and I will make a great team,” she continued.“Welcome to the household.” With that, she held out her hand, offering a handshake to seal the deal. It had worked. Gina was to start
work the next week, arriving at the bitch’s doorstep at 8 o’clock.
…
“You should have seen it,” she said, snuggling into the crook of his arm, reaching to unbuckle his belt.“I was wearing my mom’s fucking tweed skirt.” She cackled with laughter, slipping her hand under the waistband of his undershorts, fishing around until she found his flaccid penis. She began to stroke it vigorously inside his pants, hoping to spark life into the thing. She wanted to get laid; it had been forever since the last time that she and Jake had been able to steal a moment of privacy. Most times, when she came to visit, the orderlies kept such a close eye on them, making them sit in the day room with all of the other crazies. But there were opportunities, few and far between that they were, for them to have a few minutes in his room with the door closed.
“You got the job,” Jake said, resting his head on the headboard, staring out the window, disinterested in what Gina was doing with her hands.
“Fuck yeah I did,” she said, hauling his cock out, leaning over and sucking it into her mouth. She licked at it, pleased to see that it was finally reacting to her touch.“Course I did,” she continued, standing up on the bed and sliding her skirt up over her hips. She wore no panties, as was usual, and she squatted over his lap, licking her fingers to rub at her clit as she slid down on his now stiff cock.
“That’s great babe,” he said, pulling back from wherever he had drifted to while they were talking—only now seeming to realize that this girl was riding him furiously in an attempt to have an orgasm. He should reward her; she had done a good job. He sat forward, sucking her nipple into his mouth, and bit down on the sensitive tip.
Gina squealed in pleasure and bounced up and down on his lap, her arms draped around his neck. She grabbed the hair at the back of his neck, tugging roughly on it to force him to lean back, and sealed her mouth on his, their tongues dancing as her body seized with orgasm.
Chapter 12
She pulled at the collar of her blouse, unused to the starched texture against her skin. It was early, much earlier than Gina liked to be out doing anything, let alone getting ready to clean some bitch’s house, but this was important. She had been standing on the porch, ready to ring the doorbell for half an hour now, watching the minutes tick away on her digital watch, not wanting to seem overly eager.
At ten minutes to eight, she couldn’t stand the waiting any longer, and her bladder was screaming for release. She pressed the bell, listening for footsteps on the other side of the door. A moment later Alex opened it, looking relaxed in a pair of yoga pants and a t-shirt, her hair pulled back in a loose bun. Gina didn’t know what she had expected, a business suit and diamonds, high heeled shoes, but she was surprised to see that the woman padded barefoot through the house, leading the way to the kitchen—where she had prepared coffee for them both to share.
“I thought we’d go over some stuff today,” said Alex, crossing her legs under her as she sat in a kitchen chair near the toddler, who was shoving pieces of fruit into her mouth with both hands.
“Sounds good,” said Gina, sitting down in the opposite chair. Alex bounced up from her spot, plucking the coffee pot off the burner, setting it on the table in front of Gina.
“I don’t know what you like in your coffee,” she said,“soI put out everything.”
Sitting around the small kitchen table, they discussed the tasks that Gina would be expected to perform each day, mostly involving cleaning the house and washing laundry, as well as preparing the evening meal before being let go at about four o’clock each afternoon. Gina sat, uncomfortable in her mother’s clothes, sipping at the tepid coffee and nodding in agreement to everything that Alex talked about. Out of the corner of her eye she was watching the brat shove handfuls of smashed banana into her open mouth, giggling furiously at a joke that only she could understand. Bananas just were not that funny.
Alex had her start right away, showing her where the cleaning supplies were located then scooping up the toddler and carrying her up the stairs, leaving Gina to clean up the mess left behind by their little coffee date. She took the plates to the sink, irritated that someone who could afford a house as nice as this didn’t have a goddamn dishwasher. Pulling on the pink, plastic gloves that were provided, Gina plunged her hands into the soapy water.
…
“So do you think you can do it?” Jake asked her, leaning against the wall in the small cubicle in the day room that held the only telephone. It would not make outgoing calls, only when one of the orderlies called your name, telling you that someone on the outside had actually made an effort to get in contact with you, were you allowed to turn your back to the room. The half walls surrounding the chair gavean illusion of privacy—though most of the time one of the crazies would wander over and peer over the wall at you till you chased them away.
“Fuck yeah I can,” Gina replied. He could hear the excitement in her voice clearly through the phone line. She had been on board with this plan from day one andhad turned out to be quite the good little trooper. He had told her the story, seasoned with a good dose of bullshit, with some of the more important details left out to make him seem the victim in all this. He painted a picture of two lovers, innocent and pure, looking to run away from the evil prying eyes of a world that didn’t approve of their union. He told her how they had pined for each other, spending months planning their escape, only to have their plans thwarted by his malicious brother, who had stolen his love for his own, convincing her and the rest of the world that he was mentally unstable and needed to be locked in a cage for the rest of his life, never to see her again.
The story spoke to her, as any tale of unrequited love with an evil family member thrown in would touch the heart of any young girl raised on Disney movies. When he included the part of the story where his love was brainwashed by his evil brother, where she was convinced that it was he that she loved, and that they were since wed, leaving Jake to rot away in his prison, lonely and heartbroken, he could see the tears welling up in her eyes.
“Were it not for you, dear Gina,” he said, taking her hands in his that day.“I don’t think that I would have been able to handle it.”
“Fuck that guy,” she had said, wiping away the tears from her cheeks with the back of her hand, smearing her mascara, a black smudge underneath her right eye.
“It’s just not fair,” Jake said, sniffling back his own crocodile tears.“That I’m in here being tortured in this prison while he’s free to do what he pleases. When I heard that they were expecting a child…” he let his words drift away, the pain of this truth too much for him to bear.
“A baby?”she asked, her voice meek and small. She had gone on and on about how she and Jake should have a baby, many times. To her, having a baby of her own would be the pinnacle of happiness.
“Yeah,” he said,“a little girl. Now he has the family that I always wanted. He sold our house, the only home that I have ever known, and moved into some big house out in the country, leaving me here in this cage.”
“Oh baby,” she said, snuggling up next to him.“I’m so sorry.”
“I just,” he said, his breath catching in his throat,“I just want…”
“What do you want?”she asked.
“I just want him to suffer,” he said, releasing the floodgates, letting the tears cascade down his cheeks, sobbing violently in her arms.
And so, he had told her his plan, but in a way that made it sound like it had been her idea. She was going to save him from his suffering, but she would transfer it to his fucking brother.
…
“Hey Gina,” Alex called from the hall, Mia cooing happily on her hip.“I am going to put Mia down for her nap, would you mind checking in on her while I take a shower?”
Gina appeared in the doorway to the little girl’s room, a bucket filled with cleaning supplies in her left hand.“Not a problem,” she said, smiling sweetly as the toddler stretched out her arms, reaching to touch the woman’s cheeks. Mia had taken to he
r quickly, often following her from room to room, as fast as she could crawl, to observe her activities. Alex had found them on several occasions, playing together in the sun on the dining room floor, the cleaning abandoned in exchange for a game of peek-a-boo. She couldn’t blame Gina, her daughter had the ability to steal your attention away from the mundane things in life that needed to be done. There was nothing more alluring than the giggle of a toddler on a sunny afternoon.
“I appreciate it,” said Alex, setting the baby down in her crib, putting her stuffed doggy in her arms to snuggle with.“I have a lunch date with my father,” she said, crossing to the bedroom door,“and I want to look like I care a little more than this.” Chuckling, she gestured at the yoga pants with the finger paint on the thigh, the tank top, and the bunny slippers on her feet.
Gina laughed along with her, waving her hand andhurrying Alex along down the hall toward her shower.“I got this,” she said.“Go do your thing.”
Alex padded down the hall toward the room that she and Rick shared. Stepping through the door, she kicked it shut behind her, reassured that Gina was listening for any sound from Mia. The girl loved to sleep, usually nodding off seconds after she was placed in her crib, sound asleep until someone came to lift her out of her dreams and back into the day.
She pulled the tank top over her head, tossing it into the laundry hamper as she stepped out of her yoga pants and kicked them into the pile. She should put in a load this afternoon, before heading out to see her father. Undoing the tie from her hair, she let it fall loose around her bare shoulders, tumbling down her back. She stepped nude into the master bathroom, the tile cool under her bare feet. A large window overlooking the back garden was built into the wall of this room, filling it with sunlight as she reached into the shower and turned the knobs, adjusting the temperature of the water before stepping under the spray.
The Trouble With Bodyguards: Part 3 Page 7
