Melanie wanted to slap her upside of the head and scream “What the hell are you complaining about…you’re a freakin’ millionaire!” but figured that would be inappropriate.
“Ms. Clover, you have been left the after-taxes sum of exactly one hundred thousand dollars.”
Melanie’s legs went weak. She could take a real vacation. She could move into an apartment with adequate soundproofing.
“In addition, my client has left you her home and all of her material possessions, and has set up a trust fund that will cover all expenses involved in maintaining this property.”
“What?” Gretchen demanded. “She gets the house? The house is worth more than I got!”
“You’re absolutely correct,” said Mr. Campbell, nodding. “What a pity.”
“This is bullshit. I’m her daughter.”
“The terms of the will are very clear.”
“Yeah, well, this isn’t over. I’m gonna hire a lawyer.”
“That’s a fine idea,” said Mr. Campbell. “With the million dollars you’ve received you should be able to hire an excellent one.”
Gretchen stood up and stormed out of the office.
Mr. Campbell smiled at Melanie. “Your aunt was right, her niece is a lovely woman.”
Melanie felt herself blush. “Thanks. I mean, I know you’re just saying that, but thanks.”
“Did you ever get a chance to visit your aunt’s home?”
Melanie shook her head. “I knew that she moved into a new place about a year ago, but I’ve never seen it. Whenever I saw her, she always came to me. She liked to travel.”
“She certainly did,” said Mr. Campbell. “She was my favorite client…one of my best friends. I’m really going to miss her.”
He stared at his desk for a long moment, but then wiped at his eyes and smiled. “Obviously, there’s a tremendous amount of tedious, lawyer-style paperwork to go through, and you won’t be able to actually take possession of the house for several business days.”
“Oh, that’s fine,” said Melanie. “Actually, my plane back to Wyoming leaves in about three hours, so I can’t stay anyway.”
“That’s too bad. But I’d be more than happy to give you a ride to the airport, if you’re interested in driving past your new home.”
* * * * *
“No way!” said Melanie, gazing in awe at the immense white mansion. “This can’t be it.”
“It is indeed. And that’s just the shed…wait until you see the actual house.”
Melanie laughed. “This is amazing.”
“Yes, it is,” Mr. Campbell said. Then he frowned. “You do realize that I was only kidding, right? This isn’t the shed. It’s the actual house.”
“I got that.”
“Good.”
The place was absolutely incredible. It was bigger than the Wal-Mart back at home. There was a huge fountain in the front yard, and even some topiary animals, including a bear, an elephant, and a flamingo. Melanie simply couldn’t believe that Aunt Penelope had lived in such a nice place…and that she’d inherited it.
Unreal. Completely unreal.
* * * * *
Melanie had done a lot of difficult things in her life, but giving her two weeks notice at work was not one of them. Although after Harold proceeded to vomit into his wastebasket upon receiving her written resignation, she’d agreed to stay on an extra week.
She knew that she’d have to sell Aunt Penelope’s mansion sooner or later. Probably sooner. But the idea of living in that place, even if only for a short time, was too exciting to pass up. She’d live like a queen for a while, and then head back to reality.
“What reality?” asked Dawn as she helped Melanie throw her accumulated crap into boxes. “There’s no reality here. You’re rich! Stop acting like you’ll be waiting tables next week.”
“I’m not acting like that,” Melanie insisted. “I just don’t want to get carried away, that’s all.”
“Melanie, you’re going off to live in a mansion. Your mansion. Your mansion, all expenses paid. Things are already carried away, you just need to sit back and enjoy it.”
“I’m going to.”
“Good. Oh, and please remember me as the friend who was always there for you and not the friend who set you up with all of those losers.”
“Don’t worry. As soon as I get settled in, I’m sending you a plane ticket.”
“I can’t wait. I’m so excited for you. This is going to be so much fun!”
* * * * *
One month after Aunt Penelope’s funeral, Melanie stood in front of the double-doors to the mansion.
It was hers. All hers. Wow.
She rang the doorbell. A moment later, one of the doors opened to reveal a tall, thin, elderly gentleman in a black suit.
“Ah, Ms. Clover. Welcome to your new home. Won’t you come in?”
Melanie just stood there, staring in shock at the immense entry room. Marble floors, a winding staircase, vases, expensive-looking statues without arms…it was too much to take in at once.
“Ma’am?”
“Huh?”
“Please, come in.”
“Oh. Right.” She shook her head back and forth to clear it. “Sorry, I’m just a little overwhelmed. I had no idea this place would be so…sizable.”
“That’s perfectly understandable, ma’am.”
She wiped her feet and stepped inside. The man gracefully closed the door behind her.
“Your coat, ma’am?”
“I even have coat service here?”
“Yes, ma’am. As your butler, I provide numerous services, including taking your coat.”
“My butler. Oh my God.” Mr. Campbell had told her about this, but she still didn’t quite believe it. “You’re Rupert, right?”
“That is correct, ma’am.”
“And you have a British accent! That’s so cool!”
“Yes, ma’am. During my formative years in Britain I found it extremely convenient.”
Melanie realized that she was making an ass out of herself. “I’m sorry, I’m just a little bit giddy,” she said, letting him help her out of her coat. “I never in my life dreamed that I’d have a butler.”
“Well, ma’am, I hope that I meet all of your expectations and that you see fit to retain my services.”
“Oh…I’m sure I will. I mean, Aunt Penelope hired you, right?”
“She did. She was a sweet woman. I’m sure I don’t have to tell you that she is sorely missed.”
“No, you don’t. I mean, yes, she is. Was. Is…missed. Sorry, I’m still distracted by the statues.”
“Would you like a tour?”
“Oh, yes, please.”
“Right this way, ma’am.”
With each room, Melanie found herself more and more astounded. The dining room was larger than her entire apartment. The kitchen looked big enough to service an entire restaurant, and she had her own gourmet chef. There was a library, an indoor pool, a sauna, an entertainment room with pinball, billiards, and air hockey, a tennis court, a room filled with about four dozen multi-colored beanbag chairs, and more other rooms than she could even remember on the first walkthrough.
The bathrooms alone were spacious and luxurious enough to make a perfectly suitable spot for a two-week vacation.
“This is absolutely amazing,” said Melanie. “How long does it take to vacuum this place?”
“Less time than you would think,” Rupert informed her. “We have a superb vacuum cleaner.”
He showed her through several more rooms, and then led her down a long corridor that ended at a mahogany wooden door. He hesitated at the door, obviously a bit uncomfortable.
“Is something wrong?” Melanie asked.
“This next area was your aunt’s favorite place in the entire house,” he said.
Melanie nodded. “It must be difficult to be in areas that were so special to her.”
“Well, yes. But not exactly. You see, your aunt was an enthusiastic w
oman, with great zeal and an unmatched zest for life.”
“I know.”
“And this zeal stretched into all areas of her life, if you know what I mean.”
“I do,” said Melanie. “She had a lot of interests.”
“Yes. She was particularly interested in, how shall I say it…pleasure. Of the physical sort. Extremely physical.”
Melanie felt herself blush. “You mean sex?”
“Sex, yes. I’m glad you said that, because that’s exactly what I mean. Sex. She liked sex.”
Why was Rupert so uncomfortable? Though Melanie had successfully gone her entire life up to this point without envisioning her aunt having sex, Aunt Penelope was an attractive, healthy woman. There was certainly no reason for her to lock on a chastity belt after her divorce.
“So what’s in this room?” she asked.
“The harem, ma’am.”
Chapter Three
Melanie stared at Rupert. “The what?”
“The harem.”
“What harem?”
“Your aunt’s harem.”
“What exactly do you mean by harem? Because the mental picture I’ve got right now is obviously mixed up with some antiquated meaning of the word.”
Rupert cleared his throat. “Essentially, your aunt kept eight gentlemen here to service her physical desires.”
“Are you kidding me?”
“No, ma’am.”
“Eight men?”
“Yes, ma’am. One for each day of the week and two for Sunday, as she liked to say.”
“So, what, you’re telling me that my aunt was, like, this huge slut?”
“She preferred the term ‘free spirit,’ ma’am.”
Melanie couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “This is a joke, right? Aunt Penelope always did have a goofy sense of humor. I mean, remember when she had Mr. Campbell read that statement at her funeral about not being all pouty and stuff? This is all just a gag from beyond the grave, right?”
“I assure you that I’m completely serious.”
“So where are they now?”
“Beyond that door, ma’am.”
“They’re in the house?”
“Yes.”
“All eight of them?”
“Yes.”
“Now?”
“Yes.”
“Holy shit! What if they get out?” Melanie looked at the door in panic. “Is it locked from the outside?”
“You have nothing to fear from these gentlemen, I assure you,” said Rupert. “They are exceedingly well-trained and well-behaved.”
“Well-trained?”
“Yes, ma’am. Each member of your aunt’s harem went through a rigorous screening process and training course.”
“Training course? They have a training course?”
“Yes, ma’am. Quite a fine one.”
“And how do you know that? Did you go through it?”
“No, ma’am. My services here are strictly platonic.”
“Did I mention that this whole thing is sick?”
“Not yet, ma’am.”
“Well, I’m leaving,” said Melanie, heading back toward the doorway they’d come in. “If you need me, I’ll be in bathroom number five.”
“The gentlemen were rather looking forward to meeting you,” said Rupert.
“It’s not going to happen. I want them out of here by the time I…uh, before I come back to this part of the house. Which will be soon. So I want them out of here soon.”
With that, she stormed out of the room.
Then she walked back in.
“I don’t want you to think that just because I’m throwing a fit now that I’m going to be one of those mean people who orders her butler around all the time. I’m nice, really. You’ll like having me around.”
“Of course, ma’am.”
“In fact, you don’t even have to call me ma’am. Call me Melanie.”
“If I may speak freely, that would make me very uncomfortable.”
“Oh. Well, I don’t want you to be uncomfortable. What name would make you more comfortable?”
“Ma’am.”
“Oh. Okay. Ma’am works. But I just want you to know that it’s optional, and any time you want to drop the whole ma’am thing it’s perfectly fine with me.”
“Duly noted, ma’am.”
“But get the men out of here, okay?”
“Yes, ma’am. They’ll be most disappointed. They were hoping that you would be inclined to continue their contracts.”
“They have contracts? For being harem slaves?”
“Personal attendants, ma’am.”
“Well, they can forget it. Send them back to Harem Headquarters or wherever the hell they came from.”
Melanie stormed out of the room again.
Then she walked back in again.
“You promise they’re not scary?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“They won’t attack me or anything?”
“No, ma’am.”
“So it’s completely safe?”
“I will be more than happy to equip you with a shotgun if you desire, ma’am.”
“There’s no reason to be a smartass, Rupert.”
“My sincerest apologies, ma’am.”
Melanie thought about it for a moment. “Okay, well, if you promise they’re not scary, and they’re not going to attack me, I guess there’s no reason for me to be rude. I should at least introduce myself before I have you kick them out of the house, right?”
“That sounds fair, ma’am.”
“Fine. Open the door.”
* * * * *
There was only one word to describe the sight that greeted Melanie upon stepping through the doorway, but she was too overwhelmed to think of it. She was in a huge room, most of which was taken up by a swimming pool with a water slide at one end and a waterfall at the other. There were about a dozen beach chairs, a beautiful white tile floor, a large hot tub, a sauna, and a bar, as well as several closed doors. Music with a tropical beat played in the background. It was like a luxury resort under her own roof.
And then there were the men.
Three of them were swimming, three relaxed on beach chairs, one rested in a hammock that hung between a pair of artificial trees, and a heavily tattooed one was doing push-ups on the floor.
They were all muscular, tanned, and drop-dead gorgeous.
“She’s here,” said one of them, climbing out of the pool. The others immediately got up and headed over to where Melanie stood. She took a couple of cautious steps backward.
“May I present,” said Rupert once they were all in front of Melanie, “Ms. Melanie Clover, your new princess.”
“Hi, Melanie,” they all said, not quite in unison.
“Uhhhhh…” she replied, proud of herself for managing to speak even that particular syllable.
“She’s a bit nervous, as you might expect,” said Rupert.
“Well, we’re most pleased to make your acquaintance,” said one of them, a guy with curly black hair, taking her hand and kissing it.
There was definitely a motif here. None of the men was shorter than six feet tall, and they all looked to be in their twenties. They all had rugged, male-model looks, and most of them had dark hair, except for a blond (the guy who’d been on the hammock) and one who was bald. Only one of them had facial hair, a neatly trimmed mustache. Aunt Penelope was a woman who knew exactly what she wanted.
Had she really had sex with all eight of them?
“Perhaps you should introduce yourselves,” said Rupert.
The one who’d kissed her hand grinned. “I’m Dennis, milady.”
“I’m Carl,” said one with short brown hair and a cheerful twinkle in his blue eyes.
“Ben,” said the one with the mustache.
“Stephen,” said the blond-haired guy who’d been lying on the hammock, “but you can call me Steve.”
“Nate,” said the bald one.
“Julia
n,” said the heavily tattooed one who’d been doing push-ups. The tattoos were elaborate drawings of fantasy creatures, including a dragon tail that wrapped around his left arm from shoulder to wrist.
“Keith,” said one with a crew cut, barking out his name as if speaking to a drill sergeant.
“Leo. Pleased to meet ya,” said the last one, speaking in a Boston accent.
“Got all of those?” asked Carl. “There’ll be a quiz later.”
“I’m sorry, I’m not good with names,” Melanie admitted.
The man with the mustache (Ben?) shrugged. “Just call us by numbers. We’re easy.”
“Well, I just wanted to, you know, stop by,” she said. “I’ve got a lot of cleaning to do, so I’ll see you guys, uh, later.”
“Cleaning?” asked Carl, raising an eyebrow.
“Unpacking. I meant unpacking.”
“Rupert will unpack for you. He gets paid for that kind of stuff, just like we get paid for—”
“No, no, I don’t want to impose.” Melanie backed up toward the door. “It was nice, ah, seeing you all. You can go back and swim or hammock or whatever you were doing. Sorry to disturb you. Bye.”
“Oh, don’t be silly,” said Carl, taking her hand. “I’ll give you the grand tour. You’ll love this place. C’mon.”
Before she could protest, he’d pulled her through the crowd of men and over to the edge of the swimming pool. “Here’s our wonderful pool,” he said. “Twelve feet deep at the far end. The other pool in the house only goes to ten feet. Do you like to swim?”
Melanie nodded hesitantly.
“Then this is the best place for it. You’ll have fun, I promise. Watch your step, though, the tile can be kind of slippery.”
He led her over to the bar. “Leo can mix any kind of drink you want. Do you like strawberry daiquiris? You could have one right now, as strong as you want. Are you thirsty?”
“No, I’m fine.”
“You sure? They’re good. Leo went to bartending school.”
“That’s okay, really, I’m fine.”
“All right, no pressure. Over here we’ve got the sauna,” he said, leading Melanie over to the wooden structure in the corner of the room. “Your aunt would stay in there for hours, even though you’re not really supposed to, for health reasons. Sometimes all nine of us would sit in there and just chat and relax.”
“I don’t want to hear about it,” said Melanie.
Aunt Penelope's Harem Page 2
