Housekeeping

by Summer Cooper

  “He didn’t say anything to you, did he?”

  I was about to ask the real question: what did he say to upset her this time? I was being polite which wasn’t like me, but Emily was in a state and I didn’t want to upset her more.

  “Don’t worry about that,” Emily said dismissively. “Most of the time I don’t even register on his radar, so it’s not like he has anything to say to me anyway. For which I am so fucking glad.”

  I frowned at her, then flicked her forehead.

  “Ow!” She pulled away from me, putting a hand to her forehead and pouting at me with a betrayed look in her gaze.

  “Watch your language, you’re still too young for that!”

  I was the one who loved to swear—maybe a little too much—but never around her. I didn’t want her to have a dirty mouth like mine.

  “You’re too funny. You act as if I’m a child,” she said. “I can drink and drive if I want to.”

  I caught her cheeks in a pinch, ignoring her when she made noises about it.

  “You better stick to drinking wine and champagne, and only one glass, maybe two. And no drinking and driving together, missy!”

  She smacked my arm until I let her go, then put more space between us on the couch, her hands on her cheeks as she pouted at me in annoyance.

  “I’m not a baby anymore,” she said, petulant.

  But you’ll always be my baby sister,” I countered. “Now, move over here and tell me exactly what is going on with Dad.”

  She didn’t get any closer, but she adopted a serious expression as she leaned against the couch, crossing her arms and legs. Her head rested on the back of the couch, and she rolled it to the side so she was facing me.

  “There isn’t really much I can say.”

  “Spill! You were the one calling me up telling me how Dad was in such a bad way that I needed to hurry up and get back here. Hell, even Trent came back! That right there is practically a miracle. I thought we’d all be piled up around Dad’s bedside, but here we are, talking about why Dad refuses to see us. You have to tell me something. Especially if Trent came back for this.”

  If she hadn't already mentioned that Dad hadn't seen Trent either, I would have been even more pissed off than I already was.

  Exactly what game was Dad playing? It might be true that he was sick because Emily had no reason to lie to me, but… could Dad be pulling something on us, and we just didn’t know? Why else would he call all of us back like that and not agree to see anyone? It didn’t fucking make sense.

  “I know, it’s a shock that he even came back, isn’t it?” Emily finally said. “I called Trent personally and he almost didn’t take my call. I was surprised when I told him about Dad and he rushed down here. He got here late, but you could tell he’d basically left the office and come straight home. I almost expected you to get here first with how competitive you are. I’m pretty sure he put off work to make the trip.”

  “I was busy too, you know,” I said defensively. “And unlike some people, we aren’t all our own bosses, so it’s not like I could have put anything off to rush here, I had to get my own business wrapped up.”

  Emily rolled her eyes. “I know the work you do is for the family business, and that some of it is shady, but come on, Mason. You really couldn’t put it off, whatever it was that held you back? You only really hurried your way back here because I told you about Trent, right?”

  I pursed my lips because I couldn’t deny it. Things were a little strained between Dad and me. I resented him for a lot of things, but he was still my dad. My relationship with Trent was just as strained, but I did sometimes make an effort to reach out to my older half-brother. It wasn’t that I hated him. His attitude could get annoying, sure, but I was lucky I didn’t have to spend much time around him, so it didn’t always bother me. He could be as bossy as Dad was, and I avoided that like the plague.

  What I really hated was Dad comparing me to Trent. Other than our looks, Trent and I weren’t really alike at all. We didn’t have the same interests, hobbies, or goals in life, from what I could see. Dad wanted me to be more responsible like Trent, so he made me quit rugby and take a job with the family. I didn’t know just how much work Trent did for Dad besides working on his own company, but he made Dad proud in a way my own efforts never seemed to achieve.

  The wild partying had begun as a sort of rebellion on my part. Recently, it had grown into something of a routine for me. One that left me drained at times, but one I wasn’t willing to just do away with either.

  “Is there any reason Dad is refusing to see me?” I asked, looking over to Emily.

  She shrugged, not meeting my eyes. “He hasn’t really given a definite reason. I haven’t seen him myself, not since he came back in an ambulance. Don’t worry, though. The moment he agrees to see me, I’ll talk him into seeing you guys, too. Kevin is a bit late, but he should be arriving either today or tomorrow. He’ll probably get the same treatment…”

  She continued to talk, but I wasn’t paying attention anymore. Instead, I thought about how odd Dad’s actions were. There was no reason for him not to see us unless he was hiding something.

  No fucking way, I thought to myself. Is the old man actually pulling a fast one on us?

  Was he really ill? Or was it just a ploy to bring us all home? It was enough to get the prodigal eldest son home, after all.

  Not that there was anything I could do about it even if he was. The old man might be a bit of hardass, and this might be a ploy, but he must have done it for reason and I suspected he’d got just what he was after. Now, rather than face the music, he was hiding so we wouldn’t know he hadn’t been ill at all. I laughed to myself, seeing the plan now. Dad was a wily old man, I’d give him that.

  The moment I confirmed Dad was just playing with us, I’d be on the earliest flight out. I cared about my dad, but I’d always hated how he’d tried to control my life as if he had the right to. Anger, amusement, and resentment roiled in my head until it started to pound.

  “Let me know how it goes with Dad,” I told Emily, rising from the couch. “I’m going to head up to my room now.”

  I had some hours to spare before my room back at the hotel was fully cleaned. There was a room upstairs that would let me sleep off the night of partying and thoughts about that maid.

  5

  Laura

  Work was technically over but I was still at the hotel, waiting in the staff lounge for Jessi to have the time to meet me.

  She was acting even stranger than usual, and I was really growing more curious about what had happened between her and Trent that changed things so much. Ever since that night, she’d either asked to stay at my place or she’d gone to her parents. Wherever she’d ended up, it wasn’t her place, and that was odd for a woman as independent as Jessi.

  “Laura!”

  I looked up as Jessi finally walked in. She was still dressed in her chef’s uniform, which was covered in flour and stains. She wore an expression that said she was beyond exhausted. She did manage to muster up a smile for me though.

  “You can go change first,” I said, waving a hand at her. “Get changed and come meet me here.”

  She nodded, changing direction to head for the locker rooms. I’d already changed and was on one of the couches, reading on my phone. Reading was a luxury I didn’t allow myself often because it took up time, and I preferred physical books to e-books, but sometimes it was easier than giving into boredom.

  With Jessi not far behind, I quickly skimmed over what I was currently reading, bookmarked the page on my browser, and put my phone in my purse. Just in time for Jessi to join me, back in casual clothes, with her purse slung over her shoulder. She dropped into the couch on the opposite side from where I sat, heaving a heavy sigh as her head tilted back and her eyes slid closed.

  “You know, Jessi,” I said. “You’re not supposed to fall asleep in here. You might just spend the night like that, and it’s not good for you.”

  “I
do know that,” she grumbled, one eye opened in a slit to glare at me. “But I just need to rest for a minute. Today left me so fucking drained…”

  I watched her silently with growing concern. Jessi wasn’t usually like this. She and I got along so well because she was normally happy and could keep up with the usually perky me. When we hung out, it usually ended with us sitting close together giggling about something, either the latest weird and funny rumors surrounding the hotel, or about guys. I didn’t date nearly as much as I’d insinuated to her so many times, and I knew that even though she was past her mid-twenties, she’d never actually dated before.

  It was why this whole situation was giving her so much grief and making me worry about her every time I heard the young heir’s name. The dread I felt was almost close to when I heard Mason’s name, usually as I was called up to fix his room after another wild party. There was plenty to be grateful for on that front, even though he was always annoying when he visited, he didn’t spend that much time around Charlotte within the year. I could be sure about Mason leaving.

  Jessi didn’t have the same assurance with Trent, who happened to be the eldest son and, or so I’d heard, the one to inherit most of the Thompson Empire.

  “Hey,” I said after a few minutes when she didn’t lift her head up. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

  Feeling a little worried, I put a hand on her forehead. She didn’t move to pull it off, but I sat back with a sigh of relief.

  “You don’t have a fever, but you seriously look like shit. You’ve worked much longer shifts than today, and usually I find you still energetic at the end of the day. So why is today so different?”

  “Because usually I love doing what I do. I enjoy my job, so how could it be draining?”

  “What’s the problem today?”

  She shrugged. “It’s nothing, really. I’m just stressing myself too much. I keep getting distracted which leads to making mistakes, which leads to getting reprimanded by the head chef.” Suddenly, she sat upright, looking at me with a frown. “Can you believe it? I was scolded! That hasn’t happened to me since my first few months working here, and that was years ago.”

  “You’re just going through a rough patch,” I said sympathetically, leaning closer to pat her knee and trying to reassure her that not only was I her friend, but her best friend and she didn’t need to make me an enemy. After I developed cancer, positive thinking was the only thing that kept me going and I wasn’t about to stop now.

  “I’m sure you’ll get your groove back! After all, not only are you a professional, your creations are world class. If you didn’t want to come home so quickly after your studies in France, you could have made a real name for yourself.”

  The story had been an interesting one to hear. Jessi’s family wasn’t particularly privileged, the only reason she managed to score a ticket out of the country, was because of her abilities as a pastry chef. I knew she’d worked in France for some time, though she never gave much detail because for most of that time she was simply improving herself, not going out to have fun in the streets of Paris.

  If it had been me, I would have had at least a little bit of fun. But that was me.

  “You’re right,” Jessi said, looking at me with a stunned expression like it never occurred to her. “I don’t know why I’m letting this get me so badly. I am a professional, and this is my job! I can't keep letting my shit life interfere with my job.”

  “That’s my girl,” I said with a wide grin, feeling happy that I’d made her feel better. I scooted closer for a hug that she returned readily. “I know things have been hectic for you since the Thompson boys started flocking home. And I’ve probably said this enough times for you, but seriously. If you want to talk about anything at all, I’m here for you.”

  She stiffened a little before she pulled out of my arms. She had this guilty expression on her face. I smirked because I knew she was keeping something from me and ran my hands over her hair in a motherly fashion.

  “We’ve been friends for a while, so I’m letting things slide for now. Just don’t stress yourself too much at work, all right? You might collapse in the end, and that would be bad. Stress is bad for your health.” I should know, after all. I was all about health for the past several years.

  “I guess you’re right,” she conceded, making me smile.

  “Right now, you should get home. Get something nice to eat, take a warm bath, and go to sleep. It’ll eat some of the stress of the day away, and I’m going to go home and do the same, okay?”

  “Sure,” she said, pushing herself off the couch. “Come on, I’ll walk you out. Would you like me to drive you back? I came with the car.”

  “Why, Jessi,” I said with a giggle. “How chivalrous of you. Sadly, I can't let you play prince charming for me today. I’m okay with walking home.”

  “It’s dark though,” she protested, her eyes flicking to the windows.

  “And the streets around here are pretty safe at night,” I pointed out. “Not to mention often used and well lit. For tonight, just look after yourself, and I’ll look after me, all right? Text me when you get home?”

  I held my hand out to her, and even though she rolled her eyes at me, we shook on it.

  Feeling the problem had been taken care of, I walked Jessi to her car. It was a slow walk, the cold air waking her up a little, so I wouldn’t be worried about her getting behind the wheel.

  “Drive slow, okay?” I called after her as she pulled out of the parking lot.

  With a smile and a wave out the window, she was gone.

  I hummed on my way back home, pulling my scarf and jacket tighter around me to keep out the chill.

  I ruffled my bag for the keys as I walked into my building, then made my way up the stairs, jingling my keys, happy to be home. It was a tiny place, small and simple. But for me, even if I was usually alone on the days I didn’t bring Jessi home with me, it was all I needed.

  I couldn’t help but think of Mason and the Thompson family and their grand mansion. I’d heard about how big it was, but I’d never had a reason to get close enough to see it for myself. They had so much, and even a fraction of what they had would have made a difference for when I’d first got sick. If someone had given me that money though, I wouldn’t have learned the more important things in life. Like how important it was to give to others and be happy with just a smile in return.

  I wondered if Mason knew what the important things in life were. I doubted it. The boy partied all night then walked around naked in front of the help the next morning. It was like he thought we weren’t real people or something.

  “Whatever,” I muttered to myself, dropping my stuff on the couch. “I need to stop bringing work home with me. Especially when it involves that boy.”

  I shook the thoughts off and went to make myself a quick dinner. I’d already eaten a bit at the hotel before leaving, so it was just something light. After I was done, it was still too early to go to sleep, so I took my latest knitting project and sat with it on my couch.

  Knitting was something I’d picked up over the course of my illness, while I went in and out of the hospital. I’d had plenty of time on my hands, and if I didn’t feel like calling up my friends, there were only so many ways to occupy myself. When I’d gone through chemotherapy and gone bald as a result, I’d picked a direction with my knitting. Even now, years later, I still knit hats and head covers for other cancer patients when I had the free time. When I found out I was in remission, I’d wanted to give back to other patients still fighting, and though it wasn’t exactly something I would have imagined for myself, it became my way of doing it.

  I wonder how Mason would look in one of my hats?

  Where had that come from? I saw him naked earlier and now I was thinking of knitting something for him, not getting down and dirty with him. No, ever since I’d lost my breast, the last thing I wanted was for a man to be touching me, knowing that part of me wasn’t real. That was until I saw Mason naked in
the suite.

  Why was I still thinking about him? Even though I’d left work behind, I couldn’t get him off my mind! The guy was such an asshole so why did he interest me so much? Though to be honest, I did like looking at his hot body, particularly his tight ass. I could tell he took care of himself, and I hadn’t seen a man that fit before. Shit, I was heating up just thinking about it.

  “He’s gorgeous,” I admitted to myself, crossing my arms over my chest. “He is, and he knows it. But being hot means fuck all if he’s an ass on top of it.”

  There was no reply from my empty apartment, but it wasn’t like I even needed one. I knew how things had to be between him and me, and for that, I would never put myself on the road to heartbreak by actually wishing for more. I could allow myself to dream about it though because I knew it was going to happen regardless.

  That was all it was going to be though. A hot little fantasy for me to take to bed. On that note, I jumped up off my couch, turned off the light in the living room, and rushed to my bedroom as I pulled off my clothes, heading for my cold, empty bed.

  6

  Laura

  The next morning, I didn’t want to get out of my now warm and cozy bed. My mind slowly woke up as I slid off the bed and headed for my bathroom. After a quick shower, I dressed and went to the kitchen to make a light breakfast. I glanced at the knitting I’d left on the couch last night and sighed.

  “It’s almost time to visit the hospital again, huh…”

  The local hospital had a cancer center where I usually dropped my creations off. While I was there I’d go in for a checkup. I was officially cancer free but it was recommended by my doctor to go for regular checkups in case the cancer came back. No one would force me to go, but I did it for the sake of my health.

  I put my knitting away in a box back in my bedroom where I already had a few other hats I’d finished. Then I checked the time and cursed, hurrying out of my apartment. I locked my front door, pulled up some music on my phone, threw my bag over my shoulder and headed out with my earphones in. I listened to my usual playlist as I walked to the hotel, letting the music drive my steps.