Vanya

House construction aside, Molly's lifestyle remained frugal. Calvin moved into her apartment when his lease ended as planned and thought she should at the very least hire a housekeeper now that she could afford one but that would be weird for such a small apartment.

For the time being, she could stay on top of things. The new place would be bigger and could probably use the help but she would feel weird having a stranger coming and going from her house. She would have to hire someone she could trust.

Having any sort of employee seemed like a weird rich person thing she never, ever would have imagined herself doing but she couldn't deny it would be hard to clean the dream house she was building on her own. She already knew Calvin was a slob and wouldn't be much help in that regard.

It wasn't like she wouldn't be able to afford it. Her problem was more of a mental block about the very idea of having a housekeeper.

Molly did her best to forget about the upcoming issue until it was staring her in the face. She, Calvin, and the cats had moved into their big beautiful new house two weeks ago and she was drowning trying to keep the place clean.

She had finished the schoolyear on a high note and got a lot of surprisingly sweet goodbye cards from her students, which made her feel good. Then she spent the whole summer trying to figure out what to do with herself like she did every year with the added weirdness of knowing she wouldn't be going back.

She spent a lot of time picking out paint colors and furniture for the new place as it got closer to being finished. After a certain point, it was amazing how quickly things went.

So here she was, still unprepared to hire a housekeeper because of how long she had pushed the problem to the back of her mind thinking she had time. She had run out of time and really needed the help so she started looking for candidates immediately using a website specifically meant for finding housekeepers/butlers/personal assistants.

Molly was overwhelmed. She emailed back and forth with several candidates but wasn't sure how to tell if any of them were the right one for her. Calvin's only stipulation was that they were female because he didn't want some random man coming and going when he wasn't home.

It was actually kind of cute he was acting jealous. He normally wasn't like that.

The doorbell rang, snapping her out of her thoughts. She was unaccountably nervous about interviewing her first potential housekeeper in person.

When she answered the door, she was surprised to find an albino woman who was about her height. What was with running into all these albinos lately? Wasn't that condition supposed to be rare?

The woman shot her a professional smile and stuck out her hand to shake Molly's. "Hi, I'm Vanya Peterson. It's very nice to meet you!"

"It's nice to meet you too," Molly said.

Vanya had a surprisingly firm handshake. Her resume was also the most impressive out of all the people she had been looking into. Too impressive. She was totally overqualified to be working for a nobody who happened to come into money.

As they moved into the main living room to sit down, that was the first thing she had to ask. "So what makes someone as accomplished as you want to work here?"

"My life's work is taking care of what people need so I became a jack-of-all-trades. Your ad caught my eye; I think you could use what I have to offer. To be frank, I'd like to take care of you. You seem stressed," Vanya said straightforwardly.

She blinked in surprise. She was stressed but had spent a lifetime hiding her emotions so she wouldn't inconvenience people. Being seen through like this was new and a bit uncomfortable.

"I am," Molly confessed. "But mostly because I've never hired anyone in my life. I'm a normal person who happened to end up with this big house because I got a bit overzealous after winning the lottery and wanted to hit every item on my previously impossible dream house list. Sorry! I don't know why I'm telling you this. It's totally embarrassing!"

What was wrong with her? She was never this candid.

There was something about this strange woman that seemed oddly familiar and comfortable. Like Molly already knew and trusted her. She had never been like this with anyone considering how guarded she was around new people.

Vanya shook her head. "It isn't embarrassing at all. Being in over your head in a new environment is perfectly normal. That is what people like me are here for; to pick up the slack and make things easier.

"If you choose me, I promise you'll never have to worry about anything. I'm adaptable, flexible, and capable of solving virtually any problem given a little time. I'll take excellent care of you if you give me the chance."

Molly wasn't sure what to think of that. She wasn't used to being taken care of. No one had ever done anything like that for her growing up so she became fiercely independent.

Admitting she needed help was hard. This woman didn't seem to be judging her for it though. Would it be easier to accept Vanya immediately so she didn't have to do this again? She was debating whether or not to offer the job on the spot to get it out of the way.

Stella ended up making the decision for her. The cat—who normally avoided everyone outside of her owner, including her fellow pet—jumped up into Vanya's lap and began to purr. She idly petted Stella, completely unfazed by the suddenness.

"I'm so sorry! I don't know what's gotten into her," Molly apologized immediately.

"I don't mind. I'm quite experienced with cats."

That settled it. If she had the extremely picky Stella's approval, it would be easier to choose her.

Taking a deep breath, Molly spoke up again. "I would like to offer you this job. Are you alright with the hours and pay rate I offered on the website or would you prefer more? You are a lot more qualified than I expected my housekeeper to be."

Vanya shook her head. "No, I'm satisfied with what you are offering. I can begin immediately."

"Alright. Why don't you come back Monday and—"

"I meant immediately, immediately. This house needs some serious attention. I'm sure you'll be able to rest easier knowing things are clean. Don't mind me and carry on as you were before. I won't get in your way."

Molly tried to protest that it wasn't necessary but was ignored. Stella hopped off of Vanya's lap and she set off in search of cleaning supplies in an instant.

Well. It seemed her new housekeeper was incredibly efficient.

She was fairly certain the woman was a cleaning fairy because she got back to work on her latest writing attempt (that would likely fail the way the others had) and, two hours later, the entire house was sparkling. She was both impressed and a little scared. Who exactly had she hired?!

"I've finished the cleaning, Mistress Molly," Vanya announced. She hadn't even broken a sweat after all of that! "Please allow me to look through your fridge and pantry so I may come up with a suitable grocery list and do the shopping. If you have any specific requests, please let me know."

Molly gaped at her momentarily before coming to her senses. "Uh…you don't have to call me mistress. Molly is fine. You don't have to do the shopping either; I meant to get around to that myself."

"I couldn't be so disrespectful, Mistress! And I told you, my job is taking care of people. That includes taking care of any and all errands. I would be happy if you relied on me as much as possible."

This was weird. This was totally weird. Being taken care of like this was one thing but then her housekeeper had to get all formal on her too?

"But I—"

Vanya was already in the kitchen inventorying what was available at top speed. She scribbled down what she would need on a notepad that somehow managed to fit in her pocket without being leaving noticeable lines and said she would be back as soon as possible before heading out the front door.

Molly stood there stunned. What on earth just happened?