Enslaving Maids

Chan's head was down as he slowly trotted toward his teacher. Marzia said nothing and just waited for him to speak up. Chan then lifted his head. His blue eyes circled in remorse as he muttered, "I'm sorry, Miss Delta..."

But what he did that shocked Marzia the most was when he ran to her and hugged her tightly. "Thank you for what you did."

The woman couldn't help but flash a bright, thankful smile. "It's nothing, Chan, but you're welcome." She leaned down to him and cupped his cheeks. Her heart knotted in strings at the warm-hearted gesture of the kid. It was not because she was elated that he had given an apology, but because he was genuine with gratitude.

Ian then meddled between them. "You should be, Chan," he uttered, brushing Chan's hair before his eyes shifted to Marzia. "I've heard you were suspended. It's my fault and I'm so sorry about that."

"Who told you?" She straightened her back.

"I heard from one of the teachers in the faculty while I was waiting for you. Oh, I didn't hear it from Cassandra, the math teacher. It was from the red-haired woman," he replied despondently.

Marzia groaned, rolling her eyes. She wasn't that surprised that it came from Dana. That woman disliked her from the beginning of her tenure, after all. "I don't know how it got out so quickly... After talking with Principal Lewis, everyone seemed to know it right away. And yes I am suspended for answering back to that annoying mother—for two weeks!"

Ian chuckled at her comment. "That's how work-politics systematizes, Marzia. It's irrefutable."

She sighed heavily. "Ugh, you're right, Mr. businessman."

The three of them then walked to the car with Chan hopping on the back seat, and Ian placing the box of Marzia's belongings in the vehicle's compartment. Marzia sat in front because she wasn't sure if Chan would want to share a seat with her at the back. After a minute, Ian went back to the driver's seat and buckled his seatbelt.

But before he started the engine, he turned to Marzia, shyly offering, "You can work for me while you're waiting to return to work. In the meantime, be my secretary, and I'll pay you accordingly."

Marzia hesitated. "Are you sure? Don't I need to apply, and isn't Romeo your secretary already?"

"It's fine. He is fully loaded anyway. Hence, I was thinking of giving him an assistant or something of sorts." Ian shrugged. "And while we're waiting for your suspension to get lifted, you can fill the position for the time being. You can put that in your resume! Think of it as an internship. Broaden your specs!"

Marzia contemplated for a moment, thinking if she could pull off this all-new job. She didn't have any experience in administration and secretarial duties, which might just give them a setback. However, she had an experience being an assistant to Scott's dad when he was still alive as her way of paying back his generosity to her. She might be able to do it, but...

Just then, Chan interposed, "It's not a bad idea, Miss Delta."

And because of the kid's help, she was convinced. "Okay, sure... I'll do it. Wow, Chan! You're really opening up right now. Good job!" The kid shyly sat back and looked away while Ian smiled at her, saying, "Great! You'll start tomorrow!"

Marzia gasped. "Tomorrow? Are you sure?" She huffed and muttered, "I wonder how long it will for me take to pay you back for all of this."

"Don't you know? You're already paid in full, Miss Delta." He glanced at her and winked.

"Oh, please…"

…

Marzia looked at the mansion before her. She could only gape at the wealth of the Harrison family as she entered and saw the bifurcated stairs on the right side, which had a glass handrail. Her gaze lingered as she saw Chan and Ian standing at the pod.

A thrifty smile plastered on Marzia's face as she moved forward and stood in the living room, where she had noticed the presence of Romeo, sitting on the black sectional sofa that could accommodate six people. He sports a black corporate attire, which perfectly matched Ian's looks, though not overshadowed him. Marzia looked back at Chan and Ian and saw how they moved toward her. With a blink, they stood upfront Marzia with matching eyes.

Chan looked sleek and obedient in his cute uniform. He had a black backpack and his hands held the straps. Waving at Marzia, he muttered, "G—Good morning!"

With that, Marzia's excitement surfaced. "Good morning, Chan!" She then faced Ian. "By the way, what do I need to do? Is this look suitable for a corporate setting? I mean, I know that it's a bit strict in specific offices, but I'm not really sure about your company!"

"Oh… Yeah—that." Ian hesitantly looked down, but he had a subtle smirk that could have a thousand meanings. He then looked around the mansion, which led Marzia to do the same. "I think… For your first day, you can just… work around here."

The woman's world stopped. "Eh? What do you mean by here? Like, here? D—Do you have an office here or something?"

Ian waved his hands in denial and laughed. "No…" he chuckled and added, "As you can see, it's a bit dirty. Thus, your task for today is only to clean here. Any objections?"

For a good minute, Marzia couldn't speak. "S—Seriously?" was all she managed to say.

"Yeah! I'm being a hundred percent serious. Why?" Ian asked back with knitted brows, hiding his urge to laugh. Although he's a nice man and all, he sometimes feels the urge to joke around like this.

Swallowing her pride and annoyance at the thought of working not as an office assistant, Marzia shook her head and said, "N—No. Sir! It's completely fine! I got it…"

Just when she thought she'd get to experience what it's like in another work field, here was Ian power-tripping with great intent.

"Good. That's my girl," replied Ian as he glanced at his watch. He then tasked Romeo to ready the car and told Chan to get in the backseat. As Ian was about to leave, he handed Marzia a short list of her daily tasks first.

"Oh, by the way, check this!" Ian gave the neon green sticky note and had handwritten key points for her. "It's a checklist."

Upon looking at the notes, Marzia nodded and noticed how organized it was. Since she really had no choice but to obey, she just nodded with gritted teeth and turned around with obvious resentment, leaving Ian scoping her back with a joyous smile.

…

With them leaving, Marzia started cleaning the sink, washing the dishes, wiping each tile, keeping everything organized, and so on and so forth. Afterward, she moved to the second floor to clean the rooms, hoping she would not see anything under Ian's bed. To keep herself energized, she also sang while cleaning and almost laughed at her voice which seemed to have the ability to break glasses.

"Perfect!" she yelled, her voice echoing throughout the entire mansion. "I'm done! Finally!" After Marzia placed all the cleaning equipment back into the stock room, she sat for a while to rest. Later on, she found herself laying on the marble floor to rejoice and celebrate. She sighed, relieved though in disbelief that she managed to do everything on the stupid checklist. "Who would have thought a woman could do that alone?" she asked herself and smiled.

Suddenly, her cell phone rang. It was Ian that called her.

Marzia answered the phone with a smirk and said, "Hi, Mr. Harrison! You don't have to check on me! I have done everything accordingly, so no need to worry about it."

"I'm not gonna ask about it," Ian responded with a subtle chuckle. "I left something on my bedroom desk. Can you bring it for me?"