Coffee-stained

Levi sat down across from her.

She looked nervous like he was going to eat her up any minute from now.

"You can relax, Jade. I'm not going to scold you." He said, and she nodded.

Well, he should say it already. So many things had already gone wrong this morning, and she just wanted him to say whatever it was he wanted to say.

"So I'll just go straight to the point." He said.

"Sure," Jade replied.

"I don't like noise and distractions, so if I happen to be here before the day ends, you should try to be as discreet as possible. Tomorrow, we'll visit the estate and the staff will give you a tour." Levi said, and she just listened.

She was also going to work at his house. What puzzled her was that she was sure that he had lots of staff taking care of the mansion in the estate, so why did he need her there? It was a question she wasn't going to ask. If he didn't need her, then she wouldn't have this job, which she was grateful for.

"I'll do my best, sir," Jade replied.

Levi looked at her shirt. It was all coffee-stained, and he knew she wouldn't be comfortable working in that shirt. Even if she did wash it, the stain would be impossible to get off.

He stood up and gestured for her to do the same.

"Walk with me." He said, and they walked to his closet. He handed her one of his white shifts from his array of white shirts.

"Oh, you don't have to. I'll just try to get this off and…" Jade started.

"That shirt is ruined already. Just change into this one for now, I can't have you looking like that while working here." Levi replied.

It did look bad, and with the way everyone here dressed and all, she would look out of place. She didn't have to clean today either, which means she needed the shirt since she wouldn't be wearing her cleaning uniform.

"Uhh, if you insist, then. Thank you." Jade said, taking the shirt and walking out of the closet.

Levi studied her retreating figure. The reason he sat with her was to try to assess the kind of person she was, but she gave nothing. Jade was a closed book. She just sat there listening and tapping her index finger on her knee gently. He proceeded to change out of his clothes and call Keith so he could start his day.

Jade picked up his coffee-stained clothes, and he asked her to throw them away. She searched for the tag of the shift online and the price made her gasp. Even if she wanted to replace the shirt, it was way out of her budget. Everything Levi Reynard owned or wore was more expensive than her entire life. But she felt guilty for ruining his clothes.

After Levi left, Jade proceeded to do her task for the day. She started with the first pot of plants and tended to it carefully while humming a song. The flowers outside were dried up already, so she had to take them out and place orders for new ones.

By the time she was done with most of the plants, it was lunchtime already. She headed down to the reception. First, to get Keith to tell her what flowers she should use to replace the dead ones in the penthouse and then find somewhere to have lunch.

Eating at the hotel would be nice and efficient, but it was R&N. A meal here would be her pay for three months or more, so she wasn't even dreaming about it. There was a diner nearby, just around the corner, when walking further down the street away from the hotel premises. It was a ten-minute walk from the hotel.

"Keith is in Mr. Reynard's office, you'll have to wait a bit for her," Claire said, typing away at her laptop screen.

Jade could see why Claire was the lead receptionist here. She was poised, beautiful, and sophisticated. She had heard from the other cleaners that it was a tough spot to get because almost all the hoteliers who worked here wanted that spot. It only meant she was very competent, and Jade genuinely admired that.

"Do I have to wait long?" Jade asked, checking the time on her phone. "It's just that I have to make the orders as soon as possible so they can be delivered first thing tomorrow morning."

Claire nodded and then placed a call.

"You can go up to Mr. Reynard's office. It's on the third floor."

There was a lady seated at the front desk. Her eyes were the warmest shades of brown, and she looked like she was in her mid-thirties.

"Hello, what can I do for you?" The lady said with a comfortable smile. Unlike Claire, she had a warmer reception and an actual smile plastered on her face.

"I'm here for Miss Summers. I was told she was with Mr Reynard, and I was directed up here." Jade replied.

"And you are?" She asked, confused. Fair because, of course, Jade just started working here.

"I'm Jade, uhh Mr. Reynard's new housekeeper." She replied. The woman looked puzzled, but she made no comments.

The lady simply told her to wait while she got Keith to attend to whatever she had come for. A few seconds later, the lady reappeared with Keith.

"I'm sorry for the delay, Jade. Here is the list of suppliers we use and also the kind of flowers you should get. This time, we are going for more desert plants that are likely to survive if Mr. Reynard decides to go on a long vacation."

"That's okay. I'll have a look at it and show you what I decided on." Jade replied and then took her leave.

She would review them while eating lunch so that once her lunch break was over, she'd just meet Keith and show her.

"What did she need?" Levi asked when Keith came back into the office.

"It's about the flowers at the penthouse," Keith replied.

"So, how do you feel about her?"

Keith narrowed her eyes at him. Was he seriously asking her that?

"I don't know if you tell me. You were the one who hired her in case you forgot." Keith replied.

"Yeah I know, but I want your opinion."

"She seems nice and cool. And also she's hard-working. All the attributes you like in a worker so I think you might not have any problems with her work if that's what you're worried about." Keith said.

Levi nodded slowly. Well, Keith had given him an official opinion, but that wasn't exactly what he wanted. He wanted her to tell him what she was like personally, like when she met Jade, and what was her first impression. But he didn't ask any further.

If he did, Keith would get suspicious, and he did not need her to talk his ear off today. So he let it rest, and they continued with their work.

Jade stood admiring the view of the city from the balcony of the penthouse. She could look at this all day, every day. It would have to go down as one of her favorite views, and it was awesome that she got to be here all the time to admire it.

She heard the door open and she walked out to attend to her boss. He handed her his jacket, which she took to his closet to be hung properly, and then he went to shower. His dinner had already been served, and all she needed to do now was to send some clothes to the dry cleaners and end her day.

"The plants finally look alive," Levi commented. She gave a small quick smile and proceeded to get her stuff.

"I'll be on my way now." She said,

He didn't bother to turn. He just gave her a dismissive hand, and she left.

Jade sat in her apartment filing her medical report for H.R. They had called her that morning to make sure she submitted it before the end of the month.

Honestly, if there was a way to avoid it, she would've, but then again, R&N Group would take all these things seriously. But what if they can't work with someone who has hypotension? But she was already hired, and her medical report was clear it would be okay.

Immediately she was done, she lay on her bed and she drifted to sleep. The exhaustion of walking easily made her sleep when she got home.

Jade's parents had died when she was just five years old. She could barely remember their faces now, except through old pictures that her aunt had given her. Some of them are wrinkled now with age.

It was a car accident, a car had mistakenly hit them off the road. Both the people in the car and her parents didn't survive the accident. It was ghastly, and it was all over the news for months back then. She had seen old newspapers her aunt had kept when and when she knew how to read, she read them all.

Life with her aunt wasn't easy. The woman had four kids, plus she made it five, and she was just a school teacher, and her husband was a plumber. They barely had enough to get by every day, but they did manage to take her through high school.

She worked so many part-time jobs to be able to save up for college and she eventually got accepted on a scholarship, but she still had to work and take out student loans to survive throughout college as her aunt had stopped sponsoring her after high school. It was hard to make friends because she was always busy with work and studying back then in college, and it became harder even after graduation because everyone was so busy with their lives.

Her aunt died of cancer two years ago, and she attended the funeral. She occasionally heard from her husband, but that ended after her aunt's death. It was as if the whole family had cut ties with her. It wasn't surprising at all. When she lived there, it was only her aunt who truly gave a shit about her. Her kids just bullied her or pretended she didn't exist, and her husband was too busy to even notice anyone.

She had never dated anyone. She had gone out with a few guys, but never seriously. It was always never the right time, or she couldn't handle being in a relationship and working round the clock. Most times, she felt like she was failing in all areas of her life.

But recently, things have begun to look up. She had a well-paying job now. It might've not been exactly what she wanted, but it was something, a start. And probably when she was more stable and achieved some of her goals, maybe love would find her eventually.

Levi stood at the same spot Jade had been standing before she left. Too many things ran through his mind. He had been trying to sort out things one after the other, but some things just seemed like they didn't just happen. Some things did not seem like sheer coincidence at all. It bothered Levi because a lot was at stake at this time of the year.

It had been gnawing at him since the last board meeting, but he didn't want to acknowledge it yet. First of all, he needed to have evidence, and that was why he had that meeting with the legal department. And then secondly, if his hunch was correct, he had to wait for the show to begin before he did anything.

And just like that, Levi's phone rang,

He checked the caller ID, and it was just who he had thought.

Theo Reynard was calling.