Chapter 1; Daydreaming
I stared at his captivating silver eyes, then his thin firm lips...inviting to be kissed. I wondered how it would feel to kiss those lips. Would it be deliciously warm and moist just like what I'd read in romance stories
I ran my fingertips from his dark grey, unruly hair to his ruggedly handsome face..the sensation I felt made me shiver. Then I touched his lips..feeling him..and very closely I brought the picture frame close to my face and kissed his soft lips
"Lanae?"
Jolting, after hearing Mrs Penelope's voice behind me and accidentally, the picture frame escaped from my grasp and went crashing down the floor. The loud sound of broken glass makes me squirm.
Fuck! I broke the picture frame, for the fifth time in two weeks.
I'm going to lose this job
My eyes widened in shock as I realized indeed I am going to lose this job, I just hope this isn't a rare piece like all the others
"Naee..." She called out as she always called me shaking her head with a smug look on her face, she was in her fifties or thereabout and the head among us housekeepers in the Whyte mansion, which only consists of herself and me.
I know the head of housekeepers when it's just us, the fewer working hands, the bigger my payday! Ha!
Except I begged nana to give me the job alone and I'll do everything and it's everything I'm doing, which I practically take satisfaction in
"Back to earth Nae" snapping her hands in my face "You can't keep doing this!"
Nana is like my second mum, and she looks out for me and saves me when the egotistical boss tries to have my head
I know! I was drooling over his photo a few minutes ago and now I call him egotistical. Well, shit happens
"Lanae!" She called out louder this time
"I've got you dearest nana, I know how much you love me and save my ass, I promise, no more of looking at his photos, it's not like I was drooling or anything, I mean come on, who'd fall in love with that?" Looking at the man in the shattered glass "He's got a big head" said grinning at the end earning a smile from her
"I won't always be here Nae" her voice shaky and raspy
"Yes Nana, come sit" Leading her towards the kitchen and settling her on the counter "What would you like to eat? Have you taken your meds?" She stayed silent "Nana?" I called out again
"I just skipped one day!" She sighed dramatically
"You can't keep skipping Nana!" I called out dramatically as well "If something bad happens to you God forbid, who will help me? Who will help me clean this big house? And keep me company?"
It's not like I let her do anything, all she has to do is sit and be pretty for me. She's old and I don't want her stressing herself with cleaning this enormous house with me, Mr Whyte said to me one day "Just let her believe she's working, but if she as much as does anything stramineous, you're done" and I don't blame him, nana practically raised him
"I just want to be strong to help out with the chores, he pays me to work, not sit pretty Nae Nae"
"You're not getting out of this by calling me that, you mischievous old lady, you know how calling me that melts my heart" fighting the smile that was forming on my face
"You've got to promise me, Nana. No more skipping or I'll report you to Mr Whyte whom I'm so scared of"
Chuckling "What are you so scared of Nae, it's not like he'll eat you or anything"
"Doesn't he look intimidating to you?"
"I raised the young lad, what part of him could be intimidating"
Setting a bowl of chicken soup in Infront of her
"You have to finish that" getting up and moving towards the door
"And where will you be?" Calling out
"The broken picture frame needs cleaning up"
"After daydreaming about your boss" she smirked
"You sneaky woman" laughing "For a fifty-six-year-old woman, you act like a kinky teen"
"Stay" the smile not reaching her eyes "So we can eat together and I go home to rest and I'll let you finish up before he returns"
"I like the sound of that as long as you're heading home to rest, and then maybe when you come in Friday, you'll tell me why my dearest Nana's smile isn't reaching her eyes"
We sat in comfortable silence, asides from her clanking her bowl purposely to get my attention from the book I was reading
"I swear you behave like my brother" bursting into a pit of laughter
"You make the best meal. Thank you" grabbing her glass of water and drinking softly
"You're welcome! Now you've got to go hurriedly, he'll be back say 10 and this is just 8:00 pm"
"Are you driving me away?" She faked a shocked expression which made me laugh more, joining in, her almost soon-to-be grey Auburn curls bounced than her face, her sandy brown eyes glassy from all the laughing
"Oh. my. God Nae, you're. going. to. kill. me" she said in between laughs, wiping the tears that formed from excessive laughing
"Your son would have my head, I still have a family to take care of"
Silence settled amongst us "How's home? Korra? Dennis? Your mum?" She paused "How's Dennis's health? Is he getting better? And the man you call your father?"
My body became rigid at the thought of him, I pray he's already passed out by the time I get home today, or it's going to be an even longer night for both of us, well me most especially
Korra and Dennis are my siblings, Korra is eighteen and Dennis is thirteen, he's got a brain tumour, and my mum barely makes it alive most times, due to the hits she gets every day, my father is an abusive man and that's the tea..there's nothing really special about me and my home
"We're all good, it's just this job helping Nana, it's how we're able to feed and buy medicines that he needs," I said lowly
Reaching for me as she laid her hands on mine "As long as there's a God in heaven, he'll be fine okay? You don't have to be sad!"
"I'm not sad nana, I'm a strong girl!" I squealed
"My little firefly"
"Nanaaa!" I screeched..she knows how much I hate that name
"When will you call the cops on him?"
"Did it once and almost lost my arm, not doing it again, he seems to always get away with everything"
Getting off her stool, striding towards the door "A time will come Nae that I won't ask for your permission, I'll report him and that abusive boyfriend of yours, this is the last chance you've got from me to set it right on your own. Goodnight" she was out the kitchen door, getting off my seat and following her to the front door
"No kisses for me? Or a hug? You didn't even ask me to walk you out!"
She turned around slowly, opening her arms wide and I ran immediately like a child who just saw the parent after a very long time
"I love you so much, Nana. Thank you really"
"I love you too my darling" dissolving the hug as the driver was already waiting to take her home
Helping her down the stairs and into the car "You promised to take your drugs, so keep to that, will you?"
"Yes, Doc." She grinned as the car drove off
Running inside and getting straight to work
****
"You silly maid! Where's my God-damn food? I pay you to put food on my table" Mr Whyte yelled slamming his hands on the table and making me jerk slightly
Damn you Nana, for making me serve food a few minutes later than he asked to be served food, because I spent my time talking with you, which I don't regret
Who got him all upset today, I can't keep tolerating him at all.
"It's here s-sir" placing the food not so carefully before my clumsy self dropped everything on the floor.
Did I forget to mention I was a total and complete klutz? Yeah, that explains the picture frames I keep dropping
My heart began to race so fast which it has never done before
"What the hell you dumb woman?" he snapped sending the table flying
'I might be a clutz, but not dumb Mr.' I fought the urge to say it but it would cost me my job and my life
"Great.. so now I pay you to put food on the floor" Sending death stares towards me
"S-s-sorry s-sir I'll cle-clean this-up"
"Get lost!!" Making me run towards the kitchen, breathing so fast as if I just took part in a marathon race.
Mind me I forgot all about introductions
My name's Lanae and I am 22, I love listening to music, it helps me get through the days it gets tough, I'm not so tall and not so short either, you could say I'm average, one would think because I've been abused and all, I should be reserved and mute but in my case, it's the reverse. I fucking stand out, for getting rid of pity parties
And I find myself working for the most self-centred, annoying, arrogant world's billionaire Stanley Whyte
This job is solely Nana's doing and I'm grateful, but working with this man is tiring every time, only nana makes him smile, and it's like he flashes her the smile and he's back to looking like a zombie
Ha!
"Are you deaf? Get out here and have this mess cleaned up!" Snapping me out of my thoughts
Looking at the time, 10:40 pm
Getting an earful, I just pray so much he's either drunk and passed out or out with his sons of bitches friends
"Coming" grabbing a piece of cloth, rushing back out and he was already stomping his foot up the stairs
Not how today was supposed to end, but it's better than the days he throws pieces of stuff