Not sure what to say, Octavia held her hands behind her back and tried not to keep eye contact but wanted to show that she was still listening. “Umm--”
“Maybe it is in the eyes…” Octavia looked up, showcasing her red stare. “Yeah, those eyes are haunting. Like you’ve seen shit before. But it shouldn’t be too much to deal with.”
“I’m sorry?”
“Octavia, Ms. Firefly is particular. She has a specific taste in her help. The most important thing is for them to blend in with the decor--the furniture. You are supposed to be a prop. A prop that cleans and does as she’s told. However, Jay notices you. And worst, she feels weird about you. Uneasy.
“I have no idea why. Maybe it is because you came in here and literally turned her house upside down, or maybe she’s just on a bender and can’t think straight right now. Whatever the reason, you must become invisible. Never speak to her, even if it is to apologize. Never--ever look her in the eyes, even if you are speaking with her. Understand and accept that you are beneath her, in class, that is.”
Bee moved toward the table in the middle of the open dining space. “Please, come join me. We have a lot to go over if you plan to stay on as Ms. Firefly’s maid. I will admit it is a hard job, and many are not equipped to handle her. I guess we will see how you work out.”
Chapter Four
Sunlight shone through the windows of Jay’s master bedroom. The rockstar groaned as she covered her eyes with a hand, trying to untangle herself out of her girlfriend, Felicia’s embrace. Something loud had woken the rockstar. She sat up in bed, listening to the unfamiliar sound of humming.
Loud humming. Similar to the sound a leaf blower makes. Except Jay hadn’t heard one of those since she lived closer to ground. Her penthouse suite did not have access to leaves. So why was she hearing this awful noise now?
Jay slumped out of bed, dragged herself to the bathroom, and started up a shower. She located her phone in the pocket of a pair of skinny jean pants on her bathroom floor. Thirty missed calls, fifty-plus text messages, and over a hundred emails just overnight. Jay groaned and threw her phone back on the floor.
“Felicia!” Jay called out as steam started to fill the room. No answer came, so she yelled again, “Felicia!” Again, nothing happened. Even more annoyed now, Jay dragged herself back to the bedroom. Numb limbs felt foreign as she pulled her body into the other room. As if her legs were plastic Bratz doll stubs, not equipped for walking on.
It was Felicia’s grand idea to do bath salts the night before. The woman tended to party with drugs Jay didn’t like. But she was excited to see Felicia, so she put away her reserve and took what her girlfriend offered.
“Felicia,” Jay hollered again, this time throwing a flip flop at the sleeping woman in her bed.
The shoe connected with Felicia’s head, forcing her to jolt up out of her sleep.
Rubbing her tired eyes and the spot the shoe hit, Felicia groaned, “What the fuck…”
“Get up and take a shower with me.”
Felicia slumped back into the bed, ignoring Jay. “Hey!” Jay exclaimed, trying to pull herself the rest of the way to the bed. “I made a request!”
“Fuck off,” Felicia mumbled into her pillow.
Eyebrows furrowed. “Bloody hell, you’re my prostitute, so you must do as I say.”
Half engaged in the conversation; Felicia turned so she could see Jay’s eyes. “You paid for the girlfriend experience, I’m simply fulfilling said experience by ignoring your request for sex and going back to sleep. Goodnight, babe.” With that, she flipped over to her stomach and buried her head in the pillow.
Even more annoyed now, Jay looked for something to take her anger out on. Felicia was right, she didn’t have to have sex with her. Besides, she had stopped paying Felicia through her service six months ago when Jay asked the escort to be her fifth girlfriend. Now they had a different arrangement that was much more expensive for Jay. Still, she liked Felicia’s company and did not want to share her with anyone else.
Jay rolled her eyes at her girlfriend before turning to head back into the bathroom. Jay’s body was in dire need of a hot shower if she wanted to wake her limbs back up. They were starting to come-to as she walked on them. The overbearing antsy sensation had turned into a whisper of heaviness, but they still needed warmth.
Since she wasn’t going to have shower sex, Jay decided to grab her phone and look through her notifications. Steam engulfed the room as Jay opened the door to her walk-in shower.
Water shot out from all directions, like a carwash as Jay walked through it to her seat in the far corner. With a washcloth, she dried off her hands and phone. The screen lit up, indicating another text.
Jay opened the notification to see her assistant had called over twenty times in the last hour. Not normal for her. The latest text read:
Bee: You seriously need to answer the phone.
Instead of texting back, Jay decided to call.
“Jay, finally, your manager has been busy, but he wanted me to tell you that the label will not be paying you for those shows. However, they did find an alternative. Instead of flying to Asia, they have scheduled appearances for you in March with various talk shows.”
Jay’s blood started to boil, hearing this. The label did not change anything in her schedule, they simply moved up appearances she was going to make in the summer to March. This was not better because they did not pay as well.
“What the fuck, that is not a resolution--”
“Sorry to interrupt, but they moved the summer shows up so they could have the time available to put your name on the lineup for different festivals. They are already in the works for getting you the headliner spot for Coachella’s Friday night show.”
“Friday night!” Jay yelled, even more annoyed now. “Everyone knows that Friday night is reserved for the least important headliner.”
Bee sighed on the other line, just audible for Jay to hear. “Well, I--”
“Did you sigh?” Jay asked, an edge to her voice that was not there previously.
“It wasn’t directed at you.”
“Un huh…” Jay took a breath, deciding not to go off on her assistant. Bee had been the longest one she had, and the woman worked jobs that were not in her job description without complaint. At least she was trying, and the label was trying. Jay might have been erratic, but she was not unreasonable.
“I’m sorry this isn’t what we had planned, Jay. Everything is getting all screwed up with this virus. The label doesn’t want to send you across Asia because they fear that it will be dangerous in these climates and--”
“Listen,” Jay said, interrupting. “I get it. Thank you for your help, Bee. I know I can be difficult sometimes. I am trying to be more understanding, especially when it comes to you. I appreciate you doing all this for me. You’re very good at your job, which is the only reason I’m not firing you and hiring you as my girlfriend.”
Bee giggled on the other end of the line. It wasn’t the first time Jay hit on her. They were always flirting back and forth. Something common when it came to Jay. It wouldn’t be the first assistant she was intimate with. But that tended to blow up in her face. And for once, she didn’t want to lose this one.