“As I’ve said before,” Bee’s voice dropped an octave to a husky whisper, “I’m here to take care of all of your needs.”
The sound of Bee’s voice like that made Jay’s desires spike. She was already horny, having not had sex in hours, and could use for a release. But some things were more important than sex.
“I’ll keep that in mind,” Jay said, forcing herself to change directions. “So, how did it go with my new maid?”
“Um...good.” Surprise was heard in Bee’s voice. Jay never asked about the maids unless she wanted them fired. “I--uh--talked with her last night.”
“How did it go? What did she say?”
“Um, I don’t know. She didn’t say much. I told her the rules, and she agreed to them.”
“Hmmm, did she seem happy in her apartment? Does she have enough food?”
“Uh--yeah. What has gotten into you? Why do you care?”
Jay paused for a moment, curious as to what had gotten into her too. She never asked about her maids, nor did she care if they were comfortable and eating. And the one thing she never bothered to learn was who they were. But something about this new mystery woman in her home piqued her interest.
Ignoring Bee’s questions, Jay asked, “What’s her name?”
“Really? Octavia Cortez.”
“Did she seem happy?” Jay asks, her voice a whisper.
“Honestly, she seemed tired. Cleaning after you is not an easy job. Especially having to deal with you.”
Jay sat back in her seat, allowing the water to cascade down her body. Images of red eyes, like pools of molten lava, imprinted within her. Not a day had gone by that she didn’t think about those eyes. At first, she wondered if they were contacts. No one could have such potent red eyes like that. Then she thought about the fact that she was clearly homeless and doubted that she’d spend money on contacts. Jay had met many beautiful people in her life. Still, there was something about Octavia that was not only beautiful but sad.
“Listen, thank you for working hard with my manager. I appreciate you being there for me in that way.”
“Of course.”
“Keep me up to date. I’ll try to have my phone on me.”
Bee giggled. “Yeah--okay.”
“Bye,” Jay said, then hung up.
Jay finished her shower, then changed, and headed to the kitchen. With a grumbling stomach, she knew she needed something to eat.
Jay froze on the bottom step of the stairs as she looked into the formal living room. Octavia looked deep in thought as she focused on her task of vacuuming the carpeted space.
That’s what the noise was. Ugh so annoying. Jay thought, approaching the help.
“Excuse me,” Jay said, waving a hand to capture Octavia’s attention over the noise.
Octavia glanced at her employer, then turned off the machine. She turned to face Jay but did not meet her eyes. Remembering what Bee said the night before and how mean Jay was when she made her presence known, Octavia made sure to keep her gaze down as Jay spoke to her.
“Can you not vacuum before four. I tend to sleep until late afternoon. That damn thing woke me.” Octavia glanced up in time for her eyes to connect with Jay’s. She quickly shied away and turned her gaze back to the floor between them. “I’m hungry. Make me a sandwich.” Octavia nodded again and moved toward the kitchen.
Jay followed, allowing the maid to walk before her. This gave Jay a moment to check out the woman in a way she usually wouldn’t. Octavia was petite with a nice body, how Jay preferred her help to appear. The smaller the woman, the less noticeable. The prettier the woman, when noticed it wouldn’t be all that bad.
In the kitchen, Jay sat down on a stool as she watched Octavia pull out everything needed to make a sandwich. Jay sat there in silence as she watched Octavia move. The woman pulled out bread, turkey, bacon, butter, cheddar cheese, avocados, even an egg. Everything Jay liked on her sandwich.
“How do you know what I fancy?” Jay asked.
Octavia stopped what she was doing, looked up, and froze time with one glance. Their eyes only met for a second, but at that moment, Jay had her answer.
“Am I that predictable?”
Octavia didn’t answer. Focused on her task, she cracked the egg over the skillet and let it heat up.
“Well?” Jay asked, curious to see what Octavia’s answer would be.
Octavia turned away from the stove and moved over to the counter, she leaned down on the surface, so her face was right before Jay. Knowing that the rockstar hated being judged, Octavia purposefully scanned her eyes over every inch of the woman, before she turned back to the stove to flip over the egg.
Jay sat there, stunned into silence. Felt frozen in time. As if she’d just peered into the pits of hades and saw herself swimming in flames. Every awful thing she’d done in life seemed to look back at her in that stare. Jay wanted nothing more than to curse at Octavia, yell at her, fire her. Instead, she sat there and waited like a child for her meal to be done. Suddenly, she felt tiny in the presence of her maid.
Lost in thought, Jay didn’t notice Octavia finished cooking until she was presented with a plate. “Turkey, bacon, egg, avocado sandwich, Ms.Firefly.” She said, sliding over the meal. “Glass of water for hydration,” she continued, moving a glass of water to Jay. “I know you don’t like water, but you must drink it.”
Who is she to tell me what I must do?
Jay took a sip of her water, then bit into the sandwich. Her eyes rolled back in ecstasy. Moaned out at the flavors evaporating on her tongue. Nothing had ever tasted so good. Nothing since she was a little girl and her mum would make her the exact same sandwich.
Jay gazed up to be met by the hardened face of a woman much younger than her. But under her eyes, she felt like an adolescent. Small, immature, stupid, but safe.
“Yes,” Octavia said, her sight lingered on Jay. “You people tend to be predictable.”
What does she mean by “you people?”
Chapter Five
One arm wrapped around Tina’s shoulder, the other held tight around Ty’s as the women stumbled through the front door. Jay lost her footing and collapsed between the two women who barely tried to sustain her.
“Damn it, Jay! Fucking pull yourself together,” Tina hollered at the rockstar who rolled around on the marble floor, laughing to herself.
Octavia, who had been in the kitchen cleaning, heard the commotion in the foyer and tried to sneak away down the hall. Unfortunately for the maid, the hallway went right in front of the door.
“Oh, maid!” Called out one of the women. Ty, Octavia thought. They both looked the same, which she found creepy, but to each their own.
“We have a show tonight and can’t drag this along with us.” The other woman pointed to Jay, shaking her head. “Clean it up, will you?”
With that, the women blew kisses at the intoxicated rockstar before they fled from the apartment.
Great. Octavia thought as she looked at Jay Firefly, nearly passed out on the floor. Jay laughed a little to herself, but Octavia could tell sleep was about to consume her. Either she could get the rockstar upstairs to bed--or on the couch at the very least--or she could choose to leave the woman on the floor.