Million Dollar Maid ✔

Chapter 4

She awoke with a start the next day, humiliation still fresh on her mind. She briefly considered telling George she was sick and needed a day off but the risk of being fired would be too big. Besides, she loved this job.

At least, she did until Mr. Chastain came back.

But he would have to leave eventually, right? He was a busy man with things to do, he couldn't hang out in his mansion in the woods forever. Or so she hoped.

She'd just have to suck it up and get dressed or she'd miss breakfast, and she wasn't going to be hungry until her lunch break. After quickly freshening up and getting dressed she joined George and Lauren for breakfast.

"Good morning, miss Romero," George greeted her. "I heard you served Mr. Chastain and his guests yesterday, how did it go?"

It was amazing really, how fast he could ask the one question she'd hoped no one would ask her today. But she also knew she didn't want to tell him the truth or she'd die of embarrassment.

"Good morning, I did. It went well, I think. I only served them drinks," she replied as steadily as she could before taking a bite out of her croissant. George nodded in thought, "that's good to hear. I know it's not really among your duties to do so, so I apologize. I don't think it'll happen again but I'm glad you were able to step up when needed."

Ava didn't really know how to reply to that so she just silently with a small smile before taking another bite. Lucky for her, Lauren picked up the conversation from there and moved it away to some topic Ava wasn't interested in.

As soon as she finished eating she put away the dishes and began her daily rounds by first stopping by the storage closet to grab her supplies. Today, she'd vacuum the hallway floors and then mop them which was a task that would take up the whole day.

She didn't look forward to it though, she was known to get back pains from this kind of work. But it's literally what she gets paid to do so she couldn't simply not do it, especially since Mr. Chastain now actually uses the place which meant everything would have to be spotless.

Vacuuming the hallway was easy enough, there wasn't much traffic coming through this particular one so there wasn't much to pick up. After wiping some sweat off her brow she set off to fill her bucket with some water before returning to mop the floor.

She was almost halfway done when the thudding of footsteps filled the hallway, causing her to look up. Unfortunately for her, it was Mr. Chastain. And he was looking straight at her.

Bracing herself for getting berated for how she'd acted the day before, she put away the mop and clasped her hands together in front of her. She hoped he wouldn't yell. That was something she couldn't deal with too well and it'd be even more embarrassing to cry in front of him.

Today he wore more casual clothes than she'd ever seen him wear. The usual suit was traded for a simple black shirt that hugged the defined muscles in his arms and sweats which hung low on his hips. He looked as if he'd just finished a workout and she briefly wondered if he had his own personal gym on the estate. It definitely wouldn't surprise her.

"Hey," he called out casually, like they were old friends.

"Mr. Chastain," she replied politely. She knew that no matter how she was addressed, she'd always have to remain professional.

He stopped just a few feet short of her and she appreciated the distance, it made it easier to breathe for her. He shifted his weight from one leg to the other and if he hadn't carried himself with the confidence that he did, she'd almost think that he was uncomfortable.

"Look, about last night, I'm sorry. You were right about it not being your job and I shouldn't have asked you to, and I'm sorry for the things Mark said to you," he told her, much to her surprise. She'd never had any employers apologize to her for anything. People rarely apologized to her at all.