Million Dollar Maid ✔

Chapter 18

Even though he'd told her she wouldn't have to work today, she still woke up at nine in the morning. It was a lot later than she'd usually wake up but she still felt tired from her traveling the night before.

With a sigh, she pulled off the covers before stretching her back, legs, and arms. When she first opened her eyes she hadn't recognized her surroundings, making her wake up faster than she'd ever done before. It took her brain a moment to remember that she was at Sébastien's New York apartment which made her sigh in relief.

Her bag was still slumped over in the bathroom and she crouched down to grab her only other pair of jeans, a shirt, and a fresh pair of underwear. It suddenly occurred to her that since she'd left her uniform at the estate, she wouldn't have any proper clothes for when she'd have to work.

It was something she'd had to ask Sébastien when she saw him again but for now, her regular clothes would have to do. Since it was relatively late in the morning he was probably at work already, giving her a good opportunity to look around the apartment.

After gathering her dirty clothes in her arms she opened the door in search of the laundry room. The first door she opened was another bedroom, so she closed the door again. The second one was only a utility closet, but no washing machine could be found there. She knew the third door held Sébastien's bedroom so she didn't open that one at all but instead made her way downstairs.

As she assessed the empty apartment she suddenly noticed it wasn't all that dirty. It wasn't squeaky clean like the estate always was, but it was hardly dirty enough to fly over your maid from another state.

Maybe he was just a neat freak, she thought.

There were a few doors under the stairs and lucky for her, the first one was a laundry room. The machine was easy enough to use so she put the few items she had in and pressed the buttons. All there was left to do was wait.

Her stomach suddenly growled so loud she grabbed her stomach in an attempt to stop it, even though she was the only one in the apartment at the moment. The kitchen wasn't hard to find since it was connected to the living room without any walls in between.

Upon opening the fridge she found that there weren't many items to pick from and she wondered if he would send her to fetch more tomorrow. There was still enough bread so she decided to make a simple sandwich.

It felt odd eating the same food as he did, servants almost always had their separate kitchen and never ate the same things as their employers. Usually, her meals were a lot more simple but Lauren actually seemed to make an effort to make something tasty every day, unlike the cooks at her previous jobs who held nothing but contempt for the unimportant maids.

While chewing she thought of the things that she could do today; he'd told her to explore the city but she was a little scared of getting lost so she'd wait until she really had to go out. Maybe she could start on cleaning the place up a little but it wasn't a lot.

The kitchen seemed like a good start. There were a few dishes in the sink and the dishwasher was filled with clean dishes. She'd only have to put those back in the cupboard and put in the dirty ones. It was hardly a day's worth of work so next up she set to work on vacuuming the floor.

The work allowed her to lose track of time while still being productive. It made her lose her situational awareness while she focused on only the task at hand.

Which is probably why she let out a scream when someone suddenly appeared before her.

"Good god woman, what did my poor ears ever do to you?" the woman in front of her asked. Her hair was cut in an immaculate blonde bob and not a hair seemed to be out of place. Her clothes looked expensive and not a crease lined the fabrics. It was odd seeing someone dressed so perfectly, like they were a mannequin at a store.