Million Dollar Maid ✔

Chapter 48

The restaurant was bustling with activity on this ordinary afternoon. Ordinary for everyone, except Ava. The latter sat in one of the booths staring off into space, reminding her he'd come back home soon enough and she wouldn't have to miss him anymore then.

It was strange, she'd been on her own for so long yet she hardly remembered what it felt like. No one to look forward to at home was something she was used to, but the house still felt empty when she walked through it.

In some way, it felt as if she was haunting the place by the way she tended to aimlessly walk around in an attempt to find something to do. If she was particularly unlucky she'd run into Mr. Olson who'd command her to do this or that and even though she was bored out of her skull, the tasks he laid out for her weren't pleasant.

He'd always look at her down his large nose and she kicked herself in the head for not asking Sébastien whether or not he even had any authority over her at all. One day he'd caught a glimpse of her phone and snarked, "That's a pretty expensive phone for just a maid."

The look of disgust on his face when she explained it was a gift from Sébastien was something she wouldn't soon forget.

Communicating with Sébastien had proven challenging. He'd promised her a phone call every day but in reality, it was hard to achieve. The difference in time zones combined with his packed schedule gave him very little time to call her, and when he did have time there was a good chance she was asleep.

The few times they did manage to call felt wonderful to her. The butterflies would return to her stomach just from the sound of his voice and her mind would feel more at ease afterward. If she closed her eyes she could pretend he was right next to her and not across the ocean.

"One pasta alfredo for the lonely girl in booth six," Everly chimed, putting down two plates before taking a seat across from Ava. She still wore her work clothes and Ava knew her break wasn't that long, but she appreciated her friend taking the time to sit with her for a bit.

"Thanks," Ava smiled. "It looks really good. Smells good, too."

"That's because it is good," her friend explained, "The absolute best. The crème de la crème. John in the back takes pride in his pasta alfredo so you're not even allowed to say otherwise."

"Got it," Ava laughed before taking a bite. To no one's surprise, it was delicious. "You weren't kidding," she said appreciatively.

"See? It's good. So now you have another reason to stop by more often. Besides the obvious one of my amazing company," Everly replied confidently, causing Ava to laugh. She wished she could be more like her friend. Confident and seemingly carefree.

"So," Ava started after a while before pausing. Why she suddenly became nervous, she had no idea. What if she had misjudged their relationship and Everly would say no?

"So?" Everly replied, gesturing for Ava to go on. It was too late now to back out, and she was taking too long to even ask the question itself.

Ava gulped before continuing," I-I—Um, I was wondering. If you, and only if you want to because you can say no and it won't be a problem, want to sleep over sometime?"

Her heart pounded in her ears as she waited for her friend's reply, which thankfully came almost immediately. "A sleepover? Hell yeah! At your place or mine? Wait, are we going to watch movies? I had one I'd been meaning to see but I don't know if that's even your cup of tea."

"We can do it at mine," Ava offered, knowing that Everly often complained about her brother taking over the living room with his friends. It felt a little strange claiming the estate as her own, but it would also be strange to call it Sébastien's place when he wasn't even there. "And any movie is fine by me."

"Okay, good. Because I have a suspicion you'll like this one. I'm free next Thursday and Friday, if that works for you?"

"Perfect," Ava smiled, knowing she was free pretty much the whole week. The work she had to do she could move to another time, knowing Sébastien didn't mind in the slightest. The only one who could have a problem with it would be Mr. Olson, but that would be a problem for another time.

After finishing their meals Everly took their plates and went back to work. Her break had ended and Ava saw no point in staying so she bid her friend goodbye and took off. All the rides to town Sébastien had given her had made her lazy, and now the walk back to the estate seemed too long.

With a sigh, she started walking. The winds reminded her of when she first started working at the estate. How her thin jacket barely did anything to protect her from the elements and how freezing cold she was every time she walked to town.

And the way her shoes always soaked through at the littlest amount of rain. She glanced at her current ones. Still black and somewhat similar to her old ones, but undeniably made of better quality materials. And definitely a lot more expensive, if she had learned anything about Sébastien.

At least the more comfortable shoes made the long trek more bearable. While walking she thought of the things she still had to do for today, which included washing some windows out front. She absolutely hated washing windows in general and it was the main reason she'd asked Everly to have lunch with her.

When the estate finally came into sight she'd finally made peace with it. As soon as she went through the front door she made a beeline for the supplies closet to gather the materials.

"Good to see you've finally decided to show up again," an annoying voice came from behind her. Of course, it was Mr. Olson, she thought. Who else?

"I went out to eat lunch with a friend," she replied, explaining herself.

"Hm, yes. Was it fun?" he asked, his tone shifted to innocent interest which made Ava a little suspicious.

"Yes?" she answered, unsure of what she should say.

"Great. Good. Nice to see you're having fun. God forbid you actually did your job around here."

"B—" she stammered, wanting to explain that she'd gotten ahead of her tasks for the day and only the windows had to be done before she was off. But before she could get more than a word out of her mouth, she was cut off.

"The windows still need washing. See to it that you get them clean," he sneered down at her before adding, "Today."

She could do little more than stare after him, unsure of what had caused his animosity towards her. She briefly considered asking Lauren to help her out, but quickly thought better of it. Mr. Olson could do no wrong in her eyes. She thought the world of him for some reason. Ava suspected she even had a small crush on the man.

She put it to the back of her mind and set about to continue with her task before he could accuse her of being lazy again. There was a small voice in the back of her mind that told her she should tell Sébastien about it when she spoke to him again.

But there was always so little time to be had with him on the phone and she didn't want to spend it complaining about someone else. Especially since he was so busy all day and she didn't want to add to that.

And besides, what if Sébastien just fired him? She didn't like the man but he didn't deserve to lose his job for being mean to her. She of all people knew how important holding a job was.

At the same time, she didn't have the backbone to tell him off herself. Maybe that would make it worse, too.

Instead, she focused her mind on something more exciting, like the sleepover that would be held soon. She'd have to ask Lauren what snacks would be appropriate for the occasion and prepare accordingly. Nerves gathered in her stomach, but they were good nerves.

Excited nerves.

She was about to have her very first sleepover and it couldn't come soon enough.