The Long Game

Part 2

"Come in, Lorie," Jessica Shelley said to me. I smiled, stepped into The Shelley household and scanned the area. Huh. Considering the truckload of pride and condescension radiating from Jessica's skin, you'd think their house was bigger.

My house was bigger, I noted with amusement.

"What was that?" Jessica asked. Oops, must've said that out loud.

"Nice house, ma'am," I saved. Jessica shrugged her shoulders but the tiny smile on her face betrayed her pleasure at my comment. She gave me a quick tour of the house and prattled on about the many duties that I'd be splitting with their current maid, Rosa. How were we supposed to complete all that in one day?

When Jessica stopped me in front of the maids' quarters, she said "If you have any questions, feel free to ask Rosa. We're having a family meeting later today so there's lots to get done. Your uniforms are hanging in the closet. Get changed and join Rosa. I hope you like pink."

No. No. No.

I made a beeline for the closet, eye five extremely pink uniforms hanging in it and basically hear the universe erupt into laughter.

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Feeling sufficiently ridiculous in my uniform, I set off to find Rosa in the kitchen. Upon meeting her, I noticed her anxious energy and wondered if it was a result from working with the Shelleys for a while. Poor girl. She tried to speak to me in Tagalog at first but I insisted on us speaking English to 'help me improve'.

Rosa instructed me to do the laundry while she waited on the Shelleys during their meeting. Before I could even figure out how to function the washing machine, I heard the other Shelleys starting to arrive and my curiosity peaked.

Poking my head round the bend, I checked out the scene in the living room. I recognized each of them from my research. But there was one missing-

OW! Someone walked into me from behind. "What the hell?" I hissed, momentarily slipping into Daniella. Luckily, Louis, didn't notice my indiscretion as he was preoccupied with his phone. Looking up, he snapped, "Watch it Ro-" He looked closely at me, "Who are you?" Before I could answer, he redirected the question to Jessica as he walked into the living room. What a jerk.

6 pairs of eyes fell on me, 7 including Rosa's.

Jessica beckoned me forward. "This is Lorie, the new maid." I brought Lorie's backstory about how she's working to support her younger brother to the forefront of my mind so that I could answer their questions convincingly.

"Lorie," began a woman who largely resembled a certain sea witch. Eunice. "Fetch me some tea."

I was dumbstruck. That was it? I glanced at the other Shelleys who all seemed to have dismissed my presence. No questions about Lorie? I looked at Rosa who had already moved to pour Eunice some tea. Alright.

As I walked back around the bend to eavesdrop, I couldn't help but feel insulted at their lack of interest in me. I spent the rest of their meeting listening in and trying to learn more about each Shelley other than them being stuck-up assholes.

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By 7pm, most of the Shelleys had long gone except for the ones who lived in this house - Jessica (stick up her butt), Ah Yoke (non-Shelley upbringing, so half-decent) and Louis (jerk-face). I had a clearer idea of their individual personalities but none of them were impressing me. Eunice (believes she's the highest ranking Shelley), Celia (ditsy), James (about to enter a loveless marriage).