“All right, you’ve got a point. So, we met at a bar and have been seeing each other for a few weeks?” I couldn’t believe I was scheming to pull the wool over my folks’ eyes but it wasn’t the worst plan in the world.
“Sounds good to me,” she slurred with bacon in her mouth. “It’s the least I can do to return all the favors you’ve already done for me. Besides, I can totally use you to get back at Lee.”
I choked a little on my coffee. “What do you mean?”
“Lee will flip his shit if he sees on Instagram that I am on the arm of a hunky hockey player. A little fuck-you-pay-back is good for the soul.”
Reaching out my hand, I shook Etta’s. “I think we have a perfect plan to help both of us get through the holidays swimmingly.”
“One rule.” Etta narrowed her eyes at me.
“What’s that?”
“You can’t go falling in love with me.”
“Deal.”
Etta
Gret leftfor practice and I was alone in his apartment. It was overly strange to me how trusting he was to just leave a complete stranger in his home. I mean, I knew I wasn’t a jerk that was going to steal all of his crap and run away, but he didn’t.
Curiosity got the best of me and I slunk into his room. Black wood furniture that matched the rest of his home’s décor took up most of the large space. The one thing that stood out was there wasn’t a TV in his room. Just a large black and white skyline view from Manhattan over his dresser. It was too clean for a bachelor pad. No dust. No pile of dirty clothes in the corner. Towels hung perfectly.
After snooping and finishing the pot of coffee, I did the dishes from breakfast and loaded the dishwasher.
Right as I was about to get into the shower, the front door opened.
“Mr. Hayes?” a woman’s voice called into the apartment.
I jumped out of my skin and rushed into the living room.
“Gret’s at work,” I explained as I walked up to the older woman.
“I’m Amanda. I’m Mr. Hayes housekeeper,” she stated as she set his dry cleaning on the couch.
“It’s nice to meet you. I’m Etta. Just a friend. Staying for the holidays,” I rambled.
Amanda smiled sweetly at me. “It’s nice to see a lady’s face in here. I keep telling that man that he needs more friends.”
“How long have you known Gret?” I asked as I followed her like a puppy into the kitchen.
She started to get cleaning products out from under the sink. “I have been working for the Hayes family since the kids were little. Mrs. Hayes has become more like family and now I take care of all of their places.”
“What is Gret like?” I felt like a fool but I couldn’t miss the opportunity to get the scoop on my rescuer.
She smiled at me. “Well, he’s too nice for his own good and since he is the baby of the family, he gets pushed around a lot. His older brother is a hot head and his sister is a bookworm. Gret is the sweet one out of the bunch. Don’t get me wrong, I love all three of those kids like they were my own, but Gret is just special.”
“I couldn’t agree with you more on that front.” I started to make another pot of coffee. “Would you like a cup?”
Amanda giggled a little. “I’m supposed to ask you that.”
“Well, you’re working and I am just taking up space and probably in your way.”
“A cup of coffee would be very lovely.”
I couldn’t sit idly by while Amanda worked. I helped wipe down counters, mopped the floor, cleaned the mirrors.
“I feel like I should be paying you,” Amanda teased as I cleaned out the kitchen sink.