Chapter 11
Piper
The next few days werepretty much all the same. I got up, found the note shoved under my door, and started the day. Some days, Gretchen would serve me breakfast, other days, I’d make my own. Darren rarely sat with me at meals, and when he did, he didn’t talk to me much, no matter how much I tried.
“Why, you look absolutely thrilled to be here,” Rayne said as he plopped down on the stairs next to where I was scrubbing a stain from the floor.
I had finished all my chores early and had been looking forward to a nice relaxing evening instead of collapsing in my bed. However, God hated me.
Darren had stopped me in the kitchen and told me of a mysterious red stain that had suddenly appeared. As the maid, of course, it was my job to get rid of it. Since I wasn’t exactly an expert in tile cleaning, I had been scrubbing at the same spot for over an hour, and still, the ugly red spot had hardly budged.
“Can I help you?” I sighed and tossed my scrubbing brush back into my bucket of water.
Rayne smirked down at me, his hands laced in front of him as he leaned on his knees. “No, just enjoying your pitiful existence.”
Rolling my eyes, I turned back to my bucket and grimaced at the reddish colored water. I’d gotten this much stuff out of the tile, but still, it glared at me like a neon light. Suddenly, a thought came to mind. I glanced at Rayne’s overly smug face and then back to the stain.
“You did this, didn’t you?” I arched a brow at him, ready for a reason to smack him upside the head like he deserved.
Annoying punk.
Leaning back on the stairs, Rayne sniggered. “Now, why would I do that? I have so many other more important things to do than to make more work for you.”
I snorted. “Yeah, like I believe that.”
Standing up, Rayne stomped over to where I knelt and crouched down beside me. “You should watch your tongue unless you want to be out of a job and back to living in your car.”
I gaped at him. “How did you know that?”
“I have my ways.” When I only stared at him, he sighed. “It’s called the Internet. I did a background check on you. You’ve been job hopping for the last few months after you got laid off.” His nose scrunched up in disgust. “Also, your car is a mess. You should take more pride in your things.”
Why, that snot-nosed little brat. Who did he think he was?
Irritation filled me, and I jumped to my feet. “And you should mind your own business. What I do or don’t do with my own stuff is my business, not yours.” I huffed and picked up my bucket of water, glaring down at him. “If you ever do something like this again, I will make sure all your clothes are dyed pink in the next wash.”
I whipped back around, making sure the water in the bucket sloshed over the side and splashed Rayne’s feet.
“Hey!” Rayne jumped back and snarled. “Watch it. You better come back here and apologize. You’re nothing but a maid.”
“And you’re nothing but a spoiled brat,” I snapped back at him, flipping him off. I marched back toward the kitchen, muttering to myself the entire way.
I might be a maid, but that didn’t give him the right to treat me like shit. I worked hard to clean their clothes and keep their ridiculously large house clean. Really, who needed this many rooms? There were only six of them and way too much unused square footage to need this big of a house.
I slammed my bucket down on the counter a bit more forcefully than needed.
Darren stood at the stove, his back to me as he stirred a pot on the burner. He glanced away from the pot for a moment to arch a brow. “Bad day?”
I grunted and went to the sink. Dumping the water into the sink, I twisted toward Darren, one hip leaned against the counter. “Tell me, did all these guys personally shove sticks up their asses or were they born that way?”
“I wouldn’t speak so freely of the masters,” Darren warned though I caught a hint of a smile on his lips. “They have excellent hearing.”
I sniffed, not at all worried. “Then hear this, bite me!”
Darren chuckled, his shoulders shaking with the effort. He went back to stirring the delicious smelling pot. Remarkably, not even the prospect of food made up for my day.
“What, you think that’s funny?” I spat, staring at him like he had lost his mind.
“Just your wording. The irony.” Darren shook his head and then started to plate the food. He gestured to the bar for me to sit.