“Close the damn door!” the female who was in that room barked at me.
With shaky hands and a fast-beating heart, I exited the room and closed the door. I was too stunned even to walk away. I just remained at the closed door as I felt the blood practically drain out of my body.
What had I just witnessed? And what was that room about?
“I asked you if you locked the door, and you said yes,” the male voice spoke angrily. Then, I heard things drop and make all these loud noises.
I was too shocked even to address the faces that were in that room, but all I saw was two nude bodies- a male and a female. I remained at the door as I caught my breath, and panic and embarrassment began to fill my body.
After finally cooling down a bit, I finally walked back to the dining room, pulled out a chair and sat down. I nervously bit my nails as I replayed that brief thing I had just witnessed. The disturbing and disgusting memory was engraved and embossed in my tiny brain. I bit each fingernail as the disturbing images replayed until I finished my nails and started to bleed, and was left to bite my skin. It hurt so bad, but weirdly, it calmed me and was better than thinking about those two naked bodies in that room.
As I was deep in my thoughts, one of the doors suddenly opened, causing me to jump a little out of my seat. Then, I heard heavy footsteps. They were definitely not the same ones I heard when I was crouching under the table in the office. Those heavy footsteps went up the stairs while I remained in the dining room. I did not move at all lest I found more naked bodies roaming around in the house. Eventually, the same footsteps came back downstairs, sounding heavier and heavier with each step until I heard them stop.
“Follow me.” a male voice commanded from behind me, causing me to literally jump out of the chair.
This time, the male figure was dressed. He had a plain black T-shirt on and plain black shorts.
Still shaking and panicked, I stood up nervously and pushed the chair back in. I was about to follow him when he turned around and held his hand out.
“1 metre” he commanded as I took a few steps back to give him that distance he asked for.
We walked into his office and he rushed over to his desk while he stared at his desk. I sat on the chair opposite him nervously while he continued to stare at the desk angrily.
“Someone was in my office,” he grumbled as he looked at the folders, files and papers that I fidgeted with earlier.
I panicked even more, wondering if he would figure out that it was me who touched his things and tampered with them. Maybe he would not know. Maybe he just paid attention to how he set the papers.
“Someone was definitely in my office”, he grumbled even more once he sat down and noticed that the chair had been moved.
Okay, so he was definitely one of those people who paid attention to even the tiniest bit of details.
I must have moved it a bit when I was snooping through the documents or when I was hiding behind the desk.
He began to pick up the papers and organise through each of them while fixing other things on the desk. He did not even seem to realise that it was inappropriate of him to be taking up my time for my interview by organising his office.
After he finally organised his stuff, he eventually looked up at me and found me nervously biting my lip. I had nothing left on my fingers, so I had moved to my lips, causing them to become bumpy.
“You must be…” he paused as he squinted at the paper. “Harper Homer.” “Well, actually it is…” I said before he held out his hand as if he was signalling me to shut up.
I kept quiet while he went back to squinting at my application form. He flipped through the pages slowly and then looked up at me and then back to the paper. It was as if he was trying to match the given information with my face.
“Here, it says you have worked as a waitress before.” he started speaking.
I nodded simply because I was still too traumatised to open my mouth and speak.
“I work with words, Ms. Homer” he said“Yes, I was a waitress before, and it is Holmes” I answered softly “You have to use ‘sir’, Ms. Homer,” he replied angrily.
Geez!
I knew that it was definitely going to be a bad interview. He seemed to be in some mood.
“Sir, it is Ms. Holmes”, I finally whispered.
He continued to squint at the paper as if he did not hear me correcting him about my surname.
I dared to clear my throat, hoping that would get his attention.
“What?” he snapped as he looked up from the paper. “It is Ms. Holmes, sir.” I answered trying to be as soft as possible. “Yes, didn’t I say that?” “No, you keep saying Ms Homer” I answered, “sir.”“I said Holmes” he groaned.
I just nodded. I had to accept that he apparently said the right thing. He seemed like the type to get very upset quickly and then suddenly flip the table.
“So, why did you leave your job as a waitress?” he asked.
It was a loaded question but I was going to look for an easier and simpler answer that would help cut the interview shorter.
Just as I was about to answer, I heard footsteps leading to the office. I paused while I waited for the person to walk into the office. I did not want to be interrupted while I was in the middle of my response. I assumed it was the next potential maid coming for her interview.
The person opened the door and continued to model in with her high heels. Dominic looked up from the papers and his eyes stayed on the female that came in while I turned around to see who it was.
My eyes landed on a familiar face.
She gasped the second her eyes fell on my face.
“Oh my, Humiliating Holmes.” the blonde laughed the second we made eye contact. “Humiliating Holmes?” Dominic questioned as his lips curved into a smile like he was about to burst into laughter. “Yeah, she was in my grade in high school.” she laughed.Was that the same Sadie? The same one that tortured me and made me miserable all throughout school?“Why, Humiliating Holmes?” Dominic asked as his smirk got wider and wider. God, this was more humiliating than walking in on them.“It’s a long story. I should fill you in someday.” she continued to laugh. “Are you applying to be a maid?” I simply nodded. “Oh my gosh! Same.” she talked like one of those basic blondes in movies. “My husband has been on my case to get a job, and I am like, but babe, your salary is enough alone to take care of us.” “You’re married?” I questioned “Yeah, I got married to Jackson Evans. Remember the guy who was in the grade higher than us? Yeah, we got married 2 years ago.” she boasted as she waved her ri
Two days had gone by, and I was back in my crappy apartment, flipping through job brochures, scrolling through my emails, even reaching the ‘Spam’ folder and always peeping through the window, waiting for the mailman. Dominic had assured me that they would email or call me immediately if I had been accepted, but I had not received anything. I sat at my phone, pacing the room and staring at my phone screen, wishing and hoping to get an answer as soon as possible. I was hopeful through it all. As I scrolled through different things on my phone, I got a follow request from Sadie Evans. Maybe she was trying to reach out now that she had seen me? Maybe she wanted to be friends? I accepted the follow request and scrolled through her account. She was really married to that jerk and she was living the soft life. Sadie: Hey Humiliating Holmes!I ignored her message as I continued to scroll through her page, seeing the type of life she was living. Sadie: Sucks you didn’t get the job. Bett
The following morning, I woke up to my phone vibrating, seeing numerous missed calls from the same number that called me the previous night. I rolled out of bed and saw it was already past 10, meaning I was awfully late. Without having time to shower and brush my hair, I just washed my face, dressed, and left the house immediately. I walked down the road and was not able to find any taxi to take me to my destination. On other days, I would barely leave my house, and a bunch of taxis came flooding in, but that day, when I was already running late, nothing appeared. I continued to walk down the street until I finally found one and hopped into it. “Where to, miss?” the driver asked as I squeezed myself into the backseat that was awfully full. “27 Echo Street, Hall Mansion,” I answered. “Oh, so you’re the new one?” the elderly lady in the backseat questioned as she gasped. “New what?” I queried, feeling rather confused about what she was talking about. She just scoffed and then lo
“Why have you stopped working?” a male voice barked from behind me, causing me to jump. I turned around and saw Dominic standing behind me with his arms folded over his chest, wearing the angriest facial expression. I fidgeted with my phone and the cleaning supplies in my hands as I tried to come up with an answer. “What are you doing on your phone?” he questioned, sounding furious as he tried to peep at my screen. He saw a big image of him pasted on my screen, meaning I was scrolling through articles about him and whatever he had been up to. “Are you reading about me?” he continued to question. I just blinked at him. He was scary. It felt as if I had been sent to the principal’s office for doing something, and I could not bother lying, seeing that I had been caught. “Are you gonna answer me today, Homer,” he growled.I just simply shook my head, and then he walked away. I still could not shake the feeling about what he had done and how true it was.Was I ready to work for some
I followed him into the office, and I froze when I finally got a better look at the male who had been talking in the room. “Addison…” he said “Come this way.” the female quickly said as she pulled my hand to the other end of the desk. I walked towards the desk while staring at the man. I knew exactly who he was, and he knew who I was. “So, with the recent information and news that has been circulating the internet and social media, certain actions have to be taken. This will not affect you in any way, but we just need to ensure that whatever you hear, see or is done in this mansion MUST and should only stay in this mansion.” the woman spoke“Rebecca, try not to refer to my house as a mansion”, Dominic said in a low voice. “Are you even listening to me?” she snapped at me. I woke up from my daydream of staring at the familiar man and looked at this lady in front of me. She has ice-blue eyes. Big and round. The type that would make you confess everything you did and did not do jus
He finally left the room. I could not remember where I had seen him from, but the fact that he referred to me as Addison meant it was someone who knew me well. “What was Gary talking about?” Dominic asked as soon as the door closedGary… Gary… I stood there, quiet and still. The name was familiar, as well as the face, but I could not remember from where. Why was he asking if he should pass greetings and to whom? “Homer!” Dominic snapped me out of my daydream. “Sorry… what were you saying?” “What is up with you and Gary? Do you know him from somewhere?” Dominic questioned “Yes, I know him from somewhere. We have met before.” I answered “Will there be a case?” “A case?” I queried“Yes, don’t act stupid.” I was not acting stupid. I just genuinely did not know what he meant by a case. “No, there won’t be any case,” I replied, hoping that was the answer he wanted to hear. “There better not be any! I already have a lot going on. This is the last thing I need.” he groaned. I alre
Dominic immediately walked out of the room, leaving me there, too stunned to move. It was only my first day there, and he wanted me to stay over. Did he even trust me to be staying over? Did he have some evil scheme going on? Was he going to do something to me? I tried to continue cleaning, but each time I moved, I thought of his stupid ‘suggestion’ or ‘idea’. I then thought that maybe if I hurried and tried to finish everything else in about 30 minutes, I would get to go home instead. But I was trapped in his room for the next 20 minutes, first packing everything away and then laying his bed. Then, I finally got to mop and sweep the floor, as well as dust the surfaces. “Good evening!” a cheery female voice sounded from downstairs. It certainly was not Rebecca, nor was it Sadie. I carried all my cleaning supplies and peeped over the balcony, but I could not see anyone. Instead, I just heard footsteps. I left the room and walked down the corridor and then eventually down the stairs
That night, Dominic had ordered me to sleep in the very dull bedroom. The bed sheets were very itchy and uncomfortable, the pillow was very flat, and the mattress was so solid like I was sleeping on a table. Even my crappy apartment had way better things compared to the torture Dominic put me through. Because I did not have my pyjamas, I had to sleep in my threadbare underwear and wrap myself in the itchy bedding, hoping that if anyone were to randomly walk in, at least they would not see anything. On top of all of that discomfort, my brain was spiralling, still thinking about Ruby’s tiny and nude body, thinking I was Dominic. It was not that traumatising compared to the first time I set foot in this house. But, it was still something you would not want to see after being threatened for sneaking around. And the worst of the worst that also kept me up the whole night was hearing Dominic and Ruby going at it all night. The screaming, the laughing and the moaning… all the uncomfortabl