Girl huh? Helena thought dryly. It seems that I made it onto the miss's shit list already. I bet creating a scene like this wasn't making it any better either. If anything, it seemed like I was inconveniencing her by dying from lack of air in her office!

"No, really. I'm fine Mrs. Daville. I appreciate the kind gesture though." Helena told her politely but failed at showing it.

Mrs. Daville scoffed before heading down the hallway on her own.

"You're sure you're okay then?" Mr. Daville asked.

Helena nodded while trying to force a smile.

"Alright, let's get going then." He gave her a soft smile and allowed her to exit the room first, but as he reached to close the door, his hand accidentally brushed against her rear. Her eyes shot open and he held his hands up in defense.

"I am so sorry about that!" He exclaimed with guilty eyes. "I was just trying to shut the door. It was an honest mistake, it wasn't my intention."

"Don't worry about it, I'm sure it was an accident."

Or was it?

A very tiny part of Helena actually wondered if it was .

His face gleamed with amusement as he led the way out the door his wife went out of. "Ah, thank you so much. Usually women freak out when that sort of thing happens."

"How often does that happen?" She asked jokingly.

He grinned. "More times than it should."

As they walked down another hallway behind his wife, Helana couldn't help but to steal glances at his features.

He's just so...

"Will you two hurry up already?" Mrs. DaVille snapped while holding open the door for them.

"Yes Ma'am!" Helena announced and sped past Mr. Daville.

They headed outside to a ginormous garden and Helena couldn't help but to be blown away at how gorgeous the place was. It smells so fresh and pleasing to the senses. It was nice and quiet, like their own peaceful little haven.

They walked in silence, aside from Helena's occasional coughing, and were led to a courtyard where a lot of the employees were outside bustling about. They were all scurrying and rushing past them towards the mansion. Helena saw that all were wearing the same dull dark grey color outfits; petticoat skirts and blouses with black stockings for the girls, or grey and white tuxedos for the guys. Helena cringed internally at the lack of style and "please ignore me" uniforms.

A petite girl stopped in front of them, who Helena assumed was the one commanded to fetch her water. With a small curtsy of her skirt, she handed Helena a small cup of cold water and with the flick of her brown ponytail, turned on her heels and hurried off.

Was this the uniform they were forced to wear? Helena thought while taking a sip and eying more of the staff as they continued to walk. It seems like the misses wanted her staff to draw as little attention to them as possible.

They came to a stop at a concrete bleak corridor. The inside was barely lit up by a couple of light bulbs on faulty wiring dangling from the ceiling. A combination of multiple chemicals stung Helena's nose the further they went in and there was a light humming noise.

There were 4 large washing machines with a dryer stacked on top of each of them. There were also wooden shelves stacked with cleaning supplies, deodorizers, and toxic sprays. The place resembled something close to a prison laundry mat to Helena

"Here is where the staff washes all of the clothes and where they can find all of the cleaning supplies for each of their tasks. Anything that you may need, you will be able to find here." Mr. Daville smiled and then headed to the next room, stepping over the multiple spilled puddles on the floor carefully, as if the room was unfamiliar to him.

He led them out of the depressing stuffy room to outside towards a set of conjoined apartments. A security guard sat inside the toll booth, giving them a tip of his hat respectfully as he watched over the gated community.

"And that's where most of our employees live. If for any reason you need to spend the night here, we have plenty of rooms and you are welcomed to stay here when you need to."

"Oh that's very nice." Helena commented.

Mrs. Daville's nose flared and she turned on her heels and went to head back to her office until one of their butlers came rushing out of the dorms.

"Pardon me, Mr. Daville? A word with you please?"

"Sure." He replied back warmly. "I'll be just a minute." He reassured us with a smile and then stepped away, whispering back and forth with his servant out of ears reach.

"Hm, I see."

Mr. Daville returned looking slightly disappointed.

"There is a matter I must attend to unfortunately. I have to stay behind to help." He turned to his wife. "My love, would you mind showing her the rest of the way without me?

"Very well. Let's go Hai-lena."

"It's-"

Mrs. Daville stopped in her tracks and raised an edgy brow, as if daring Helena to object to correct her own name.

She sighed. "Right, please lead the way, miss."

"You will address me as Mrs. Daville from now on." She scolded, her voice echoing as they headed back through the cold laundry room.

"Yes, of course Mrs. Daville." Helena mimicked and held back the dramatic eye-roll.

Neither made an attempt to make conversation back to the mansion, but when Mrs. Daville went to unlock the door to her home, she paused.

"Miss Heilena?"

Helena held back suckng her teeth. "Yes ma'am? Oh shoot, I'm sorry, Mrs. Daville." She stammered earnestly.

Mrs. Daville scoffed with her nose up in disgust and hit Helena with a frosty glare. "May I ask you a question?"

"Uh...sure?"

"Do you find my husband attractive?"

Whoa!

What the heck kind of question is that?! How am I even supposed to answer that?!

If I say yes, she'll think I might try to go after him and then there's a high chance I definitely won't get the job! But if I say no, it could be like I'm insulting her, her taste in men, and him! Which do I say?!

Helena sputtered with, "I think he's dashing b-b-but uh, I wouldn't say he's my type."

There was a flash of surprise in Mrs. Daville's eyes and she raised a curious brow. "Is that so?"

"Yeah." She answered with a gulp.

"Well then," Mrs. Daville replied with a snooty smile, "the position is yours if you wish to take it. But if you do, there is one utmost rule you must never, EVER break."

The venom in her voice made Helena coil back a bit.

"W-What's that Mrs. Daville?"

"You must never lay a finger on my husband. That should go without saying right? I understand that he can be a huge flirt at times with the other maids here, but he loves me and will never stop being me. Are we clear?" She said firmly.

Helena swallowed and nodded. "Crystal."

All of Mrs. Daville's rambling fell on deaf ears afterwards because Helena was too busy partying inside her head.

I just scored a job that pays seventeen dollars an hour! Seventeen! That's more than enough money to help me move out! Just think of all the stuff I could buy! More clothes! Name brand make-up! Even better, I can finally get my hair done regularly now!

Helena idly toyed with the hanging red strands of hair that fell from her clip, nodding every time Mrs. Daville checked to see if she was listening.

She was pulled from her thoughts when they stopped in front of a magnificently crafted wide wooden staircase. It spiraled up in a circle, leading to another set of rooms. Along the walls there were pictures of different kinds of animals, family members, and of her and her husband at various vacation spots.

The misses waved her hand up and down the walls, talking about each picture while going up each stair gracefully in her tight pencil skirt. Helena followed behind but felt bad for even touching the shiny floors in her sneakers. She could see her reflection through them and bet it took someone a long time to finish cleaning it.

"You will have to dust each and every one of these pictures very carefully, as if your life depended on it. You'll have to take them down one by one, polish the entire frame while also dusting the wall behind it."

There's at least 50 of them hanging up there! Some I couldn't even possibly reach! Helena thought, gawking at the ones that stretched up far the reach of the stairs.

The mistress's black stilettos clicked loudly on the wooden floorboards all the way to the last step. She then led them through a hallway that had multiple rooms, almost all had their door closed. Mrs. Daville pointed between each one telling Helena the purpose they were used for.

"This room, this room, oh and this room too. You'll need to clean everyone thoroughly annnd..." She stopped and faced Helena. "Our bedroom." She boasted as a matter of fact. "Including my bathroom. His is to the back of the hall to the left, right next to the guest room."

Helena raised a curious brow on why they had separate bathrooms and as if reading her mind, the misses said, "What? A girl's gotta have her own bathroom. I don't need his...mess combined with mine."

"Sounds reasonable." Helena agreed.

"I thought so too." She smirked. "Any who, Hailena, you'll make sure both of our bathrooms are spotless. Spill any of my expensive shampoos or perfumes and you will be fired on the spot."

She stopped for a moment and looked past Helena. "Hmm. My husband did mention the one living in the guest room was on maternity leave now." She reminded herself quietly. "Tell you what, I'll throw an added bonus if you can get that room bleached and scrubbed down on your first day here. "

When the word bonus left her lips, Helena's heart almost leapt out of her mouth. "Of course! I don't mind that at all!" Helena squeaked excitedly.

Mrs. Daville shot a dirty look at her.

"I mean, I'm sorry, I can definitely do that Mrs. Daville." Helena corrected sweetly.

"How old did you say you were again?" She said disgusted.

Helena winced. "I'm...nineteen."

"Hmph. Well it seems that you need to develop some maturity if you want to stay on my good side."

Do you have a good side? Helena thought sarcastically, trying her best not to roll her eyes again. If this continues any longer, they'll end up rolling out of my head.

"Change of plans. Let's finish up this little charade. I have to go take care of more pressing matters. I'll pass you on to Madame Lidiya. She should shape you up nicely to my standards."

She whipped out an expensive black cell phone and nonchalantly scrolled through it with a single nail before putting it up to her ear. "Yes, can you meet me on the top floor? I have a new recruit for you to take care of." She eyed Helena with a raised brow when she saw the reaction on her face. "What? You're taking the position, correct?"

Helena shook her head up and down viciously, keeping her lips sealed.

"Fine then. Madame Lidiya will be here in a couple of minutes. Don't touch anything." Mrs. Daville glared before continuing her conversation through a door that Helena assumed was her bedroom. Helena stayed grounded to the spot.

This is great! She cheered. Thank you Jesus!

It took everything not to kiss the floorboards underneath her in case the misses came back out and saw her, so she partied inside her head. Helena couldn't help the amusement as she waited for the head maid. Even though she was told to stay still, Helena took it upon herself to take a quick peek into the rooms she would be cleaning, just to see what she would be up against.

After making sure that Mrs. Daville's door was still closed and was still on the phone, Helena went over to the first door to her left. When she jiggled the handle, the door refused.

Locked huh?

She decided to skip it and went over to the bluish colored door next. She tried the doorknob on that one but it was locked too. That left his bathroom and the guest room. Since his bathroom was too far, she went for the guest bedroom that they had. Helena went for the handle but to her surprise, the door was slightly ajar already.

Feeling giddy, Helena opened it and took a peek inside.

The room was filled with brown boxes of someone's personal items and it smelled a bit girly, like a scented candle or perfume. Helena wandered into the bedroom, taking in the middle sized room. She ran her fingers over the silky satin sheets on the bed, smiling at its softness. The matching pillow set was fluffy enough to doze right off on but the comforter and sheets were pulled back, as if the person using the bed left in a hurry.

Helena ran her fingers over the wooden headboard and found a smooth carving of cute little angels on the right and little devils on the left.

"Well that's weird." Helena said aloud as her fingers caressed over the smooth wooden carvings. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted a white piece of clothing laying on the floor. Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be a long sleeved white collared shirt.

Helena went over to pick it up and held it open. It was way too big to be a girl's shirt and for a brief second, she caught a hint of a familiar scent.

This is a man's shirt. She gasped.

And not just any man, but the one that I was so close to earlier.

Wow, he really knows his cologne. It was driving all of Helena's senses wild and sending shivers between her legs without him having to be in it.

Helena brought it to her face, giving it sniff and again, she could feel her thighs tremble so much that it made her weak in the knees.

"What 're you doin?!"

Helena shrieked, nearly flying out of her shoes being caught holding Mrs. Daville's husband's shirt. Helena was shaking, and it took her over a minute to realize that she didn't recognize the voice at all. It was much huskier.

Turning very slowly, Helena hid the shirt behind her back like a guilty child and looked behind.

Standing there with a shocked expression on her face, was a broad woman dressed in the same grey maid attire Helena saw before. She stormed all the way to her and towered over her by at least a foot. To Helena, she resembled something like a bear as she pointed an accusing finger.

"Who 're you?" She snapped in a foreign lisp Helena couldn't quite understand.

"I-I-I" Helena stuttered, feeling her brain slowly turn to mush.

"Are you one Mistress called for?" The woman demanded.

"Y-Yes." Helena squeaked.

"What's that you got there?" She asked, nodding her head towards what Helena was hiding.

"It's just that I ...I found it on the floor, I was uh..."

The creak of another door opening outside the room made Helena's heart freeze and the tall woman crept closer to her.

"Tell me now. What you ave behind back?"

Right as the door opened, she snatched the shirt from Helena's hand and bundled it a few times before hiding it behind her wide back. Helena wanted to yelp, but when she saw that it was Mrs. Daville that walked in, she held her tongue.

"What's going on here Lidiya?" She asked, clearly in suspicion of both of them.

"Hm? Nothing wrong ere Mrs. Daville." The woman answered in a gentle tone. "I was talking to new girl. She was helping me get room started for cleaning."

Helena's eyes went wide but kept silent as Mrs. Daville looked between the head maid and her. The suspense was deafening until Mrs. Daville finally turned her nose up and left, closing the door behind her.

Helena let out a sigh of relief and then glanced over at the woman known as Lidiya, noticing that her facial features were a lot softer than before.

"You might want to be careful next time myshka. If misses find you with anything related to husband, she'll have yer neck."

Helena gulped and nodded. "Duly noted. I'll be careful from now on. Thank you for not saying anything."

"No problem. Name's Lidiya as you know." She held out her hand and offered a warm friendly smile.

Helena returned the smile and took her hand, giving it a firm shake. "Helena. It's nice to meet you Madame Lidiya."

***********************

Despite Madame Lidiya's intimidating appearance, she was surprisingly the sweetest woman Helena has ever met. She expressed her love for flowers and different kinds of teas, even mentioning occasionally combining the two while she was in the middle of Helena's training. After a few hours, she was treated to lunch and Madame Lidiya taught her to make a decent deli sandwich with additional ingredients Helena's never tried, like cucumbers, spinach and honey mustard, and it tasted delicious.

There was something that Lidiya loved doing too. Talking. A LOT. It was hard being polite after Helena's ear had been talked off for hours without really contributing, just listening and nodding as they ate. She went on about Russia and how she was living out here in the U.S. to make enough money to bring her family over with her.

"My husband is back at home with our other two children, working nearly over-time everyday to, how you say, make end meet. I had to do something for him. It breaks heart to see him work close to death, so I come out here, trying to make extra money for us."

"So does that mean you're out here alone?" Helena asked, finishing off her meal.

"Oh heavens no! I would blow brain out from loneliness." She laughed. "Neit, my eldest daughter live with me. I should introduce you two soon, I'm sure you get along just fine."

"How often do you see the rest of your family?"

Madame Lidiya smiled brightly. "More often than you think. I see them close to every weekend. Working job 25 years has how you say, special benefits, you know?" She winked.

Her cell phone suddenly went off and she held up her finger to silence Helena before answering.

"Yes Mrs. Daville? Mhm. Oh?" Her eyes darted over to Helena. "Yes of course. I'll send er over right away."

After hanging up, she said, "Seems she wants you to fill out some personal files for job before you leave." She checked her watch. "I'd take you, but it's close to supper time for Davilles."

"That's O.K, I'll manage to get there on my own." Helena offered while standing up from the table. "Which way is it from here?"

"Just head back to stairs to first building you had interview."

"Sure thing. I guess I'll see you tomorrow Madame Lidiya."

"Of course myshka. It's good meeting you."

Right as Helena was about to walk out the door she called out again.

"Oh and Helena?"

"Yeah?"

"There's one thing I forget to mention."

"Hm?"

"It's about misses husband."

The flash of his pearly whites was the first thing that appear in her head at the mention of him and Helena answered carefully. "Yes, what about him?"

"You seem like nice girl. I would hate to see you get twisted up in drama like others. Be careful o.k? He, how you say, means well, but does not see that his actions hurt pretty women and break hearts. He's married, but certainly doesn't act it most of the time. Heard he's a huge pervert too."

Helena's ears turned red at the thought of him being a pervert and remembered him "accidentally" touching her butt.

"Just focus on job and money, nothing else while you work." Madame Lidiya warned.

"Right, I understand Madame. Thank you for letting me know." She gave her a quick wave before heading back through the courtyard.

Yeah sure, like I need a reminder not to chase after a married man. Helena snorted while heading back to Mrs. Daville's office. Still, it seems that he's pretty famous with the other maids around here from what she said. And he's a pervert? Does that mean the bump on my ass was intentional after all? I'm not sure, but if what Madame Lidiya says is right, then maybe it is best to avoid him as much as possible. "Besides, someone that good looking only brings trouble right?" Helena said aloud.

She stopped between two doors. They were almost identical to each other but Helena was pretty sure it was the one on the right. She knocked once and then turned the knob. The door opened with ease.

"Sorry to keep you waiting." Helena announced as she let herself in, but froze when she saw him sitting at the desk.

Mr. Davillie looked up from his paperwork and gave her a big smile.

"Hello again Helena."